I am in the New Mexico Air National Guard and I pull drills at Kirtland AFB once a month. On April 06, while in Albuquerque for duty, my car would not start.
I had my car taken to Pep Boys on Central Ave. For repairs the next morning at 07:00 AM. They did not open until 09:00 AM, however, it had taken them until 04:30 PM that day to repair the alternator, the alternator belt, and replace the battery. The man at the service counter stated "it took so long because we couldn't find the right belt."
I then asked him if they had indeed found the right belt and he said "yeah." I never questioned him again. I had to leave from there to go home to Alamogordo, NM. I told the service man that when I sent my car in and re-stated that when I picked my car up. Today, April 08, I drove my car to school and discovered that my car was making a squealing noise, because I have had alternator belts become loose before I recognized the sound to be that.
I immediately took my car home because the light on my radio began to dim which signaled I was losing power. I immediately called Pep Boys to find out if there was anything I could do to get the belt tightened without driving 3.5 hours back to Albuquerque and the manager told me that I either have to come to Albuquerque or drive 1.5 hours to El Paso to another Pep Boys.
I then called the 800 customer service number and received the run around and the lady I spoke with acted like it was my fault. Later I went outside to get something out of my car when I noticed a belt hanging from underneath the car, it was a frayed part of the alternator belt.
I opened the hood and seen the rest of the belt was still on the pully. So out of curiosity I wrote down the belt's serial number and called a local auto part store to find out what number should be on the belt.
The number that is on my "new" belt is 5pk1120 440k5 the number it should have been is 5pk1120 440k6, which is one size larger. The mechanic at Pep Boys never found the right belt, so he just went with the next best thing.
I called the store immediately after making this discovery and spoke with the assistant manager because the manager had allready left. He told me that there wasn't much he could do, however he would page the district manager and have him call me.
My biggest problem is this, the mechanic knew he was putting on the wrong belt, he knew I was driving over 200 miles that night in bad weather, and everyone in New Mexico knows that there is only desert between Albuquerque and Alamogordo.
I am very lucky that I did not get stranded in the middle of nowhere, or lose power and control of my car in the storms, and I am also lucky that I made it home.
I have been trained to the best job I can and to maintain service before self, excellence, and integrity as a military member, I expect the same of civilians that I serve and protect. My only goal here is to make sure people do not pay $226.00 to go through what I am going through or worse.
Lynnea
Alamogordo, New Mexico
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