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Report: #181478

Complaint Review: Wal-Mart - Seaford Delaware

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  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Denton Maryland
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • Wal-Mart North Dupont Hwy. Seaford, Delaware U.S.A.

Wal-Mart Tire And Lube Express negligent practices, sloppy workmanship made a $12 oil change cost over $600 Seaford Delaware

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: the last comment....

*Consumer Comment: Hope this helps

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: yeah and no...

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: From Another Side

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I brought my 1988 Honda Accord into the Seaford, DE Wal-Mart for an oil change. At the time my car was presented to them, it had no oil leaks. I didn't notice anything when I got back in the car after it was serviced, but I really wasn't looking either. I got home, parked my car and came out an hour or two later to run some errands and there was a huge pool of oil underneath the car. The oil was so low at this point, it didn't register on the dipstick.

I called Wal-Mart to complain and was put on hold until the money I put into the payphone ran out.

I couldn't go to Wal-Mart to complain because I couldn't drive the car in this condition, for fear I would damage the engine.

I had the car taken to a local shop where they told me that the threads on the drain plug for the oil were so badly stripped, that it appeared the Tire and Lube Tech at Wal-Mart had used an IMPACT WRENCH to tighten it! It costed me $500, three trips to the garage to have this repaired correctly.

When I finally got a hold of Wal-Mart, they passed me on to their insurance company, whom I gave 2 statements to and all relevant paperwork, names and phone numbers of mechanics who repaired Wal-Mart's negligence.

Afterwards, Wal-Mart's insurance called me while I was at work, despite the fact that I gave them ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT THEY NEEDED. I was working 12 hour shifts, six days a week, at the time. When I did have the opportunity to call them back, no one was ever at their desk. I sent them snail mail letters letting them know my availability and asking them what additional information that they need, yet they never replied. The worst part is that they only contacted me 2 or 3 times by phone and they would not leave me detailed voice mail messages to let me know what they wanted only a name and a phone number.

Finally, I contacted the Delaware Attorney General regarding the matter. The Attorney General completely blew me off, saying basically I got what was coming to me because I didn't call Wal-Mart's insurance company back IMMEDIATELY the couple of times they called me at work. Well, I'm sorry, but I work in a factory that employs 700 people. I cannot leave the floor to make phone calls to Wal-Mart's insurance company.

This situation has infuriated me and I can't get any justice. I never even got the cost of the oil change back!

Dawn
Denton, Maryland
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/15/2006 10:13 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/wal-mart/seaford-delaware-19973/wal-mart-tire-and-lube-express-negligent-practices-sloppy-workmanship-made-a-12-oil-chan-181478. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
4Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#4 UPDATE EX-employee responds

the last comment....

AUTHOR: Bamaboyngatorcountry - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, December 19, 2009

This person OBVIOUSLY knows nothing, they did not bother to read where the 33333.33 oil changes guy was already corrected in a previous rebuttle.  And yeah, you should do that get the AG involved and your insurance company!!!  How many times did I see ppl try that one??? A MILLION....Good Luck!  Walmart is the LARGEST company in the world, will never happen, they will deny your claim over and over.  And when your insurance company tries to go after them(which they won't, I know because I now work for one!) your ins. company would never receive a PENNY they spent wasting their time, which is why they won't.  Try it please, and post your insurance company's response to show this moron they know nothing of what they speak!  Thanks, maybe you will read through this completely this time.  As I stated the chain of command I wrote in my original rebuttle is THE ONLY WAY AND BEST CHANCE TO GET ANYTHING CORRECTED BY WALMART!

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#3 Consumer Comment

Hope this helps

AUTHOR: ctdummy - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, December 14, 2009

Sorry to point this out as I'm sure the person filing the complaint is already aware, but unless you are changing your oil every 3 miles you did not change the oil 33333.33 times... you changed it 33.33 times.  None of which is a relevant or an excuse for Wal-Mart's negligence in this situation. 

First off, send a letter to the insurance company certified to make sure they receive it.  This is most definitely Wal-Mart's responsibility because if there was an issue before hand they would have told you before they changed the oil. 

