Yeah, I was told the same exact thing by someone who worked at another chain place. All portions are ready-cooked and frozen in plastic. Everything but the salads are frozen and microwaved to order. This is one of the reasons besides the generally lower cost that I pick salads when forced to eat at a chain. I never know food that looked so good could taste so bland. Again, the appearance is good. The taste and overall quality just is not. Same with auto places. You have a shiny and clean building but sometimes the dingy old garages are where the real work gets done.
Personally, I would much, much rather go to McD’s than Applebees any day. I’ve gone to Applebee’s socially on occasion (never my choice) and no matter what I ordered it was terrible and way overpriced. I’m not exactly an expert on good cooking, but I know thawed and nuked processed food when I taste it.
I miss the old car-hop days. Fresh, real cooked food delivered right to the car window. Those were one of the things that made the good old days good.
I have only been to Apple-Bee’s once. Actually it wasn’t bad. We had a younger waitress. I asked her if the calories on the appetizers were accurate (some had 2100 which is one days worth of food). She eyeballed our whole family and said that she can fill us up with 3 appetizers for dinner and we would be good to go. She applied some discounts and I think the while bill for 4 of us was around $22. I left a big tip for her.
This was on a trip. I would probably not go again mainly because I would not be able to eat that much.
Good morning! Looks like this one’s drifting. Would you kindly bring it back to cars? Thank you.
A co-worker returned from her road-trip to Zion and back last year refusing to have anything to do with Firestone and Sears after they failed to properly diagnose her failing alternator. A long way from home with a carload of teens she limped into the first place she could find. Ended up getting way better service from a Dodge dealer and had no more issues the rest of the way back to Washington state.
Does anyone know the firing order on a Big Mac?
That is pretty bad to fail to diagnose a failing alternator. I mean that isn’t like the most complicated thing in the world.
The problem is that people are willing to pay for this kind of service for their cars or this kind of food and these places stay in business. I am sure many of the things are simple like brakes, oil, and tire changes. It is the same with the food. Thaw it out and heat it in the microwave and heat it up. Actually doing a complicated repair or making a real meal and they fall on their faces. The same could be said for oil changes. I know people who have been to quick lube places and had the oil pan screw left loose or stripped out. The bad part is one guy drive around for an entire oil change with one that the place had “rigged” and not told him about so the next place had to correct the problem.
@cwatkin the alternator had a bad bearing, her father did a better diagnosis over the phone than the people actually had the truck in front of them. Several hundred dollars spent on new batteries and things other than the alternator. Pretty sure she will just call AAA next time and get it to the closest repair shop that isn’t a Firestone or similar.
One of my relatives, who lives 1/2 or 3/4 hour away from me, brings his vehicles to Firestone for routine maintenance
So far, so good
Anything complicated, he makes arrangements, and brings the car to me
There were a few somewhat challenging repairs and diagnosis over the years, he didn’t want to entrust to those guys
I had to go to a Firestone once in Kissemee, Florida. The kid had driven down from Minnesota via Ohio to meet the rest of us who had flown down. Car was really running ragged and needed to get it fixed before the return trip. Tried an indi shop but couldn’t get in so ended up at Firestone. I was happy that they fixed it and right away but still cost me $350 for a diagnosis and coil. They wanted to do plugs and wires too but I said no and we did it ourselves at the hotel. I expect it was a little over-priced and they did try to sell me up but still my problem was solved.
While I was there though a lady came in to complain about her brakes. She had paid mucho money for new pads, rotors, calipers, etc.-the complete job, and it still wasn’t up to her standards. Don’t know who was right, but obviously they sold her the whole nine yards too whether she needed it or not. The manager commented to me that it was a slow time since people hadn’t gotten their tax refunds yet. Once they got them it would be busy as people took care of needed work. You can’t put stuff off long in Minnesota or you’ll be walking in the cold.
I just think good and bad but you have to take care of yourself. If I were on the road with my own cars now though, I’d tend to head to a dealer first even though it would cost more.
@Bing
Even at the Benz dealer, income tax returns played a role in the volume of business
That speaks more to the fact that many people bought/leased more car than they could comfortably afford . . .
