I went to Wal-mart to have an oil change and air filter change. When I left the parking lot my car started to go 70 mph and I couldn't slow down or stop.
After I raced around residential streets at 70 mph (through stop signs etc) with my brake pedal pressed to the floor and my car in 1st gear in an attempt to slow down, I realized I would have to drive into something to get my car to stop.
I found a field but it was gated with jersey barriers and I panicked even more until I saw a huge pile of dirt, rocks and macadam. I drove straight into it (or rather my car tried to drive straight up the pile). I heard my engine start to run normally. I returned to Wal-mart shaking as you can imagine.
I spoke to the cashier at the automotive desk and she called a manager but three individuals (managers?) showed up. The customers in the waiting area could see I was panicked.
The three managers went outside to look at my car. One of the managers said that perhaps my car had been like this when I arrived (don't ask me how I would have survived a 25 mile trip at 70 mph and unable to stop/slow down).
I told him there was no way my car was like that and then he said if I was "too scared" to drive my car home I would have to call a tow truck. I responded that if that was necessary *I* would not be the one hiring the tow truck. One of the managers informed me that Wal-mart does not have mechanics and therefore are not responsible for anything that happened to my car. They did agree to look at my car to make sure the oil change had been "done properly".
I went into the lobby area and was asked by a customer what the managers had decided. I told the other customer that the managers had stated Wal-mart didn't have mechanics (they are called "technicians") so they weren't responsible for what happened. One of the managers told me not to speak to anyone. I told her I was free to speak to whomever I choose. That particular manager then threatened to have me arrested if I spoke to anyone in the store about what happened. It's important to note that while I was visibly shaken, I was not out of control.in fact, I waited to speak to someone while the woman at the automotive desk waited on a tire customer.
They brought my car into the bay area and left me with a manager who followed my every move. After 15 or 20 minutes the other two managers returned to tell me they had found the problem. They said my throttle cables had been stretched but they said it was because the cables must have gotten snagged on the plastic cover (that covers the cables and air filter). I asked them to show me what the cables could have gotten snagged on. There were no cracks or anything else for the cables to be caught on.
I suggested perhaps the cables could have been snagged when the air filter was replaced (Wal-mart had just replaced the air filter which is immediately next to the throttle cables). The Wal-mart automotive technician agreed it could have been the case.
I asked to have the technician lookk at my brakes since I had come into the Wal-mart parkinig lot in a stinking cloud of burned up brake fluid. The manager stated Wal-mart didn't work on my brakes so they didn't need to check them. Finally the technician went under the car and said there was still plenty of brake fluid.
Wal-mart refunded my money since I was "less than satisfied". I could have been killed. I could have killed someone else or caused serious damage to property as my car raced around residential streets at 70 mph. Not even an apology. What I got was abuse.
I had someone look at my car and there was no damage other than debris from the pile of road waste I had driven into which was packed into the underside of the car.
I contacted Wal-mart headquarters (via email) and heard from what I can only assume must be a regional manager. Immediately he asked me what I wanted from Wal-mart. I told him "nothing"; that I was trying to let them know what happened and how I was treated.
This gentleman told me that my story was considerably different from the store managers' story. I reminded him of who had more to lose in this situation... The managers or me (remember: I didn't want anything from Wal-mart other than maybe an apology). He didn't believe one word of what I said. He even went so far as to say he was very familiar with the roads I careened around and wanted to know the location of the big pile of dirt, rocks etc I had driven into. He wanted the name and telephone number of the person who examined my car afterward.
He made me feel like I was lying even though I reiterated to him that I wasn't after anything and that I realize mistakes are made because people are human but the treatment I received was inexcusable (seriously—threaten to arrest a customer?).
The whole experience was frightening and infuriating. I told the regional manager that he was "doing what Wal-mart does best: cover each other's a*es". I thanked him for his call and hung up.
One would think that when a customer has an issue like I had, they might be sympathetic or apologetic. What I got was outrageous.
Red967
Eastport, Maine
U.S.A.
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