​I recently visited the Pep Boys location in El Cajon for some necessary work on my 2007 Saturn Aura, and I was thoroughly impressed by the exceptional service provided by the Store Manager, Antonio Mora. ​What truly set this experience apart was Antonio's assistance in navigating a rather challenging finance plan. Financing automotive expenses can often be a stressful and complex process, but Antonio demonstrated remarkable patience and professionalism throughout the entire transaction. He took the time to meticulously explain the nuances of the plan, working diligently to find a solution that suited my situation. Never once did I feel rushed; instead, his calm and reassuring demeanor made a difficult process entirely manageable. ​His dedication to customer care and his ability to handle complex administrative tasks with such a high degree of empathy and competence are highly commendable. I strongly recommend Antonio and his team at the El Cajon Pep Boys for their outstanding service and unwavering commitment to their clients. read more

April IS THE GOLD STANDARD! I've been to this location, a few times before, as well as others, and April by far truly blew me away with her level of service and knowledge and attention to detail with regards to dealing with the major headache of the warranty company that I utilized for my car. There was far more back-and-forth with the warranty company than was necessary and April was absolutely amazing in her ability to get everything situated for me to be able to get my car up and running again. thank you again for all of your help, you are the most helpful employee of this company that I have yet to come across. I look forward to coming back and doing business with you guys again in the future. read more

At what point will you do the RIGHT thing and refund my money? THE work was STILL under warranty, not about the amount of miles I put on the car. Yes you replaced my 11 year old radiator hose but you didn't change out the old clamp's which is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, WHY?? You even argued on WHO will pay for the tow back to your shop. Never argue with a customer who is upset because you should have replaced those clamps. Parts fatigue overtime and without question you should have just replaced those clamp's. DO THE RIGHT THING, REFUND MY MONEY. read more

Had an oil change and they caused my oil pan to leak. My car has never leaked in the 22 years I have had it

So I ended up having to go to pep boys for my tire and only went coz the guy Tate was no lo ger there. The manager named Antonio really helped to get me back on the road and back to work. He was awesome. Thanks. read more

Had a great experience at Pep Boys yesterday...thought I might need brakes. They did a full vehicle inspection, took the amount of time they said it would, and gave me a report that said I did NOT need brakes or rotors or anything else at this time. But guess where I will go when I DO need it?? Yep! And April was amazing and knowledgeable. The guy working was awesome too but he wasn't wearing his name tag :) so I don't know his name but he helped me learn to reset my oil reminder since it wasn't done after my last oil change. (Valvoline). Definitely recommend this customer service crew! read more

Pep boys is amazing they fixed my tire at 7:30 on Friday when no one else would! they had lots of customers and still helped us out. read more

Here today getting a scheduled oil change. First off the service by the employees from Mr McCarthy to Mr Slate to the other person I can't remember his name but the service was exceptional and they presented some fixes to my car that the previous people didn't provide me with. Definitely coming here to get those fixes done. My new oil change and tire shop due to the information I received and they weren't rushing at all they took their time I like companies like that. That means they care. read more

Went here to get get my tire fixed, ended up having to replace it. April helped me. She was very helpful, super knowledgeable, and very friendly. read more

Tenía cita y no les importo me ignoraron me dijeron que no tenían tiempo me tuve que ir a otro lugar y también me ignoraron por que hablo muy poco inglés no más pep boys para mi mi mala experiencia fue en pep boys del cajon California read more

