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NBC 4
Jiffy Lube Follow-Up
Nationwide Allegations About Jiffy Lube
By Joel Grover and Matt Goldberg


LOS ANGELES -- It's the NBC4 investigation that's been watched by millions of people nationwide. Now, the president of Jiffy Lube International has apologized for the fraud uncovered at his stores by NBC4. The apology was prompted by new information uncovered by Joel Grover about the nation's biggest lube and tune chain. Joel has learned, there could be problems at Jiffy Lube stores across the country.

Investigations Section: Is Your Mechanic Cheating?
Video

NBC 4 has heard from former customers and employees, people in 17 states, who saw NBC4's Jiffy Lube reports on the internet and say the same thing happened to them.

"They did not perform the job that I paid for," one customer tells NBC4.

That's what NBC 4 found last May, when an undercover producer, took test cars to nine LA area Jiffy Lubes. One location charged the NBC4 undercover producer for a new fuel filter, but after the visit NBC4 found the old filter was still in the car.

Four more Jiffy Lubes charged NBC4 for transmission flushes, supposedly using a high tech machine. But the machines just sat there, and the flushes were never done.

"I was horrified," says Kristy Witherspoon. She tells NBC4 a similar thing happened to her, when she parked her car outside a Charlotte, North Carolina Jiffy Lube and asked for an oil change. Forty minutes later, after she claims they told her they were done with her car, she says she realized her keys were still in her purse, so they couldn't have moved her car. "I know they did not do the oil change, the car was locked the whole time. This is the only set of keys I have."

"They said they were doing a transmission flush," says Patti McMann of Klamath Falls, Oregon. She claims a few months after she had paid for that service another mechanic told he that her transmission fluid was black and had never been changed.

"It looks like I am not the only one that has been ripped off by this corporation," McMann tells NBC4.

"This stuff happens all over," a current Jiffy Lube manager in the Chicago area tells NBC4. He asked NBC4 to protect his identity. He says some Jiffy Lubes in Chicago routinely charge for work that's not done. "The customer is never going to know," he tells NBC4, He also claims employees sometimes even damage customers cars "Blowing up engines, transmissions, stripping bolts," he tells NBC4.

"I started seeing flashbacks," says Jonathan Bingle after watching the NBC4 investigation on the Internet. He tells NBC4 his manager asked him to cheat an elderly woman. "I was like, I can't do that, and he said 'sell it or go home,'" Bingle says.

Bingle tells NBC4 the Spokane, Washington Jiffy Lube where he worked often overcharged customers for work that wasn't done. "Air filters, fuel filters, tire rotations were huge," Bingle tells NBC4.

Different experiences about Jiffy Lubes across the country that have some customers now taking their business elsewhere.

"I really don't think they can be trusted," says one customer.

Jiffy Lube still will not speak with NBC4 on camera. But, the president of Jiffy Lube, Luis Scoffone, flew from Houston to Burbank to meet with Investigative Reporter Joel Grover off camera. Scoffone personally apologized for the fraud Grover uncovered at five LA-area Jiffy Lubes.

Grover shared with Scoffone e-mails he's received from unhappy Jiffy Lube customers. The president is urging those customers to contact him directly, and he will try to resolve their complaints. You can contact the Jiffy Lube president at luis.scoffone@shell.com or 713-546-8699.

Scoffone also elaborated on steps the company is taking to prevent fraud nationwide. Those steps are outlined in this written statement provided to NBC4 by Jiffy-Lube:

JLI has acted both to discipline the franchise owner whose stores were depicted in your news report and to guard against similar incidents in the future by making major operational changes in all franchisee and company-owned stores. JLI's President, Luis Scoffone, and Director of Operations, Kevin Lyng, are willing to discuss these actions with you in an off-camera, on-the-record, briefing. We are not yet ready to go on camera to discuss these actions because the operational changes are relatively new and JLI has not had enough time to determine how they are working and what modifications might be needed. However, once the changes are in place for a few months, we will consider an on-camera interview to discuss them with you. This probably could be done during the first quarter of next year.

Here is a summary of the actions Heartland Automotive, the owner of the five stores featured in your news report, has taken in response to JLI's demands:

For one year, Heartland will transfer the operation of the five featured stores to another franchisee approved by JLI. During the one-year period, neither Heartland nor its affiliates or their respective owners, officers, directors or employees shall have or exercise control over the day-to-day operations of the five stores.
Heartland has revised its incentive compensation programs.
Heartland has issued an apology to the JLI franchisee community.

Heartland has agreed to:

A 24/7 telephone hot line for employees to report unethical behavior
Ethics/media training for all employees
Cost-of-goods-sold audits at all of its 31 service centers in the greater LA area for 10 years to ensure that what stores claim they sold to customers was actually sold
A technical mystery-shopper program for five years at all of its service centers in the greater LA area. These began in August. The five stores involved in the expose will be shopped once per week during the first year and then once per month during the remaining four years. The rest of the Heartland service centers in the greater LA area will be shopped once per month over the next five years. JLI will have access to all the reports for follow-up action.
Heartland is in the process of installing video cameras and monitors in all of its greater LA area stores, allowing customers to view services being done on their vehicles.

JLI is implementing system-wide operational changes in three areas:

JLI has initiated a national undercover technical-mystery-shopping program. According to the Automotive Oil Change Association, this will be the first such national program in the fast-lube industry. It will be up and running in the 4th quarter of this year. The program will consist of a technical inspection of a vehicle at a garage before the vehicle is taken for service at a Jiffy Lube store and a technical inspection of the vehicle after the service to ensure work was done. The goal of the program is to protect consumers by enhancing the quality and validity of service our customers receive.
JLI has established a store-audit group to measure the quality of service at each store. JLI is hiring auditors now for this group, which will be operational in the 4th quarter. The group will visit all Jiffy Lube markets regularly over a period of 18 to 24 months to conduct mystery shopping at the store, conduct customer invoice reviews, take fluid samples, check for compliance with Brand standards, interview employees, file exception reports if something is out of order and review customer satisfaction data. Auditors will have both operational and financial experience. JLI will either visit stores randomly or target stores based on concerns about their performance.
JLI is initiating annual business-assurance reviews and will have them in place by 2007. These annual reviews will be completed by franchisees and JLI District Managers and will cover business principles and ethics; safety and environmental practices; service recommendations for products sold; personnel policies; store oversight structure; and compliance with procedures manuals. District Managers will use the reviews as a basis for an annual franchisee business examination to ensure consistency in applying and abiding to JLI policies and procedures.
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