[ChuckG]

Mine sucked. I had a whole list of TO DO's. I got stuck on the first one which was service my car.

I have made myself notes in case the situation doesn't resolve to my satisfaction and I have to file a complaint with higher authorities.



**Notes written on 4/22/08 while everything was still fresh in my memory.

On 4/22/08 I called store #0382 concerning a problem I was having with my 2000 Mercury Mystique. I spoke with Juanita who happens to be the service manager for the store. I explained to Juanita that I ran diagnostics on my car and that I was getting an EGR flow error code. Using a Chilton’s manual I checked the EGR valve myself by removing the vacuum line to the EGR valve (car did not bog down). I hooked a vacuum pump up to the EGR valve and the pressure stayed steady and the car did not bog down. Chilton’s says this is an indication of blockage and to remove the EGR valve and clean it (using a new gasket). I asked Juanita how much it would cost me to remove the EGR valve, clean it and put it back on with a new gasket. She asked me if I wanted a fuel injector cleaning. She explained that the EGR was only part of the system and suggested that I clean the injectors as well so the whole system is clean. This made sense to me and I agreed to the service.

I took the car to the store to be serviced. I dealt directly with Juanita in the store. She wrote up the ticket to have the EGR removed, cleaned and replaced with a new gasket as well as the injector cleaning service as well as an oil change.

I asked Juanita about somewhere that I could eat while the car was being serviced. She suggested Golden Coral right next door. She asked me if the phone number I gave her was my cell phone and I told her that it was. (This was obviously done to make sure that she could contact me if there were any problems encountered)

Golden Coral was closed and I ended up next door on the other side of the store at Burger King. I had plenty of time to eat and still sat around in the store’s waiting area for almost another hour before the service was complete. I paid for the service and took the car home.

At home I was reading over the paperwork that was given to me and noticed that it says I have additional problems with the car. It says that air intake house is cracked and could be the cause of my check engine light staying on. Error codes PO 401, PO 171, PO 174, and P 1131 were also noted. I called Juanita on the phone and began to ask her why I wasn’t notified that I had additional problems. She put the technician on the phone that worked on my car. His response was that they did try to contact me. They called for me over the loudspeaker and I did not respond. I did not respond because I was at Burger King and obviously didn’t hear the page. I then asked why someone didn’t call me. He said that Juanita would have to answer that one and put Juanita back on the phone. I asked Juanita why I wasn’t notified of additional problems with a phone call or even when I returned to the store and was waiting in the waiting room. Her response was that she wasn’t there, she was with other customers. I reminded her that she was the one that took my money for the service so she did see me again. She offered no reason why I wasn’t notified of other problems. The phone conversation ended.

I went outside and looked at the car and it was quite obvious where the air intake was cracked. There is a hose coming off the right side of the intake that passes directly in front of the EGR valve and then connects to the manifold. The air intake was cracked right where that hose connects to the air intake. I retested the EGR valve exactly as I described in the first paragraph and got the same results which indicates that I should still be looking for blockage of the EGR valve (what I just paid to have cleaned).

I called Juanita back. I was getting a bit upset at this point. I explained to Juanita that diagnostics still suggest that I have a blockage. Probably because I was upset at this point, Juanita was a bit on the defensive. Her bottom line was that she did not diagnose the car problem. I asked for a service and she performed the service. The phone conversation did not end on a positive note.

Figuring that the air intake needed replaced to see if it made any kind of difference in the diagnostics of the EGR valve itself, I headed out to parts store. The parts store told me it was a factory part and so I headed over to the nearest dealership. At the dealership I found out that a new air intake would cost me $76. At that price I wondered if I could simply patch up the connection myself with some RTV silicone. I went back to the parts store and got some silicone and was about to apply it to the affected area when it dawned on me that the hose must have been removed to get the EGR valve out and that the technician was probably the one that cause the crack in the air intake. Looking closely at the cracked area it was clean with no debris as an indication of a new crack, not an old one. If someone was to remove the clamp where the hose is connected to the manifold and pull that hose towards them, it would put strain on the exact area that is now cracked. At this point I figured I better not do the patch job and that I needed to address this issue with Juanita in person.

I went back down to the store and spoke with Juanita and Xavier. I actually showed them that the car does not bog down when you remove the vacuum line to the EGR as well as showed them that the car does not bog down when you pressurize the valve with a pressure pump (I took one with me). They both once again attempted the reasoning that I requested a service that they performed. My main argument was/is that even though they did not diagnose the problem it was understood by both parties “why” I was requesting the service. I was requesting the service because my diagnostics indicated blockage. Blockage is exactly why Juanita went on to suggest the fuel injectors be cleaned as well. If you remove the EGR valve to clean it because of an indication of blockage I would think it would be common sense after the service to check and see if there is still an indication of blockage. That obviously wasn’t done and diagnostics still do indicate that my next step is to remove the EGR valve and clean it for blockage. I am not suggesting that the service was not performed but it appears to me that the service wasn’t performed properly otherwise the EGR valve would pass diagnostics.

Juanita asked me what I wanted them to do. I didn’t respond with what I wanted them to do because I went on to the next problem of the air intake being cracked. When I explained to her that I believe that her technician was the one that cracked the air intake her immediate response was that the technician didn’t even have to remove the hose described earlier to get the EGR valve out. I’m sorry but I simply don’t believe that. There was even a clean spot on the clamp that suggests a screwdriver was recently used on it. She told me that she would have to talk to the technician that performed the service (understandable) but he had already left for the day. I suggested that she already knew that the technician would simply say that he didn’t do it. She explained that her technicians are not like that and that they would own up to something like this. I then suggested that she still knew what the technician will say because if they are that honest then he would have certainly come forward on his own when it happened.

I went on to tell her that a new sticker was not put on the window following the oil change. She shrugged her head. I told her that I was not attempting to be picky or argue just for the sake of argument. She told me that she wasn’t shrugging her head at me. She went to say that you tell the technicians to do things time and time again and if they happen to be having a bad day or whatever things happen. Certainly understandable. I make my own fair share of mistakes at my job. I went on to show her on my paperwork that they suggested that I need a transmission fluid change when I just had the transmission rebuilt about 5,000 mi ago and that the fluid is new. She explained that one is done solely on vehicle mileage rather than inspection. I once again explained to her that I was not trying to nit pick but to just explain why I had to start doubting the professionalism of the business. From not being notified of other problems, from me thinking that they broke the air intake, from not putting a mileage decal on the car from the oil change to suggesting an additional service that I know I don’t need. (the tranny fluid)

She understood and has authorized to run diagnostics on the engine in an attempt to figure out the problem. Unfortunately the next day I am available to bring the car back in is a week away (4/30/08). I asked her about the cracked intake because I know that it will even take the dealer a couple of days to get the part in. She agreed to go ahead and order the part. There was no further discussion as to who was paying for the intake as I’m sure she needs to address that issue with the technician that did the work.

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So basically my wallet is $200 lighter than it was this morning and it appears that I still have the original problem as well as an additional problem added into the mix.

Sure hope my night is better than the day was.