- Report: #818238
Complaint Review: Pep Boys - Marlow Hgts Maryland
Reported By:
george -
temple hills, Maryland, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Pep Boys
st barnabas rd Marlow Hgts, 20748 Maryland, United States of America
Phone:
301-423-2522
Web:
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Pep Boys Poor Customer Service, Lack of respect for me and my property!!!! Marlow Hgts, Maryland
I reported on 12/28/2011 at 10:20 am, case # 99797. According to their online customer issue system guidelines, the expected response was 48 hours. As of 1/3/2012, I have not received a call or written response from your company. The following provides the details of the complaint along with attachments of the price matching guarantee which was not honored. Needless to say, the lack of response further escalates my frustration with their customer service.
I am very disappointed in the poor customer service, lack of responsiveness, wasted money and invaluable hours of time their establishment have cost me. I called the Marlow Hgts store on December 24th approximately 3:30pm and spoke to Anitra the customer service rep., I told her I had my own tires and I wanted to know if they would fit my car. Anitra placed me on hold came back and said that they would fit. I also asked what time they closed and if they would be able to install, she said they close at 6pm and they would be able to install them. I arrived at the store at 4pm to have the tires installed only to be told by Victor that they would not be able to install my tires and I had to wait until Monday. He said if I would have communicated to them my tire size he would have let me know that they could not do it because the tire tech was leaving at 5pm. After talking to Victor and Anitra they came to the conclusion that it was a communication error on their part and they were sorry however I had to wait until Monday to have the tires installed.
Very upset and displeased because not only did I have to order my own tires because Victor would not honor the price match guarantee which Sears sold the tires $100.00 dollars cheaper than Pep Boys, now they had me come all the way up there and he did not want to install my tires. I immediately left the store and contacted Shawn Patterson the customer service guy and explained to him what was going on. He immediately called the store and called me back to tell me to go back to the store to have the tires installed. I agreed. I went back to the store had the tires installed only to find out an hour later the tires do not fit. After being told the tires would fit and two and half hours later being told they do not fit I decided to leave the car and come back Monday morning for them to put the old tires back on the car.
I arrived Monday morning 9:15 am and was told the tire tech was not in and they would call m e when my car was ready the customer service rep told me that they could probably switch the tires around, put the new tires which were in the front in the rear and place the rear ones in the front, I was fine with that and told him to call me and let me know. I r eceived a call at 5pm from Tanya the customer service rep stating my car was ready. I asked her what did they actually do? Tanya placed me on hold and came back to the phone and said they switch the tires around.
When I arrived at the store Tanya said the total was $49.95, I agreed since they did put the new tires on. I asked her where the old tires were because I wanted to keep them for spares. I met her around the back where she rolled out the set of brand new tires with the tire tech Jesse who noted they were no good because something on the car had been rubbing them and was tearing into the tire. To add insult to injury Emanuel another technician admitted to driving my car, not knowingly damaging the brand ne w tires. By now I am livid because I was charged $50 dollars for nothing! I have a set of brand new tires which your store damaged and are useless to me! Further, if I did not request that the tires be returned to me, they would have been trashed. I asked to speak with the manager and was told "no manager is available and to call the store on Tuesday".
This ordeal over the holiday weekend has cost me a great deal of frustration, time and wasted money. What place of business handle customers with such little regard, respect and adds to the frustration by not honoring their guarantee and not taking any immediate action to resolve an issue that escalated. Instead, tells a customer to contact the manger the next day on an issue created and perpetuated by their wrong doing? This is unacceptable service.
I am very disappointed in the poor customer service, lack of responsiveness, wasted money and invaluable hours of time their establishment have cost me. I called the Marlow Hgts store on December 24th approximately 3:30pm and spoke to Anitra the customer service rep., I told her I had my own tires and I wanted to know if they would fit my car. Anitra placed me on hold came back and said that they would fit. I also asked what time they closed and if they would be able to install, she said they close at 6pm and they would be able to install them. I arrived at the store at 4pm to have the tires installed only to be told by Victor that they would not be able to install my tires and I had to wait until Monday. He said if I would have communicated to them my tire size he would have let me know that they could not do it because the tire tech was leaving at 5pm. After talking to Victor and Anitra they came to the conclusion that it was a communication error on their part and they were sorry however I had to wait until Monday to have the tires installed.
Very upset and displeased because not only did I have to order my own tires because Victor would not honor the price match guarantee which Sears sold the tires $100.00 dollars cheaper than Pep Boys, now they had me come all the way up there and he did not want to install my tires. I immediately left the store and contacted Shawn Patterson the customer service guy and explained to him what was going on. He immediately called the store and called me back to tell me to go back to the store to have the tires installed. I agreed. I went back to the store had the tires installed only to find out an hour later the tires do not fit. After being told the tires would fit and two and half hours later being told they do not fit I decided to leave the car and come back Monday morning for them to put the old tires back on the car.
I arrived Monday morning 9:15 am and was told the tire tech was not in and they would call m e when my car was ready the customer service rep told me that they could probably switch the tires around, put the new tires which were in the front in the rear and place the rear ones in the front, I was fine with that and told him to call me and let me know. I r eceived a call at 5pm from Tanya the customer service rep stating my car was ready. I asked her what did they actually do? Tanya placed me on hold and came back to the phone and said they switch the tires around.
