While cramming a remote starter into Andrew’s new Nissan Altima, Best Buy managed to break the car’s locking system, window controls, and a brake light. Andrew hauled the crippled car back to the dealership, which immediately blamed Best Buy for burning out the car’s wiring, and told Andrew that the parasitic system had to go. Best Buy defended their quality workmanship, and refused to issue a refund unless Andrew signed a waiver absolving them of any responsibility for damaging the car.
Andrew writes:
As an avid reader of the Consumerist, I hoped to never have a need to write in myself. Unfortunately, the way Best Buy handled a situation with my wife’s vehicle has changed that.
Several months ago my wife decided she wanted to get a remote car starter installed in her new Nissan Altima. She always had one on her previous vehicle and Best Buy had done the install before. When we went into the store they seemed a little confused by the smart-key system that comes with the car. Basically it does not use a traditional key to start, but rather a push button start in the vehicle with a key fob you just keep in your pocket. After making some calls the Best Buy technicians assured us they could do it without an issue.
When we returned to pickup the car we were informed it was not yet ready, and they needed it for another day. We were very accommodating and worked out alternate transportation for that day. After picking up the car we discovered the locking and unlocking of the doors no longer worked properly. At first they tried to claim this was just the way it was going to work now, but we explained that we were not told that up front and they could just take out the system. After a few phone calls they then told us to bring it back again for “programming” to fix it. So yet another day without a car goes by and the doors are now working.
After driving the car my wife discovered her electronic windows no longer are working correctly. We then noticed one of the remotes would actually remote start the car when you tried to lock the doors. Several more treks back into Best Buy to get these problems fixed occur. The next problem is that there was a blue alarm light constantly blinking in the face of the driver. It was very distracting to the driver at night, and my wife was concerned she would get into an accident. This happened on a weekend, so we were forced to not drive the car until they were able to get to it during the week. They were never able to actually fix it, but ended up just disabling the light.
There have been a multitude of other issues since then such as the remote start not always working when you push it, the car taking multiple attempts to start even when not using the remote start, and worst of all the fact that the vehicle can now be started without having your foot on the brake (a child can start it from the passenger seat even without a key).
Finally when we were already very unhappy with the system and things still to this day have never worked properly, my wife’s brake lights stopped working! She drove around running errands and very easily could have gotten into a wreck and injured herself and others. We took the car into the dealership and they said the issue was the result of the system Best Buy installed and it burned out some wiring in the vehicle. We had to pay ourselves to fix the problem and had to go yet another weekend without the use of the vehicle. The dealership told us this system could cause further problems and might void the warranty, therefore it should be removed.
We decided this was the last straw and followed the dealership’s advice. We returned to Best Buy and spoke to a manager. After explaining the situation they initially offered to pay only for the cost of the brake light repair and to remove the system. We would not get back the money for the system itself, the install, or even some additional parts they required us to buy to make the install work. After telling them that was unacceptable and threatening to pursue other alternatives, they still only offered to refund the price of the system itself, but all the install and parts would not be refunded. When I asked for an explanation we were told we could not have a refund because the install was completed. But our argument is that it was never completed properly, and even did damage to our vehicle! We asked to speak with the corporate employee who was making this decision and were told they could not provide that information and that this was their final decision. We would even have to sign a waiver absolving them of all responsibility to get what they were offering. So basically we end up paying several hundred dollars for absolutely nothing and have no recourse for future action!
We have been loyal Best Buy customers and have spent 10s of thousands of dollars at their store. We buy all of our electronics and appliances from them, and to be treated this way over a few hundred dollars is insulting. I was hoping the Consumerist would be able to assist and provide the proper contact to help get this issue resolved.
Install fee: $147.73
Keyless System: $137.40
Install Module: $22.16
Materials Charge: $3.69
Extra Keyfob they destroyed to install: $61.52
Repairs at dealership for wiring system: $90.00Total money out was $464.50 + tax
Offered by Bestbuy: $227.40 back and they take the system
Total out: $237.10 and we have nothing to show for it but trouble!
For starters, don’t sign any waivers, and don’t let Best Buy claim brownie-points for effort. They failed to install a working system. They can either refund all your money, or you can file a chargeback.
Don’t waste time reasoning with a manager whose only interested is covering his own ass. Instead, politely address your request to Best Buy’s higher-ups.
(Photo: Getty)
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@logie-al:
Yep. Always find an adult that has actually done the job before.
@varro: Never actually gone to small claims myself, but as part of any larger business lawsuit I’ve been involved with, they most certainly do end up compensating us for labor costs. Even Comcast ended up paying up at one point when their ineptitude tied up 16+ hrs of our IT guy’s time.
Lawyer up and don’t sign anything BB hands you without a lawyer having gone over it and being there at the time.
