Hello,

I have a question I'm hoping someone can give me some input on.

I had an oil change done through a secret shop. The whole shop went good at the time and no complaints, service was good.

However, about 2 weeks later there was oil (or some liquid) dripping out of the car. The car has a hood thing underneath that needs to be removed when doing oil changes so it likely held some of the oil before it leaked onto the ground, without that maybe we'd notice the issue earlier.

Anyway, the car is still very new so we called the dealership and they towed it there and fixed the issue. The issue was that the wrong filter was used which caused oil to leak. And also some other things I didn't exactly understand being a girl and not knowing too much about that stuff. They stated if the car was driven a bit longer the whole engine could have "broke."

So, typically the cost for this would have been about $350 for dealership to fix. However since the car was under 20k km there was some sort of warranty (that I didn't know about.. I assumed I would have to cover the costs) that covered other peoples oil change mess-ups. So in the end I did not have to pay anything for them to fix it properly and do new oil change since most of the oil had leaked out anyway.

So my questions are:

1. Should I contact MSC to let them know what happened? Can I contact place that did oil change? Or can I contact head office of place that did oil change?

and next,

Say I DID have to pay the properly $400 with taxes.... I would want to get it reimbursed. So in THAT case WHO should I contact?
- The Mystery Shopping Company?
- The place the completed the oil change?
- The head-office of the Company that did Oil Change?

Thanks for your input. I only started this mystery shopping a few months ago.. In Oct so I'm very new to how to deal with any issues that may come up. Luckily this is the first real potential issue I've had.

The business needs to know they have an employee who is incompetent. I have been known to e-mail the MSC with "Additional information for Shop ID XXXXXX" when it was something the client company should be
aware of. Depending on your ICA with the MSC, you may NOT reveal you are a mystery shopper. I don't think the issue is whether or not you had to pay, but is actually that an employee is putting people's automobiles
and perhaps lives in jeopardy. I would notify the oil change company, in writing, exactly what happened. And if I didn't hear back from them, I'd follow up and give them XXX days to respond. And if THAT didn't get a response, I'd file with
the local BBB.

But you may NOT violate your iCA.

Ceasesmith has hit the nail on the head. You did not suffer any loss because the work was done under warranty. Yes, notify the MSC and notify the company that did the oil change in writing. Be aware though that the BBB has no kind of enforcement power whatsoever. Assuming that it was a franchise/chain company that did the oil change, a letter to their corporate office could be in order.

To answer your hypothetical question, if you had been out the $400 for the repairs, your only recourse would likely be small claims court.

The one thing that really bothers me is this sentence, "And also some other things I didn't exactly understand being a girl and not knowing too much about that stuff." If you don't understand, ask for a simple explanation. Your sex doesn't matter. I'm a guy and there are things I don't understand and my mechanic takes the time to explain them to me. He doesn't mind and it's part of what I pay him to do.

Thanks for highlighting the same thing that bothered me. Gender is irrelevant. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. A Y chromosome doesn't make men more capable of understanding cars than women.

I agree men are not more capable but because of our culture they are more familiar with some skills and areas of knowledge. My brother is very handy with cars, household maintenance and repairs, and farming and ranching skills. I'm a great cook, a neat freak, and have keen insight into the problems and moods of family members. My father taught me women are inferior. My grandmother taught me women are smarter than men and know more about what's going on. I don't think either one of them nailed it but it was fortunate I got both viewpoints.

Sometimes not understanding something is the result of not expecting to understand it. If IQ is normal a person can learn if they want to learn and put forth the effort. Education is not free. We should jump on any area of ignorance that bothers us or handicaps us and do something about it. That's what I usually do. In specific cases, I call Brother.

