Angry at Walmart service center

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted by bobdoo
When I owned my POS audi POS, they had 1 free year of oil changes.

Engine was spotless after the 'change'. When I confronted them, they claimed to use a vacuum tube.

I went home, and changed the oil.


Just curious when you did that was the oil still light honey colored or black?

 

[TiGeo]

Originally Posted by Jetsfan421
My father wanted to get his oil changed today and I didn't feel like doing it, so he went to the dreaded Walmart to get it changed. The horror of finding the using a vacuum tube to suck the oil out and not use the drain plug. It took them two hours to do the job and they didn't even do it right. The oil is still dirty too, so they certainly didn't get it all out. I'm so mad and this isn't even my car. I've promised to never let him go there again. They said to me that it was corporate policy to not take the drain plugs out. That's not changing oil right at all. Has anyone else had this happen to them, and is there any recourse since they weren't up front about it?


Vac extractors when used property work just fine - yeah, they leave a *tiny* amount vs. a bottom drain but it's not going to be enough to matter. V. popular in the VW community b/c the filters are on top so they eliminate the need to crawl under.

 

[TiGeo]

Plenty of high-end cars are serviced this way at the dealer...Merc...BMW...etc. Extractors are just fine.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted by Excel
going to walmart for anything auto is your first mistake


I still buy oil and filters off the WM shelf, but do not want the hassel of them touching my car. I went into a relativly new WM and saw an efficient operation in the garage. Six months later, same WM, three employees were in the auto department.

One was walking around among the shelves, not sure what she was doing, trying to avoid eye contact with customers.

Two teenagers in the garage, huddled together looking at a cell phone, laughing.

Customers in line waiting to check out or set a service up at the unmanned register.

Cars lined up outside, nothing getting done.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted by gfh77665
Originally Posted by Excel
going to walmart for anything auto is your first mistake


I still buy oil and filters off the WM shelf, but do not want the hassel of them touching my car. I went into a relativly new WM and saw an efficient operation in the garage. Six months later, same WM, three employees were in the auto department.

One was walking around among the shelves, not sure what she was doing, trying to avoid eye contact with customers.

Two teenagers in the garage, huddled together looking at a cell phone, laughing.

Customers in line waiting to check out or set a service up at the unmanned register.

Cars lined up outside, nothing getting done.



In Western Washington the Auto Centers have mostly closed. There is one about 30 miles north of me.

 

[chainblu]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
In Western Washington the Auto Centers have mostly closed.


I wouldn't be totally shocked that if in 5 to 10 years, all WM Auto Centers are history. I'm sure some bean counter in Arkansas has already figured out how to put that square footage to better use (read profit). They've lowered the pay of TLE techs to what a teen aged cashier makes, so there is no incentive at all to work in an un-airconditioned shop. Plus, with today's sue-happy customers (Walmart gets sued every 20 minutes, on average) it's probably getting to the point where it's just not worth keeping.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by chainblu
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
In Western Washington the Auto Centers have mostly closed.


I wouldn't be totally shocked that if in 5 to 10 years, all WM Auto Centers are history. I'm sure some bean counter in Arkansas has already figured out how to put that square footage to better use (read profit). They've lowered the pay of TLE techs to what a teen aged cashier makes, so there is no incentive at all to work in an un-airconditioned shop. Plus, with today's sue-happy customers (Walmart gets sued every 20 minutes, on average) it's probably getting to the point where it's just not worth keeping.




Really? Every twenty minutes? I take it you don't like Walmart?

 

[ls973800]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by chainblu
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
In Western Washington the Auto Centers have mostly closed.


I wouldn't be totally shocked that if in 5 to 10 years, all WM Auto Centers are history. I'm sure some bean counter in Arkansas has already figured out how to put that square footage to better use (read profit). They've lowered the pay of TLE techs to what a teen aged cashier makes, so there is no incentive at all to work in an un-airconditioned shop. Plus, with today's sue-happy customers (Walmart gets sued every 20 minutes, on average) it's probably getting to the point where it's just not worth keeping.




Really? Every twenty minutes? I take it you don't like Walmart?



Liking Walmart has nothing to do with how many times they are sued per hour, day, year, etc. Here is an article from 2005 which is showing one lawsuit about every 30 minutes. I am sure that now, almost 15 years later the lawsuits haven't gone down in number. More stores, more shoppers, more LAWYERS!

Walmart Lawsuits 2005 almost every 30 minutes

Copied from that article. However, if 5000 lawsuits a year were filed, that would only average about every 105 minutes or a little more than every 1 1/2 hour. Again, this is from 2005.

Indeed, suing Wal-Mart is now a cottage industry, with some 5,000 lawsuits filed against the company each year. After one of Wal-Mart's 1.2 million employees gets to work at 9 A.M., three lawsuits will be filed against the company by the time he or she takes a 10:30 A.M. coffee break. By lunchtime, the count is up to six. By the time the employee heads home at 5 P.M., no fewer than 17 people or groups have brought a complaint in court. The same pattern will repeat itself tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.

 

[chainblu]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Really? Every twenty minutes? I take it you don't like Walmart?


A few years ago, my daughter worked as a cashier for Walmart right after she graduated HS. Some of the "Be Careful" literature she brought home from orientation had that statistic in it. Maybe Walmart lies to their new employees, I don't know.

 

[jeepman3071]

So you are really picky about oil changes, yet you took it to the cheapest known place on the planet to have it done and you are surprised they did something you didn't like?

 

[Hall]

Interesting timing..... I wonder if the Humble Mechanic is a member here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RakLAZIRgwU

He uses an oil extractor on his VW. He states these cars were designed to have their oil replaced this way. One person commented that isn't true since VW puts a drain plug on them but they may do that to makes old-fashioned folks happy.

When he was done sucking oil out, he pulled the plug ..... and 100ml drained out. 100ml ! Less than 4 ounces ! He was pretty confident in how much would come out too 'cause he used a 500ml measuring cup.

 

[TiGeo]

Good one on oil extractor for a VW Golf R change.

https://youtu.be/RakLAZIRgwU