zooguy96 said:

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I took my wife's car in to have the oil changed. I brought my own oil and filter. Didn't have a chance to take it to my regular mechanic as I've been busy.

2021 Highlander. Factory calls for 0W 20; I put 5W-30 per specifications from overseas manuals of the same engine.

They have already drained the oil; stupid ass technician comes in and tells me that I had the wrong oil and that it will make the engine blow up and that they will not fill up the engine with the oil I provided. Says it is their company policy; I had done the exact same thing a month ago with my truck, and nobody said anything.

All he had to say was that it was their company policy not to put oil that doesn't meet their specs. Instead, dumbass goes on a diatribe.

Note to self: never get your oil changed at Walmart again.

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Sounds like nothing more than a liability issue. My local discount tire refused to put my sister's original tires on when swapping out her snow tires because the regular tires were too old, and put the snow tires back on instead of the originals. So she had to buy new tires due to "policy." I wasn't happy when I heard that, as she went along with that and bought from them (which I never would have after that), but I assume it's a mix of liability and a shady sales approach. If they put on tires, even if they're the owners', that they feel are unsafe, then if they blow later that day they can be sued. Unfortunately the litigious nature of modern society directly leads to bull**** like this, and some businesses can take advantage.

In this scenario, I honestly wouldn't be too upset if they refuse to do something outside of what they are told to do, as liability is a huge issue. They're just employees doing what they're probably instructed by management, for better or worse. If they do what you want, and the engine actually does blow up regardless of cause, then you can sue them. Personally, I wouldn't just go along with what a customer wants in this case either. It's like someone bringing in a vaccine to a vet clinic that they bought from a feed store and telling the vet to give it. If there's a vaccine reaction then the vet will be sued, guaranteed. It's possible they've been sued for something like this and so he was venting because they are told to follow this policy regardless of if it upsets customers, and then they have to deal with upset customers regardless. I wouldn't take it too personally.

Also, taking your car to Walmart for an oil change is such a low bar in terms of expectations, is this really where you draw the line in terms of quality service expectations...? They aren't exactly the gold standard for auto service.

zooguy96 said:

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I wasn't so pissed about the policy; I was more pissed about the response from the tech who came at me with malicious intent. Saying my engine would "blow up".

All he had to say was that it was company policy, and I would've been fine with that.

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That's fair. But again, Walmart...

Ive pretty much lowered my expectations and standards for everything these days, but Walmart employees makes it well below even that. You know what you're getting.

It's like someone bringing their own lettuce and pickles to McDonalds and asking them to use it on a Big Mac, and then leaving a google review "the meat was a little dry".

Kaiser von Wilhelm said:

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That's fair. But again, Walmart...

Ive pretty much lowered my expectations and standards for everything these days, but Walmart employees makes it well below even that. You know what you're getting.

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Yep, this.

You've been to a Walmart before, right? And seen the people that work there?

And still wanted them to work on your car?

Naveronski said:

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Kaiser von Wilhelm said:

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That's fair. But again, Walmart...

Ive pretty much lowered my expectations and standards for everything these days, but Walmart employees makes it well below even that. You know what you're getting.

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Yep, this.

You've been to a Walmart before, right? And seen the people that work there?

And still wanted them to work on your car?

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No kidding. I wouldn't let Walmart change the oil on my 15 year old push mower. No way in hades they are even sitting in a car/truck I own.

Quote:

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I had the wrong oil and that it will make the engine blow up

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Reminds me of my visit to a Discount Tire in Santa Fe. I was second in line for air, but no one had come out to service #1 in ten minutes or more.

I go and grab the hose to air up the lady's tires so I can get to mine. Some teenage kid comes running out to stop me, and tells me I don't know what I'm doing and I was going to blow up her tire.

I may have given him a line about doing this longer than he's been alive, but I left and found another air hose.

zooguy96 said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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Quote:

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I had the wrong oil and that it will make the engine blow up

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Reminds me of my visit to a Discount Tire in Santa Fe. I was second in line for air, but no one had come out to service #1 in ten minutes or more.

I go and grab the hose to air up the lady's tires so I can get to mine. Some teenage kid comes running out to stop me, and tells me I don't know what I'm doing and I was going to blow up her tire.

I may have given him a line about doing this longer than he's been alive, but I left and found another air hose.

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Yeah, this guy was clueless. I don't have time to change it myself, but I'm just going to take them to the mechanic my in-laws use since its close to the house.

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Sounds like chatting with the tech about this took longer than it would have taken to just do this at home. I'm surprised Walmart or any big-name place would agree to an oil change with something not purchased on-site.