I'm sorry you had these issues with your oil change shop. I have done all my own oil changes for years mainly because of this very scenario potentially occurring at a quick service place. I have begun doing the quick oil change shops this past year and I thoroughly check my vehicle afterwards to make sure the drain plug and oil filter have been installed correctly. It's a pain to have to crawl under your vehicle after it has been supposedly serviced by professionals to double-check their work, but it is worth it for the peace of mind it provides.

Interestingly, twice this past year, the oil filter was not changed even though I was assured it had been as part of my service. I reported this as part of my shop and am glad that I checked the work so I could provide an accurate report to the client. Modern oil filters can certainly last for two oil changes, so I was not that concerned about the filter not being changed other than being assured that it had been.

There are some very suspect auto mechanics and places out there...when you find a good, honest place, it is nice to be able to trust them and sleep well at night.

Thanks for the replies!

By contacting the client in "writing" I would contact the HEAD OFFICE in writing and tell them about the location that created the problem? Should I also inform the actual location? It was a male in late teens that completed the service - they obviously they did not train him nearly enough to be left doing the work himself.

Would it be okay to first place a phone call to discuss issue with them before writing to them? It would be easier getting correct contact info of where to mail anything to/ or fax maybe.

My car dealership gave me an invoice type thing/work order of the work that was done by them and what had caused the issues. So it describes exactly what was done incorrectly in last oil change, which I would obviously send them a copy so they can have it.

Should the MSC be notified that I will be contacting/writing to Client about the issue? (if it is allowed I contact them which I haven't actually gone back to read their contract agreement)

Its a large company that this was done at (it is not ONLY a body shop but also large retailer)- with locations likely franchised.
I'm sure IF I actually DID have to pay the company would reimburse me for the costs as I have heard others have gotten gift cards or other reimbursements for less significant issues. So I don't think I would need to contact BBB ( but I guess that is never certain).

And, yes, I agree that my gender has nothing to do with understanding the issues as my brother would know just as much or even much less than I know regarding car stuff. I just thought the other issues were something that a "typical/average" guy would know - more so than "average" girl. BUT that is all very judgemental and may not at all be the actual case -- so no more gender mentioning!

OK, if I were an ordinary customer, not a mystery shopper, I would have immediately called the oil change people when my dealership gave me the paperwork. I would ask first the name of the manager, and talk to him. I would follow up with a letter directed to him. (Um, or her!) You don't have any damages -- but you could have had severe damages. You should have the oil change company's mailing address and phone number on your paperwork, either from the MSC or from the work order for the oil change.

The point of reporting to the BBB is to let other people know the business has bad practices.

I'm pretty sure the ICA precludes posting a negative review on sites like Yelp, but I'm not sure. Check your ICA for specifics.

Also, if your MSC says you MAY NOT contact the service provider regarding your complaint, that's a different kettle of fish. That leaves you with a moral dilemma.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2016 06:14PM by ceasesmith.

I had a similar issue that I caught in a day or two because my truck was dripping onto the concrete driveway. Mine is a Ford, which has apparently a fairly soft drain plug and the mechanic had stripped it such that it was leaking. Significant other got it fixed for me and at the same time checked some of the things listed on the receipt as having been checked and 'needs attention'. They claimed to have found several deficiencies that from the grub under the truck had obviously not been checked in a very long time.

I notified the MSC including photographs and got permission to take it up with the company. The oil shop claimed that the new drain plug in the truck was one they had installed and they had 'no idea' where I might have gotten the stripped plug. As for the rest, they treated me like dirt and were implying that I was only trying to set them up for claims of damage to my vehicle. I wrote up what had happened, what my significant other had observed under the vehicle, who I spoke to, what they had claimed as well as what they had implied and sent a copy of my letter to their home office, to the MSC and to the local manager. I never heard another word. I got paid for the shop and have never darkened the shop door of that place again. Interestingly I received no job offers from the MSC for a few years either though I got a 10 on the report.

