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Sears Auto - Oil Change

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Sears Auto • Tires • Wheels • Batteries • Brakes • Oil Change • Safety Inspection • Everything Else ---- • Sears Settles NJ Fraud Case • Suit Charges Fraud • Insider's Report • Other Sears Complaints

Enrique of Daily City , CA March 20, 2010

On 01/16/2010 I went to this location for an oil change but the person who attended me came out to as well measure the tread of the tires of my car to sell me new tires, He toll me that the tread of the front tires were too low and needed to be replace wich I agred and also agred to move the rear tires to thefront and place the new ones on the back because he recomended it. I paid a total of 300.54 for the 2 tires and the oil change, when I pick up the car I looked the 2 new tires obviusly but never worry about checking the front ones untill after 2 months later when I was washing my car by hand that I notice that one of the front tires is not the same brand it use to have when I had the four of then. So it goes like this, before my car had the four tires Brigestone, they instaled 2 new ones Goodyear in the back, why now on of the front one is KUMHO that is really strange because the wheel rin is the same.Does someone want to explain me where my other brigestone whent? and this is a really wear out kumho tire. what if I get a flat tire on the freeway at 65 mph? I did not worry checking all the tires because is not the first time I take my car to this place and I really trust them before.

Kristy of Meriden, CT January 26, 2010

I took my vehicle in for a routine oil change on 18 January 2010; there were no problems with the vehicle and I was not leaking any oil, it was simply time to get an oil change. I was quoted a wait time of an hour or two. They asked for my cell phone to call me when the car would be ready for retrieval. Since the Meriden Square Mall is adjacent to the auto center, I decided to shop. After three hours with no phone call, I returned to Sears Auto Center to find my vehicle still not completed.

At that point I was told the reason the job was taking so long was that whoever did my last oil change used the wrong size plug, which was consequently stripped, and they had to replace the plug. However, they had to use an aftermarket plug because they did not have the proper size on hand. I was also told to bring the vehicle to the VW dealership for my next oil change so they could rectify this issue. The receipt/documentation I was given reflects this conversation:

"Comments/Requests or Alternative Contacts: Oil change, drain plug was stripped replaced with oversized drain plug should take back to dealer next oil change." Based on this, I drove the vehicle to work for the next three days (approximately 100 miles total); on the third day, we noticed large amounts of oil leaking from the vehicle and brought it to the VW dealership right away.

Upon inspection by the VW dealership, the drain plug installed by Sears Auto was too large, causing the drain hole in the oil pan to be damaged to the point where a new drain plug of any kind could not be reinstalled and work properly. The oil pan and the gasket had to be replaced at this point, for a total of 429.60.

When we apprised Sears Auto Center of the situation, not only did they assume no culpability, they changed their story about my service to the point of falsehood. The sales staff and manager insisted they told me the drain PAN was already stripped and that they only patched up the problem so I could get the vehicle to the VW dealership immediately to avoid having to have it towed. First, they never mentioned damage to the drain pan, only the issue with the drain plug. If there was damage to the drain pan when I brought it to them, why is only the drain plug mentioned in my documentation?

Also, why isn't the severity and immediacy of the situation documented in my paperwork? My paperwork stating "...take back to dealer next oil change" is a far cry from being told to take the vehicle to the dealership asap and their claim that installing the wrong size drain plug was to save me the expense of having the car towed. If this were communicated to me in any way, I would not have continued to drive the vehicle for three days. I would have dealt with the issue immediately.

The other falsehood that is extremely disturbing is that the manager claims his staff acquired my approval to insert the wrong size drain plug (which ultimately caused the damage to my drain pan). NOBODY from Sears Auto contacted me to get this approval. I was in the Meriden Square Mall the entire length of the car's service; they had my cell phone number. My cell phone records will indicate that they never called me. The fact that this work was done to my car without my approval is unacceptable. The fact that they are now lying and claiming they did get my approval is even more unacceptable. If they did apprise me of the situation, I would have contacted my husband and the VW dealership to determine the next steps before approving anything be done to my vehicle.

After much time on the phone with the manager, my husband and I received no apology, only claims that they verbally apprised me of the damaged drain pan and the urgency of the issue when I picked up the vehicle. They say the told me to get the car to the VW dealership immediately, which they never did. They also claim that their internal documentation (yellow sheet) contains this information. If this is the case, why wasn't this provided to us?