Pepboys has been scamming me for years. They've been lying about services rendered, services I've not only paid for, but services their employees get paid for to do. There's no way brand new tires can get worn down in a year and a half if they've been doing the requested tire rotations at every oil change. I've called their corporate number to get this issue resolved and have not gotten one phone call back. Even after I've called to check in three times. The customer service rep who answers just says they're investigating it but it's been 3 weeks and no call to me to ask what I'm complaining about. The LONG story: Nov 2022 I got 4 brand new tires, an alignment, and full warranty with a different company, totaling close to $1,000. Since Nov 2022, I've gone to pepboys for my oil changes and I ask for a tire rotation. Everytime I ask for one the guy at the front says "tire rotation comes with every oil change". I'm no car expert so I trust them to do the things I've asked, and at the end of every service I ask if they did the rotation and they always say yes. Fast forward to July 2024 and I need an alignment. I go in for an alignment and my routine oil change and tire rotation. The alignment paper still has red markings so I ask why it still doesn't look like it's fixed. McCarthey says "this is the best you're gonna get" but my car still pulled to the right, essentially like no repair had been made. I call and speak with Tim who says he'll have a specialist look at it. I got back in and now the specialist is saying I need two new front tires. I have a long trip to Utah the next day and Tom says there's no way I can safely drive to Utah and back with my front tires the way they are so I buy 2 front tires. They say my rear tires are perfectly fine. Again, I'm no expert but idk how two tires can be completely worn down and two perfectly fine if they're bought at the same time and rotated every 3-4 months. This is when my husband starts to get suspicious that they're not being rotated. After this appointment, the alignment is fixed and I have two new front tires. I was NOT asked if I wanted a warranty on them but the notes say that I declined it. Completely false. Then, I go for my next oil change in September and I ask for a tire rotation, too. Again, McCarthy says that a rotation is included. When the service is done I ask McCarthy if the rotation was done and he said yes. I go outside to my car and the same front tires I drove in with are the same tires in the front. No rotation had been done. I go back and ask again if McCarthey is sure I got a rotation and he said absolutely, they did the rotation. I then tell him I doubt it and he checks the tread of all my tires. He said all of them are fine so there's no reason why they wouldn't do the rotation and says he's positive they did it. I had to pull up photos that show they didn't do a rotation! Once proof is shown then McCarthy says I can come back over the weekend to get a tire rotation. I said "you can't do it now?" I'm literally in the shop and they already had my car in the air but decided not to do it. McCarthy tells me no, they can't do it and I need to come back over the weekend if I want it done. I HAD ALREADY ASKED FOR IT AND THEY DIDNT DO IT. I come back Sunday morning at 9am. I then had to stand outside their shop and watch Steven do the rotation to make sure it was done (side note, Steven also did my first alignment but the car still pulled to the right so this is the second time he claimed to do work on my car, but there's no evidence of the work being done. But I'm paying for it). I did not know I needed to babysit a grown man with over 20 years of experience. To no luck, the manager was not in on Sunday for me to voice my complaints. McCarthy told me I needed to come back Tuesday to speak with him. I go back on Tuesday and ask April if I can talk to the manager. April says "you can go try and find him in the back" EXCUSE ME??? I need to go into their back supply area and look for the manager myself??? I'm so annoyed at this point but April goes and looks for him after I repeated what she said and she could hear how ridiculous it sounded. While waiting for the manager to come up April did look into their system and tell me that Steven was paid to do a rotation, he just didn't on the day I came in for one. Tom, the manager, offered to give me 4 new tires so they would all be the same. In order for me to be made whole in this situation, I asked for 4 new tires and the roadside warranty since that is what I had when I walked in after Nov 2022. Tom said he could do the tires but I needed to pay $112 for the warranty. SO I NEED TO PAY MORE MONEY?? After I've been paying for maintenance and their mechanics have been lying about doinThat is not fair as I would not be in the situation I am in had Pepboys done the maintenance I asked for. And I still have no call from corporate and Tim is refusing to give me a warranty with 4 new tires. read more

The worst customer service ever, I made an appointment for 2:00pm I showed up at 1:45 for a flat tire repair on arrival no one was in the office, waited for 5 minutes I have to speak loud for somebody to come and help. Once the guy came, I told him I had an appointment at 2 for the tire repair and he said that it will take up to 2 hours because everybody was out for lunch, he also said the appointments on the web side are not accurate ever! when I went to the car I saw at least 6 guys walking around the shop doing nothing. Drop my appointment receipt into the trash and told him to cancel it, two hours wait for a tire repair is a bunch of BS. Don't waste your time guys, you better off in a small private business. read more

Did a tire fix here and had a Great all around experience, i was helped by James and Jason and both were great. Will be back. read more

Are Pep Boys overtightened my oil filter causing a leak. They agreed to pay me $300 for the damage that was caused over 2 1/2 months ago. I have been told four times either an email or on the phone that a check is on the way. I still haven't received anything and got a call today saying it will arrive in two more weeks. I am just going to file a claim with the BAR which I should have done in the first place because this company plays a lot of games I suggest you do the same if you have any issues don't go through their claims department it's a waste of time. Danny Hermez read more

had a 2pm diagnostic appointment today, upon arrival the apathetic employee said it's be about a hour and a half before it could be seen, and then another hour for the diagnostic. a giant waste of time. the best part, when I left, there were NO CARS IN THEiR BAYS !?! .forget this place read more