The "fast" oil change chain store forgot to put the cap back on when they changed my oil. It made a real mess. Now, I take a photograph before I go in anywhere. All of my user serviceable "parts" are colored yellow, so they are easy to spot. After my car gets serviced, I open the hood and compare the yellow in my photo to the yellow under the hood. I asked co-workers about similar experiences, and this has happened in places from neighborhood garages to high-end foreign car dealers. All it takes is for the mechanic to be distracted for a minute. So, my, advice is to always check, no matter where you take your car. I haven't been back to the "fast" oil change store since, even though I know that it could have happened anywhere. There is a small local chain which gets shopped as part of some national association that they belong to, and the are friendly, courteous, and even faster than the "fast" oil change chain.

This is a situation where you are damaged by the company that did the work. I would immediately file a claim against the oil change shop directly with the documentation from the dealer. The mystery shop is over with and means nothing compared to the cost of an engine of a new car. This is like calling the MSC and asking if you should pull the fire alarm if there is a fire. You did the shop and reported what you observed during the shop and completed your contracted work for them.

Any damage done to your vehicle is between you and the oil change shop. The MSC has written in the ICA that they are in no way liable for ANYTHING that happens to you and your property and that your only recourse is between you and the oil change shop. You also signed a contract with the oil change company that you are required to immediately file claim with them according to that agreement. I would follow the contract to the letter with the oil change company and open a case number with them.

Even with the plug changed out, you do not know that you oil pan is not partially stripped out and could need to be replaced as well. I would get a second opinion on the oil pan to determine if there is damage to the threads on the pan itself even if it means paying for another oil change out of your pocket with another dealer.

I do not trust any quick shop to disassemble my brakes for a "free" inspection for this reason. The potential for damage to the vehicle is too great for the little payment involved. If the dealer took care of it and obtained copies of the oil change paperwork, they could file claim on your behalf against the oil change place for reimbursement.

This is a situation where you have two contracts in play. Do not tell the oil change place that your a mystery shopper as this will not change the way they handle the claim in any way with the legal department. Your not breaking your ICA with the mystery shop company and they are a customer of the big oil change company and want to keep them happy. They have no legal standing in this legal dispute and dragging them into the claim will not help either party.

Scanman - I agree with you about the brake inspection shops. All they have to do is tell you that you need a brake job and then refuse (legally in DE and PA because they can declare it is a "driveability issue" to put it together again for you. Or tell you that you have a hole in the muffler system and that is a driveability issue. I did one once, a week after I had new brakes installed so I knew that they had to be OK, and they still found "recommended" items dealing with my brakes. But luckily not a driveability (no idea if that is the correct spelling). For $500 I might consider a brake inspection shop because it would cover the towing fee to another garage. There were some horror stories about this on the Forum maybe 3 years ago

This is why I don't do oil change shops. I don't let random people service my car at all. It goes to the dealership where the 10 year warranty we bought takes care of anything except routine maintenance. If I took it somewhere else and something like that happened, it would void the warranty.
I did take our older truck in for a shopped oil change because it was due for one and the oil light started coming on after that. So we took it to the dealership and they recommended another oil change and see if that fixes the problem. It did. No more oil change shops. Period. That one ended up costing me money.

I have heard to many nightmares about oil changes, brakes, etc. I will never do any of these shops, it just isn't worth it.

I scheduled oil changes at one point. You need to contact the MSC. They will take care of it. And if you had to pay for repairs, they handle that as well.

You all have confirmed for me the warnings from my mechanic spouse to NEVER let these unknown quick service shops touch the car!
I wanted to save the family some time and money by not doing the auto work ourselves, but it really could turn into a nightmare! I'm glad it all worked out for you, Burk.

I'm sorry but I couldn't follow your 'yellow' parts explanation. I would like to try it. Please simplify it for me.

@burk wrote:

Anyway, the car is still very new so we called the dealership and they towed it there and fixed the issue. The issue was that the wrong filter was used which caused oil to leak. And also some other things I didn't exactly understand being a girl and not knowing too much about that stuff. They stated if the car was driven a bit longer the whole engine could have "broke."

