Rand S.:
Here's the latest on the tranny failure of my Jeep Cherokee. Below is the email history.
Dear Randolph Scott,
Thank you for contacting our office.
Corporate Customer Relations is the correct department to correspond with. Our department has the necessary tools and expertise, and we have been empowered to resolve customer concerns directly when possible. In your situation, our office has looked into this and a claim of store employee workmanship concerns will be directed to the individual store Owner to address. Our office has sent your concerns to the store Owner and they have responded to you directly with their final decision. We are sorry that the store response is not to your satisfaction as they do not believe to be responsible for your transmission concern.
We thank you for providing us with the opportunity to respond.
Regards,
Corporate Customer Relations
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited
1-800-387-8803
This message, including any attachments, is privileged and may contain
confidential information intended only for the person(s) named above. If
you are not the intended recipient or have received this message in error,
please notify the sender immediately by reply email and permanently delete
the original transmission from the sender, including any attachments,
without making a copy. Thank you.
--Original Message--
From:
rands...@gmail.com
Date: 4/26/2015 9:27:54 AM
To:
customerservice@canadiantire.egain.net
Subject: Re: Tranny [#904300]
Hello,
Attached is the Invoice for the transfer case work. In addition, please note that "Lee" told me that they took the transfer case off before they checked to see if the first transfer case I brought to them was the correct one. This is why the vehicle was left on the hoist without the tranny supported for so many days.
If there is any additional information that you require please let me know. However, please do not call me unless we set up a time first because baby has nap times and I may not be available.
Regards,
Randolph S.
On 21 April 2015 at 11:17, Canadian Tire Customer Service <customerservice@canadiantire.egain.net> wrote:
Dear Randolph S.,
Thank you for contacting our office regarding your vehicle repairs.
Additional information is required so that we may proceed in addressing your concerns. Kindly provide us with the following as soon as possible.
- the repair invoice numbers
- your complete contact information
To provide this information, simply respond to this email or contact us at the toll-free number provided below. Our Customer Service Representatives are available to assist you Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (EST) and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST).
We thank you for providing us with the opportunity to respond.
Corporate Customer Relations
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited
1-800-387-8803
This message, including any attachments, is privileged and may contain
confidential information intended only for the person(s) named above. If
you are not the intended recipient or have received this message in error,
please notify the sender immediately by reply email and permanently delete
the original transmission from the sender, including any attachments,
without making a copy. Thank you.
--Original Message--
From:
rands...@gmail.com
Date: 4/17/2015 12:18:16 PM
To:
customerservice@canadiantire.com
Subject: Tranny
Hi,
As you requested, here I am with the details below.
The transfer case on my well cared for 1998 Jeep Cherokee went as we got off the highway in Kanata over the 2014 Christmas break. We came from Toronto. I took the vehicle to the Kanata CT which was the closest garage in the area.
I thought the problem may have been a U-joint but when the store called me, they told me it was the transfer case. They asked if I wanted them to source the part. I told them to go ahead and as they did so, I would also, thinking that 2 avenues of looking would be better than one. (This is important because when I got the bill they tried to charge me as if they supplied it. As well, I believe it was "Lee" who used the fact that I thought it was a U-joint to trying embarrass me, as one who knows nothing about vehicles.) They found one in BC and said it would take at least a week for it to get to them. I told them to hold off for the moment because I had a line on one.
The part I got ended up being the wrong model but before they checked, they took the transfer case off and left the Jeep up on the hoist without the tranny supported. I know this because when I went in to pick up the wrong part I saw it. "Lee" later told me that I had tied up his hoist for 3 days (This was the same guy who told me that he was "doing me a favour" by repairing the Jeep.)
I got a correct part and they ended up putting it on but they did not check the tranny fluid level. As we got into Toronto, the tranny started to slip. I stopped and checked the fluid level and it was darn near empty. I topped it up but the tranny continued to slip in 2nd and 3rd.
I spoke with the mechanic I use in Toronto (I use no one else to look after the Jeep except Green and Ross to switch my tires at the change of the seasons.) I also spoke with Chrysler and a person there who worked on transmissions for 16 or 17 years, as well as three tranny shops. All told me that up to/at least 2 litres of fluid would leak from the unsupported tranny and that the person who worked on it should have checked the fluid level after the work was completed.
