"I'm never shopping THERE again!" Share your story!

[Sebastienne]

Last week, I made an appointment to take my car into a local shop for an oil change/tire rotation/state inspection. The owner gave me a call when it was done (except, apparently for the inspection, because I'd made an appointment on the inspector's day off. Which--huh.). He asked about the car "shuddering." I thought he was talking about how it was a little choppy when changing gears, but when I got the car back (after paying over $80 for the oil change/rotation),  I understood what he meant. It was obviously misfiring, and in the three block drive back to my house, it stalled twice, and the check engine light came on.

I brought it back to the shop, he ran diagnostics (for $90), and said that the problem was with the air intake sensor on the engine, and repairs would be around $500. And this couldn't possibly be caused by the oil change, even though my car (with 6,000 whole miles on it) has never shown symptoms of this before.

The car is still under warranty, so instead, I had it towed to the nearest dealer. The problem? The oil cap wasn't tight enough. Which caused oil to leak. Which caused airflow problems. Which caused the misfiring.

Hulk smash.

[Virg]

Pen^2 wrote:

"I should have done this, I know, but I wasn't quite functioning at 100% at the time. Although if I am ever in this situation again, I won't even bother trying for a response after the first attempt. Money on counter. Take water. Forget the change. Leave."

It would even work to just put the money on the counter and drink while you wait.  It shows you're willing and able to pay.

Virg

[Piratelvr1121]

Last week, I made an appointment to take my car into a local shop for an oil change/tire rotation/state inspection. The owner gave me a call when it was done (except, apparently for the inspection, because I'd made an appointment on the inspector's day off. Which--huh.). He asked about the car "shuddering." I thought he was talking about how it was a little choppy when changing gears, but when I got the car back (after paying over $80 for the oil change/rotation),  I understood what he meant. It was obviously misfiring, and in the three block drive back to my house, it stalled twice, and the check engine light came on.

I brought it back to the shop, he ran diagnostics (for $90), and said that the problem was with the air intake sensor on the engine, and repairs would be around $500. And this couldn't possibly be caused by the oil change, even though my car (with 6,000 whole miles on it) has never shown symptoms of this before.

The car is still under warranty, so instead, I had it towed to the nearest dealer. The problem? The oil cap wasn't tight enough. Which caused oil to leak. Which caused airflow problems. Which caused the misfiring.

Hulk smash.

Hulk smash indeed!  Reminds me of a bad experience I had with the Jiffy Lube near our old place.  We haven't had the issue at other locations, I'm told because they're individually owned.   My car shook so bad it felt like it was going to fall apart around me and I'd be like a cartoon sitting in mid-air and holding a steering wheel in my hands. 

It had NEVER done that before, ever, and this was 2 days after I'd taken it in for an oil change.  I'm convinced they did something with the spark plugs that caused it though they insist they don't do any maintenance wrt spark plugs.  Suure.   

[Virg]

Piratelvr1121 wrote:

"It had NEVER done that before, ever, and this was 2 days after I'd taken it in for an oil change.  I'm convinced they did something with the spark plugs that caused it though they insist they don't do any maintenance wrt spark plugs.  Suure."

They might be right about not touching your spark plugs, but at the same time Sabastienne's story shows that there are many other ways to mess up a car's engine during an oil change than that.  That's one reason I never speculate what's wrong unless I know for certain.  It just gives them a handle to say, "no, it can't be that" when it could be something else that they caused.  I just take it in and say, "it's obviously broken after the service" and let them come back with their reply, and then work from there.

Virg

[Asharah]

Last week, I made an appointment to take my car into a local shop for an oil change/tire rotation/state inspection. The owner gave me a call when it was done (except, apparently for the inspection, because I'd made an appointment on the inspector's day off. Which--huh.). He asked about the car "shuddering." I thought he was talking about how it was a little choppy when changing gears, but when I got the car back (after paying over $80 for the oil change/rotation),  I understood what he meant. It was obviously misfiring, and in the three block drive back to my house, it stalled twice, and the check engine light came on.

I brought it back to the shop, he ran diagnostics (for $90), and said that the problem was with the air intake sensor on the engine, and repairs would be around $500. And this couldn't possibly be caused by the oil change, even though my car (with 6,000 whole miles on it) has never shown symptoms of this before.

The car is still under warranty, so instead, I had it towed to the nearest dealer. The problem? The oil cap wasn't tight enough. Which caused oil to leak. Which caused airflow problems. Which caused the misfiring.

Hulk smash.

Hulk smash indeed!  Reminds me of a bad experience I had with the Jiffy Lube near our old place.  We haven't had the issue at other locations, I'm told because they're individually owned.   My car shook so bad it felt like it was going to fall apart around me and I'd be like a cartoon sitting in mid-air and holding a steering wheel in my hands. 

It had NEVER done that before, ever, and this was 2 days after I'd taken it in for an oil change.  I'm convinced they did something with the spark plugs that caused it though they insist they don't do any maintenance wrt spark plugs.  Suure.   

Off topic, but I saw Lou Ferigno on TV not long ago talking about playing The Incredible Hulk on television. Remember the scene in the opening credits where Hulk pushes the car over. When they were filming the scene, the wire that was supposed to pull the car over for him broke. It was like 2am, pouring rain, he was wet, miserable, tired and didn't want to wait for the wire to be fixed to get the scene, so he actually summoned the strength to push the car over without the wire. 
End of hijack

[Shalamar]

Ooh!  That's cool.  I loved that show. 