So, typically the cost for this would have been about $350 for dealership to fix. However since the car was under 20k km there was some sort of warranty (that I didn't know about.. I assumed I would have to cover the costs) that covered other peoples oil change mess-ups. So in the end I did not have to pay anything for them to fix it properly and do new oil change since most of the oil had leaked out anyway.

So my questions are:

1. Should I contact MSC to let them know what happened? Can I contact place that did oil change? Or can I contact head office of place that did oil change?

and next,

Say I DID have to pay the properly $400 with taxes.... I would want to get it reimbursed. So in THAT case WHO should I contact?
- The Mystery Shopping Company?
- The place the completed the oil change?
- The head-office of the Company that did Oil Change?

Thanks for your input. I only started this mystery shopping a few months ago.. In Oct so I'm very new to how to deal with any issues that may come up. Luckily this is the first real potential issue I've had.

FIRST: being a "girl" isn't an excuse for not knowing how to change the oil in your car. but that has nothing to do with your question.

You are a REGULAR CONSUMER, so if you have a problem after the fact with the service you received, or with the parts that were installed you should first contact the shop manager where the work was done. And if he just shrugs like it's no big deal, or tries to blame it on you (they often do). Take it to your local department of Consumer Affairs or whatever they call it where you are. Here in California,USA it is the Bureau of Automotive Repair, and they will ask for copies of all of the paperwork and the business will be inspected, sited, and fined if they find that they did not do the job correctly and made no effort to correct the problem when you brought it to their attention.

DO NOT, under any circumstances, tell either the oil change place, or the regulating agency that you are a mystery shopper. It's none of their business.

The issue is she will most likely need to show the receipt. The receipt is used for proof of shop. The receipt may need to be given to the shop for this issue from the district manager. The shopper will be outed by handling it herself. If she goes through the MSC, they will be able to get it fixed and hide her identity. I had one instance in the 3 years I was scheduling this type of project. (It was minor.) but this was brought up in discussion what to do and how it would be handled if it was a bigger issue both the oil change company and MSC will want it handled through the MSC.

The MSC will NOT always handle an issue. I've had instances where I was told in no uncertain terms the risk and subsequent damage was on me per the IC contract and it was up to me to contact the business for redress. So while Sarah's advice about contacting the MSC is fine, don't expect any assistance. Don't tell the client you were on a mystery shop, but if they figure it out via the receipt you have not violated your contract.

Here are a few more car maintenance shop stories:

1. Shopped an oil change chain store and reported a good experience. Shortly afterwords found that oil was seriously leaking -- a brand new development. Went back to the store and they refilled the oil as it was within their warranty period. Turned out the plug was stripped. My car is vintage enough that oil pans are not readily available, if at all, and my regular mechanic now has to glue the plug in after each oil change.

2. Had brake work done during a brake store shop and gave them a good report. Then found that there was a new, intermittent rattle. Took the car back and they could find nothing, they said, though whatever they fiddled with did stop the rattle for a little while. When my regular mechanic looked at the brakes, he found a hose (or something) tangled up inappropriately -- though the untangling did not fix the rattle. Never did find it and it eventually wound down months later.

3. Got a new muffler installed during a muffler store shop and gave them a good report. In short order, found that it rattled at times going over bumps, and it did so for many months.

I'm sorry to hear about everyone else's troubles, but this tells me my father really knew what he was talking about when he said to find a good mechanic and stick with him (they were all "hims" then). I will never do another car maintenance shop again.

May I suggest to the OP that you go on "youtube" to watch videos that explain just about everything to do with your car?

You may not be a mechanic but you will have a better understanding about different parts on your car.

I've gone on youtube and got step by step instructions for almost everything, such as my new Digital Pressure Cooker and many other items.

