this happened about 3 days ago, and i'm still mad!! this is kinda long, but here it goes:

I purchased a brand new '06 coupe about 6 weeks ago. It was due for it's first oil change. I have previously done business with a Firestone near my house. Anyways, I brought it in, they took it, and about 20-25 mins later I walked over to the "bay" to see how everything was going. I saw two men under my hood with concerned looks. they then told me that he had accidentaly spilled a bit of oil on the engine cover. when he had gone to wipe it off with a rag, the silver paint on the engine conver had flaked off!!! i inspected it and there were about 3 noticeably different places where the silver paint was gone. "remain calm" i told myself, which i usually do. then the guy told me he has never seen anything like this happen, and that it must be covered under warranty due to a "defect." i played along and called 2 different dealerships right on the spot, and they told me that they have never heard of a case liike that. she also quoted me $112 for the part, special order. i relayed that info to the men working on my car. one of them then offered to take it off and spray paint it to make it look "like new." i declined. he kept telling me that it wasnt his fault and that he was simply wiping off a little spilled oil. i went back inside to the wait area and spoke to the guy at the counter (about my age; i am 24). i told him that someone had to take responsibility for their actions, but he said all i could do is speak to his manager which would come in the following day. however, he highly doubted that anything would be done. at this point my blood started boiling, and i asked for something in writing that showed that they were responsible for the damaged piece. he wrote right on the receipt. he then proceeded to start typing up my order on the computer, and i asked him if he was planning on charging me the $27 for the oil change. he said, "yeah". i then said "there's no way that I am paying for that" and he replied, "then we're gonna have a problem." at this point i was about to explode, so i said "yea, right" and took the receipt from the counter and stormed out. i was so pissed that i slammed the glass door as hard as i could onto a perpendicular cement wall. it made a huge bang, and i'm surprised the glass didnt shatter. i walked around to the bay area, and the guy from the counter had taken the shortcut through the back door, and he was waiting for me by my car. he went on to say that he knew how i felt, but slamming the door like that had really got him hot. i told him that i wasnt trying to take it out on him, but that i was just irrate that they refused to take responsibility. i signed a paper saying that if this got resolved, i would kindly come back and pay for everything. the guy hesitated but agreed. i then went to my nearest delear, and i had the service manager take a look. he said that most likely they had sprayed some sort of chemical (brake cleaner) in order to wipe up the mess. upon closer inspection there were several oil spots on the cover and also on some of the surrounding areas (hoses). the service manager then went on to say that they had probably started the car withiout the oil cap and that was how the oil spikked in the first place. upon removal of the engine cover, it was clear that that was the case because there was oil on the UNDERSIDE of the engine cover as well as the engine itself. he told me that it wouldnt be covered under warranty, but he could send it to the body shop to get it professionally resprayed. i was satisfied with that answer.

from now on, i will be taking my car to the dealer for oil changes, and i will never go back to Firestone (idiots!!) thank you

 

damn

 

Sorry to hear about that, but glad that it's just the finish that needs to be touched up. Is Firestone going to pay for it? I didn't even trust them with my old Accord much less my G. The last time I went there was when I had 63K miles on the Accord and went JUST for an oil change, and they told me that I needed to replace all my drive belts. Hell, I had just had the 60K tune up at the Honda dealer where all the belts had been changed!!! Mind you, 3,000 miles after they had been replaced, they're telling me I need to replace them. They're either incredibly stupid or crooks!

Great idea to just go to the dealer if you're not doing it yourself. You'll notice that the price difference is not even much (maybe $5). I bring my own syn oil, and they only charge me about $24 for labor.

 

i havent spoken to the manager, nor do i plan on doing so. i just never want to go back there. according to the guy working at the counter that day, he didnt see the manager compensating me at all. bunch of idiots

 

Sorry to hear that man......motor oil won't strip paint, as you know, so it had to be a cleaner of some sort they sprayed on to clean the oil.

Perhaps once you calm down you'll go have a chat with the manager to get some compensation.
You hate to think of them getting away with such incompetence.
G/L
C.

P.S. you might want to check around and see if any other paint is peeling off.

 

yea, i shoulda told the guy to spill a little bit of oil and then wipe it off WITH A CLEAN RAG. that would have proved that oil itself wouldnt have caused the paint to come off. oh well, too late now.

 

If it was brake cleaner I wouldn't worry about anything else peeling, that stuff does not usually hurt body paint. It might be possible that he had used a dirty rag to wipe the cover off, one that had brake fluid or gum cutter on it.

 

Why don't you write to the Firestone headquarter? They should at least compensate you with something.

 

i should, but i don't wanna ever see or deal with those guys again.

 

I had an issue with Firestone a few years ago involving tires on my Exploder. I ended up writing to Firestone and the Better Business Bureau. I received a phone call from the Firestone Regional Manager (A woman but that has nothing to do with the story). She asked me for 10 days to look into the matter. I agreed. On the 10th day she called me and said Firestone was going to refund my entire purchase and cover any damage done to the vehicle. She had complete authority to solve the complaint and did so. I got the addresses from the internet.

 

OMG! Sorry to hear! Unfortunately, some of us can empathize with crap like this. At least your dealership didn't wreck your car.

 

I agrre with finding a good dealer and sticking with them. Actually cheaper in the long run.

 

Firestone is known nationwide to be shady and not taking responsiblity for their actions. I hear that Firestone Techs get commissions on parts. That is why you hear many complaints from there about techs lying to they customers about parts being replaced. Bring it in for a $12.99 oil change and end up with a $100+ bill of repairs.

I know many people that have had bad experiences in multiple locations of Firestone.

 

I use to have the "lFirestone ifetime allignment" for my integra, brought it in after I changed the shocks to tokicos to get alligned and I was told my ride was stiff because the shocks were bad and needed to be replaced. Hmmm... shaddy!!!

 

WOW!!! I'm really dissapointed right now. I work for Firestone here in So Cal and that story pisses me off. The fact that the salesman still wanted you to pay for the oil change and didnt put it in writing that he was going to replace the engine cover is unnaceptable. I know my store would have given you the oil change free and then given you the next oil change free to along with getting you a brand new cover. He definitely forgot to put the oil cap on before starting the car (i've done this a couple times when i first started) and then proceeded to clean it with brake cleaner (brake cleaner eats away at paint pretty easily. If you call there corporate they will get it all squared out for your very quickly.

However, we dont get paid commision for parts i can tell you that much, we get paid a set amount for each job we do and if when we do the "courtesy check" (check all fluids, belts, hoses, etc.) and recommend them and you purchase them we get paid the labor to replace those items. But i do agree with you that at certain shops the techs will write down some BS about you needing something you dont because i've seen it done.

Once again, sorry to hear about your experience and i'm glad my store doesnt have issues like this, makes me kind of embarrassed to hear these stories. If you call corporate or contact the BBB the issue will be resolved shortly.
-GP-