I had an inspection and they got me in fast, on time, and were very friendly and chill

Well this was not an exciting experience at all. Got done with work at 4 hopped in my car and ran over to Valvoline hoping to get my vehicle inspected and get my oil change completed because I work and do not have time to get done any other time but when I'm finished with work. I pulled in and the gentleman who came to my window asked me what I wanted and when I told him he said well we only do inspections from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. which to me is amazing especially when it when recently no one had been able to get their vehicles inspected. Then, I told him I wanted an oil changed and he told me "well the is only two of us on so you are going to have a wait, because someone just pulled in and someone is right after them, it is first come first serve, so, if you want to wait you can". This struck me as odd because I did not see where he wanted me to stay with the way it was said to me. When I asked if anyone else in the area does inspections he said I have no idea I am not from around here and I left. I worked for businesses like this in the past, and I will tell as stressed out as I got I never spoke to a customer in that way to make them feel unwanted. I went there for every oil change and every inspection for the past 4 years but unfortunately I will but going elsewhere to do my business, that just turned me off. On another note I am sure he was probably having a bad day. That is not an excuse get out of the feild if you can not talk the pressure of the job. I am giving you am opinion right now and want you to decide on your own merit whether or not you would like to frequent this establishment, so please try it out you may have a completely different experience than I, but ask for me I am loyal to a fault but when I feel like I am no longer wanted I take my business elsewhere. Thank you for listening. read more

I usually have no problems with these guys as the oil changes are great. That said, I came here to get an inspection and they turned me away saying I needed an appointment. Normally that would make sense, however last year I got my inspection done and they said I didn't need an appointment. So I stopped by thinking nothing of it. The gentleman that turned me away was nice, stating it was a policy of the manager. I just couldn't understand why they wouldn't want my business. There were NO cars in their shop! I asked him about it but he politely said the same thing that his manager didn't want to schedule more than one appointment an hour. Which being they were doing nothing I found silly! I had to make an appointment for the next day. Which means I went across town and got my inspection done at jiffy lube in 45 mins. To sum it up, don't get your state inspection done there. read more

William at Niskayuna Valvoline was beyond exceptional. He showed me the "sludge" in my oil system (something that the Ford dealer said they cleaned out when they replaced my engine... yes, REPLACED due to a manufacturer defect in a 2017 with 60k miles on it) and also had me get out of the vehicle and showed me my serpentine belt which was split down the middle and needs to be replaced. He instructed me to go to the Ford dealership and explained what to tell them. I consider myself technically inclined regarding vehicles, as they're one of my main hobbies--and William had picked up on that and was extremely upfront and honest about things he noticed around my vehicle. Never once did he force any additional services or make me feel like I had "urgent" issues i.e., a scare tactic to purchase more services. While I can't speak for everyone at that location, I do know that the three techs that worked on my car today did exceptional work and did a very thorough job. I recommend this location and will definitely be going back. read more

