Not that I'd take my car to Walmart automotive, but I think I'd have just reported the car stolen and let the cops sort it out with the Walmart manager.

Personally, I would have called the police and reported the car stolen.

@ptkdude:

This is what I would've done too.

I'd probably file charges for grand theft auto.

It's what I would have done, if I had known about it at the time. I heard the story a day or so later, and realy, it was my parent's problem. I tried to get them to follow up, but they were willing to let it go, so *shrug* - it was their car.

Anyone remember all the problems Sears had with scams in their auto repair department?? They nationwide, reduce auto department to just batteries, tires, and oil changes. Fired tons of people and got it all straighted out.

Walmart needs to do a sweeping change like that.

I would have reported it stolen, too. I think a lot of retailers bank on people's innate sense of propriety when they're trying to get away with something. People want to be nice and understanding and be thought good, and jerks like these guys walk all over them. They should have called the police, and no way in hell should they have been charged for the oil change. That's a new low, even for Wal-Mart.

@ptkdude: And I would have as well. "Very well, sir, I am now calling the police. Thank you for confessing to grand theft auto." while pulling out my cell phone.

It's not "grand theft auto," as the mechanic clearly didn't have the intent to "permanently deprive" the owners of the vehicle. Most states have "joyriding" laws, though.

I would have called the police AND the media.

@RogueSophist:

RogueSophist is correct.

Sounds like it would be worthwhile to find out if it is happening to others by taking a photo with your cellphone of the mileage meter before you drop it off. Not that it would prove anything other than the car was being driven off the lot - but at least you'd know to take it somewhere else next time.

I can top that. I left my car at the dealer for some repairs that would take a few days. When I went to pick it up, it had 543 additional miles on it. The dealer, Dick Poe Chrysler in El Paso TX, offered up 9 cents a mile and said they "fired" the lot boy who did it (yeah right).

The final settlement was for rental fees, my leave time, mileage, lawyers fees, and one contact lens.

The contact lens was because when I was reaching behind the seat, it snapped back and knocked my contact out. Now, that was no big deal as long as I found it within a minute or so before it fused to something. So, I grabbed the flashlight that I kept in the car. @#%#$%$. The jerks who went out joy riding in my car actually took the batteries out of my flashlight. So I felt it was fair to charge the dealer.

@RogueSophist: Is there some kind of legal loophole where the car isn't considered stolen if you willfully place the keys in someone else's possession? I'd be worried the police would say that the store has the right to drive the car as they see fit once you give them temporary domain over the car, but I'm about as far from a lawyer as a person can get. *shrug*

@RogueSophist: Taking property without owner consent (and depriving the owner of it) IS theft.

@rbb: Did you charge them for the batteries too?

Well if you shop at Mal-Wart these are the things that one should expect. Many folks that they employ surely are honest, however, many that they employ are most certainly not. The bottom-feeding and by-any-means necessary mentality filters through the entire organization until it reaches the coal face, and the customer reaps the "rewards" At least the cashier didn't cash $1000 worth of YOUR checks for her friend.

@kerry:

Kerry, what you are thinking of is bailment law. See http://www.answers.com/topic/bailment and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailment

I charge $500.00 per day to rent my car with a 1 day minimum. Invoice to follow shortly. Thanks for doing business with us. A++++ Customer, would gladly go elsewhere again!!!!

jonnypage--

You should really take this up the food chain. Send a letter to your Walmart's district manager, cc it to corporate and all local news outlets. Don't ask for anything, other than the piece of mind that this will never happen to anyone ever again.

A decent manager would have fired the guy on the spot, regardless of your parents' reaction. Unbelievable.

Walmart won't have unions, but they won't fire an Oil and Lube guy for joyriding.

@kerry:

I would imagine that it depends on the circumstances. If you leave you keys with the valet and you never see the car again, he definitely stole it. Might be different if you give them to a friend and ask him to make the car disappear.

I think I'll be adding a little tag to my keychain...something to the effect of: Operation of this vehicle subject to terms and conditions located in the glovebox.