All that was given to us in writing was "Oil change, drain plug was stripped replaced with oversized drain plug should take back to dealer next oil change" and this, in fact, reflects the exact conversation I had with the sales associate. In the end, the manager agreed to reimburse us only for the labor charges incurred by the repair of the oil pan and the gasket (142.50 of almost 430).

Again, no wrongdoing was acknowledged on the part of Sears and they continue deny reimbursing us for the actual oil pan because they claim they did not damage it and it was damaged when I brought the car in (despite the fact they only mention the drain plug in my documentation). However, we feel they should reimburse us for the total cost of the repairs of 429.60. We will continue to keep our documentation as proof of our position. Subtracting the reimbursement 142.50, we are still "out" approximately 280 for the cost of parts to repair the issue.

Jay of Glendale, WI December 16, 2009

Wife took her car to Sears the other day. First, she was told that they could not change her oil because it apeared there was no oil in it. They then sold her two quarts of oil (car requires expensive synthetic oil) to get the oil up enough so they could change it. Then, the gentleman that was going to help her put the oil in couldn't open the power steering fluid reservoir. He was about to pour engine oil in the Power steering pump, thank God he couldn't open it!

My wife came home and I checked things out. The dipstick did not have oil on it, so it def. appeared empty. It didn't sound low, though - no scratchy dinging or danging like you will start to hear in a car w/ no oil - nor no white smoke. I observed all of the reservoirs, & other filler openings in the engine area. My wife showed me which one the mechanic tried to get open. By it's location, it looked like the power steering pump - it only had a symbol on the cap, but it was driver's side of the engine, over the wheel well, with a little tank of maybe a pint or two - power steering! -I could tell it wasn't the brake cylinder b/c I identified that, too, where it usually is - driver's side, up against or near to the firewall.

The washer fluid had a wiper icon. I tried the P/S pump cap too, for the heckuvit, and I, too, could not loosen it, but that didn't matter. The oil filler was right where it should be - above a cylinder head. It was labelled in German, but if you turned your head, you could see it was also labelled in English. "Engine Oil - use only blah blah blah". It opened just fine. I put the two quarts of oil she bought at Sears in, and checked the oil - within the orange tabs, we're good.

We took the car to our regular mechanic (we didn't realize an oil change was too complicated for Sears), who informed us there are three quarts of oil below the end of the dipstick in this particular car ('02 VW Passat 6 Cyl.) and that it has a higher oil capacity than most cars.

...the cost of two quarts of full synthetic, and my wife and daughter's time. But that was twenty-plus bucks we didn't need to spend, when our certified mechanic said it was not necessary. They (Sears) could have opened the drain and drained out 3 quarts.

In retrospect, because the guy was going to try and put oil in the P/S pump, I would not have wanted them to be touching that car for anything , with such poor knowledge and no training. Secondly, they weaseled an extra 25 bucks for oil so that they could turn around and drain that oil then charge me again for the oil change that they could now do. Rip-off and un-qualified. Either one of those is enough of a reason not to go there.

Bernadette of Littleton, CO November 6, 2009

They failed to put the proper amount of oil in my truck during an oil change. 3 quarts low. Now they are saying any problems with my truck is due to the mileage and what they did would not have caused damage. Truck DID run but after 1 week the engine started knocking when excelerating up hills. Truck did not burn or leak oil previously AND Sears technician confirmed there was no oil leak.

Immediate 20% reduction in fuel mileage. Excess wear and tear on the Rod Bearings, Lifters and Oil Pump. Shortened the life of the engine. Reliability of vehicle has been compromised.

Vicki of Florence, AL October 26, 2009

Had oil changed on 9/26/09 and asked that they rotate my tires that I purchase from them on 7/15/06. When they took my car back the man at the front told me they could not rotate my tires. He showed me the uneven wear on the tires and said I needed new ones. I told him that I only had 16,194 miles on the tires I purchased from them with a 60,000 mile warranty.

They had done all my alignments and oil changes since I had my car which was purchased in 2002. No physical damage, however, I feel that the tires must have been damaged when I bought them because of the low mileage on the tires.

