Beware of Sears Automotive - Slightly Off Topic
02-21-2009, 05:44 PM
#1
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Beware of Sears Automotive - Slightly Off Topic
As many of you have, I have followed the plight of many a shark owner who has had to deal with a disreputable or unknowledgeable shop for repairs. I have also followed closely the mixed results people have had when using Sears to do an alignment. Today I had a very ugly experience with Sears Automotive at Fair Oaks Mall here in Northern Viirginia, and thought I'd relay a bit of it as a warning.
Fortunately we're talking about the spouse's Mitsubishi Montero Sport, and we're "only" talking about getting a new battery. That would seem to be simple and straight forward enough. However, we never had the anti-theft code for the radio and the previuos battery change necessitated a trip to the Mitsu dealership....and the payment of $75 to have the code re-entered. That was 4 years ago. Today I took the Mitsu to Sears to buy a bettery and in discussing my problem, I was told by the technicians that they could replace the battery and not lose the code.
As the labor cost for replacing the battery was only $12.50, I decided to let them do it. Before any work was done, I reiterated at least 6 times that I did not have the code and that if the code was wiped out it would cost $75 to have Mitsu re-enter it. ( Before you ask, when Mitsubishi did the re-coding they were "supposed" to write the code on the receipt...which I recently found out they didn't!) I was assured by Sears that "we do this all the time". I made sure it was indicated on the workorder that I did not have the code.
Needless to say, 40 minutes later the new battery had been installed and ....you got it.....no radio. The service technician, as to be expected, couild not be found; so I found the manager.
I was absolutely livid and completely lost it. In all likelihood I gave the manager the loudest most profanity laced dressing down he had ever hade in his life. I'm talking about the kind of fury where the veins in your forehead swell up to size of tree roots. When the technician tried to be cute and interjected with a smirk "sometimes these things happen". It was all I could do to not spit in his face. The manager said I needed to get the code from Mitsubishi and he would reimburse me the $75 and re-enter it. I told him I didn't lose it so I didn't need to get $hit from any f*&king body; again, I had made it perfectly clear that I did not have the code before any work was done. So then he tells me that the dealer may not give him the code as he is not the original owner. My response was, "You should've thought about that before you f*&ked up"!
It's funny how Sears f*&ked up, but then wants me to do something to make it right.
Am I angry becasue the radio doesn't work... yes. Am I more angry becasue now I've got to make another trip back to either Sears or the Mitsu dealership to have my radio re-coded...yes. But what I'm absolutely furious about is that I was LIED TO! I gave Sears 6 opportunities to sell me a battery and walk away from the installation. If there was any hesitation on their ability to do the job they should have turned it down. But no....they are so greedy and arroganat that they will screw your car up and then give you some trite bull**** line like "we don't know how that happened".
On my end, the ball has started rolling, I am making a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau, AAA and Sears Corporate Headquarters. I have contacted American Express and put the bill in dispute...so they won't get paid until I'm satisfied. The worst part for Sears is now they must deal with my wife. (Heaven help them, but they brought it on themselves.) She has called and given the manager a second dressing done and is expecting an answer to the problem by 7:00am Monday morning...no exceptions...no excuses. You do not want to **** off my wife!
There are some positives here. First there wasn''t any physical violence...almost spitting in the technician's face was as close as it came; second, it reinforces that it is best to do your own work on everything; and third, other people don't give a $hit about you, your car, or their reputation...they want your money and that's all.
Last but not least, this afternoon's incident reminds me why I don't carry a pistol in either of my cars.
Monday morning 7:00am, that poor bastard (the service manager) is gonna have to deal with my wife...but he brought it on himself....the poor bastard.
Fortunately we're talking about the spouse's Mitsubishi Montero Sport, and we're "only" talking about getting a new battery. That would seem to be simple and straight forward enough. However, we never had the anti-theft code for the radio and the previuos battery change necessitated a trip to the Mitsu dealership....and the payment of $75 to have the code re-entered. That was 4 years ago. Today I took the Mitsu to Sears to buy a bettery and in discussing my problem, I was told by the technicians that they could replace the battery and not lose the code.
