Action 9 Investigates Brake Repair Chain

It's the chain with the 99 dollar brake offer--all 4 wheels. But within two months Richard Kovachik claims the 99 dollar job at Just Brakes came back to haunt him. He says the brakes locked then something smelled red hot. "Anytime you see that much smoke coming out you know something is wrong."

Richard had the car towed to another repair shop where he says an ASE certified master mechanic told him the technician had used clamps to shut off the brake fluid and that did permanent damage. He was told if he kept driving, "eventually it would burn up and I'd be doing 55 and no way to slow down."

Now the brake repair was going to cost, not 99 but 12-hundred dollars.

It happened to another Just Brakes customer and he could not believe what was discovered under his minivan. The brakes on his 2002 Dodge Caravan had started smoking then locked up. "It was extremely unsafe to drive. I could have had my grandchildren in the car," said the owner of the car.

Scared he had another expert inspect the van who found the clamps had been left on, shutting off fluid so the brakes failed. The damage repair estimate, 18 hundred dollars.

(Todd Ulrich) "Did they have a safety issue?" (Jay Zembower-repair expert) "Absolutely without a doubt. Not only could they be injured or killed so could other people including pedestrians."

The vehicles had been repaired at the Sanford location and because of our investigation Just Brakes corporate office told Action 9 it regrets the customer's experience, it's reviewing procedures, and it's taken appropriate action to re-educate team members. The company paid for the mini-van repairs.

Richard said Just Brakes offered to repair his truck too. "I turned them down because they didn't fix it right the first time."

Just Brakes had 30 local complaints with the Better Business Bureau, several hundred nationwide. It has an A- bureau rating because it does respond to complaints.