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| - It's a battery cable. I so wanted this to be a 4-star review, I settled on a 3-star review when it really should be a 2 star. The staff is friendly; the shop is clean and no long wait for service. That keeps it from being a one star.
Last week I took my 2004 Ford Explorer to Pep Boys for some needed repairs. Earlier in the month, I had another mechanic do some minor work and he handed me a list of things that needed attention. SO going in I knew it wasn't going to be quick or cheap.
Chris, the manager, was nice, easy to talk with and seemed knowledgeable. We agreed on what needed to be done now and what could be put off until later. It would be a two-day job. Ok, agreed, left him the keys and went about my business.
Following day, I had an update in the morning then silence. So I stopped by to see how the progress was going. Chris informed me that they hit a snag. A problem that seemed like it did not have a solution and if they progressed on it any further, they may never get it fixed.
The problem you ask? The battery cable was corroded. "Ford no longer makes parts like this for your year of the vehicle and there aren't any aftermarket parts out there."
Let that sink in for a minute..... battery cable for a 2004 Ford Explorer. Apparently, they don't make anything like that anymore...
..
They cut a few inches off to check to see if the entire cable was corroded or just the tip. It was the entire cable. If they tried to cut anymore, it would not go back on and connect with the new battery.
I thought he was joking. A battery cable stalled an expensive repair project? A $5 piece of cable, with a metal connector on each end. (Actually, it's $11.95 retail) How hard is it to make one up? I asked and he said that making a new one is a custom job and they don't do custom jobs.
Now if it were a 20004 Maserati or some other exotic car, I would understand better. But a piece of heavy duty insulted wire with a metal connection at both ends is not fancy, no computers attached or need for tuning the resistance bearing component. It solves a problem.
I don't call making a battery cable a custom job, for a business that has "repair" in their title; I would put that under "customer service". Earning my repeat business by problem-solving. Doing what you are being paid to do: repair my vehicle.
When I walked into the nearby Pep Boys store as well as neighboring AutoZone , they had a whole wall of battery cables. I was told to just bring in the old one and they would size one up. No Problem. It's not "custom" or a unique job that requires any fancy machinery or tools.
In fact, look at the photo of my new battery and the battery cable; they cut and crimped a new end on there. By Chris's definition, that is a custom job and they don't do custom jobs. SO how did that happen?? A new connection to a bad cable that will soon fail. The time it took to tell me that line of garbage and to put the new end on - if you spent that time making a new cable, you would have never had the problem with time to spare.
Being a "repair" facility, I would think they would have suppliers or people who could do it quickly for them if they could not. But instead, I learned all they do is point to a bad part, call up the dealer, get the new part (no matter the cost) and pull it out of the box and replace
Yes, it's the small things that come back to bite you in business. For what Pep Boys is charging in labor, they are glorified parts replacers, not repair or problem solvers.
If it weren't for the fact that you could not fix a simple battery cable, I would have made this a 4 star review. But a simple little problem stalled the entire project?? Unbelievable.
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