[mmswm]

Last week, I made an appointment to take my car into a local shop for an oil change/tire rotation/state inspection. The owner gave me a call when it was done (except, apparently for the inspection, because I'd made an appointment on the inspector's day off. Which--huh.). He asked about the car "shuddering." I thought he was talking about how it was a little choppy when changing gears, but when I got the car back (after paying over $80 for the oil change/rotation),  I understood what he meant. It was obviously misfiring, and in the three block drive back to my house, it stalled twice, and the check engine light came on.

I brought it back to the shop, he ran diagnostics (for $90), and said that the problem was with the air intake sensor on the engine, and repairs would be around $500. And this couldn't possibly be caused by the oil change, even though my car (with 6,000 whole miles on it) has never shown symptoms of this before.

The car is still under warranty, so instead, I had it towed to the nearest dealer. The problem? The oil cap wasn't tight enough. Which caused oil to leak. Which caused airflow problems. Which caused the misfiring.

Hulk smash.

And this is why the only two people who are allowed to touch my are are me and my father.  I'm starting to allow my oldest two sons to help me, but even then I'm a bit of a dictator when it comes to what they're allowed to touch.  Thankfully, my father has a bit more patience while teaching auto mechanics and went to a junk yard and towed home a junker van, parked it at the edge of the driveway, handed my son a tool set and said "have fun"!

If figure if I'm the one that screws up my car then I really can't complain.  Now to brace myself for the clutch replacement I've been avoiding for the last few weeks...

[ladyknight1]

Joann's craft store is getting there for me. I will still shop there for fabric and cake decorating items, but their jewelry section is like a high security prison. It is surrounded with cameras and cctv monitors, and the crystals have plexiglass over them with a sign that says "To select item, raise plexiglass. Alarm will sound.". I have gone to purchasing my jewelry supplies 99% online, but I will not buy any jewelry products at Joann's.

[Piratelvr1121]

Yikes, they're not like that around here, or at least not the last time I was there, maybe they've changed?

[jedikaiti]

I wonder if yours just has a high loss rate - I don't spend much time in the jewelry section, but I've never seen anything like that at my local store.

[nuit93]

Joann's craft store is getting there for me. I will still shop there for fabric and cake decorating items, but their jewelry section is like a high security prison. It is surrounded with cameras and cctv monitors, and the crystals have plexiglass over them with a sign that says "To select item, raise plexiglass. Alarm will sound.". I have gone to purchasing my jewelry supplies 99% online, but I will not buy any jewelry products at Joann's.

Mine's not like that either, but I think it depends on the layout.  If the jewelry section (which consists of lots of small, relatively expensive parts) is hard to supervise I can see taking those kinds of measures.

[Slartibartfast]

You can find most of the same things on eBay for a tiny fraction of the price that JoAnn's sells - as in, the EXACT same bead and pendant designs.  I rarely pay more than a buck apiece for pendants and I often get strings of beads for less than a dime (all with free shipping).  It takes quite a bit of digging through eBay listings at odd hours, and it takes a few weeks for things to arrive because they're almost all shipped from China, but it's worth it if I'm not in a time crunch.

[ladyknight1]

They have reformatted the two local stores in the last three months. The jewelry section is straight in front of the entrance and diagonal from the desk. I had noticed signage and security increasing every time I went in there.

I buy my large orders from Fire Mountain Gems and smaller ones from Fusionbeads.com, Artbeads.com, and Beadaholique. Free shipping, no tax, and no security alarms.

[Elfmama]

Pen, after she didn't serve you when she was finished the glass she was working on, I think I would have taken the bottle, opened it and taken my pills.  And if she still didn't acknowledge you, turned around and started walking out.  Betcha she would have acknowledged you then!

(I would never actually leave without paying, even if I wasn't acknowledged.  I'd turn around and place a dollar on the counter and then walk out.)

I should have done this, I know, but I wasn't quite functioning at 100% at the time. Although if I am ever in this situation again, I won't even bother trying for a response after the first attempt. Money on counter. Take water. Forget the change. Leave.

Yes, it sounds like your headaches are migraines or migraine-like.  Get those pills down ASAP, because if you wait too long, they aren't effective at all.  (Been there, done that, needed injection because the pills were taken too late.)

[PastryGoddess]

Pen, after she didn't serve you when she was finished the glass she was working on, I think I would have taken the bottle, opened it and taken my pills.  And if she still didn't acknowledge you, turned around and started walking out.  Betcha she would have acknowledged you then!

(I would never actually leave without paying, even if I wasn't acknowledged.  I'd turn around and place a dollar on the counter and then walk out.)

I should have done this, I know, but I wasn't quite functioning at 100% at the time. Although if I am ever in this situation again, I won't even bother trying for a response after the first attempt. Money on counter. Take water. Forget the change. Leave.

Yes, it sounds like your headaches are migraines or migraine-like.  Get those pills down ASAP, because if you wait too long, they aren't effective at all.  (Been there, done that, needed injection because the pills were taken too late.)

I second what ElfMama says