Second, albeit low priority to resolving your issue, your Attorney General should be hung out to dry and I would try to get a story in to the Associated Press regarding the Attorney General's commitment to consumer protection.  However, it could be that you received a response from an individual working within the AG office -- this is most likely the scenario.   Despite that a message via the press should inspire the AG to urge employees to actually do their jobs instead of blowing people off.  I would guess that they are always dealing with fraud of much higher values, but that's not to take anything away from your claim, as $500 is no paltry sum to most people.

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#2 UPDATE EX-employee responds

yeah and no...

AUTHOR: Bamaboyngatorcountry - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, November 24, 2009

so, you have an 88 accord, with a stripped pan?  dude, ever had to replace tires? your brakes go bad and wear out after a while??  Like the guy above says, after you screw and unscrew an oil plug in and out of the pan, the treads will become weak and unfortunately in some cases deteriorate on someone when they change it....this may have happened to you...BUT it may not have....I worked as a 4 star tech, was on the lube rodeo competition, and was an assistant manager(w/out the title) and yes, sadly to say I believe walmart does not adequately train the employees who work in the T and L Express for the most part, and a lot of the Shop managers know less about cars than MOST women...I know I have personally had to fix a lot of other stores' mistakes, including what you have described, BUT because of this most repair/mechanic shops use this to their advantage...you were told walmart must have used an impact wrench on your plug? I heard that complaint more than any of them, and when we would look at it, at my store at least, 99% of the time, the shop that told the customer this had, IN FACT removed the plug and stripped it themselves, because walmart policy is to put a sealant on the plug that is blue, so that if it has been moved since we touched it, the seal breaks...and ya know what?  The seal was almost always broken on arrival.  BUT I AGREE, MOST WALMART TLE'S HAVE INCOMPATENT EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE NO BUSINESS DOING WHAT THEY DO...HELL, I HAVE TO TELL THEM HOW TO DO THEIR JOB, WHEN I GO THERE(SINCE I KNOW HOW THEY DO BUSINESS).......OH AND YEAH, THE OTHER GUY WHO DID A REBUTTLE, IF A CAR HAS 100,000 MILES ON IT AND YOU CHANGE IT EVERY 3,000K; IT WOULD HAVE HAD IT'S OIL CHANGED 33.33 TIMES...LOL YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN? OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THE "ONES" I WAS SPEAKING OF.

WORDS OF ADVISE, CHAIN OF COMMAND TO GET s**t DONE IN WALMART TIRE AND LUBE EXPRESS:
1.ASK FOR DEPT MANAGER, NOT DEPT ASSISTANT MANAGER.
2.IF NOT AVAIL, GET HIS/HER NAME AND THE DEPT PHONE # AND CALL THEM LATER
3.IF IT CAN'T WAIT AT THE TIME, ASK FOR A STORE MANAGER(WATCH OUT - THEY MIGHT TRY AND GIVE YOU A DIFF DEPT MANAGER, BUT YOU WANT A STORE MANAGER OR ASST STORE MANAGER)
4.IF THEY DON'T HANDLE IT, GO AHEAD AND REQUEST THE TLE'S DISTRICT MANAGER, IF YOU CAN'T REACH THEM OR THEY REFUSE TO GIVE IT TO YOU CALL, 800-WALMART.  THE DISTRICT MANAGER WOULD LITERALLY GIVE FREE TIRES AWAY IF A CUSTOMER GOT IT TO THAT LEVEL
TAKE CARE

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#1 UPDATE EX-employee responds

From Another Side

AUTHOR: J.r. - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, July 20, 2009

Does you vehicle have high mileage on it? or does it have an alluminium oil pan? because you figure that lets you have 100,000miles on it, if you did your oil changes every 3 thousand miles that about 33333.33 oil changes meaning the oil drain plug has been in and out of that pan at least that many times. It is possibly a mere coincidence that it happend to end up stripped out by that store. Plus as a former employee I can tell you if a technician used an impact gun on the oil pan of a car they would have been fired - the only air tools if any they have are for small skid plate/air dam plate removal and have a low torque value.
The fact the they are willing to pay anything is a nice gesture as most full service repair shops would have just told you the pan threads were bad and sold you a new oil pan or have had you pay to rethread the pan.

I'd also never go to that repair shop again if it took them 3 times to fix the pan right, for that much money they could have probably replaced the oil pan for you.

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