Walmart bad lube job ruined my transmission - Tiffin, Ohio Walmart destroyed my 1977 924 Porsche transaxle. They said they checked the fluids and well, they didn't. I had the lube job done for a trip I was taking. The car barely made it back from the trip when the transaxle blew.
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
Reading some recent stories about Wal-Mart, I decided to share mine. A few years ago, I took my wife's car in for an oil change. It was late in the day and the service person at the desk said they had time to change the oil. Surprisingly, I didn't have to wait long. I drove the car home. After getting out of the car, I immediately noticed oil dripping from the bottom of the car. I popped the hood, and to my surprise, the oil cap was laying on top of the engine. There was oil everywhere.
I called Wal-Mart which was going to close in 10 minutes. The tech said to bring the car back, and they'd redo the oil change. I checked the oil level and I had lost a little over a quart. I added a quart to be safe on the ride back to Wal-Mart. Upon arriving at Wal-Mart, I simply asked that they change the oil again, and clean the oil off that had blown all over the engine. They changed the oil and cleaned it as asked. Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot, the engine started to misfire.
Apparently, they had dumped so much simple green on the engine to clean it, that it filled the spark plug holes. I ended up driving home with only 3 of the 4 cylinders operating properly. I am pretty positive on this due to the total lack of power. I took the car to a friend's house, who cleaned out the spark plug wires and got the car running correctly. I've dealt with a lot of idiots, but Wal-Mart Oil and Lube takes the cake. I have never brought a vehicle of mine back there again, and wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.
I had the oil changed in my 2004 Buick Rainier on 5/4/2012. The low oil pressure light now comes on frequently. I never had a problem with this before the oil change at Walmart. I took it back to them and they said "it's nothing we did" and that was it. Now, I will have to pay to have this problem resolved, and that's after spending $50 on an oil change! I will never use the automotive services there again, and I will make sure to tell my friends and family not to either.
April 28, 2012, while driving my 2004 Honda Element, it braking by itself, and came to a complete stop. I couldn't press the brake pedal, it was very tight. I had the truck towed by an AAA Auto authorized auto repair shop. The mechanic said that oil was put into the brake fluid line. Wherever I got my oil change, it had to have happened then.
I got an oil change from the Walmart Oil and Lube in the Torrance Store in mid January 2012. The mechanic said the oil caused all the rubber to swell, causing my braking system to automatic stop. It took this long for it to flow through the braking system. I was out of $1,200.00 to have my brakes, calipers and master cylinder replaced. The only proof I had that Torrance Walmart Oil and Lube store changed the oil was the sticker in my window. I didn't keep my service paper work. Never imagined this would happen.
On 5/1/2012, I took my car into Walmart for an oil change. I did not drive it until 5/4 when I left for work. While driving, I noticed oil leaking from the car. I immediately drove it back to Walmart. The guy looked at it and said they overfilled the oil and caused damage. He suggested taking the car to a mechanic, then filing a claim. I left to the mechanic and was told a part burst due to the overfill, and I was charged $234. I filed a claim, and had a very rude person from the claim dept. call me back on 5/10. I was told that I could not prove it was their fault, even though the Walmart mechanic and the BrakeMaster mechanic said it was overfilled. My car was working, and no broken parts or oil leaks were mentioned when my oil was changed. Then, upon getting my car back from them, there is a broken part and leak. I think that is proof.
When explaining my thoughts to the man, I was told that I was not speaking professionally enough to him. I was not yelling or using profanities, only asking why they would not cover an obvious mistake. He then said he was done answering my questions. When I asked for someone else to speak to, he told me to get it myself off the website. Never ever ever go to Walmart Service Center. I have crossed all Walmarts off my list. Why give money to a store who does not value its customers? I would rather pay more to a business who will fix its mistakes. We are not asking for a day lost of work, or even additional expenses, only the money for the part.
In May 2011, I took my Toyota MR2 Spyder in for an oil change. Afterwards, our engine started making a clunking noise. We called Wal-Mart and advised them of the noise. They said it was normal after an oil change. We took the car to our mechanic, who pulled the engine apart to find they had started my engine without oil causing the bearing to shred. The mechanic wrote a report for the cause of damage.