In the glovebox will be a sealed envelope labeled "Terms and Conditions" and the notice "By operating this vehicle you agree to abide by the terms and conditions set forth within this envelope"

And in the envelope is a slip of paper detailing acceptable behaviors while in the car, mileage fees, rental fees, a clause that forces mechanics to agree to accept what I feel is a fair charge for repairs, waiver of right to sue...all sorts of goodies :P

U N B E L I E V A B L E !

@Buran: Ya know, I never did. Don't know why I didn't - I charged them for everything else I could think of. I should have though ;)

Anybody else picture the two valet guys in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" when they read this story?

@Kos: Thanks. According to the Wikipedia article, bailment law says that Wal-Mart had no right to use the car. They also violated their "duty to re-deliver the bailment", because the car wasn't there when the customers came to pick it up.

On the other hand, I suppose the Wal-Mart employee might have committed theft, since he took property that was entrusted to Wal-Mart the corporation, not to him personally.

Just in time, I was planning on taking my truck in today. My question is - where do you go to get basic oil changes etc. done? Can't go to Jiffy Lube because I live in SoCal and they have a documented problem with actually doing work, can't go to the WalMart near my home. Guess I will have to get my hands dirty and start doing it myself.

The only people you take your car to that can drive it are mechanics to make sure its working properly. I dont mean for a damn oil change either. If they replace an engine or transmission part they'll drive it to make sure its ok. Its policies like that which are why I always specifically tell the people (even mechanics) dont drive my car. I dont trust anyone with my car like that.

@Buran:

While it certainly feels like theft to most people, larceny (and grand larceny) has a separate element of intent, so the mechanic could not be thusly convicted. Intent (in the case of larceny, "intent to permanently deprive") is measured at the moment of the "taking," so assuming the mechanic didn't plan to keep the car (or hand it over to a chop shop!) when he drove away, he was in the clear larceny-wise. Though I certainly wouldn't blame the owner of a car so taken for screaming "stop, thief!"

Like I said, though, most states have myriad laws that this jerk (and his company) did violate.

At the very least go to corporate and demand that the tech and the manager be fired immediately. If that doesn't happen, go to the cops and the local news stations.

Although under Common Law you may be right about what the employee did, such is not true in most states that use a Consolidated Theft Statute. The Statutes make the depriving someone of their property no matter how you accomplish it a crime. This means even if someone lets you use their property, for example if you give money to a Lawyer and he embezzles it, it is considered theft, even though you gave it willingly.

Also although I can only speak for Indiana here, there does not need to be an intent to "permanently" deprive someone of their property, only the intent to deprive someone of their property's value or "any" part of its' value. This would include depriving someone the use of their auto for any time. I.C. 35-43-4-2.

We do also have a Car Theft Statute but thats just an extraneous law.

@gorckat:

This is brilliant... Now if only someone wanted to steal my beater.

So what happens if the "technician" gets into a fatal accident during his "joyride"? Does the owner get the book thrown at him while Smiley Mart just wipes it's hands of any responsibility?

@RogueSophist: I was just in jury selection for a car theft case. The prosecutor put the elements up during their introduction at the beginning of voir dire, and while intent to deprive was an element, there was nothing about permanence in there. Further, exercising control over the property was adequate -- and a joyride may qualify.

Criminal law is not my thing whatsoever (I'm not a lawyer, but I've studied contract and IP law a little), and I don't know whether intent to deprive would be satisfied here -- if the intent was to have the car back by the time the customer returned, it may well be a separate, joyriding law involved. Even if that didn't work out, I'm certain that civil law would apply -- this seems like a clearcut conversion tort.

@ Charles Duffy:

My (admittedly) limited experience speaks otherwise.

I agree about conversion, however damages would be minimal in this case.

In any case, the correct thing to do would be to call the police. The DA will figure out what the correct charges are. That's their job.

Though Walmart itself was not at fault for the theft of the vehicle, it should have fired the employee and provided outrageously good compensation to the customer (Such as free oil changes for life).

The vehicle should have been reported stolen, and the well-mannered customers are most to blame in this situation. Because they treated it as a mild incident, Walmart and the employee responded likewise.