Three times in past years I’ve been blessed to find honest, good service far from home. Once it was a clogged fuel filter a mechanic in a small town gas station correctly diagnosed and replaced for ridiculously low price. Second time was getting a seal beam headlight replaced at the all GM brands dealership in Rexburg ID for less than half what I’d paid for the one on the other side a few months previous at home. Third was fixing an electrical problem far from home at a dealership.
Of course, there have also been the crooked sleazebags at gas stations far from home who tried to scare me into buying one or more tires I didn’t need.
What really ticks me off is when a guy goes to the tire shop to get a new set of tires installed. He picks the model he wants, agrees on the price, and either sits down to wait, or has his wife pick him up in the other car
Then the service manager tells him he “needs” an alignment
Yet he got 80K or 100K out of the old tires, they’re worn evenly, no cupping, scalloping, or whatever. The car doesn’t pull, the steering wheel is straight, etc. he simply needs tires because they’re worn down, no other reason
But most likely, nobody has driven the car since the car arrived at the shop. So the guys trying to get the upsell don’t actually know that the car is in fine shape, and definitely doesn’t need the alignment
They probably try to upsell an alignment with every set of tires they sell. Everybody’s probably under tremendous pressure, from high up, probably, to generate lots of upsells
The upsells are a real pet peeve of mine whether at shops or tparts stores. A well intentioned parts counter man or woman who mentions anti-freeze or a belt with a new water pump is good business but the efforts often go overboard. And there is often a product that is being pushed that McParts stores try to push to everyone who walks through their door. Lucas fuel additive was pushed to the limits in my local stores and now I would pay double the price for Techron to avoid the Lucas. Likewise Bosch platinum plugs.
What really ticks me off is when a guy goes to the tire shop to get a new set of tires installed. He picks the model he wants, agrees on the price, and either sits down to wait, or has his wife pick him up in the other carThen the service manager tells him he “needs” an alignment
NTW tried to pull a similar thing with me. Told me I needed new ball joints. I greased them every oil change…I knew they were fine. Sold the truck some 200k miles later…and the ball joints were still fine.
NTW, Sears, Firestone, Midas…and many other chains have all been taken to court (and lost) for selling unneeded parts and service.
@MikeInNH
I’m not saying anybody’s wrong . . .
But even ball joints with zerks wear out, eventually
By the way, can you define what you mean by saying the ball joints were still fine
Do you mean they weren’t noisey, and didn’t have any play?
What was your mileage, when the shop tried to sell you ball joints?
I like my shop’s approach, special $39 alignment, not needed at the time by my observation of no problems or unusual tire wear when I buy tires from them. But when I feel an alignment is due they will do it at the special price.
When steering and suspension components are kept greased and the boots remain intact they could easily outlast the engine. Many have lasted 400.000 miles and more in fleets that I serviced.
What really ticks me off is when a guy goes to the tire shop to get a new set of tires installed. He picks the model he wants, agrees on the price, and either sits down to wait, or has his wife pick him up in the other car
Then the service manager tells him he “needs” an alignment.
Chain stores aren’t the only organizations to sell services. When my first wife (now deceased) and I enrolled in graduate school, she had her necessary shots one week before I did. The first semester we were there, she received a notice that she was due for a tetanus shot and her records would be held up until she had the inoculation. The cost was cheaper at the university’s health center, so that is where she went. She had to wait in a long line for her shot. Apparently, the health service had purchased too much serum, so it seemed that almost everybody on campus needed a shot.
If a tire store has a newly installed alignment rack, the store can’t lose money on it just as the university we attended could not lose money on tetanus serum. Our second year, I should have been out of date, but I wasn’t called in for a shot. I wished, however, that a local bar had over-purchased on bourbon and everybody coming down the street needed a shot a very special price, but it didn’t happen.
Indy shops can be just as bad. One day recently my sister’s car wouldn’t start. The AAA guy who started it for her thought it was just the battery. Her car was six years old with the original battery, so that seemed likely.
She dropped the car at an Indy shop near her home to see about getting it replaced. They called a bit later and told her they had tested the battery and it was bad, so she told them to go ahead and replace it. A bit later she goes over to pick it up and someone tries to convince her the alternator is probably bad, too. No evidence cited, just a hunch. She is doubtful, so pays for battery and goes home.
A couple of months later she hasn’t had any more problems. Bet the guy is still bugged he didn’t sell an alternator to that middle-aged, nicely dressed woman. She doesn’t know much about cars, but she isn’t stupid, either.