It’s been a while since I’ve posted. My time management has been slightly lacking this semester. In addition to my normal hectic 1L schedule, I’ve also picked up an extra class (internet law) and I am now the research assistant to one of the smartest professors at the law school — which is great, but it means that I have to do a decent amount of work in order to be useful to him.
Anyway, the point is that despite my ridiculous schedule, tonight’s post wrote itself.
My girlfriend’s father noticed that I had a bulge in the side of my back driver’s side tire recently, and I knew that my tires were balding anyway, so I decided to have them replaced. Being that my sole source of income (until next week, anyway) comes from loans, I could only afford to get Wal-Mart tires. I did some research and special ordered what I think are the least sucky of the corporate-muscled sweatshop tires that Wal-Mart offers.
So they call me today to tell me that my tires arrived. I figured I’d drop the car off before 5 so that I’d avoid the post-work rush. I ended up dropping it off around 4. I figured while they were changing the tires, I’d have them change the oil. I had a filter and oil in my trunk and I figured that they could just do it while they were under there. I told the guy that I just wanted an oil change. He agreed and told me that he’d call me (as they did the first time) when it was done.
Kim and I walk to Barnes & Noble to work on our briefs. We’re there until I finally get impatient at around 9 PM. We walk around the back of Wal-Mart to find my car alone in the parking lot, the shop closed, and the door locked. We walked around to the front entrance and headed towards customer service, where I was elated to find out that my key and paperwork had been left for me, although still a little annoyed that they neglected to call me to tell me that my car was ready.
The cashier rings me up, and the total is $474.34. Some mental math told me that the price was incorrect, so I asked for the itemized list. On the list, I find a $30 oil change, which was originally supposed to be $20 (actually, $10 since I provided the materials). I told her such, and she told me that there was nothing that she could do. She then turns to the woman next to her and says, “What’s this?” The woman replies, “Oh, that’s a dipstick warning. That prints when the oil was too low to register on the dipstick.” This was something of a shock to me. I knew it was time to change it, but I had no idea that it was that low.
The woman grabs a pen and hands me the paper to sign. The clause she wants me to sign reads, “I do agree and fully understand that my motor vehicle had a low oil level when i brought it to Wal-Mart for an oil change. This was pointed out to me, that I willingly requested Wal-Mart to change the oil. I will not hold Wal-Mart responsible for any damage to my motor vehicle by the low oil level.”
Me: I’m not going to sign that.
CSR: Why not?
Me: No one told me that my oil was that low.
CSR: Were you here?
Me: No, I was at Barnes & Noble. I told them I was going to be there and they had my number.
CSR: They probably paged you.
Me: They had my number and told me they were going to call me. My number is right on that paper in your hands.
CSR: You still have to sign it.
Me: It says that they told me that my oil was low. They didn’t tell me that.
CSR: WE JUST TOLD YOU THAT!
Me: That’s not what it says. It says, “[The low oil] was pointed out to me,” and that I “willingly requested that Wal-Mart change the oil.” I didn’t do that. I’m a law student; I’m not signing something that says that I did something that I didn’t.
CSR: Well, I can get a manager.
Okay, so I dropped the L-bomb. Sue me. Anyway, the manager came over, refunded my $10 that the cashier told me they couldn’t do anything about, and then told me that he was okay with my not signing the waiver. I should have taken down his name so that I could join his fan club or at least send a letter to Wal-Mart telling them how much he rocks. I was starting to get annoyed, and that situation could have turned out substantially worse.
Also, my car didn’t fall apart on the way home. Always a plus.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
oil change needs to be done as often as possible to maintain the good performance of any kind of machinery -*;