Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:24/05/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Date of transaction: May 23
  
  Today I brought in a battery and asked the technician to test it, and if it was good, to replace my existing battery which was old. At the same time I was having my winter tires swapped out for summers. The technician told me he tested the battery and that it was good and so he installed it. After I’d paid $50 + tax for this service and more for the tire swap, I tried to leave I found the battery to be entirely dead. My car would not start. No sound. No lights. They had to jump me so I could leave. Still, I was refused a refund for the installation since it was my battery (which they had said was not flat prior to me agreeing to swap it out).
  
  Obviously they did not test the battery. Or, did they knowingly install a flat battery, as they assert? The manager Garrison said the technician knew it was flat and needed charging but still installed it. Further, Garrison insisted that his technician told me that the battery needed to be charged before the car could be used (it was dead), and that I accepted this and told him to install it anyway. Absurd!
  
  Later Adam C******, General Manager (Garrison's boss) said the opposite—that they had tested the battery and it fine before installing it.
  
  When I drove away, the power steering did not work properly. It was jumpy. Later in the day a different mechanic told me that this was because the battery was so dead it could not fully support the power steering. So Mobil1 sent me off in a car they had made unsafe with my money in their pocket.
  
  The cost (to me) of them knowingly installing a dead battery is $50 plus tax.

  Business Response

  Date: 24/05/2023

  We will refund the $50 in good faith. No problem.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/06/2023

  Incident happened on May 23, 2023. My experience tells me that Mobil 1 Richmond is running a battery testing scam that misinforms customers that their battery needs replacing so they can charge for labour and parts associated with the installation of new and unnecessary batteries. The only alternatives to this theory are that their battery testing equipment has been broken for at least 6 weeks and they didn’t notice, or that they don’t know how to use that equipment. Take your pick. It’s 1 Star service, no matter how you slice it. Six weeks ago I was at Mobil 1 Lube Express Richmond to have an oil change done, and was told that my battery needed to be replaced. Their technician said it was so dead it would damage my alternator. He claimed to have learned this during their complimentary safely check. I was surprised since it had shown no sign of fatigue. Still, I filed this concern in my head for later. This week I returned to swap out my winter tires and asked them to test the battery again. They did (they say) and said, "It has 1% remaining". So, they swapped this batter out for one I brought in (which they also tested and said was "good"). I paid $50 for that service, which turned into a saga that I reviewed separately on Yelp. That same day I ended up having to buy a new battery only to learn that my original battery, which Mobile 1 tested twice as "at 1%", was perfectly fine and did not need replacing at all. **** tested it (see photos) and told me it could "use a charge" but was perfectly fine. That's why it had given me no trouble at all. Hmmm. Furthermore, **** said that no battery tester they knew of measured "percentage remaining". Battery testers measure voltage, and mine was at 12.52 v. I shared these photos with Mobil 1 General Manager Adam C****** and he told me that if I removed my unfavourable review he would reimburse me for the money they charged me needlessly, but only after I also gave him my home address and signed a non-disclosure agreement.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/07/2023

  $50 would be a full refund for the service he had. 

  We have nothing more to discuss with this customer.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/07/2023

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  1. $50 does not ever cover the unnecessary service (installing a completely dead battery) that Mobile1 Richmond "provided". I paid was $54.99 + tax for this amazing service. 
  
  2. The fact that Mobile1 Richmond installed a dead battery, refused to swap it back for the the good one and would not let me on the property to retrieve the good one, meant that the same day I had to buy a brand new battery for $209.54. See the attached **** receipt dated the same day that Mobile1 Richmond knowingly installed a dead battery (In one  email they claim they knew this. In another email they said it tested good). 
  
  So, on May 23, 2023 I needlessly paid $215.53  ($54.99 + $209.54). They owe me that much. 
  
  I  also had a terrible day and had to take another unpaid day off work to make the appointment I missed due to the mess that Mobile1 Richmond cause. 
  

  The company seems incapable of owning any of its mistakes, so an apology is impossible. I know that.   
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** *********