On 7/18/09, I went to Kwik Kar for an oil change. The technician told me that it had been at least 40,000 miles since the fuel filter had been changed, and suggested that I do so. I agreed. They charged me $99.52 for the oil change, including the filter. They also checked the water level in the battery, at my request, and said it was fine.
Not long after that, I started having trouble starting the car. Thinking that the battery I bought in 2005 needed replacing, I took the car to my normal mechanic. He replaced the battery on 7/22/09, and told me to bring the car back if it was still presenting problems.
After nearly being stranded a town over from home, I took the car back to my mechanic on 7/27/09. He checked the charging system again, and all was fine. Because the car was still hard to start, he checked the fuel system. It turned out that Kwik Kar had installed the wrong fuel filter in the car. My car was in my mechanics shop for 2 days, and the cost was $206.57.
I called Kwik Industries, and they said all Kwik Kar locations are entirely-owned franchises, so I'd have to take up the issue with them.
I went to Kwik Kar on 7/29/09, and spoke to Will. I showed him the receipts for all services performed on the car since 7/18/09. He said he called the owner, who said all they'd reimburse me for was the fuel filter, at their cost of $68.92. He said that the owner told him that I should have given them the chance to "make it right." I brought all invoices, and the incorrect fuel filter, for them to see.
Had I known for certain that it was the fuel filter, I'd have taken the car back to them. I truly suspected the battery, so I took it back where the battery had been installed. I am still $137.65 out of pocket due to this situation. Will said that he will "take this higher, " because he saw that I've done quite a bit of business with them, and didn't want to damage the relationship. He said he was also going to talk to whoever set up their system to tell the technician which filter was right for my car. I told him that, as of now, the relationship between me and Kwik Kar was severely damaged.
All I want is my $206.57, an apology and some sort of correction to their system so this doesn't end up happening to someone else.
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