Service was ok. The facility itself is a pig sty. The waiting area floor was filthy and hadn't been swept or mopped in quite a while. The men's washroom was filthy. The trash can was overflowing with tissues, many laying on the floor. The toilet, urinal, and sink were absolutely disgusting. Words cannot describe the filth. If you're going to wait there for your vehicle to be serviced, wear some Depends! read more

I ordered tires online and made an appointment to mount and balance the tires, arrived a couple hours early and they were very busy, but they did their best to accommodate me, received a great price on four tires and considering how busy they were I was in and out in a very reasonable time. The two gentleman I had to deal with were very nice, polite and professional. read more

I bought and had installed windshield wipers. Kristie recommended the brand (I can't remember), and I Love my new wipers. They have a built in substance that helps water bead up and move off the glass. But the main thing is, it had been years since I'd changed the wipers. And they'd been jerry rigged on during a storm. So Kristie had to use a lubricant to remove the screws to get the old wipers off. The screws were so locked down, it took 45 minutes to get them off. Kristie kept at it until the job was done. And she was cheerful about it. Thank you Kristie! read more

Got new tires for my car it was easy because we were able to leave the car there and pick it up later. It took most of the day. When we picked up the car I drove it home. When I got there I opened the driver side door and it made a clunking noise. The bottom door trim was broken and rubbing. We immediately took it back to PepBoys El Cajon. The manager of the shop came out and checked it out and had them put it back on the rack and they tried adjusting the door. Finally the door would open and close without clunking. But the bottom trim was broken. The manager said the he would order a new one and call us when it came in. The issue is that they tried to hide this from me when I picked up the car. Also, brand new tires on my car for $1100.00 and they are smeared with some kind of cream colored gunk. You think that they should be more professional and never send out inferior work. We have been told several times they would call when the trim came in. We kept checking but apparently they never had any intention of ordering the trim or fixing the damage. This happened 12/31/2022 We have called and gone by we talked to the manager who assured us that it would be taken care of and then nothing. So a word of caution I would never recommend PepBoys in El Cajon they are are sloppy and irresponsible. read more

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Went to Pep Boys today as my battery was acting up. Was helped by Kristie. She went out of her way to check my battery. Make sure that it wasn't still under warranty for me and then proceeded to get me the correct battery. Ivan then proceeded to put the battery in for me. Great kid hard worker I would definitely recommend this Pep Boys to everyone. They did a fabulous job and help me out quickly. Thank you Kristie and Ivan. If they are working there, I will be a customer for life so nice to be able to get great customer service. A + service. read more

My son's car front brakes were squealing and he needed to use the car for pizza delivery work same day and Brandon at Pep boys made it easy to get in and get out with great service. It was the only place at 9:30 am Friday morning who had a technician ready to do a brake job. Not sure about price comparison but the peace of mind made our timing feel like perfect timing thank you Brandon, be well! read more

The website shows they close at 9:00pm, when you call the store the recording say the close at 9:00pm. I was there at 6:55pm and they were closed. Ironically after driving 18 miles there and 18 miles back, the whole reason I was there was because I was there yesterday and I was returning a alternator that didn't work. They had to special order another one. I went to Auto Zone and paid less and it was in stock and more importantly it worked. Poor management Poor communication Low quality parts High prices Would never recommend them. read more

YELPers, Eduardo completely took care of business with ease, professionalism & courtesy. New battery & synthetic oil change done. I'm so happy; thx. Eduardo & gifted mechanic. read more

Yesterday I had to take my rental car in for a flat tire (literally two hours before the store closed). April that worked at the front desk was amazing. She was able to get my rental car in and tire changed and back on the road within an hour of me calling. April was very knowledgeable and knew exactly how to help me with this being a rental car and not my own personal vehicle. She was so friendly, accommodating and professional. I am so happy that I came to this Pep Boys location and received such excellent customer service. read more

I'm just grateful they are open to check my tire pressure and I don't have to rush to other places since they are open after 5 pm. Thanks Pep Boys ! read more

Always has the best prices compared to any other auto part places. Customer service is always spot on and the store is clean.

