Archive for CarMax

CarMax Continues to Defy Logic

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on August 14, 2012 by David McInerny

Once again, an apology to readers of this blog that expected to see a post on food, literature, or travel. The previous CarMax posts received considerable attention, however, so I would like to keep those readers updated with this hilarity also.

“You know, Mr. McInerny, I don’t have to do anything for you.” This was, ad nauseam, how Dave Cantu, the general manager at CarMax, Merriam, KS, framed his offer to follow.  You see, an email I sent to the VP of Operations and Customer Service at CarMax’s corporate headquarters made Mr. Cantu suddenly want to pick up the phone and call me. It was the first time in our saga that I heard his voice, which I found interesting since it was he that stopped his service manager’s attempt to help us with our now undrivable car, deciding that because we didn’t go to a (closed) CarMax service center when we broke down on a Sunday instead of an (open) Sears auto center, he wasn’t responsible for the state of the car we had just bought – that state now being that of a very large paperweight.

Bottom line – we should have called CarMax to get the car fixed, and because we didn’t, CarMax didn’t have to do anything for us. Hmmm. Why then, I asked Mr. Cantu, wasn’t I told to go to a CarMax for the repair when I called his location the very next morning? Sears had said the repair was too complex for them, and it needed to be done by a dealer, so no work had yet commenced when I called his store to explain my breakdown and ask for his contact information.

“You called the next day, Mr. McInerny?”

“I did indeed, Mr. Cantu.  As soon as you opened.”

“I didn’t know that,” he responded.  (Think about that for a moment.)

So, what he said he’d do for me is reimburse the cost of the used part they would have installed (which is 1/3 of the total costs we incurred during the breakdown with my family, 500 miles from home), and he would now bring the car in, and if the current issues were related to the problem my wife originally brought the car in for while under warranty, he’d have it fixed.  But, I said, his service department had already looked at the car and found no issues – what was the likelihood they were going to connect the dots now to a problem they didn’t find in the first place, and then make the conclusion they were responsible?  Seems to me CarMax is already responsible, since they didn’t recognize the problem and fix it in the first place.  And that would surely explain why his service manager asked for all our receipts, explained that reimbursement could take a few weeks, and was preparing to tow the car in – until Dave got involved. Hmmm.  Me and my pesky logic again.

I responded by asking Dave if he had the authority to simply swap out the non-working car with a working one. His answer was “yes.” When I asked if we could simply start there, Dave’s response was … wait for it … he didn’t think he wanted “someone like me” on his lot again, considering the public way I was handling the situation.  I see.  Like I would have even gotten a call from him if I’d handled it any other way?

Any guesses how I responded to his offer? You are correct. Conclusion – there is someone in the CarMax organization who will not take my issue and simply put it back in the hands of the general manager in Merriam, KS to deal with.  I will find that person.

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CarMax Fails the Logic Exam

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on July 27, 2012 by David McInerny

When I published the first post on my car saga, CarMax is Less, I felt a little bad. Not for CarMax, but for my blog followers, because it was not the type of subject I typically address with them. However, since CarMax is Less continues to be far and away the most hit post on my site, I’m going to conclude that my usual writing isn’t so bad, but there are simply a lot of CarMax shoppers that are ending up reading about my saga regarding the shocking after-the-sale treatment by CarMax in Merriam, Kansas.

So, here’s a brief update. After the service manager started to make great strides to help us and was quickly cut off by the local general manager, I published the first post and tweeted my displeasure. Within a few days, we were contacted by a CarMax entity that tracks social media sites, and we were told they wanted to look into our dilemna. I’m working in Asia for a while, so my poor wife had to tell the entire story again, and was told they were genuinely concerned and that a response was forthcoming. We were guardedly optimistic.

They called back as promised, only to say they’ve talked to the local general manager, who says we should have found the nearest CarMax where we were stranded, so they could have installed a used part. As a result, they will offer $1,800, representing the cost of the used part, against the $4,800 we spent getting the car and ourselves home, and offer nothing for the $20,000 car sitting dead in our driveway. Hmm. Well, since this general manager has emerged twice as the dubious decision maker for our issue, I’m going to name names. And the name is Dave Cantu.

Why, Dave, would I sit on the highway, 500 miles from home in the broken-down car I bought from you only six weeks before, on a Sunday, with my wife and son in the car, and turn to them and say, “You know what we should do, family? We should ignore the tow truck driver who just told us that the only place open on Sunday to fix the car here is Sears Auto. Let’s have him take us to the closed CarMax instead, so they can advise us tomorrow how to best limit CarMax’s liability.”

Funny thing is, I did call the Merriam, KS CarMax first thing the next day when they opened, and I was never told to get my car to a CarMax. Come to think of it, instead of not returning my call, Dave Cantu could have called me back and explained clearly what I should have done. No, the fact is, I did what any reasonable person would have done in my situation – I got my family and the car off the highway and to the nearest place that could start repairing the car right away. And now Dave has had several weeks to come up with this lame reason to avoid doing the right thing.

Your $1,800 offer is declined, Dave. And a complaint has been filed against CarMax with the Johnson County District Attorney. Just as importantly, when I return from Asia, I’m going to follow up on a meeting I had with a local media expert and make your bad logic as public as I can. I’m calling your $1,800 and raising you much more, and we’ll let the public decide if Merriam, Kansas is where they want to buy their next car.

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CarMax is Minimal in Merriam, Kansas

Posted in Family, Travel with tags , on July 18, 2012 by David McInerny

I’ve never wanted car payments, and I’m not a car buff, so I’ve always paid cash for good used cars. When the CarMax sales model emerged, it was for me – a fair, no haggle price, and a solid offer for my trade-in. I’ve been a happy CarMax customer through four cars, but the fifth was not the charm.

Briefly – I bought a car recently at the CarMax in Merriam, KS, for my wife. It had a 30 day warranty, and within the warranty period, my wife brought the car into CarMax with hesitation problems, but she was told after leaving it for a day that everything checks out fine. Soon after, just after the warranty expires, the car stops dead on the interstate (see my earlier blog, “Riding with the Road Vulture”). My wife, son and I are stranded on a Sunday in Indiana, 500 miles from home, and I finally drive the repaired car home three days later on the 4th of July.

I called CarMax while I was cooling my jets in Chesterton, IN, waiting for the repair, and I get the contacts to relay my situation. No sooner do I get home when the car dies again. At this point I’ve called the service manager, and I immediately get the CarMax experience I’ve always known. I’m told to provide them with the invoices from the saga in Indiana, and I’m assured that the car will be towed right away to be looked at, and (most importantly), that the file clearly showed the car had been looked at by them for hesitation, and they didn’t want customers having these kinds of major issues right after buying a car from them. I started telling friends, as I have for years, that CarMax is a good company with which to do business.

Apparently, however, the CarMax ideal doesn’t reside in the senior levels of the Merriam location. The poor service manager, who had clearly been taken to the woodshed after assuring me that they needed to take responsibility for our dilemma, informed me out of the blue today that CarMax held no responsibility for our car. Period. Translation – we only take care of loyal customers here in Merriam as long as it doesn’t get too expensive.

Such is life. There will be no tears from me, no lost temper, and certainly no lost sleep. Just well-placed phone calls with the right people that can help me expose the shabby treatment I’ve received at the hands of a CarMax location that put this month’s P&L statement ahead of doing what’s right.

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