Dorothy of Marlton, NJ October 10, 2009

I called for a service repair and they put me on the schudule for Saturday 10/10/2009 and told me it would be between 8am-5pm. When I didn't receive a call the night before to let me know what time frame they would be coming I call on Saturday monring the 10/10/09 at 8am to find out why no one call. I was told they don't call and they can't tell me what time.

They did tell me that I would get a phone call a half hour prior to them coming here and I gave them my cell phone number as well in case I had to go out. I waited all day with two other adults in the house all day long. No one ever showed up nor did anyone ever call here or on my cell phone.

When I called at 7:30 pm to fine out why no one showed up I was told they called me at 9am. I told them that was impossible because we were all home and at no time was there not any adult in the house at any time. I wasted a day had to have someone here to be here when I left lost a day of making money. I had to pay someone to stay here to wait for the repairman that never showed up. My contract of my repair agreenment has not been honored and this is not the first time.

Gina of Alta Loma, CA September 12, 2009

I took my van in for an oil change and asked them to check the wiper fluid cause it had ran out and needed an air filter. They had to order the filter and said when they do the oil change they check all the fluids. When the van was done I was on my way out of the parking lot and decided to use the wiper fluid cause the window needed it and there was none in there it was still bone dry. I asked for a copy before I left of the work they done on it and on there it had a check mark by the fluids that all the fluids were fine and that was not true. On top of this my windshild wipers would not come up all the way they were catching or sticking on something. I immediately took it right back. They filled the fluids but stated that the windshield wiper problem was not their fault and are not responsible.

I had someone check it out and found they did not fully tighten a bolt down and the wipers were catching on it. They had to unscrew the bolt inorder to get to the air filter. I had to get another bolt because that bolt would not tighted it had been stripped. I spoke with Bill the manager on duty he told me to bring it in but there was no need. I put my trust into them that they done what they said they did and they did not. They let me drive off making sure it became my problem instead of theirs because of their carelessness. I feel they need to be checked out because they are NOT doing the work they claim to be or have done.

Vicki of Redlands, CA September 4, 2009

I took my car to Sears automotive told them I thought the transmission needed to be checked because it was jumping while driving the freeway. They changed the oil, transmission fluid and coolant exchange saying that it would fix the problem. But it didn't, I took it back and was then told that I probably need to have the spark plugs checked. Why this was not done on my initial visit when the problem was explained I can only sumize it was due to a loack of proper training on the part of the tecnician. The spark plugs were replaced along with the serpintine belt,and put a head gasket on. Again this still did not fix my problem.

I call the shop to complain my problem still had not been solved The manager could only say I'm sorry in a very condescending manner. Did not offer to remedy the problem or make any suggestion on what I should do. Now I have to pay another facility to do the work I ask them to do. I still have to pay for work that was preformed which did not solve my problem. I will not use Sears for repairs again. I have had a Sears card since 1981, In all those years I have never been treated in such a unprofessional manner.

william of pompano beach, FL July 29, 2009

i used to work for sears. i worked there for about one year. i was recently fired on on july 14 2009. i was at work on thursday and 8:00 was coming rather quickly. i was wraping up with one car, and finishing the service on it, when i spilled slippery coolant on the floor, i was then imediatly after told by my manager to stock batteries on the shelf it was a pretty big pallet of batteries. i did not have time to clean up the spill left on the floor. while putting away batteries i cut my finger pretty bad. there was alot of blood, my manager (allan) then told me to go home. the spill remained on the floor. on the next workday i was fired for leaving the spill on the floor.

i tried explaining to the general manager that my manager told me to go home. he refused to listen to me. there was not a bandage in sight when i cut my finger, i did not want it to become infected while cleaning up a hazardos spill, my manager (allan) was aware that there was a spill on the floor, and told me to go home anyway.also i was never provided any gloves or safety equiptment while putting away those acid filled batteries. also i was harrased every day by both of my managers constantly, i was called a queer beacuse i wore earings. there is plenty more, i also have proof of other employees deliberatly breaking many saftey rules auch as not using a torqe wrenh after the wheels had been put on the cars, this is very serious and some might be killed beacuse of it, i have many more stories to teel and proof for all , both of my managers are aware of the policies being broke. they them selves disregard them...please contact me for further questions

chris of jupiter, FL July 6, 2009

brought car in for oil change Thursday, by Sunday, the car was completely out of oil!! the plug was NOT on properly..engine ceased

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