We took the report from 2 mechanics to Wal-Mart. They filed a report with their insurance, which was declined. We have a bill for over $2000.00 to repair our engine along with the report and parts from the car. They are refusing to pay for it. We are filing a BBB complaint along with a letter to the attorney-general and will be plastering this over the media as much as possible. We're debating if we will be pursuing with an attorney or not.
I took my van to have a oil and filter change, and also a tire rotation and balance. This was Monday afternoon, 4/30. On Sat. 4/28, after the van had set overnight, I checked the oil level and it was about 1/8" off the top level. I did not drive it until taking it to Wal-Mart on 4/30, which is four miles. When your service man checked the oil, he stated that no oil showed on the dip stick, which I knew was not correct, as the van has never had to have oil added during my 3000 driving period. I have driven the van for over 6 years.
At the start of my driving experience 65 years ago, and working in a service station, I learned about oil, etc. and know that the engine did not use 4 quarts of oil going to Wal-Mart. I have heard of a scam that oil change services are doing this when a car is high mileage, 89800, so they are protected if something happens to the engine. I have driven the car several miles since the change and it hasn't used any oil. Needless to say, I will have to sacrifice my tire service, but will go elsewhere to have service in the future. I have used your service since purchasing the tires five years ago and found it satisfactory until now.
Automotive battery with three-year free replacement warranty. The first one lasted less than year and was replaced with no problem. This one lasted less than a year, so I returned it and the store replaced it but informed me it would not be replaced if it failed again. What is a warranty for?
To be succinct, I own a 2009 Nissan Cube which has a CVT (continual variable transmission). It requires Nissan only CVT fluid. Before my trip to FL, I stopped at the Hinsdale, NH Walmart to have an oil change. When I drove away, the car started bucking between 2 to 3 on the tachometer. I finally brought the car to a Nissan dealer. The transmission fluid had been contaminated with regular fluid topped off at Wal-Mart. I incurred an additional $2,000 in room charges, meals, etc. because I was forced to stay while my transmission was completely replaced! I did have a warranty so that was covered, but because it had been contaminated, I had to convince them to cover. I have never had my car serviced anywhere else nor have I ever had transmission work done on this car. It was in perfect condition until that oil change. Obviously, the lube techs are not trained to read manuals or to check instructions before they start since one man yelled, "Hey, have you ever done an oil change on this before?" Outrageous.
Oil change gone bad - I stopped by the Walmart Supercenter in Durant, Oklahoma for an oil change. I was going to try to combine my lunch break with an oil change and decided to go to Walmart. I arrived and they took my information and I went into the store, my car was running as good as it did the day I drove it home from the Ford dealership. When I came back to pick up my car, they had it out of the bay and said it was dying on them and perhaps I had gotten some bad gas, and asked where I had bought my gas. I told them at Walmart in Hugo, Oklahoma, I had drove there on some business and the car was running fine. They recommended I buy some gas additive and I did, it did not help. The car would not pull out of the parking lot. I brought it back to the department and explained that it was not running, and they offered to call a tow truck.
I became very upset and told them I wanted my car running the same way it was when I brought it in. They looked and could not find anything wrong. Finally, I spoke with a manager and they agreed to tow it to a mechanic and have them see if Walmart had been responsible for it not running. I requested they take it to the Ford dealership, they declined and took it to a local mechanic who stated he thought it was a throttle body problem and recommended I take it to the Ford dealership since it would be covered by my warranty. The Ford dealership looked at it and reported that some debris from the air filter was disturbed and had entered the system and interrupted the air flow sensor.
I took the receipt to the Walmart and they said that technically, the technician did not do anything wrong and they were not liable for the ninety five dollars it took to have it repaired. I agreed that it was not intentional or an actual mistake but when they pulled the air filter out, debris entered the system and I felt I was being very reasonable because I was not asking for the day and a half of lost wages or reimbursement for someone having to drive over three hours to come get me and bring me back the next day to pick up my car, only for what it cost to put my car back in the running condition it was when they opened the hood. Is this too much to ask for?