Don't trust them! I got a tire rotation and they told me that I needed a $700-$800 brake job in the next 2 months. Simon I believe showed me on a model how low my brakes were. He also told me how warped my rotors were, that the whole car should be wobbly when I brake. (It's not.) So I took my car to the dealership and my brakes are like new. They estimate I'll get another 30,000 miles out of them. DO NOT trust Pep Boys. Very disappointed. They told me to email them qnd they would resolve the issue. That was 3 weeks ago and I'm still waiting on a reply. Please don't waste your time or money at this shop. read more

Just moved to East County a year ago. I used to visit Pep Boys in College Area for all my mechanical needs and since I had great results there, I decided to check out Pep Boys in El Cajon. I've taken my vehicle twice in the last year and both times, I received excellent service. The thing that bugs me most about some mechanics is how they try to upsell you on stuff when you are there for a repair. Both times I brought my car in for specific issues, the technicians provided me with quotes to repair what I needed, but did not try and sell me anything unnecessary. I doappreciate the heads up about issues that may arise in the future so they are on my radar but they never try to guilt me into making those fixes. Customer service is excellent. Technicians seem happy and the management is communicative and friendly. Very happy that this Pep Boys is on par with the Pep Boys in College Area. They are my new go-to mechanics in East County. read more

It's unfortunate I live .2 miles away and can never bring my vehicle here if need be anymore. Spoke with someone and was quoted $667 total out the door. After he told me he would have to create the service report since they didn't really have one for that. That was the number. Told my wife, wrote the number on my fridge, blah blah. Gentleman told me it may vary by a few dollars maybe $20 or so since he had to order the instrument gauge cluster online and he was still shopping. But I said go head as long as it's in the ballpark. This was a Monday. Few days later get an email, $1567. Hahahaha. The ole okie dokie. All the sudden an instrument cluster for an 03 Silverado is $1,100? Oh... is it made of gold? $250 labor... to unscrew 4 screws and unplug it and plug the new one in. 45 seconds or so.. oh. Said hell no and went and got truck after it sat there 5 days for nothing. So ended up donating 130 bucks to change my headlight after their "diagnostic" Ended up ordering their "$1,100" cluster online for $220. So not quite sure where they were getting theirs from. But if pepboys needs a referral for them in the future I'd be more than happy to share. Then go to pick up truck and ask the gentleman there how my quote can change $1,000 and let him know how disappointing that is to feel like I'm being robbed and taken advantage of. He says he "doesn't know." He doesn't know anything about my truck...the one thats been in his parking lot for 5 days... no apology , no customer service, no empathy, no emotion at all really. I can call back after the weekend and ask M****** but that's it. (Won't put your name, but you know) Basically he said "I don't care, bye." So if you speak with someone, and then they have a day off, no one else can help you? I don't know how shops work, but that can't be a real thing can it...?? Anyways... Good stuff really. Phenomenal experience. read more

Broke down in El Cajon, during the COVID 19 shelter in place. While getting a repairs at Joseph Auto Repair on N 2nd (5 stars) I dropped in on this shop for some emergency supplies. Staff was super friendly and helpful, during an odd time for everyone. Pep Boys also had a standing 20% off during this shelter in place ( don't know how long that deal will last! read more

This location gives PepBoys a bad name! I was trying to get a price on specific tires for my car and for some reason the woman on the phone kept trying to push their sale tires and couldn't give me a price or warranty info on the specific brand I was asking aboutI eventually I asked to speak with the manager and was told I was speaking with her. Wow! If she was the manager she was So UNPROFESSIONAL & frustrating! I purchased my tires at a competitors store. Maybe PepBoys thinks they are too big and don't care about losing customers due to the lack of knowledge and people skills of their "managers" read more

Place is a rip off. Took advantage of my daughter who is struggling thru college. Experts at fast fast talking and changing stories. Heater hose leak on Jeep Cherokee. Not a Porsche $180.00/hr labor very high. Mark up on radiator hoses was twice dealer cost. Charged for a warranty she was not informed of and did not agree too. Would not refund. Cost over $1200 for heater hose replacement. Never pep boys again. read more

