This morning, I dropped off my Mazda B3000 at Monro store 192 for oil, lube and filter change, brake inspection and tire rotation. Before I drove to the garage, I made marks on three of the four tires so that I can check the completion of the jobs. This was my first time of doing this, though I had this pickup truck serviced at this store a few times in the past and I had suspicions. My office is about a half mile away and I walked back to work after I talked to the store manager. After about two hours, the manager called my cell phone and said my car was ready. I walked to the store, paid the bill, said thank you and I drove away. After I parked my car in my office parking lot, I took a look at the tires and guess what& my tires were not rotated at all! Since I did not feel like to call the store, I got to my office and called Monroe customer service department at 1 (800) 876 6676, ext. 3500 and talked to a Mario R. And mentioned to him that the store even did not put a oil change reminder sticker on the windshield and I had to write down the mileage on the old sticker. He was very nice and promised to call me back after contact the store.in a few minutes, Mario called and instructed me to bring the car back to the store. The store manager apologized and I told him to make sure I got a new filter installed and all the other services were properly completed. He promised to check into this and then drove my car into a bay faraway from the waiting area, though there's a bay available next to the waiting area glass wall. Since I could not see what's going on in the garage, I worked on my PDA in the waiting area. After about 10 minutes, the manager opened the door and said my car was ready. I had to go outside to get my key and I guessed the manager didn't want the other two customers in the waiting area to know what's going on. The manager handed me my key and a business card with handwriting of "free oil change", and said "The next oil change is on me". When I asked whether a new filter was installed, he answered, "Oh yeah. All set!" So I thanked him and drove back to work. After I parked my car I found the tires were rotated from front right to rear right, and front left to rear left. I also opened the hood and took a close look at the oil filter. Since it rained very hard the day before, I could still see the dirt on the filter. I got into my office and called 1 (800) 8766676, ext. 3500 again. When I explained to the man I had talked earlier with Mario, he said Mario's available and transferred me right to Mario's ext. 3364. Since Mario did not pick up the phone, I left my cell phone number and a brief message in his voice mail box. I waited about five minutes and called Mario's extension again and hanged up when nobody picked up the phone. I waited another five minutes and called Mario one more time and, again, nobody picked up the phone. I called 1 (800) 876 6676, ext. 3500 and tried to explain what happened to me, the man Chris, got very impatient and said that he had transferred me to Mario before and I should talk either to Mario or to the store manager. After I explained to him I'd called Mario a few times already and Mario did not return my phone call, and I don't like to contact the store myself, the man got very, very impatient and said I should call the store first and not the customer service. He also said he did not believe the store would do such a thing. After I raised my voice and demanded to talk to the manager, the man said he was the manager and Mario is his associate. Finally he took my cell phone number and said he'd contact the store. When I mentioned to him that I'd mail to him whatever filter the store is going to replace from my car to proof my suspicion was justified, he said I can do whatever I like to do and ask me to watch when they work on my truck. He said I should have somebody else looked at the filter too. So I went to look for other pickup truck drivers in my office. When I was talking to Jim about what happened, Joe passed by and told us his similar unhappy story when he took a school van to the same store. Put it short, Chris called and told me to bring my car back to the store again. When I got there, the store manager and the technician looked at the filter in my truck, and then the manager looked at the technician and instructed the technician to replace it.
The technician took my truck in a bay and I walked in to watch. The technician showed me the filter he's going to install and told me he had even written down the date on it. I picked up that filter and noticed the paint was gone around the edge, there was oil on the rubber ring, and my pinky finger could get unclean oil from inside. I put this filter on a table and took a couple of pictures of it. Then I told the technician I do not like that filter and I wanted a filter fresh from the box. After the new filter was installed I packed my old replaced filter and went outside. When I met the manager outside, I asked him to make sure new oil was filled and he opened the hood and tested for me. Then I drove back to work. When I saw Jim in the parking lot I showed him the old filter, and he said it could not be a filter that was installed today. Jim said he would never go to that store, and I agree with him.
0 comments