I was having service done and they replaced my wipers. But the new blade doesn't touch the whole windshield. It leaves a huge triangle in the middle. I went back to find out what needed to be done and they did not have a clue. After research, I found that 2007-2012 Honda CRVs are not intended to have the whole blade assembly replaced, only the blade! Now they have thrown away my old blade assembly and it will cost $40 for a new one. The second issue I had was I needed the fuel injection system cleaned—it's a service they had done before. When I came back to get the car, they said they couldn't do it because the hose is connected by the factory and can't be removed. I told them they managed to do it before, so the let me look at it. I reached in, twisted and pulled and it came off. I'm a 60 year old woman. I was convenient to have service done while I shop, but they are too incompetent and my safety is at risk.
Against my wife's recommendation, I went to the nearby Wal-Mart rather than the dealer for an oil change on our two-year old sedan. I have four complaints which I list as a warning on behalf of others. First, the advertised price was $6.00 more than the dealer's price just for Wal-Mart's most basic service. Second, they charged an additional unadvertised $6.00 for the oil filter. Since when does the "oil change" service not include the filter in the base price? Third, the driver's side threshold was marred repeatedly with long black, greasy streaks that would not completely clean off. Fourth, the drain pan plug now leaks, indicating that it may have had the threads stripped during the Wal-Mart service process.
I recently went to the Cambridge, MN Walmart with my daughter to get an oil change on her 2010 Nitro. First, after the tech had checked something under the hood in the parking lot, he had to slam the hood about 3 times. The hood easily shuts by just letting of it, there was no need to slam the hood. We then proceeded to go shopping, after about 30-45 minutes, we received a page to go to TLE. Somehow, the tech had managed to break not just one sensor on her tires, but had broken two when they went to check the air pressure on her tires. This took place on a Sunday morning, so not many places to take a vehicle to get it repaired. Needless to say, my daughter did lose her temper and call them every name in the book. But if you are having trouble removing something from a customer's car, don't force it and if you break something, don't move on to the next item and break that also.
What is most annoying is their techs telling us that the valve stem covers were so badly corroded that they couldn't get them off when the vehicle had just had new tires and a sensor replaced just 3 moths earlier. According to our Tires Plus tech, there was no way that the valve stems would have corroded that bad and the Walmart techs would have had to use a wrench to break the valve stems. The cost to replace the valve stems, since they are the ones that read the air pressure will be around $300.00. Nice, huh? We have shopped at this Walmart for many years, but after continuously having problems or having their so-called associates not able to help, we have decided to do all our shopping at a Cub, Kohl's or Menards. I have been to many other Walmarts and this one has to have some of the most uncaring associates I have ever dealt with.
I changed my vehicle's oil and filter, as I have for 40 years; and the filter exploded, letting the fresh oil leak out all over my driveway all within 30 seconds. I told the people in Wal-Mart, and they said they would not cover the oil. I would like the corporation to replace the filter and oil lost as well as clean up the oil from my driveway at their cost.
I took my 2012 Hyundai Sonata in for an oil change on March 10, 2012 at the Platteville, WI Walmart Tire & Lube, and I got my car back scratched on the hood, door, fender and mirror. I wanted to call the police and have this guy charged with damaging my vehicle. The manager just took the complaint and filed it with their insurance company and told me that the insurance company would get in touch with me.
After getting my oil changed at the Wal-Mart on Thornton Road in Lithia Springs, Ga. on my 2008 Accord, the engine started to make loud sounds like a truck upon acceleration. I noticed this the following morning as I headed to work. I called the dealer and they indicated they've gotten many complaints about Wal-Mart's oil changes. I've called Wal-Mart and they've asked me to bring the car back in. But, I've never taken a car in for an oil change and it sounded like a boat or truck afterwards.
On February 17, 2012 I went to have my oil changed at Wal-Mart. First of all, I must state that my vehicle was running great until Wal-Mart changed my oil. I thought I was doing a good thing by having my oil changed. Boy, I was wrong! As soon as I left Wal-Mart I noticed that my oil pressure was high and just assumed it was because it was very cold out, but then the closer I got to my home my temperature gauge started to spike. I waited a while once I got home and added a little bit of antifreeze, thinking that this was the problem. My Jeep continued to act up throughout the week, so I made an appointment to have my Jeep looked at a reputable garage, Midas. So this past Saturday I was headed to drop my Jeep off but my Jeep decided to overheat and leave me stranded at the bottom of the interstate ramp. Thank god I had my cell phone on me to call a tow truck--yes, a tow truck!