Every interaction that I had with them has been bad from the delivery of a set of tires I ordered from Tire Rack to be installed there only to be told that their only install guy was out to lunch to this gem of a experience today! Today I go to get a nail pulled out & a plug put in it which honestly is about 15 minutes when you know what you're doing! The guy that attended me Herb was his name was happy to sit there smoking away on a cigarette as opposed to actually doing his job! First he tells me that they can't do it as my car is " Too Low" to fit on the lift! Then he tells me go inside & ask so & so if we have time to do it, no that's your job! Where I tell him all he has to do me is just lift it with a jack & take the tire off without having to lift the entire car to pull out a nail! Jesus Christ on top of it I have to tell the supposed "professional" how to do his job! Hope that cigarette was worth losing business & this review! read more

I went to pep boys and Joe the asst manager helped me with some highway tires and at no point did he try and upsell me but rather tell me what I should be using for my type of driving, all the while his boss is sitting on his ass not helping with the other customers 4 inline with one walking out it was not good and one customer was over charged and was not happy with that boss he paid his bill and left mad but I was delt with great by the asst manager Joe and end up paying $100 less the my orig quote for 4 tires, If you go there asked for Joe and get a fair deal read more

I waited a bit too long to get my brakes done as they were grinding. The guys at the shop walked me through what needed to be done and explained what else needed to be worked on next. Very throughly and helped with quotes/ estimates. Definitely more value for your money here. Would recommend. read more

I can't say enough good things about this location. I showed up before the shop was open with a battery that was dead. Like, "I don't know how I got here" DEAD. I looked online and there weren't any appointments before 11 am (it's 8:20 at this point). I was silently accepting my fate of having to pay car musical chairs until I could get in at 11 when I saw one of the mechanics outside. I asked him if I could get squeezed in before 11 and he told me it would be dependent on if one of he 4 appointments set for 9 fell through and to just give them until 9 to find out. Totally agreeable since I was expecting a hard no from the jump. 9 o'clock rolled around and I went in to see if my car could get serviced. James said Absolutely no problem, suggested a long lasting battery for my car, and had me out the door in 20 minutes. Excellent service. Fair prices. I will 100% bring my car back to this location. read more

I didnt want to write a review here. I thought pep boys would have tried harder to fix this. A few months later all they offered me was a free oil change. Heres my story: I got a flat tire June 20, 2020 in the high hills, middle of nowhere in Ramona, California. I rushed to the nearest gas station on a mostly flat, slow leaking tire. I filled it up with air and ventured 35 minutes to the El Cajon Pet Boys. I had originally  bought the tires less than a year ago at the Chula Vista location. El Cajon Pet Boys got me in and told me there was a nail in the tire and it was not repairable. They told me they did not have the same tire (good year) but they offered me a substitute tire in which I agreed to (Definity HP 100). They told me I had previously opted for the road hazard warranty, so I was covered. I still paid a $35.10 bill for the service. While they were servicing the car, my family went to the beach. We drove by the service department at Pet Boys on our way home. The car was in mid air (supposed to be worked on), so we waited a little more. When I got the car I did not think to go over their work, I was just happy to be up and running again. So let me state this is the rear passenger tire. So in my Toyota Prius, it's kinda of hard to know its flat in the back. So come Tuesday June 30, I was on the I-5 going to work on NASNI Coronado, and I noticed I was swerving a little. When I got to work, sure enough dejavu, another flat on that same tire. Only when I checked on the tire I noticed it was the same fricking tire! They did not give me a new tire or fix it. So I called El Cajon Pet Boys. It told them the situation. They said they were shorthanded and could take me in the next day. They were completely unapologetic of what they did (or what they didnt do). So I brought it in to the Chula Vista Pet Boys. They were also unapologetic but did say they have never seen something like this happen and was shocked. I had to show them my invoice and the old tire. There was no rush to have my car done. In fact it took five hours. They said they had to take two hours to get the tire because they didnt want to mess up their inventory. Again very unapologetic. I had to take off from work and was very inconvenienced. I could have got in an  accident thinking my tires were fixed. I think I am definately entitled to some  compensation and some disciplinary action taken in the Pet Boy stores that I have mentioned. read more