I hate the blame the victim posture you see here, but I’m about ready to say that anyone who gets screwed by best buy sorta had it coming.
Best-Buy should have insurance to cover this kind of thing, so if they’re not willing to refund the price of the starter and pay for the damage they caused, some local PR would be in order (call the local TV station or whatever) and then take them to small claims court.
I would never bring a brand-new vehicle to Best-Buy for something like that. Even if you get a competent installer that knows what they’re doing, the complexity of vehicle wiring and anti-theft systems goes up exponentially ever year, so the changes of ending up with a mangled job are pretty good. Plus, if the vehicle is brand new, having an aftermarket accessory spliced into the wiring harness would almost certainly violate the warranty.
I’d leave that kind of job to the dealer, or at least a reputable local shop. It’ll cost more, but (hopefully) it won’t end up in this kind of disaster.
@Grrrrrrrrr: it would only void the factory warranty for the systems involved, such as the ignition harness, window wirings, lighting, battery, starter, etc. it wont affect the rest of the car.
Today’s cars are getting way too technically complicated and esoteric from brand to brand to let some high school kids from a big box or 3rd party outfit do this kind of work. Do you think they get new specialized training for every new car design each model year?? Just pay a little more for dealer-installed add-ons, because at least that way they’ll be done right.
@Ecoaster and @mikells43: next time just make sure the car has that option on it. being that it has the smart key why the hell dont it have a remote start on it form the factory. this is 2008 by the way
A coworker of mine has a 2007 Impala with a factory remote start system. If he’s further than 10 feet away (with direct line-of-sight), the remote doesn’t work. However, the Viper system installed by Tweeter in my Altima (with a regular key) works from a good 100 feet away with line-of-sight.
In the Best Buy installer’s defense, Nissan wiring diagrams are by far the most medieval I’ve ever dealt with as a mechanic. They’re atrocious and more confusing than anything on the market because Nissan diverged from existing standards and created their own. That said, most customers just assume that a cheaper aftermarket unit will inherently work as well if not better than a factory option. In some cases, this is true, but when it comes to installation, a factory unit will more than likely plug into existing wiring harnesses and require minimal intrusions, preventing future electrical gremlins from manifesting. If anything goes wrong, the factory (who designed the system) either has to fix or replace components and is usually well prepared to do so. Even if the customer got their money back from Best Buy, the damage has already been done. Someone’s already hacked into their wiring harness and there’s plenty to go wrong from that alone. With all the bells and whistles on modern Nissans, fixing the existing gremlins will be expensive and a nightmare.
Funny enough I work at Circuit City Firedog Car Installations Department.
I did a full Remote start & Security yesterday while at work to my own 2007 Subaru Legacy, my vehicle also needs a bypass due to the chip in the key.
The entire install took 2 hours, a record for us, Since I know Best Buys equipment is DEI, also known as Directed Electronics, I also suggest that you CC the complaint to them also.
Website Here: [www.directed.com]
It is required that when they do the install, it is done by MECP certified Technicians, The fact that they did not know what bypass to use would send up red flags to me. If it was their first time, then I would have asked what location has done it before. Since they reversed the wiring, they are truly liable for their mistakes. Before we finish any vehicle we are required to do a functions check.
When you buy a security system from Circuit City or Best buy, IT IS REQUIRED that the retailer do the installation, that is the contractual agreement between us and them.
Sean Martinez
FireDog Car Installations
I don’t know if anyone else has said this, but what dealership did you go to for these kind of prices???
“Repairs at dealership for wiring system: $90.00″
Amazing!
Try Better Business Bureau as well. Once they get involved, Best Buy tends to snap to attention and behave itself, especially if you have a well-documented case.
It sounds like the dealership just charged an hourly rate. More than likely there was a loose wire where the installer tapped a parking light wire for the arming flashing lights.
It really isnt rocket science to put these systems in. You just have to follow the steps and be careful. I have heard every technique for wiring over the years and I still like to solder wires and heat shrink them. My teacher years back liked crimp connectors better. While I have seen a high amount of shops using ‘taps’ I hate taps they like to either come loose or damage the wire.
You let Best Buy touch your car?! I wish it was April 1 so I could deny this story is real. Srsly! WTF?
Is it that hard to believe that the dealership could fix the problem for $90? Best Buy could have blown fuses or connected their system to the wrong wires in the car causing a short. Both would be easy and cheap for the dealership to fix.
To the people saying the cost is too low… how much does a half hour labor and a small piece of modular cable and/or a fuse cost? Probably right around $90 at a dealership.
To the people saying the cost is too high… it’s a dealership! What do you expect?
That was a relatively inexpensive fix, at a dealer–it must have been something that took only a few minutes…
Don’t forget, people, get your crap installed by people who specialize in that sort of thing.