The manager of this Valvoline was downright mean. I pulled up at 1:30 (after calling to confirm I could come in because 2 other Valveline's turned me away despite their 'no appointment needed' tagline).  The manager yelled at me to stop & asked what I was there for, I said I called & confirmed I could come in for an inspection - he got upset & said there was a 2.5 hour wait and he doesn't know who told me to come because they're busy.  There were 3 cars being serviced & only 2 cars in front of me, at 1:30. I believe he told me 2.5 hours in hopes I'd give up & leave. I said okay to the wait & he walked away yelling to his technicians that I "claimed" I'd called $ he didn't know how that was possible because the phone hasn't rang. My visit began with the implication that I'm a liar, followed by a series of spiteful behaviors to apparently punish me for that false offense. The wait was 1 hour in the end with a half hour inspection, and only because he favored every other customer to spite me before taking my car - he personally changed 3 cars' oil in the 30-35 minutes between my inspection starting and ending. At 2:00 pm he started turning customers away saying they needed an appointment, then started letting a few oil change cars stay around 2:30pm. He shouted to his technicians that they did 13 inspections and 16 (or 26) oil changes today, so that was good - implying they should be done.  I know all this because I was one car away from the garage, my windows were open, and he projected his voice. One customer who came in when I was the only car waiting was prioritized to one of two inspection lanes despite the third non-inspection lane being open. When the technicians called that customer forward, he asked them if I could go first because of how I was waiting - I thanked him and declined, but when even other customers notice you targeting an individual, it must be pretty glaring. I waited patiently & said nothing until I was pulled in as the only car left in the lot (at 2:30pm). The manager left 1 technician to do my car while he walked around the side of the building to make a phone call, then came back yelling to his technicians about the raccoon in the dumpster. I'm standing there waiting when he turns to me & says "you gotta see this thing it's like this big" & gestures with his hands. I'm flabbergasted so I just so "wow" and continue to wait for my car. Meanwhile he drags the other technician over to the dumpster to try to leverage a stick into it so the animal would have a bridge out. When my tech finishes the inspection, he calls to the supervisor that he's done and this manager yells back "be there in a minute." I'm the only customer in the whole place, it's 3:00pm during business hours, and the manager is making me, a customer, wait for a possibly rabid raccoon while he plays with it in a dumpster? At this point I finally cracked and said "are you kidding me? I'm waiting on a raccoon?!" And I walked to the counter to pay. The manager did not meet me there, but both technicians did and processed my payment. I offered to show them my phone log to prove that I did call and that I was told to come in so that I could provide evidence I didn't deserve the ire of the manager that was directed at me this whole time. They responded that he is a "hothead" and got upset because "he probably doesn't even know it gets transferred to customer service if we don't pick up." I explained that as a manager, understanding how things function is his responsibility and there was really no reason to take that out on me. They said they understood and tried to manage the best they could to get me through. They agreed that he was behaving spitefully and it was clear they are used to dealing with this type of behavior.  I mentioned times in this review because I want to make it apparent that this wasn't the end of the day as closing is at 5pm and my experience began when I pulled in at 1:30pm. I'm a long time customer of Valveline but after being turned away from two locations and treated like this by a 3rd, I unfortunately won't be back. read more

This place is a total joke. Today was the third (and last) time in the last month I have tried to stop for an oil change and NYS inspection. The first two times they said their inspection computer was down. Now today they say their inspector called out sick. Coincidence? I think not. They can't or won't provide the services they advertise. I have been using Valvoline for years but after this garbage never again. read more

Went to the Valvoline on State Street in Schenectady NY this Saturday morning, thinking I would save $10 on an oil change using this address's website coupon. I have a 2015 Honda Accord. The person who checked me in did not indicate that there would be any problem using the coupon to get the oil change using conventional oil, which I indicated that I wanted. After waiting an hour (for some reason they were awfully slow this morning), they got to my car and then the manager came over to me and said I could ruin my engine if I did not use synthetic oil. Not knowing whether that was accurate, I decided to go for that oil instead of conventional. If I had gone to my dealership, the cost of the oil change would have been $34. Instead I paid $44, which according to the valvoline manager was a good discount, which he offered me for having to wait so long. I told him, that to me, they seem to be doing bait and switch, as the first employee I encountered there should have known they would try to talk me out of using conventional oil. Had the first employee told me that I would have left immediately. Beware. read more

Went for an oil change with my Groupon , was in & out fast, had no issues, I would recommend if your in a rush to get an oil change done, you stay in the comfort of your car the whole time and watch them do it, if I'm unable to go to dealership again I'll be sure to go back here.A++ read more

2 guys worked on my car in an efficient manner. Looked some things over but didn't try to up sell me anything, which I appreciate. A few places I've been for an oil change tell you that you need replacement parts when you don't. I was in and out of the bay quickly. Price seemed reasonable. I'll go here again when I'm due. If there's anything that warrants a lesser rating, I'll update. After 1 trip, I'm a satisfied customer. Time will tell. read more

They damaged my daughters car. Hood wouldn't open arter oil change. When we went back theu attempted to get it open, and couldn't after 2 hours. Then to find out someone attempted to get in the locked glove box. Now we have no handle on it, and now way to open it. Was given a claim number, but was told thet had to look over the camera coverage, and see what happened, and have to wait to get anything fixed. Also there was food left on top of the engine. Will never deal with them again. read more