On top of that, they sometimes can’t even do the job right and/or troubleshoot/fix the problem correctly.

Sometimes this is true. Been a victim of poor dealership service before and it definitely isn't a good experience.

{blackemo}:laughtertotears:

I understand and agree with you. But let me expess another aspect, based on my experience.
As a customer I'm ready to pay for correctly done job. Yes, mistakes happen too. If a worker eliminates or corrects them, I see no problem.
But there are also ones that do not want to admit they did not do right and have sometimes strange excuses. I had to argue with those too to correct the things. Some of them later realised they had been wrong.

@mountainmanjoe, $1,000 may not be much to you, but it is to me. Yes, mistakes are made and the customer isn’t always right, but in this case, there was a flagrant attempt to take advantage.
As said before, I’ve been going to this dealership exclusively for the past 20+ years and every 5,000 miles for the 3 Toyotas I’ve owned and I have no problem paying a reasonable price for necessary work, but I refuse to pay for needless work. You know as well as I do that the service advisors are compensated, in part, by commission.
What you don’t know is that I am non-confrontational by nature and you also don’t know the events leading up to this situation.
At 55,000 miles, they told me my rear brakes were out of adjustment and showed me a picture of a drum brake with an explanation of the recommended work to be done. My Prius has disc brakes front and rear. At 65,000 miles, their multi-point inspection form indicated the pads were fine, measuring 6mm (in the “green” according to their rating scale.) Now 5,000 miles later, they’re telling me my brakes are critical (in the “red”), measuring 3mm. They’re saying in just 5,000 miles my pads have worn a full 30% (standard thickness of Prius pads is 10/9.5mm). This is after I’ve driven 65,000 miles with pad wear of 40%. I haven’t changed my driving habits – same roads, same environmental factors, etc. Why wouldn’t I be skeptical?
I declined the work and measured them myself at home and determined no brake job necessary at this time. As a routine follow-up, the dealership asked for my opinion of my service visit and I obliged with a one star rating, calling them out on their dishonesty. That web review prompted a call from the Service Director who said to come in anytime and they would measure the pads in front of me. If they didn’t measure 3mm or less, they would replace them for free. I’m sure he didn’t think I would accept the offer, but I did.
I met initially with the Service Advisor and said I wanted to be present when they removed the wheels. That was fine. A half hour later, I was brought into the service area with the Shop Foreman, the Service Advisor and Service Director. The car was up on the lift and the wheels had already been removed. Two pad sets were measured in front of me, both 4 to 5mm. The problem they said was with the right rear – one pad measured less than 1mm and had extreme uneven wear. Keep in mind, a few days ago they were telling me they were all at 3mm. Now 90 miles later, some pads miraculously added material and one wore further to less than 1mm. I called them out on the fact that they switched the right rear pads on me.
I’m 66 years old, 5’8” and weigh 140 lbs (add that to your criteria for a stereotypical Prius owner) and being bullied by 3 burly experts/professionals on their home turf is daunting. The Service Director tried everything including negotiating for a lower price. But I stood up for myself because I knew I was right. They all knew it.
For your information, I berated no one.
If anyone has an overinflated sense of self-importance, it is you sir, along with an obvious bias against your customers (i.e., “I see this crap everyday.”) I am happy to stay clear of your shop as well as your over-sized ego.

I apologize, my response above was primarily for Mod_Man.

@CJBinMaine You're the one who berated your way through multiple employees to get a free brake job. Pretty obvious what you wanted anyway. Your rant doesn't bother me though, and I have an excellent relationship with my customers. And my ego is the perfect size, thank you. {black}:cool:

@Mod_Man, obviously didn't bother to read what I had to say. Your ego must have gotten in the way. Know the facts before you rush to judgement.

Oh I read it. It just wasn't worth a response so I let it be. Keep harping on me.

I was persistent, angry and the facts spoke for themselves.

Thank you. I've been deliberating on whether to do that or not.

I just bought a 03 RX300. A few months ago the previous owner paid about $900 for pads, rotors and new brake fluid. And that was not at a dealership.

3mm is not much brake material. I have no issue with a tech bringing that to my attention. That's their job.

@mountainmanjoe, I agree with you and would have accepted new brakes at 3mm, but they weren't there yet. That's the point I'm trying to make.

I have changed my brakes enough times to know that they hardly ever wear down evenly. Often they will be thinner at one than the other. So they could be 3mm in one spot, 4mm in another, or 2mm in another. I doubt the mechanic will make any money putting them under microscope. I have also learned that when pads start getting that thin, they can sometimes crack and dislodge, causing bigger problems. I check a few websites, and they say you should change your pads when there's anywhere from 3mm to 6mm left

I highly doubt the mechanic got out his micrometer to measure your pad thickness. He probably looked at them and said, yeah that's about 3mm. It's time to change them. And if I were a mechanic, I might give you the same advice. Because I know drivers come for maintenance once a year or less, and the pads won't make it that long. I'm not going to say "they have a few months left in them" and drag you back in for another appointment, knowing that most people won't return. Your car is already on the lift, so you might as well take care of it. And I don't want to risk you getting injured or killed, just because you want to stretch out a trivial item so vital to stopping the car. It's not only foolish, but it could cost me my business license, or worse. If he hadn't told you to change the pads, and you had some kind of trouble related to brakes a month down the road, I bet you would have marched in there demanding to know why they didn't warn you (as you should.) This is standard practice, especially at a dealer.

Also, they weren't forcing you were they? You're not obligated to say yes. You had the option to say "no thank you" and walk out the door. I'm amazed you would make this much fuss over 1mm! They were incredibly generous to provide you $1k of work for free. You just took food off somebody's table and you're still not happy. Also, it's a little strange you bring up your stature. Are you insecure about your size? Were the "burly mechanics" threatening to beat you up and take your lunch money if you didn't change your brakes?