Oh yeah, I would have dialed 911 on the spot. The next call would have been to my friendly local newspaper. Given how much space they use for "cutesy" photos and potluck dinners, I imagine the editors there would have loved a juicy story like this one. Catnapped's comment about the possibility of an accident is most pertinent (and I think my hubby, who is an insurance agent, would have hyperventilated about the consequences).

If nothing else, the owners of the car need at minimum a police report. Suppose the Walmart employees were photographed breaking the law or injuring someone in that car, and somebody snapped a photo of the license plate and called the police with that? Yeeks.

i could use a new car, so let's hope walmart will be buying me a new car soon :)

I think they should have just reported the car stolen. It would definitely teach the employee not to do things like that and the employer not to let them.

@catnap: It happened to this guy and his Rio Yellow Honda S2000

You can read all about it here:
http://bad-car-dealer.blogspot.com/2006/08/story-of-how-ru...

The mechanic took his car for high speed joy ride and got into an accident. It took a blog and a lot of publicity but they finally replaced his car; which in my opinion is the right thing to do because simply repairing a car doesn't restore the lost resale value or difficulty in selling an accidented car (if you're honest.)

Ya Wal-Mart is not the greatest place for anything automotive.. My mother took her van there once. I told her not to many many many many times but she still did. Getting back to it she went for 2 front tires on a GMC Safari and when she got back with it i gave it a good once over because i dont trust wal mart. Sure enough there was a problem not only did they put the wrong lug nuts on the vehicle on the drivers side they even had a different thread to them. So i took it back the next day and sure enough they completely denied it and refused to do the necessary repairs. No matter who i talked to i got the same crap answer except for 1 fine gentleman who just flat out denied the vehicle had even been there. Long story short I had to buy and install a new rotor/hub because the wheel studs are part of the rotor and i had to replace allt he lug nuts.

1. I like this web site a lot but it's the last place I would go for legal advice.

2. Wikipedia is another favorite site and the second to last place I would go for real legal advice.

3. So many of you mad dogs would have apparently called the police immediately and then the newspapers and then the TV stations and then your lawyer and...really? Does every little dumb thing warrant alerting the media and involving hundreds of people in your little scuffle? I'm all for empowering the customer and perhaps this is just the usual "comment bravado" but man, you guys are hard core. God forbid something bad should ever actually happen.

I listen to a show on public radio called "Car Talk" and it has helped me quite a bit. They have a website with a database of thousands of mechanics that are recommended and have a good track record. I gave it a try when I needed one and wasn't disappointed one bit. Here is the url if you need it: http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/

While it's not excuse for what happened...why would someone take their car to Mal-Wart for service?

icky 2000 said:

"Does every little dumb thing warrant alerting the media and involving hundreds of people in your little scuffle?"

Um, someone taking your car without your permission (AKA "stealing") isn't a big deal to you? Gee, you're a generous, Christian soul, aren't you?

Yes, a Wal-Mart employee stealing my car while its in their custody, awaiting service, IS a big deal.

Notifying the media may go a long way toward Wal-Mart instituting policies that will prevent this sort of thing from happening to other people in the future.

@royal72:

i could use a new car, so let's hope walmart will be buying me a new car soon :)

A few years ago I bought a new Jeep Wrangler. As I was about to sign the form accepting the car in good condition my girlfriend noticed a razor slice in one of the soft top windows.

They kept it over the weekend to fix the window. When I went to pick it up the 2nd time it had a softball bat, glove, and a small cooler with water and empty beer cans in the back. The car had about 45 additional miles on it.

I refused to accept the car at all at that point. After a few days of arguing, I eventually accepted the car. But that incident was a taste of things to come with that dealership and Chrysler products in general.

@icky2000

Yeah this is a big deal. How would you feel if your mechanic took your car out without your permission and they acted like it was no big deal? I can see why you say that everyone is making all this hoopla about it but the sad fact is until you start to affect their wallet it you probably won't get what you deserve.

So by bringing bad publicity you force the company [Walmart] to do what is right. At least give the oil change for free...