When I arrived at the store Tanya said the total was $49.95, I agreed since they did put the new tires on. I asked her where the old tires were because I wanted to keep them for spares. I met her around the back where she rolled out the set of brand new tires with the tire tech Jesse who noted they were no good because something on the car had been rubbing them and was tearing into the tire. To add insult to injury Emanuel another technician admitted to driving my car, not knowingly damaging the brand ne w tires. By now I am livid because I was charged $50 dollars for nothing! I have a set of brand new tires which your store damaged and are useless to me! Further, if I did not request that the tires be returned to me, they would have been trashed. I asked to speak with the manager and was told "no manager is available and to call the store on Tuesday".
This ordeal over the holiday weekend has cost me a great deal of frustration, time and wasted money. What place of business handle customers with such little regard, respect and adds to the frustration by not honoring their guarantee and not taking any immediate action to resolve an issue that escalated. Instead, tells a customer to contact the manger the next day on an issue created and perpetuated by their wrong doing? This is unacceptable service.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
voiceofreason
North Carolina,United States of America
Oh, Lord
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, January 20, 2012
Where to begin.
1: You had a price match issue with Pep Boys. Did the Sears total for the tires include some kind of rebate or special manufacturer-driven promotion? If so, no other store can match that unless the manufacturer is giving them the same deal at that time. If this was not the case, was the Sears price advertised in print? If not, not other store will honor a verbal or unadvertised price break.
As for rebate deals, or distributor driven sales, in some industries, all stores will get the same offers at same time. In others, one chain gets it one quarter, the next chain gets it afterward, so on and so forth.
Haven't you ever noticed certain cereals or snacks will be on sale 2 for 1 at one supermarket and not the other? Then a week or 2 later, the other store has the same or similar sale.
2: To be polite, you sound like a "difficult" customer.
Anyone bringing their own parts to an auto shop for installation, to save a few bucks over buying them direct from the installer, takes full risk for any parts defects, or damage done to or by said parts.
Given this, I too am puzzled why you didn't simply have Sears install the tires. I can only look to you being a "difficult" type to explain it. Pep Boys certainly wasn't responsible for confirming you'd brought in the right size tires. It would have been nice had they done so, but they were probably under no special obligation to care what it was you handed them. You should have had the seller install them.
3: I'm betting that you ended up with the wrong tires as well due being "difficult", and that Sears probably advised you to get something else, but you disagreed, probably because either you have to be right, or anyone else has to be wrong, even at the cost of spiting your own nose.
WHY IS IT, otherwise, that you even ventured to ask Pep Boys (if you really did) whether you had the right size tires? Why should there have been any question about that before you left Sears with them?
Basically, you came off as being full of it.
Ramjet
Somewhere,Michigan,
U.S.A.
A couple questions
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, January 20, 2012
You bought these new tires at Sears, why didn't you have Sears install them? Who told you what size to buy? Did you get the size off the old tires, from your owners manual, the sticker on the door or a recommendation from Sears? At any rate, Pep Boys did not tell you what size to buy, is that right? If you bought them yourself and took them in I think you are responsible for selecting the size aren't you?
Then they put them on and there was something wrong with your car that damaged them? Is that their fault?
Normally when you buy new tires, they discard the old ones. I've never had anyone ask me if I wanted to keep the old ones, in fact they usually charge a few bucks to get rid of them. You need to tell them up front if you want to keep them.
You went through all this to save $100.00?
jeffr
Peoria, Az,Arizona,
United States of America
Poor Customer Support
#4General Comment
Thu, January 19, 2012
Customer support at Pep Boys is designed to prevent customers from bothering anyone in the company. Customer support will only take a complaint and forward it back to the person you are complaining about and promise a reply within 48 hours. (But they do not promise action)
1-800-737-2697
They will not forward your call to anyone else, not even a call center shift supervisor.
Calling corporate headquarters is useless, since there is an automated phone system that only lets you through if you know an extension or the name of someone specific in the corporate directory.
My solution
1 - Google and download the corporate annual report for 2010
2 - Dial the corporate number (at 1-215-430-9000 or 215-430-9095) and start entering the names at the end of the report , starting at the top and working down (telling my story, asking them for the right person to contact, and leaving my cell phone number)
Within 20 minutes I left voice messages for... the President & Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Stores; Executive Vice President, Merchandising & Marketing, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
I was able to reach all but one member of the Board of Directors and 8 of the top 16 stockholders.
I was working my way through the list of 9 Corporate VPs, and 6 Field Vice Presidents when I was called by the CFO's office.
Within 10 minutes I was contacted by the executive director of customer support.
And my problem was solved within 20 minutes thereafter (Free repairs and profuse apologies)
btw the number to bypass all these barbed wire barriers is Kim brown director customer service 215-430-9897 !!!!
Remember - "If you want the attention of any large beast, be it an elephant or a bureaucracy, it is helpful to know what part of it causes pain. Be sure, however, that you want its full attention."
Good luck
