Wal-Mart Tire & Lube

I went to my car and my battery was dead. I bought that at Wal-Mart and is under warranty. I went back in and said, "Never mind. We will wait for the oil and a new battery." I took a bus home and got my other car. I was called at 629 and told that they couldn't get the hood open. "You're car techs who can't open a hood." I said there are pliers on the floor board. He said, "Yeah I seen them." This guy was rude to everyone I seen there today and kept saying, "We are short staffed" to everyone. Fire this guy and fire whoever is running this ** show. The best part is I still have to take my car back there.

The Assistant Manager came by so I asked why I would be charged an extra $20-$25 when Walmart ran out of the oil. He agreed but then was told by the cashier guy that the Manager, Karen, was the one who said to charge me that and kept telling me it was Walmart policy. I was willing to pay any price difference in oil but the cashier guy said it would be the same oil, the charge would be for additional labor. What the heck? Needless to say, I left and Walmart lost a customer. Not that I went there too often to affect them but they still lost the little I did shop for.

I had my vehicle inspected by Mazda to be told there are no mechanical issues and it was suggested that it was a balance issue and defect of the tires! My wife puts very little miles on the vehicle and the tires appear to be in very good condition with plenty of tread life left. I realize that it's been over a year but the issue is that these tires are defective! I only asked Walmart for some kind of credit so I can replace the defective tires. All that I am offered is an apology! Very unsatisfactory!

Robert comes up to the counter, shows us a picture and immediately we were accused of taking the Jeep back and blaming them for something we did. His exact words were "you have this Jeep and are blaming us for something you did." He said it about three times! Needless to say I got a little heated about this and promptly told him to stop saying that as we did not do a darn thing to the Jeep, he and his team did. Robert then tells us that it was the first time they saw the Jeep. Wrong! I tried saying different times to Robert, who by the way informed us that he was NOT a certified mechanic, to look up different numbers in their system because my daughter's boyfriend was the one who actually took the Jeep in for her on multiple occasions. I even told him that Richard, his supervisor, had looked previously in the system and found them all. So, what he was telling us was incorrect.

Robert then goes to say that if they had found something questionable in the first place, they would have brought it to our attention. That did not happen the multiple times the Jeep was brought in and I informed him of this. So, after two hours of talking to Richard then Robert then Richard again, we were told by Richard that he would have to file an insurance claim because it was going to cost more than $500. By the way, I've asked for the pictures they have taken and received nothing.

After all this, we look this morning and there's a huge spill of oil in my driveway. My husband looks under the car and we find that the drain plug has been completely stripped. You cannot tighten it nor take it off! We take the Jeep back this morning and show the picture of our driveway. Now we are told that they didn't touch it at all. And they told us yesterday that the gasket around the drain plug was missing. How did they know that if they didn't touch it?? Now we're told that if we get it fixed, it voids the claim completely. My daughter needs this Jeep to get to work. She's a CNA at a rehab facility 15 miles away. We now have to spend even more money which we cannot afford so my daughter can get to work.

We told my daughter not to take her Jeep to be serviced at Walmart. Despite telling her of the awful reviews and the stories from other people, she went anyway. I had really hoped there would have been a good outcome and I would have written a better review and told family and friends to come to this location. I will now advise everyone to stay clear!

When I returned for that, the service manager said they cannot talk to me and I can only speak to CMI. I paid for road hazard, etc and if I cannot talk to them then they cannot uphold warranty I paid for and have requested a refund for that but have not received it. CMI has done nothing regarding this. They sent me an email that was completely blank with no subject or body. They are completely stalling over one $60 tire when this is a safety issue. I am well within scope of warranty and have put many hours into this issue with no resolve.

Once they mount the tires they will ignore ANY complaint you have and will most certainly not return your money. Whether you are right or not they will ignore you. Walmart buys their tires from third parties. Walmart does not stand behind their tires. They pass that on to the third party. This sort of disdain only further supports their need to make a profit without providing a service.

She cut me off abruptly every time I tried to speak and proceeded to tell me that she was denying our claim and Walmart would not be replacing the damages. She also said she would be happy to send my attorney a denial as well. I told her to have a good day, In Jesus Name. What they are doing to us is not right. Not one but two different shops have looked at my husband's truck and have confirmed that they put too much oil in it and it caused engine failure. Walmart needs to fix my husband's truck! My husband just got this vehicle in September 2016. It was his 1st vehicle ever. Nobody deserves for this to happen to them and Walmart needs to stand up for their actions and fix their mistake.

This did not make any sense. We asked questions to make sure we were understanding her correctly. No one contradicted the warranty information she was giving us, not even the supervisor beside her. She was saying we would have had to pay $80 out-of-pocket ($100 price of new battery MINUS the $20 pro-rated/'unused' amount from the first battery failing) and then, per policy as explained, Wal-Mart would ONLY warranty the new 5-year replacement battery for ONLY 11 months. Who in their right mind would go for this?! A pro-rated battery exchange/replacement purchase should, in the end, leave a whole consumer with a whole auto battery and a whole warranty.

