It is amazing that in the year 2008 a woman has to have the men in her life handle anything done on an automobile. Today, at 9:00 am I took my car in to have all four tires replaced and the oil changed. My husband had called "Chris" in the automotive center yesterday informing them that I would be there and they assured him they would have the tires in stock. At 9, "Chris" told me that they were not in but would be in less than an hour and that it would take a couple of hours to complete everything. He said they would begin my oil change right away (since the shop was empty) and to check back with him at 11.
My mother and I went out to breakfast and ran a few errands. At 11:24 am I called the shop, again speaking with Chris. He had just gotten off the phone with my husband and told me that it was taking longer because whoever did the tires last had stripped the bolts on two of the wheels. He also told me I should go back to wherever I had it done, because the old tires were defective (bought December 06) should have lasted 6-7 years on my front-wheel drive car. I told him the last place to have my tires off was Sears in December. I proceeded to tell him it was the same Sears! He said I must have had the tires off since then, basically calling me a liar. I asked if they were going to repair the bolts, and he said no. He also did not believe me that I bought the tires from Sears since he said he couldn't find it in the system. I told him the receipt was in the glove box, and he said he couldn't find it.
I had my husband call him back from his work. My husband had much the same conversation, but now they were going to replace the stripped bolts free of charge. "Chris" told him the car would be done in 45 minutes, so my mother and I headed up there to pick it up at about 1:30."Chris" told my husband all there was left to do was to change the oil.
As we walked up, the tires were still off of the car and they were replacing the bolts. My mother and I noticed the tires on the ground. Three of the old tires were clearly problematic. There was no wear pattern, just bald spots. I also reached in the glove box and found the old receipt within 20 seconds. My mother tried to explain it, however after standing at the desk for over twenty minutes being ignored we called my father to arrive.
My father, an ASE certified mechanic and restorer of classic cars, came up to speak with them. The moment he joined us at the desk, a young man (who ignored us for 20 minutes!) asked him if he could help him. My father explained the problem and they took him back to show him the issue. They told him 1 bolt had been stripped on one wheel (contrary to what they told my husband and I) and that it needed to be replaced. My father asked if they were planning to turn the rotors, after opening them that way, and got nothing but push back by someone who described themselves as a Tech III. When my father pointed to his 1967 Corvette Stingray in the lot that he rebuilt, they were happy to turn them for him. They were still waiting on the bolts though, as apparently they did not have the right size in stock and had to order them. They had ordered them incorrectly: three times. They had also replaced four bolts on the back right tire.
My mother and I walked up to the auto center manager, Fidel A. Ramirez ([email protected]) and explained to him the problems we had been having since 9 am. It was now 3:25 pm. We told him we wanted the name of the manager of the store to escalate it further past his department. He told us he could not give us a name because the man who was the manager was a traveling manager and could not accept phone calls. He gave us the 1-800 phone number.
Neither of us believed him and we walked around, locating the store manager within 5 minutes. Although she is a traveling manager, she was in the store and has a number where she could be reached. He also lied in identifying her as a man. The traveling manager, Kris King, tried her best to ascertain the situation. The staff began lying to her, telling her we didn't arrive until 10. She tried her best, but her staff completely undermined her. She offered us an apology and understood my mother's frustration that they were going to have me leave with stripped bolts. (In fact, they already did in December 06!)
We were getting ready to leave to take the car to another shop to check the work when we heard Fidel A. Ramirez lying to the manager, Kris King. He told her they offered to change the bolts (they did not, my husband had to call and scream at them). He also said I did not call them, that they called me (not true). Furthermore, he acted like the 70 dollar discount was some kind of customer service miracle despite my documentation that the tires were 1 year 3 months old (with less than 20,000 miles!!!) from the very same store. I had also purchased the "road hazard" back then.
I will never shop at Sears again. Their prices may be lower than Wal-Mart on tires, but there is a reason. They are fine with sending you out with unsecure tires; they do not honor their own customer service; they will lie to your face; and if you are a woman you will have to call your husband or father to be treated with any respect at all.
Tess
San Marcos, Texas
U.S.A.
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