At this point I'm freezing as I wait for a tow and praying my Jeep can be easily repaired. Ha! Ha! I think not! Once Midas looked at my Jeep it was determined that I needed a new motor because oil was leaking from every place imaginable! I am extremely livid! I am not a rich person and I have already spent over $300 for a rental that I have to turn in this Saturday plus the $50 tow bill. I called the corporate customer service that then contacted the store that did the oil change on my Jeep and they said a manager would call me. I waited a few hours and never received a call. I ended up calling them and spoke to a manager that in turn said he would look at the work order and call me back.
I then received a call from Ashley ** and she said that I was to bring my bill to the store and they would file it with their insurance. I have my receipt from my oil change that I never signed (with their disclaimer that they are not liable for damages). I will be satisfied when Wal-Mart repairs my Jeep and refunds me the money that I have had to spend because of their neglect and the hardship they have place upon me!
I went in on February 14th, 2012 at 1 pm to Wal-Mart on Dennery Rd., San Diego, CA to get oil change for my car and had a short, bald, male Hispanic man come outside. He said to move my car from the line and park it in the spot. So I did, not knowing if he even worked there or who he was. Then I went inside to ask about oil change and the same man stood at the counter and just stared at me, looking at me and my son and did not even acknowledge us. He just stood there making us feel very uncomfortable. There was another male working there who was helping another customer, so I stood behind that gentleman to wait for someone to help me.
After about 10 minutes and he had helped another male customer who was there for the same thing, he was told it was a 15-minute wait. He then looks at me up and down and rolled his eyes and said, "So, can I help you?" because he didn't see me standing there for 10 minutes. No one else was inside, so I felt he was being very prejudiced against me. After I asked for oil change he then says, "Well, it's going to be 2 1/2 hours; we have a person ahead of you." I said, "Ok, is that how long the wait is?" He replied, "Yes, right now. Yeah. Why, you can't wait?" At that point I just walked away as I felt so disrespected by this person's unprofessionalism. Worse customer service. And I didn't get my oil changed.
I went to Mr. Lube at Walmart, St. Eustache this morning at 9:20 a.m. and when I was buying the tires, they took the car in, checked all the liquids and told me it would take about 40 minutes. Around 11:20, I finally asked them what was taking them so long. They said they had called my name, which isn't so, because I was listening for it, and besides, I don't know why they called my name, because the car still wasn't ready.
There really wasn't any communication and I asked the girl why it was taking so long. She went to check and when she came back, she never said anything. Also, at one point, I saw the mechanic take off the new winter tire and turn it around again. I asked the man in charge if they had put all the tires on wrong and had to redo them and he admitted they had.
They were all very pleasant and polite and did speak to me in English even, but never tried to accommodate me for my lost time. They could not answer why it took so long to install my tires. I even tried to speak to the manager at Walmart but the girl assured me that she would give him my message and I told her that they were giving Walmart a bad name. I will never go to Mr. Lube again for anything.
Furthermore, after over 2 hours, I finally left and came home and tried to call Mr. Lube to complain. But the recording said they were unable to accept the code and to go to their website, which I am doing now. It was impossible to try to talk to anyone about this problem. Thank you!
I got my oil changed in Centerville Utah on Jan. 26. My husband and I drove from Utah to Florida back to where we live. I went to Walmart after we had been home for a while and went to get an oil change. The mechanic that was working on my car told me he could not get the oil filter off under the car and if he kept trying, it would break and they would have to tow my car. He suggested I take it to a dealership so I took it to Dodge and they told me they would not work on my car because if anything were to break, I would be responsible for paying for what Walmart did to my car. I am very upset. Walmart needs to have people who know what the heck they are doing and they need to use the right tools. I have tried to contact Todd ** at CMI but he will not take the time to get back to me.
Since I was already shopping, I decided to have Walmart change my oil. When the technicians brought my car back, the hood latch was broken as well as the release cable. The techs referred me to a local shop to have it fixed but insisted they weren't responsible for the damage even though there was nothing wrong with the hood when I arrived. The local shop wasn't put out of business when Walmart moved in, according to the owner, their business quadrupled with similar damage/ineptitude issues.