The woman had no phone numbers to offer when we asked for a corporate number. She told us to look under walmart.com (so helpful) to see if we could find someone to speak to. When we asked the associate what she would do if she were in our situation, she said that she doesn't buy her auto batteries through Wal-Mart because of this. We will not be returning to Wal-Mart. Poor customer service, low inventory, and not standing behind their warranties have finalized this decision.

I pull up at 7:24 AM and there's 2 vehicles in front of me getting their cars checked in, 1 car pulled in the bay getting an oil change and the other 3 bays are closed. So the guy walks up to my Jeep. I tell him I need to get an oil change(full synthetic), tires rotated and balanced, a new air filter and I will purchase my windshield wipers and allow them to put on. He says, "Okay. You will be looking at $52.44", I’m like no. It should be more than that but whatever. I said, "Okay let me get out, so I can tell you how I want my wheels rotated", he’s like okay.

So an 1 hr 15 mins have passed. I take my cart to back. Give the tech up front my wipers to be installed, they have now moved my Jeep and it’s up in the process getting tires rotated. I asked the tech how long had it been there because I noticed all my tires were on except the right front. He says oh they just started on the tire rotation. I’m looking at him pissed. So then the first tech walks up to me and says, “Ma’am let’s go over the tire rotation again.” We went over it twice, so that was a total of 8 times. I asked him, “Why does he have the right front tire off?” Tech 1: Oh no let me go stop him, no worries.We will take care of it. I give him the wipers, parked my shopping cart to the side and I went outside to make sure they would do it properly and they did.

So everything is done. They tried to charge me for wipers again but we got that problem taken care of. I left at 9:41 AM. Started on my 4.5 hr travel that took 7 hrs due to traffic, I have a 17 mos baby in the Jeep with me. We get back home. My Jeep is parked after being driven from our 7 hr travel. I wake up the next morning (Thanksgiving Day), to let my doggies out and noticed what I thought was a water spill from maybe the morning mist under my Jeep in the front. I go back in the house, so it’s now 1 pm. The family are all in the Jeep, my husband has started the Jeep and turned on the heat. I come outside and notice something is dripping from underneath my hood very bad. My husband pops the hood and we noticed my Jeep cover underneath my hood has a crack in it and was not put back on and there’s radiator fluid leaking. I’m like WTH.

I said, "Wal-Mart is known for doing stuff like this and this is unacceptable." We took it back up there on Thanksgiving Day. A tech came out. I told him our findings. He calls for the manager Jarred who has been there for 10 yrs. Jarred comes over. I now have to explain to him what’s up, the tech gets on the ground to look under the hood for the leak, I, my husband and Jarred squats down so I can show him. The tech and Jarred said they did not see anything leaking.

Lesson learned. Never will I again. If you are reading this PLEASE PLEASE STOP taking your vehicles to Walmart for any maintenance because they have incompetent technicians. I have previously taken my Jeep there to swap my spare tire due to a flat on the way to work and they ? me 5 times for that. I was very specific then. And they were confused. I specifically told them to take my spare off (my spare is a custom wheel) the back. Put it on the left front. Put the left front tire on the back where the spare is. The tech ask me, "So what are we doing with the flat tire?" I said, "Look. You guys are making something so simple hard and I’m late for work. Why don’t I stay here with my Jeep until you get ready to swap the tires?" And that’s exactly what I did. We pay these people to take care of our autos and this is what our money pays for. I think we need to talk about closing that down. Their horrible.

I went home & tried to order the tires from the Walmart website, but even with the item # I could not find them, they were only on Walmart internal tire website... So when I realized that, I went to the Walmart TC in Glenmont, it was the following Sunday when I got a chance to go there, I spoke to the Associate there at the time, told him about what the Walmart associate in East Greenbush told me about which tire I should order. I showed her the photo I took of the website. The Glenmont Associate looked the tire up & they were still on "Rollback" for $99, so I ordered 4 of them.

They told me it should take 3 days for the tires to get there & they would call me when they get there to schedule an appointment & that they would bill me after I had the tires installed, they printed out an Order Invoice that did not include the price of the tire that I ordered (I still have that). I deleted the photo I took because I needed the room on my phone & I thought I didn't need it anymore, That would turn out to be a BIG MISTAKE, hindsight is always 20/20... That was on Sunday.

On Friday I had not received a call from them & it was snowing out & I needed the new tires for that very reason, so I call the Glenmont Walmart TC, & their phone system is so messed up it took me multiple attempts & excruciating waits all to find out... absolutely nothing! I had to stop in the Tire Center so I could get answers as to where my tires were. I get there & they tell me that the tire were there for a few days & they don't know why no one called me. I scheduled my appointment for 6 pm on Monday (3 Days Later).

