Valvoline Instant Oil Change

I’ve been a customer at this location for my oil changes for roughly 2 years. I’ve always thought the workers were friendly and helpful. I know upselling is part of the business, but my most recent visit felt incredibly predatory and I felt bamboozled into spending more money on an unnecessary, non-urgent service under the guise that it was urgent. I went in for an oil change and was upsold an “air conditioner service” despite my air conditioner working perfectly fine with no issues. The worker made it seem incredibly urgent, saying “I don’t know how much you care about your car…” so I felt pressured and gave in to the $400 service. They checked my air filters and also tried upselling them despite my insistence that I changed them less than 6 months ago. I understand cars require maintenance but the urgent, guilt-tripping language by the worker was unlike anything I have experienced at this location. I know I am a woman who does not know a lot about cars, and I fear that they took advantage of those two facts to back me into a corner and create a high pressure situation to spend $400 on a service that I truly do not believe my car required. When I got home and Googled, I found that the average prices for an air conditioner service is typically $200, NOT $400. I know Valvoline prices differ per location, but this is absurd upcharging. I am ashamed I fell for this robbery. While I’ve appreciated their hard work in the past, this interaction was uncomfortable and unsatisfactory. I will NOT be giving Valvoline my business for any future oil changes after this experience and I hope this review is helpful for prospective customers.