I took my van in for a oil change and tire rotation at Wal-Mart. My van was fine. They where finished by late afternoon Friday. When I left, the car and steering wheel vibrated, and the car pulled to the right also the parking brake and airbag light were on. I called Wal-Mart after leaving in a snowstorm, to pick up my granddaughter, and Karen answered. She said bring it in. I brought it back the next opportunity, which was Sunday morning. I was met with a 2 hour wait, at the least. The manager put up a brick wall "that's our policy".
The assistant manager gave me the same line, and called the store manager, who tried to do the same thing. He finally gave in, and had the certified tech looked at my car. The new story was, "your car is old, and has high mileage and these things can go at any time", then it was, "probably the tie rod because my car is so old", then it was, "you drive a lot". Then they gave me an education on the tire wear on my wheels. I only went in for an oil change and a rotation. I will be having it checked by real professionals on Wednesday. I had no idea these people were not certified. Wal-Mart will get the bill. The certified tech said, "I don't want to say anything bad about my co-workers but...", then both managers looked at him, and he shut up.
I had to go into the city. I live 40 plus miles away. One block from Walmart I got a flat tire and went straight to the tire lube department because the tires were less than 3 months old and had road hazard on them. There I waited in line for 15 minutes. Finally, I got my turn and was told to go away, that they wouldn't help anyone else that day and it was 12:30 in the afternoon. I told them that I was stranded and a long way from home. I also had my mom with me and told them she couldn't be left stranded, had to be home to take her meds. She has had 2 strokes and a heart attack, and that I had to get home to get my grandson at school, who is a heart patient, has had 2 open heart operations and still needs more and can't be left alone. I live in the country where the closest neighbor is a half a mile away.
They didn't care and told me to come back tomorrow. I couldn't go anywhere and the tires were bought from Walmart along with the road hazard. They also said to come back after five and then they would decide if they would fix my tire. I had to be home by 3:30 to get my kid. The only other choice I had was to call my husband from work, which is 47 miles away from where I was stranded to come and help me. I had to wait for him to get there and take the tire to NTB to have it fixed and it cost me $22.19 to get it fixed. The worst part about it was after I pleaded with them to help me, they announced to the people in line that they would not help them. A man stepped forward and said he had a one o' clock appointment, to rotate his tires. They checked the computer and told him that his appointment was for 11:00AM that morning, that he missed his appointment. He said that it was at one, so they took his car right in and did it even though he had missed his appointment by more than 2 hours.
I was livid and my husband had to miss 4 hours of work to come and help me. Shame on Walmart for treating their customers that way. I couldn't get any help from anyone in the store. I told one employee what had happened and he just said that sounds about right for the tire and lube department and he hoped that I could get help from somewhere else, but offered no solutions. I couldn't find a manager to help me, the employees just ignored me and wouldn't help. Also, at tire and lube, they said they were down an employee because of a birth in the family. Not my problem, they should have brought in more help. They were very rude to everyone in line and the people who called in on the phone, they told them they didn't have time to talk to them and that they were busy on the register, to call back the next day.
The second lady came to the desk and the two of them started to pick at each other and stopped helping anyone in line. Most just walked away angry. I will never use Walmart tire and lube again. I will buy my tires somewhere else because I don't want to be treated like that again. They also told me that if I get a flat again, I need to make an appointment to get it fixed and to call in by 8AM to make an appointment. Like I really know when my car is going to get a flat and it wasn't late in the day when I did get a flat.
My daughter, a college student, took our GMC pickup truck to the Greenville, MI Walmart Oil and Lube for an oil change. When they were done, the employee said he broke the dipstick and the unit that holds the dipstick to the engine. The whole unit is out of the truck. How does that happen? My husband checked the oil last week and nothing was wrong with the dipstick. My daughter called us from Walmart before paying the bill. My husband spoke with the manager over the phone who said it wasn't their problem as it was already broken, which we know is not true because the employee that did the oil change had already admitted that he broke it. The manager said it wasn't his problem. Walmart told us there was nothing they could do and also said it was fine to drive the truck with no dipstick which I don't believe either. We will have to get the truck towed to the dealer so it can be repaired and see how much this Walmart mistake will cost us. I'm not happy with Walmart and will never go there again. I never take my cars to Walmart, but my daughter thought it would be okay; a hard lesson learned.
It was last year when I took my car in for an oil change. This oil change took hours and when I picked my car up, the service engine light was on. They told me it was on before (which it was not ) I opened the hood up to check the engine out and no cap on my oil pan. I will never go back again.
