Mitch & Bill’s Exxon

I have a hand truck with pneumatic tires which needed to be replaced. I bought 2 new tires for $ 15 each and took them to Mitch & Bill’s Exxon to have them mounted on my rims. The person I gave the tires and rims to said it would be no problem to mount the tires. I picked up the mounted tires today and was handed a bill for $ 80 dollars!!! $ 80 to mount two hand truck tires!!! When I questioned the price, the manager told me to speak to the worker in the shop. The worker said, «it was very hard to mount the small tires». I asked the manager what the cost was to mount car tires. He told me $ 30 per tire and that includes balancing the tires!!! The manager finally took $ 40 for the mounting of the 2 tires!!!
If you believe that $ 80 is reasonable for mounting 2 hand truck tires, then by all means please patronize Mitch & Bill’s Exxon. However, if you don’t feel like being riped off just because you are in Potomac, steer clear of this place.

This is only about gas, never brought a car to them for a repair, but have been getting gas there for a long time, never a problem. Today, though, went through the usual routine, and started fueling. It went really really really slowly, stopped and started, restarted. Finally a lot of time went by and only two gallons had gone in. Stopped the refueling, paid and completed the transaction at the pump, and went inside to ask if anything was wrong with the pump. Conversation went something like this:
Me, anything wrong with your pump?
Him, was it going really slowly?
Me, yes.
Him, Oh, God, it’s happening.
Me, what’s happening?
Him, it’s running out. We knew it was happening, but not when.
Me, what do you mean it’s running out. Is your tank low?
Him, yes, it’s at the bottom.
Me, you knew it was at the bottom and you didn’t turn off the pump?
Him, yes.
Me, well, I don’t want to fuel my car with sludge from the bottom of your tank, you shouldn’t put your customers at risk of that.
Him, there’s no risk, there are filters.
Me, I don’t care what there is. If you know your fuel level is getting to the bottom of the tank, and nearing the sludgy part, you should shut the pump.
Him, we didn’t know when it was going to happen. You told us, it just happened.
Me, I came in and told you. Maybe other people had the same thing happen and just left, like I was going to, instead of coming in to ask you about it.
ETC. No concern or sense of responsibility on his part whatsoever. I’m really annoyed with that disregard for customers and their engines, and won’t be buying my gas there anymore – unless –my– tank hits bottom when I’m near that station, and I need a gallon to get me somewhere else.

I have taken 4 family cars to Mitch and Bills for 12 years starting in 2002, and have never had a problem before — but never really needed major work. However, last year I owned a 2005 Subaru Legacy Turbo Wagon, on which the turbo failed after 70,000 miles. I took the car to Mitch and Bills and they replaced the turbo. Since that time, the turbo made a whiny noise and had a constant burning smell. I took it to Mitch and bills several times, and teach time they either could not find the problem, or diagnosed it with some other problem which they said they repaired.
Then, a few months ago, the turbo failed a second time. I took it to Mitch and Bills again, and told them that the turbo was never right since they installed it, and it was clearly a problem with the install that they never fixed. Their response was that the warranty on the part was only 6 months, and their warranty was only for one year (I guess I was a month or two over). I went on to explain that several times in the last year I told them it was not right and they never fixed it — so their labor warranty should have covered it as an ongoing problem.
So they replaced it with a new turbo, and I took it home — all seemed well for the 10 minute drive, until I pulled into the driveway and black smoke was billowing out of the engine as if the car was on fire. I called them and had them come got it with tow truck. They told me it was a bad hose or something not related to the turbo, and they at least fixed that without charging me.
To make a long story short, I lost several thousand dollars and Mitch and Bill’s was not willing to make it right, and I am convinced the turbo was never installed properly. It’s too bad, because they are great for smaller repairs, oil changes, etc., and are really nice guys. But if I ever have a big repair that needs to be done right, I would not use them again.
It’s very shortsighted of them — I will never bring another of my current 3 family cars there again (soon to be 5 family cars with two teenagers coming of age soon, so they’ll lose much more than the 2500 dollars over a few year’s time. Not only that, everyone who has asked me since then who I use for car service — I tell them about my experience. I am also posting this to my facebook, where over 1000 people will see the experience I had and base their future choices on it.

Mitch & Bill’s, although a gas station, is a Potomac institution — having been here for over 60 years. The gas itself is very expensive and I only buy gas here if my tank is completely empty and I just need a gallon to get me to a cheaper gas station. What I love about Mitch & Bill’s though is the fact that their service staff is amazing. Anytime my low tire light comes on or something doesn’t sound right with my car, I hop on over and one of the guys will quickly take my car in, take a look at it, and let me know what’s wrong. If you have a nail in your tire, they will patch it up for you in less than 20 minutes and you’re good to go. You can’t get service this fast anywhere else! The only reason I’m giving them 4 stars instead of 5 is their hours are inconvenient — you can’t even get gas with your credit card after 11pm!

Good service, nice people and honest car service. This is a good station but it’s very expensive gas.

This station has been there since the 1950s… always great service.