As the labor cost for replacing the battery was only $12.50, I decided to let them do it. Before any work was done, I reiterated at least 6 times that I did not have the code and that if the code was wiped out it would cost $75 to have Mitsu re-enter it. ( Before you ask, when Mitsubishi did the re-coding they were "supposed" to write the code on the receipt...which I recently found out they didn't!) I was assured by Sears that "we do this all the time". I made sure it was indicated on the workorder that I did not have the code.
Needless to say, 40 minutes later the new battery had been installed and ....you got it.....no radio. The service technician, as to be expected, couild not be found; so I found the manager.
I was absolutely livid and completely lost it. In all likelihood I gave the manager the loudest most profanity laced dressing down he had ever hade in his life. I'm talking about the kind of fury where the veins in your forehead swell up to size of tree roots. When the technician tried to be cute and interjected with a smirk "sometimes these things happen". It was all I could do to not spit in his face. The manager said I needed to get the code from Mitsubishi and he would reimburse me the $75 and re-enter it. I told him I didn't lose it so I didn't need to get $hit from any f*&king body; again, I had made it perfectly clear that I did not have the code before any work was done. So then he tells me that the dealer may not give him the code as he is not the original owner. My response was, "You should've thought about that before you f*&ked up"!
It's funny how Sears f*&ked up, but then wants me to do something to make it right.
Am I angry becasue the radio doesn't work... yes. Am I more angry becasue now I've got to make another trip back to either Sears or the Mitsu dealership to have my radio re-coded...yes. But what I'm absolutely furious about is that I was LIED TO! I gave Sears 6 opportunities to sell me a battery and walk away from the installation. If there was any hesitation on their ability to do the job they should have turned it down. But no....they are so greedy and arroganat that they will screw your car up and then give you some trite bull**** line like "we don't know how that happened".
On my end, the ball has started rolling, I am making a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau, AAA and Sears Corporate Headquarters. I have contacted American Express and put the bill in dispute...so they won't get paid until I'm satisfied. The worst part for Sears is now they must deal with my wife. (Heaven help them, but they brought it on themselves.) She has called and given the manager a second dressing done and is expecting an answer to the problem by 7:00am Monday morning...no exceptions...no excuses. You do not want to **** off my wife!
There are some positives here. First there wasn''t any physical violence...almost spitting in the technician's face was as close as it came; second, it reinforces that it is best to do your own work on everything; and third, other people don't give a $hit about you, your car, or their reputation...they want your money and that's all.
Last but not least, this afternoon's incident reminds me why I don't carry a pistol in either of my cars.
Monday morning 7:00am, that poor bastard (the service manager) is gonna have to deal with my wife...but he brought it on himself....the poor bastard.
02-21-2009, 06:24 PM
#3
Team Owner
Go to Best Buy and get a better radio.
Life is too short brother
Life is too short brother
02-21-2009, 07:10 PM
#5
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Thread Starter
And you met me a couple of weeks ago at Michael's house, you know I'm a laid back kinda guy. It's the deceit and the pretense that it wasn't really their fault, because I should have had the code that set me off.
Anyway....7:00AM Monday morning and they've got to deal with my wife!
02-21-2009, 07:11 PM
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02-21-2009, 07:13 PM
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02-21-2009, 08:16 PM
#10
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And who, disguised as Cark Kent, .....
Jerome, Sears has been scamming, on the edge of ethics, since the 1920's.
They hire auto techs with virtually no experience. Its scary to hang-out by their garage doors and listen to their lack of knowledge.
They don't have the problem-solving skills to hook another battery in parallel while they hook-in your new one.
When we met at Michael's, my impression was you are an executive and professional. It still is.
Make Sears pay.
You should get the code, though.
Jerome, Sears has been scamming, on the edge of ethics, since the 1920's.
They hire auto techs with virtually no experience. Its scary to hang-out by their garage doors and listen to their lack of knowledge.
They don't have the problem-solving skills to hook another battery in parallel while they hook-in your new one.