Regardless of whether 2 litres would've been enough to damage the tranny, if the fluid level was checked and filled after the work was done, my vehicle would stile running. (This Cherokee year and model is well known for lasting until 400,000-500,000 km. And as I said, I looked after it very well. I rust proof it each year, change the fluids regularly, switch over to winter and summer tires, and don't drive it very often. It has only 200,000 km on it.) As well, recently, I had put a tow bar and new windshield in.
When I got the vehicle back, the 4-wheel drive right was on but it was not in 4-wheel drive so I thought it would just be that the person who worked on it didn't connect the wire securely enough. The light remains on and the vehicle is not in 4-wheel drive. It seems I am able to shift in and out of 4-wheel drive.
I contacted corporate about the tranny, who told me to contact the store, which I did. A very rude "Lee" told the that under no circumstances would he consider doing anything because he checked and found that no fluid would be lost. As far as he was concerned the person who worked on the vehicle did the job well.
I told him I would speak with Chrysler again because I certainly didn't want to have anyone held responsible for something that they didn't do wrong. Chrysler verified that up to/at least 2 litres of tranny fluid would be lost. I then contacted 3 transmission shops and spoke with the mechanic I use. As I mentioned, all said the CT was wrong and that fluid would be lost and that the person who did the work should, as a normal part of the work, have checked the fluid level after he was finished. I spoke with "Lee" again after I made the verifications and he was adamant that no fluid would be lost, citing the "Mitchell" book that is used to calculate time for repair jobs.
At the beginning of this, the owner had Fred Flanagan, a shop intake person form the store, contact me to ask 3, 4, or 5, what he coined as, foolish questions; questions such as do I change the fluids at the recommended intervals? No one ever got back to me after this, which is why I went back to corporate. (The contact person at corporate is named "Serge".)
Now, I use CT for a lot of shopping, I go to PartsSource for parts, and we shop at Mark's and the odd time at Sport Chek, or National, all of which are part of the CT chain.
I have tried to be patient and respectful because, as I said, I don't want to claim anything that was not my responsibility/fault. And let me tell you haw far I have been willing to go. When I owned a Chevy Blazer, which I purchased new, I use to go to the CT store that was at the 401 and Keele St. (Only the Gas Bar remains). I had stopped in for a lube, oil, and filter.
The truck was in the garage for a long time - I was sitting in the waiting room - so I began to wonder what was taking so long. When I went into the garage, I saw a man sitting on the engine splicing the wire and harness together. He had somehow cut it! Why, no one could/would tell me. It took them 5 or 6 hours to repair the damage and then the shop manager had the gall to try and charge me for the oil change! Yet, even after this, I continued to shop at CT.
With all due respect, I expect CT to cover the cost of putting a new tranny into my Jeep and if this is done I will sing the praises of a difficult and troublesome process that should have been avoided. If not, I will not shop at any of CT owned stores and will continue to voice my displeasure at the incompetence that continues to cause us so much grief.
Kindest regards,
Randolph S.
Rand S. <rands...@gmail.com>
11:39 (10 minutes ago)
to customerservice
Dear Corporate Customer Relations,
Funny isn't it how a name isn't attached for follow up?
Your repsonse is totally inadequate. You knew when I contacted you that I had already spoken to Corporate Relations as well as the store.
'Funny' also, isn't it, that you don't respond to my assertion - based on the Chrysler mechanic - that fluid would be lost by leaving the Jeep on teh hoist for that amount of time without the tranny being supported.
Most people know that when you take your vehicle to Canadian Tire, one is taking chances on teh repairs but unfortunaltely I made the error - probably due in part to the rush of the Christmas season - to take the vehicle to CT.
Next stop the CT Ombudsperson?
Regards,
Randolph S.
So Corporate Relations has finally ended their involvment with my case realting to the tranny on my Jeep. Instead of addressing the concerns - one of the main ones being that A Chrysler mechanic who worked on trannys for 16 years or so, told me that what the worker at the Kanata CT store did would cause the tranny to fail - Corporate Relations tried to placate me by saying that I follwed the proper procedure in contacting them and the store ( I had already done so) and that they.
They go further ins saying that since their involvement (after my FB post) the store had contacted me (they didn't but had contacted me when I pohoned/emailed Corporate Relations prior to the FB post).
So, it seems that it was a useless exercise in contacting Corporate Relations becasue they only rely on what the store says and do not investigate. It seems that Corporate Relaions request that I send an invoce was a mere delay tactic.
I'd love to hear from others who have experienced mecahnic problems after getting repairs at a CT store. Maybe we can being a class action lawsuit.