I get to the appointment at 6 pm on Monday & they are clearly understaffed. I give them my keys, ask them how long it will be, they say it will be done before they close... 2 hours. So I go walk around Walmart for 2 hours, actually i walked around for 30 mins, got a few things I needed for the house & then stood in line to cash out for an hour & 15 mins (because a greedy Corporate Monster like Walmart doesn't like paying its own employees, (Same problem in the Tire Center) so they are trying to force everyone who shops there to work for them for free by only having one register open & the self checkout line... Disgusting!)

So after the line nightmare, I go back to the Tire Center to check on the progress of my car, I get there to see them backing it out of the bay, they park my car & bring in the keys. I check out... $550. Seemed high, but I pay it & as I am walking out the door I check my receipt, only to notice that instead of the $99 the tires I thought I ordered, I was being billed for $110 per tire for same tire.

I turn around & walk back in I talked to the associate who looked up the tire on their website & it is now priced for $110. She tells me she has no idea how to tell how much the tires were when I ordered them & I should come back tomorrow to talk to a manager about it... I go home mad about the bait & switch. The next day (yesterday) after work, I make my 4th trip to Walmart Tire center, I talk to the manager there, tell him what happened. I ordered the tire at $99 ea, they charged me $110 ea, he looks up the tire on their site, tells me that it says they are $110 on the site.

I asked him if he could check the price history, he says he will have to call the website & ask them about the price history & he wouldn't be able to do that until tomorrow, but he would call me tomorrow to let me know what he said. He called me today & lies to me & says there is nothing he could do because according to their tire supplier, the price hasn't changed in months. The old "BAIT & SWITCH." Why don't they put the unit price on the order invoice when you order the tire? So they don't bait you with one price & them charge you with a higher one. Corporate greed knows no bounds.

Finally, we get set up. He says about an hour, and hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. We go shop, come back an hour later. They haven't started our car. We wait another 20 minutes. By this time, there is only one guy out there, just walking around. Nobody is working. We stand in line for a bit to ask for our keys back. She says they are outside and get them from out there. We go out, there is nobody around. Finally some guy comes out, and we have to tell him 3 times what kind of car. Clueless. We won't be going back there again. Terrible service. Slow, and incompetent workers!!!

Called Bentonville and they basically said too bad so sad that if the store doesn't want to replace it they don't have to. There is no return policy for mounted tires. Any replacement or fix is 100% up to the store. You as a customer have NO say in the process. Sam Walton would puke if he saw what they have done to Walmart and how they treat customers today. But, profits are up and China is happy. Shame on this gazillion dollar company who refuses to replace a tire that cost them about $20! Gotta keep those bonuses up.

Their final answer was that the tires are not covered under warranty because they were "Overinflated" (32 PSI). Even though the tire has a MAX PSI of 44 (which obviously is extreme) they go off the "Optimal PSI of 30" inside the front door frame. After posting it on Facebook someone recommended that I check the PSI at the time they installed them. I have scanned PDF copies of EVERYTHING!!! They inflated them to 33 at the time of the installation. Had them dead to rights. I took the scanned in the invoice to Walmart on my iPad. They are going to honor the warranty. When I talked with the managers I sounded skeptical that this was even caused by over inflation, but if it truly was it was done at the time of installation.

Having thought about it some more. Today when they originally told me I overinflated them the invoice had all 4 tires at 32. I KNOW for a FACT that the back driver's tire was 30 or below having just checked it last week. The fact they magically came up with 32 pisses me off. I also find out strange how all the tires have the exact same reading during an oil change. At one point since the installation, an oil change receipt said each tire was 34 psi... What are the odds. *Rubs chin*. Next time I go in for an oil change or to get my tire inspected, I'm video recording me checking the tire pressure OUTSIDE THEIR DOOR IN THE PARKING LOT!!

I realized that bolts holding on the two back coils were gone, the coils were just sitting loose in the cylinders. Also radiator fluid was getting into the spark plug cylinders. I slightly adjusted the radiator hose at the top and no more leak. These were things that could have been done in a couple minutes to sabotage my car and if I could prove it was them (upset at me for catching them not changing out filters to help their bottom line) I would sue them! I did have an oil change elsewhere and it was obvious that the filter was new.

So I then broke it to her that I am a former technician for Walmart and I know that we were supposed to do what we were paid to do. Just because we had claims on oil changes did not mean that we could quit doing oil changes, she then admitted she was new and would talk about it when she goes to training next week. Walmart, you are so focused on the Academy program but are not narrowing down to the smaller managers. If a cigarette company had bad cigarettes so they just changed the way the box looks doesn't mean that the cigarettes inside the box are more trained. Learn to train other managers besides setting them on a computer doing stupid lessons that do not help.

This place is a Joke, Walt-Mart hire those guys that are not certified, fine! Just to change oil, no big deal, but at least hire people that actually work, they are talking, smoking, walking back and forward and pile the cars. Open the hook and that it. If you have nothing to do and you are willing to wasting 3 hours for a oil change just go there, anybody can change oil and filter in 15 minutes.