This is the saga:
Last week (Sunday), Todd and I were driving back from Conroe when our alternator went out on our car. We were barely out of The Woodlands, so we took it to an NTB that we saw after exiting. (By the time I got the car to a parking spot, I had to throw it into park because the RPMs were revving up to 5 and 6 and I couldn't brake! It was scary!) At the 1st NTB we found, their machine wasn't working, so they told us to go up the road to the Pep Boys. Well, they were too busy and couldn't fit us in (said "Come back tomorrow!" -- uh, so do we just sleep in the parking lot? Our car doesn't FREAKIN work!!!) Seriously! So we drove about 5 minutes up the road, scared to death the entire time, going about 50 on the freeway with our hazards on, and found another NTB. They were gracious enough to help us. So after $467 dollars, we were on our way home.
4 days later (Thursday), Todd's battery light started going on and off and the A/C wasn't working properly, so he took it to Wal-Mart for a diagnostic check. Well, they said the alternator wasn't hooked up properly and to take it back to NTB. So, instead of driving across Houston, Todd went to the closest one to us (Alvin). The guy said it was just an inconvenience and that everything was checking out fine. He said he was too busy to do anything, but if it bothered us (since it wasn't a real problem), we could go back the next day.
2 days later (Saturday), Todd and I drove up to Round Top for Todd to work. I dropped him off and was headed to Austin to see my new neice, when about 15 or 20 minutes down the road, the car died. I was stuck in the heat, by myself, for about 30 or 40 minutes. Of course, nothing we tried worked, so fortunately Todd's dad has Triple A and was able to have our car towed to Rosenberg (it was close to us and still within the 100 miles free limit, and we'd be there Sunday night anyway).
1 day later (Sunday), the Rosenberg NTB said it was an electrical problem and that they couldn't fix that. So by now, I'm completely frustrated and totally sick of NTB. I waited for my dad to get home from his cruise on Monday and got him to step in and help us.
1 day later (Monday), Dad and Todd drove up to Rosenberg and talked to the guy. There was nothing they could do to fix it for us, and FORTUNATELY, the car started. Todd drove it straight to Brazoria (to a friend of my dad's-- thank goodness-- someone we can finally trust!).
1 day later (TODAY), the shop in Brazoria calls me and says that the alternator is bad because our car (a Mazda) can only have an alternator from Mazda or the computer system on the car will go haywire. So, they are going to replace the alternator for us, for $150 less than we paid at NTB. NTB says they'll give us our money back for the alternator only which leaves us short about $160 and a MAJOR headache to boot. What a fiasco.
Notes to self: Never buy another foreign car - EVER.
Never buy anything from an NTB - they just screw you over!
2 comments:
I know you're frustrating...I would be too. Try to look at something positive...at least the baby is not here yet! Then you'd have frustrating multiplied ten fold!
You are sooo right, Jen! Fortunately, after all the irritation, we wrote a letter to the NTB Corporate office and have since rec'd a FULL refund, including the core charge! What a relief! :)
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