When we met at Michael's, my impression was you are an executive and professional. It still is.
Make Sears pay.
You should get the code, though.
02-21-2009, 08:56 PM
#11
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I think a reasonable, responsible owner would have his radio code. They might have a procedure that generally does not cause the loss of radio presets, etc. but not 100% of the time and the consequences are usually insignificant. I'm sorry you are upset but losing the radio preset is something an owner should be prepared for and should not be an expensive 'gotcha' for some hapless department store repair-droid.
What if you brought in your 928 and had only one key, and they lost it. Should they be responsible for getting all new locks, or a key cut to code and shipped overnight, and a rental car while you wait? Or should they expect to give you a ride home to get your spare key and pay for a replacement and anything beyond that is your problem? If you are silly enough to only have one key for your car should they pay for the consequences?
-Joel.
What if you brought in your 928 and had only one key, and they lost it. Should they be responsible for getting all new locks, or a key cut to code and shipped overnight, and a rental car while you wait? Or should they expect to give you a ride home to get your spare key and pay for a replacement and anything beyond that is your problem? If you are silly enough to only have one key for your car should they pay for the consequences?
-Joel.
02-21-2009, 09:06 PM
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Jerome,
Sorry they weren't able to swap out batteries without loosing the code. I've done this in the past with some older BMW's, when I didn't have the code either. Just hooked up the little boost ("jump") battery and then removed and replaced the dead battery. Never lost a code that way, but apparently the Sears guys didn't do this.
I'd go for a newer / after market head unit in the Mitsu. Put your $75 towards this as suggested already.
I put in a new Alpine head unit in the 91 928, and man, it sounds great compared to the 1997 Alpine head unit that was in there.
Sorry they weren't able to swap out batteries without loosing the code. I've done this in the past with some older BMW's, when I didn't have the code either. Just hooked up the little boost ("jump") battery and then removed and replaced the dead battery. Never lost a code that way, but apparently the Sears guys didn't do this.
I'd go for a newer / after market head unit in the Mitsu. Put your $75 towards this as suggested already.
I put in a new Alpine head unit in the 91 928, and man, it sounds great compared to the 1997 Alpine head unit that was in there.
02-21-2009, 09:34 PM
#13
Or, you can do like I did and take the car in for a specific service, ask if they were willing to learn something new (they have a Hunter DSP machine) and see if they want to earn some new business. I spent a couple of days and a couple of cars later and could not ask for better service from my local Sears store. Got offered some serious discounts and a corp account for working with them. I bring them cars for some things and they give me a nice kick back.
The young techs (and one old codger I really like) are willing to learn new things and will go the extra mile to make sure not only they get a benefit (me bringing more jobs to them) and they get to add some cool stuff to their resume.
It's all in the way you approach them and the attitude you keep.
The young techs (and one old codger I really like) are willing to learn new things and will go the extra mile to make sure not only they get a benefit (me bringing more jobs to them) and they get to add some cool stuff to their resume.
It's all in the way you approach them and the attitude you keep.
02-21-2009, 09:45 PM
#15
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Or, you can do like I did and take the car in for a specific service, ask if they were willing to learn something new (they have a Hunter DSP machine) and see if they want to earn some new business. I spent a couple of days and a couple of cars later and could not ask for better service from my local Sears store. Got offered some serious discounts and a corp account for working with them. I bring them cars for some things and they give me a nice kick back.
The young techs (and one old codger I really like) are willing to learn new things and will go the extra mile to make sure not only they get a benefit (me bringing more jobs to them) and they get to add some cool stuff to their resume.
It's all in the way you approach them and the attitude you keep.
The young techs (and one old codger I really like) are willing to learn new things and will go the extra mile to make sure not only they get a benefit (me bringing more jobs to them) and they get to add some cool stuff to their resume.
It's all in the way you approach them and the attitude you keep.
On the other hand.... I've tried to the same thing with my mom's cars while visiting in southern New Jersey and it doesn't fly.
Its always a pain when you get screwed in commercial business that should otherwise be terribly simple. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in...
...my two cents pre-scotch