From Trust to Turmoil: My Take 5 Oil Change Nightmare

Comment below! Have you ever had an experience as bad as this...

It was 10 a.m. on Saturday, January 11th. My wife and I look forward to Saturday mornings because our son has music lessons, and we get to spend time together. Most of the time, we have breakfast, go antiquing, or take a walk in the park. However, on this day, our 2023 Subaru needed an oil change. Therefore, our weekly morning date would be less exciting than normal. It was a very freezing morning, so we warmed up the car, got our son in the car, and drove off. After dropping him off at music school in our warm car, we headed straight to Take 5 Oil Change. When we pulled in, there was no line! There may be time to get breakfast after all!

One of the employees opened the garage door and guided me in. The next thing I know, I am being yelled at for not being “straight enough” in the lane. Which is fine. I would be happy to back up a bit and straighten out. However, these two gentlemen were incredibly rude about it. My wife turned to me and said, “Wow! That was one of the rudest experiences of my life.” All I wanted to do was get this oil change and get out of here! What is ironic is I had a wonderful experience at this location just weeks prior in my other vehicle. I even left a 5-star Google review. As a customer of Take 5 Oil Change for over a decade (maybe two), I was willing to chalk up the rudeness as a difficult day or being hungover, which was my guess. No big deal at this point. Just get me my oil change and I will get out of here.

As my car was inspected, I was informed the car needed a coolant flush. I was not planning to have this service done today; however, my wife and I had decided that week to buy out our lease and keep the car. Additionally, we have a long road trip planned, and I figured it could not hurt to just get it done. After a reasonably fast service, I paid, and we headed out to our favorite bakery to get donuts.

About halfway, we both noticed that the heat was no longer blowing warm air. We both chalked it up to the new coolant or the computer resetting, so we headed a few more miles to get breakfast. Mind you, the trip from the oil change to the bakery is about 2 miles, so we did not think anything could be broken in our car at this point. After eating our donuts, we got back in the car and drove 3 miles to pick up our son. Still no heat blowing. Ten more minutes passed as we sat in the music school parking lot. Still no heat. Suddenly, an unfamiliar light illuminated on the dashboard. Our car was overheating! I immediately turned the car off and called Take 5 customer service. After the way I was treated by employees at the previous location, there was no way I was going back.

I spoke with Sarah in customer service. She was lovely and excellent at her job. She got a claim started for me, made sure I had it in my email, and assured me a district manager would contact me as soon as possible. Sarah did all she could at this stage. Still, I needed to get my car home and around town with or without heat. I decided to pull into a different Take 5 location just 3 miles away. I explained my situation, and this team was professional and kind. They pulled me into the garage politely and with no issue and looked under the hood. I was informed that there was almost no coolant in the car and that it looked as if the coolant was never replaced after removing it. I was now TERRIBLY upset. Wouldn’t you be?

The team at the polite location filled my coolant, and the overheating light went away. However, still no heat. The technician explained to me that sometimes when you drive a car without coolant, it can break the heating system or thermostat. Although I appreciated his honesty and the positive service, my almost two-decade-long relationship with Take 5 Oil Change had now "changed" forever. (We'll see...)

After over an hour in a freezing cold car, we returned home. I called customer service and was placed on hold for over 30-minutes. I wanted to update my claim as soon as possible so my timeline of events could not be refuted. Once again, I received great service from the gentleman named Brandon at the customer service center. He updated my claim and also assured me a district manager would contact me ASAP.

The weekend has passed, and I am still waiting to be contacted by the corporate office. I have no direction on how to proceed with this claim, or I would have already taken it to be fixed by my mechanic. I am just not sure if it would cause problems for my claim in some fine print. If you look at my history of Google reviews, you will see that I have never left a 1-star review. I typically respect a brand and give them the benefit of the doubt. 3-stars is as low as I have ever rated prior to this experience. This was the first time I would take my opinion of a business to an all-time low. It is also the first time I recommend an employee be terminated. I feel bad about saying this. However, the negligence both from a mechanic and professional perspective is simply unbelievable. At the same time, I would also recommend that Sarah and Brandon in CX, receive a promotion. If anything gets me to come back to Take 5, it will be these two and how this situation is remedied by management. ALL IT TAKES IS ONE BAD EMPLOYEE! It is not worth it!

As business owners and professionals, we cannot forget that all it takes is one unpleasant experience for an article to be written just like this one. It is my intention to write a part II to this article illustrating how my experience progresses from here. Follow me to watch the saga continue to unfold.

Sometimes I feel bad leaving low ratings for companies. I want to hear from my network. How many stars would you give if you were in my shoes? Comment below!

Robert Peeples

Sales Performance Consultant