I went to the Walmart in Kernersville, Nc 2 years ago to replace a tire. When they completed the task, I was told that one of my lug nuts was loose, and that they broke it off. Half of the nut is still attached and the other half was handed to me. I was told it was not their problem and not their fault. I drove in with a whole lug nut. I actually purchased the nut, maybe a few months prior. I advised these gentlemen that the lug nut was intact and they did not care. i was forced to drive off with one missing lug nut. They attempted to take off the part they damaged prior to calling me regarding this mistake in the store. They stripped the nut and to this day I cannot find someone to extract this part. now whenever I go to a Walmart, i am refused any service for that tire. It will be Walmart's fault if something happens while I drive on this tire.
Filed a claim due to getting a tire change this winter and the tech's pulled my BMW w/ a flat tire then left all the inside lights on and as a result my battery died. It took them 3 hours to change one tire. They stated it would be 30 minutes. They then jumped my battery from the front bolts in my BMW. The battery is in the trunk of my vehicle. After 2 tries, it started. I filed a claim and the claims management are the rudest people to deal with.
My son (college graduate diesel/electrical,/high power train engineer) witnessed this and told them that they have now destroyed the life that was left in my battery. The next week,s my car will not start. Took it to my mechanics and he tested the battery, alternator, said the battery was good and also stated that WalMart destroyed the life in the battery.
The claims rep is rude and trying to dis credit us all. Said WalMart employees carry flash lights and never tun on inside light and leave them on. It's on cameras in the garage . When he pulled my car with a flat tire into the garage, we had to tell him to put some air in the tire or the rim will be destroyed. Then when he was trying to start the car to pull it in, he could not see the key ignition ( the BMW is all black, leather) due to being dark outside. He turned on the inside lights and never turned them off. 3 hours later, the tire was replaced and the car would not start due to the battery.
I am highly disappointed in the Wal-Mart Corporation! On December 27, 2012, I brought my car to Wal-Mart for a routine oil change. When the technicians completed the oil change, my car no longer started. The TLE staff stated that it wasn't their fault and there was nothing they could do for me. The next day I had to have my car towed to a mechanic ($111). The mechanic diagnosed the problem as having something to do with them setting off the anti-theft system in my ignition, but stated that we was unable to fix it. He was able to start the car and get it running long enough for me to drive it to another mechanic.
Due to the New Year's holiday weekend, my car was unable to be fixed until January 5th. The ignition (less than a year old) was damaged due to being turned too far and had to be replaced ($345). The incident occurred in Ash Flat, AR. I go to college and work in Oklahoma. By the time my car was fixed, I had missed 3 days of work ($174). I forwarded all receipts and information to the manager of the Ash Flat Wal-Mart. Several days later, he informed me that he still could not do anything, but that he would pass on the information to the claims department.
I was just informed that my claim has still been denied. I have asked for $630 because of Wal-Mart's damage to my vehicle. The car and the ignition were in perfect working order when they drove it into their shop. After they touched my car, it was damaged. This is a problem. As an enormous corporation, $630 is not much of a loss to Wal-Mart. However, to me, a full time college student, $630 is a lot of money. This ordeal has caused a huge strain in my life. I am highly disappointed that Wal-Mart refuses to make right on this issue.
I went in for an oil change and check for air leaking out of my tires. I got there at 12 noon. I left there at 5 pm. I missed my work. I had to be at work at 2 pm. The manger was nice. He tried to make me happy by giving me a 25 dollar gift card but telling my boss I missed work is not good.
I went on Dec. 10th to have my oil changed and within two weeks, my car began smoking and my coolant level kept going down! I returned the car to Walmart and a "mechanic" came out to look at the damage I was reporting! He pulled the dipstick out of the engine and not much to my surprise, it was foamy, which meant to anybody with any car sense at all, that it was a blown head gasket! It was overfilled to begin with and they also denied any wrong doing! I submitted a claim to them on this and have yet to hear a word from them. I also submitted an estimate for repair for the damage, which was in excess of $1,200.00! Also when I came home after the "mechanic" looked at it, my car was smoking under the hood. When I opened the hood, I discovered he never put the dipstick back in and oil had sprayed all over the place under the hood!