First, I want to say I wanted nothing more than to be able to give 5 stars and come away with a positive experience here, but I didn't, therefore the two stars. First of all, I have to say I am disabled and my sole source of income is Social Security Disability and Food Stamps. So for me to afford a car repair, I have to save up for a while and rely on friends and other sources to get me around to the grocery store and doctor's etc. while my car sits and I save the money to afford the repair. When the starter in my car died, it took me about 3 months to save the money. I called Pep Boys a month before bringing it in and asked how much a starter for my particular car will cost to replace. They gave me a quote of around $560. OK, fine so I knew when I got my next check how much I would need with what I had already saved the two previous months. A week before I was to get my disability, I called Pep Boys once again and told them that AAA will be towing the car there in a few days, that my car needed a starter. They said OK. I had it towed by AAA and a day later Pep Boys called me and told me it was going to be over $600 to replace. I told them I had just called a month ago and gave them all the info of my car and that I was quoted $560. I told him I was disabled and this is what I pretty much had saved up and budgeted for this car. He put me on hold and then came back and told me it would be about $460 now. Well, that was "good news" but this isn't the first time I have heard of them starting at a high price and then go lower once someone balks at the price. It happened to a neighbor of mine. So I was appreciative of the price drop but leery of why I got 3 different prices. I bought this car from a neighbor who was moving and couldn't take the car with him. It was a super car with no issues at all for the first year. The only issue it had before the starter went out was that I had to add power steering fluid to it to top it off about once every two weeks. It had a small leak. There were no other leaks and the best thing I liked about this car seeming that it was a 2001 with over 240k miles was that the AC was frosty cold!!! I loved it because this past summer saw some very hot days and I could bring my dogs with me and if I needed to stop at a 7-11 I could have the AC running and the doors locked while I went in for a few minutes to get what I needed! My dogs didn't need to suffer with the heat! So that was such a great bonus! When I went to pick the car up, they said "by the way, you have an oil leak, big time!" I was puzzled because it didn't have not even one scintilla of an oil leak before and I know because I always had a pan under my car just so I could be on top of any leaks. The car is old with high mileage but every Sunday I took the time to check the fluids and top off what I needed if I needed anything so when the guy said I had a "big time" oil leak, I was not happy because it didn't have one before I took it there. As I am driving back home, I started thinking maybe he got it confused with the power steering leak, but that leak was never "big time" it wold just need topping off once every two weeks, that was it. I get home and yes, the power steering reservoir was low so I topped it off the next morning I look at the pan and there was maybe one or two drops of power steering fluid. No oil leaks whatsoever, especially not "big time". A few days later, even though it was winter, the day was unusually warm, I had my dogs in the car and my German Shepherd has a lot of fur and I saw him panting a little while I was driving so I thought I would turn on the AC just to cool down the inside of the car for a few minutes to make him more comfortable. The vents blew warm air. I figured maybe because it was sitting 3 months I needed to "blow out" any stagnant air so I waited and waited and waited. It never got cold! I was furious!!! Yes, the car sat for 3 months while I saved for the starter repair but I used the AC every day before I parked it and I am sure I even used it the day I parked it for 3 months and that car NEVER failed in the entire year I had it to blow out ice cold air!!! It was consistently cold!!! So now coincidence it's not working after picking it up from Pep Boys? I don't know, I don't have any proof they did anything to my AC but that is very curious to me that it was blowing ice cold before I brought it in and now it is warm air!! I called Pep Boys and asked them if perhaps they could have inadvertently disconnected something while replacing the starter to all of a sudden make my AC not work and of course they said no. But to bring it in for them to look at it. Well no, I can't because I have no money to bring it in. Luckily it's winter right now but I marked my calendar for March to start saving money for the AC repair even though I don't know what it is, I figure I could maybe sink around $500 into getting that fixed because the car is worth that much but not much more. read more

Excellent service from Antonio!! Explain everything thoroughly! Also worked the extra mile for me, I really appreciate it. :)

Poor customer service. Called first and was told they would work me in to get four tires and an alignment. Immediately came in and there were three reps at their computer with no customers waiting. I thought great I can get in and out in a reasonable time. Rep said I'll be with you in a moment. 5-10-15 minutes passed as I watched three sales reps continue typing or whatever they were doing on a computer again no customers present except me. What was so important that u can't stop and take a moment to help a customer who is there to spend several hundred dollars to your business? After waiting several minutes I left and went to their competitor down the street where I was greeted and taken care of immediately. read more