I took my car to The Duke of Oil to have a simple oil change performed. Thier fee for the service was $33.91 On the way home I smelt something funny, and the engine seemed to be getting hot. After I let it cool down, I pop the hood and find an OILY RAG under the hood.
I call to complain to the manager Steve who was very rude to me saying,
"Hey I said I was sorry what more do you want".
I said,
"a refund",
he said,
"We changed the oil didn't we, that's what you paid for, it was just a mistake" then he hung up.
So I call Merriville Duke of Oil because I don't want to deal with Steve anymore, I got the cell phone number for the district manager Al Welsch. Al seemed like he was going to take care of things, said he'd call me back, and you know what he never did.
A week later there is a large puddle of oil in my garage my car was leaking. Now with the rude and bad service I recieved from Duke of Oil I decided to take it to Smith Cheverolet in Hammond, to have it looked it. At this point I wouldn't trust The Duke of Oil to even wash my car.
Smith Chevy found the culprit to be the wrong sized oil plug installed on my oil pan by The Duke of Oil and they made note of that on the invoice. It cost me $65.23 to repair. They told their neglegance could've caused serious damage to my engine if I didn't notice it right away, and that I should demand a refund from The Duke of Oil, and have them reimburse me for the damages.
So I call Al back and ask him why he never got back to me. Al said Steve was supposed to get back to me, so Al is passing the buck, because he told me he himself was going to back, but whatever. He agreed to meet me at the Highland location the next morning at 10 AM to work this whole thing out.
I go to the Highland location and guess what Al isn't there. I asked where he was. They said, "well it's only 9:55 AM sit tight". Then they called AL, and I overheard Al on the phone saying, "ooh I forgot about that". So they have some other guy Jerry attempt to take care of me, he was the Auto Fix Supervisor, not even the Lube Supervisor.
I let them inspect the oil plug, the oily rag, and copies of paperwork. They wanted to put my car up in the air and have a look. I didn't want them touching my car again because the last time they did that, they messed my car up, I feared they would mess it up even worse.
Then Jerry said that Smith Cheverolet was probably at fault, and why should they be trusted. Then said, "do you personally inspect the plug everytime it's changed, how do you know it was us". I know it's them because I never had a problem till I took it to The Duke of Oil.
We argued back and forth about that, then Jerry threw my paperwork, the oily rag, and plug back at me. And said, "take care of it your way then".
I left, got a hold of Al on the cell phone. I let him know he broke his promise to me by not being there, he said, he was in a meeting, I said, "I overheard you say you forgot", and he said, "yes because I was in a meeting". He said he can't help me because I won't let them inspect my car. I told them,
"last time you guys inspected my car you messed it up, also your neglagence put me in danger, the problem is taken care of, now it is up to you to atone for your error".
We then argued back and forth how about he needs to put my car up in the air to inspect it. Then I caught him in several lies or half truths. Then I asked him about 20 times for his boss, he kept saying it wasn't going to do any good, that it's just some accountant person. Now I already knew the GM was Tom, I found out from another source, but I wanted to check with AL because sometimes people will give you false information to cover themselves. So I called AL on that and he said, "well it won't do you any good".
I called Tom and basically he said I had an additude problem and was badgering him, and I was very calm on the phone. I told them how their neglegance put my life in danger and they said,
"well nothing happened, did it? "
He then accused of me trying to get a "free lunch", and kept calling me "DUDE" and "MAN", I politely asked him not to address me as "dude or "man" for I considered that disrepectful and he got upset with me about that and said,
"gee it doesn't surprise me that Al and Steve don't want to deal with you".
All I want is a refund for my oil change and for them to pay for the damange they caused to me car, simple request, and instead I get more grief.
Never ever give your business to The Duke of Oil. They don't stand behind their work, and they'll try to pin it on you. It would be nice if they gave you some warning of that before they go to work on your car. Looks like I'm going to have to learn that lesson the hard way. I hope this will prevent other people from having to deal with I had to go through.
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