After the shop i done and you have problems read the ticket with all the fine print, It will tell you what they will or will not due. MSC don't care, they turn in the shop and get paid. Knowo wear in the MSC paperwork does it say the warranty anything or will reimburse anything that is not in the shop. Any work done my the mechanic is the company that did the work not the parent company. You have to treat this as you would any other problem you have in your life. Most of the companies that make a mistake will fix the problem, some might reimburse you the amount you paid, but like anyone else they will not give you money or pay for something they can not control unless approved my them. It is all in the fine print.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2016 02:41PM by bmttinman.

HMM - I have oil spots on my driveway now - after doing an oil change shop. The car is 2 years old so should not be leaking oil.

Every user serviceable part on my engine is colored yellow I have a Ford car). The cap for adding radiator/cooling fluid is yellow. So is the cap for adding oil, the oil dipstick, the cap for windshield washer fluid, the cover for the brake fluid reservoir, etc. The rest of the engine is essentially black. The few yellow parts stand out visually. I take a photo with my cell phone and the yellow parts stand out. After the work is done, I open the hood and compare the yellow in the photograph to the yellow under the hood, and I also hand tighten each of them (more like try to, since I have not had a problem with them being loose).

@fa2 wrote:

I'm sorry but I couldn't follow your 'yellow' parts explanation. I would like to try it. Please simplify it for me.

About three years ago, I accepted a mystery shop at a chain auto service store. This was only to check what i claimed to be, "noisy brakes." Everything went well until i reclaimed my car and discovered they had damaged a part of the body of my car in behind the right front wheel and under the door called the rocker panel molding. This is an $800 part without paint or installation. When I bring this to their attentioni was basically accused of lying and bringing the car to them in this condition in order to hold them responsible. The manager was rude. This was in July that year. I explained this to the scheduler who did not allow me to amend the report and I was left to fight this battle on my own. I never revealed my identity as a mystery shopper but ended up with estimates from body shops for the damage which this manager scoffed at and he never once tried to initiate a phone call to me. I ended up contacting the corporate office for the company and asked to work with the manager's superior. The manager must have been contacted as well because over the next 24 hours he called, emailed and texted me repeatedly. I called the corporate office again and told him I was not going to deal with the guy, he had his chance, and I wanted to be contacted by his manager. The manager took the estimates and paid me for my car. He also asked me to send him an email detailing what had happened with that manager. When I finally got the check for my repairs to be made, it was October. I will not ever perform one of these types of shops again unless it is for a dealership. I felt like the MSC abandoned me especially when I was not allowed to amend the shop and was told to leave the reaction he had to my damage claim out of the narrative. (I noticed the damage before I left their property). The $20 or whatever you get just isn't worth it.

I had an oil change shop a few years ago. Went well, couple of weeks later, I found out they didn't replace my oil dip stick.

Burk,

Was this one of the shops for Service Scouts, Inc. in Southern California? If so, please contact me right away- the owner of the business needs to know about this and we will get the information to them and see if there is something we can do. So, please! If this was one of our shops, contact me via email at Tracy@ServiceScouts.com as soon as possible.

Tracy

I get it!.
My 2014. brand new Subaru Forester is a horror! Oil changes run every 5K instead of 7.5 K. Getting a free oil change is not a good thing, I have to prove they did it right. Subaru is snotty. Subaru is over the top stupid when trying to get anything that they are supposed to fix under extended warranties. My Bluetooth, which has been stupid since the day I bought the car...Subaru refuses to fix.

Yeah, let's be real here. Gender does matter. Pick a hundred women and a hundred men and ask them a detailed question about [cars] and I'm betting that the results will be profoundly different. It doesn't mean there aren't women who know more about cars than most men; it only means that MOST women don't. You can insert activities that are female-heavy into the [section]. There is a huge difference between men and women and how they think and act. I'm *really* glad that there is. Vive la difference!

CeaseSmith gave you a great answer. You should run with that.