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Bad experience / Good customer service

January 23rd, 2008 at 04:21 am

So I went to Walmart today to get my oil changed. Just before I went in, I saw that I had some change in my cup holder. I was going to pick it up, but I decided to count it instead to see if someone would take any. There were 3 quarters, 4 nickels, a dime and two pennies. $1.07. Nothing big, but hey, this was an experiment.

After about an hour and a half, my pickup was finally done. I went out to it, and I had 4 nickels, a dime and two pennies left. Someone stole $.75!

Ok, admittedly, 75 cents is nothing to blow a gasket over. But then, I looked at my work order ticket, and it said that the work started at 1:33 and was done at 2:37 p.m. Now, I know that the work wasn't done by then, because I had to call my boss at 2:52 to explain why I wasn't back from lunch yet.

I called the store manager and told him that I had money stolen and they lied about the time, so how was I even sure that any work was done? How do I know that oil was even put into the pickup?

He said that he was worried about the situation, that he would refund my money (even if it was only $.75), and if I was worried the work didn't get done, he would have the service bay manager look it over.

I went there after work and the service manager explained that my pickup had been randomly picked to be inspected, and that when the work was done, the work order was closed, but the person doing the inspection still had to do their thing. That actually makes sense. So, I dropped that. The service manager also said that she remembered the pickup, as it was the first one that she had to inspect that day.

Ok, by that time the store manager and the service manager were both there. I said I understood about the time thing, and that I now believed that they actually did do the work. What about my money?

The store manager did NOT want to say out loud what my complaint was, but he offered to get my money back on the oil change and that he would follow up on the theft. He said that he would let me know what the cameras showed and that they would deal harshly with whoever did it.

That is all I wanted. THANK YOU, store manager, for doing the right thing. I know that $.75 was almost not worth driving the mile to the store, but hey, don't steal from me. If you steal, even $.75, you should be punished.

Free oil change for me, and they will get a return customer. The managers treated me fairly, and they also treated their employees fairly (they had to check the tapes before they would do anything, which is how it should be, I think).

4 Responses to “Bad experience / Good customer service”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1201066807

    I just talked about this with my husband. He admits he would not bother to bring up the $0.75 theft. I suspect he doesn't want to be thought "cheap" himself for complaining about such a small loss. But he says it is just not enough money to bother about.

    Well, I would like to THANK YOU for bringing it to their attention. I have a feeling the managers won't really do anything about it because to them, too, it is probably a tiny matter, not worth their bother. But I think you did the right thing. It helps establish that as a whole the public expects honesty from our oil changers.

  2. littlemama Says:
    1201096348

    This has happened to me also though not at Wal-Mart. I took my vehicle in to be worked on and a A LOT of change was taken from mt ash tray. Maybe $10.00 to $20.00 worth. I know, dumb mistake on my part! I had forgotten it was there. I immediately drove back to the shop and let the owner know. He was visibly upset. He asked how much was stolen, apoligized, and gave it back. No questions asked. (I'm a very loyal customer.)
    That would have been a deal breaker had he not made it right.
    I think you did the right thing. So what if it was only .75. It was YOUR .75!

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    1201104050

    Here's a frustrating one: I brought some candy in my suitcase to England for some friends (they all have some American faves that aren't sold in the UK). It was a checked suitcase. When I opened the suitcase, most of the candy was gone (they left me the maple candy but took all the chocolate bars)! Since there was some left, I know it wasn't a customs issue with bringing food.

    Of course there's no way to know who searched my luggage and thought, Awesome! Afternoon snack! We'd been through three airports and changed planes once. Our luggage had sat through a six-hour layover at one point. But it was like ten bucks worth of candy, and it was a thank-you for our friends for putting us up!

  4. reflectionite Says:
    1203057031

    stealing is wrong, no matter what the amount is.

    another thing that irks me is, that theiving little **** was being PAID while they STOLE something. stole something from you, a customer who was, technically, paying their wages (indirectly, well, you were at least contributing to their wage).

    yeah. good on you for bringing it up. things like that NEED to be brought up, otherwise they're going to get away with it more and more.

    imagine, if they stole $1 from each car they serviced, and they serviced say 8-10 cars a day. if they worked five days a week, they would be making around $10 a day, $50 a week. That's $2600 a year, of other people's money...

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