It was a typical Saturday: no alarm, Wordle, and breakfast. Because of the challenge this month, I grab my computer, link my slice, and dive into the world of commenting before getting ready for the day.
But this Saturday was different.
As I snuggled under the blanket on the couch, my husband asked me if I would follow him to Walmart to get the oil changed in our son's car since he was home. We usually don't use Walmart's automotive services, but Ethan is only home on the weekends, so we did what we had to do.
That turned into a big mistake.
We dropped the car off, and I returned home to shower before I ran my Saturday errands. Since I was going to Walmart to do some shopping, my husband asked, "Could you check on the car while you are there and let me know if it's ready. I'll bring Ethan and pick it up."
Sounded like a good plan. I approached the service area and asked if it was ready. The technician seemed a little confused, but I didn't think anything about it. When he said it had already been paid for, I should have known something was up.
I called my husband to ask him if he had paid for it when he dropped it off. Nope.
The tech kept looking in the service pouches, going out into the service area, and looking at the printed service tickets on the counter.
I knew then that something really was up; I just didn't know what.
He finally said, "It's ready. Just tell him to come and pick it up, and I'll have it figured out by the time he gets here."
I left and was finishing some more errands when my husband texted me: "They lost the fob...it's a mess."
Long story short. They "lost" the fob (we actually think someone took it). Our oil change was never done. Another Chevrolet that was there at the same time got our oil change and never received the service they needed. Ethan's extra fob was at his apartment, one hour away. The car was locked, and we had no way of getting in.
They called in two managers, and they watched the security cameras to see if they could determine what happened to the fob. This is the same car that was stolen about a year ago, so my husband wasn't leaving until he had that fob in his hands.
Almost four hours later our car was towed to our dealer where it will be kept in a secured service bay until Monday. They will have to order new fobs and reprogram them. My son received a loaner car that he will drive home, and we will have to trade cars with him once his is done.
What should have been a thirty-minute oil change turned into an all-day nightmare...that isn't even over yet.
So much for a typical Saturday, huh?
Edited to update: Walmart management was very nice about the whole thing, and yes, they are paying for it. However, after all this happened, we have heard other similar stories. Some even worse than ours. We are grateful that even though our situation was frustrating, ours could be fixed.
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