Fleet Farm Nightmare

I hate to have to post this, but I’m not sure what to do at this point. On Sunday, March 20th I scheduled an appointment for a battery replacement and an oil change at Fleet Farm in Blaine, MN. When the technician was finished doing the work, he told me that the oil light was on because he couldn’t figure out how to reset the maintenance interval in my vehicle (weird). I then ran a few errands and the check engine light came on. Immediately I called Fleet Farm and told them I was stopping by. I then watched as two technicians popped the hood and found the oil cap laying on top of the engine. They then checked the oil and there was none. There was also no sign of oil splattered throughout the engine compartment. I asked the technician where the oil went that he put in it. He said it must have burned up while I was driving (not possible). He then put in 5 1/2 quarts of new oil and was unable to turn off the check engine light. He was nice enough to let me know the O’Reilly Auto Parts will do it for free. The Auto Service Manager later told me that events were confirmed via video cameras that they have installed in their service bays.

In the end I drove approximately 20 miles with no oil. Everyone I’ve talked to says the engine should have blown up or, at the very least, the incident significantly reduced the life of the engine. I called the Auto Service Manager the next day and described the incident. Of course, this was the first that he’d heard of it. He instructed me to come down and fill out an incident report, which I did. The Manager was hardly apologetic and told me that I would have to deal directly with their insurance company and that it was out of his hands. I told him that was ridiculous and that I should be dealing with Fleet Farm on the matter and not their insurance company. The insurance company agreed to do an oil test which showed levels of copper, silicon, baron, slight fuel dilution, viscosity below specified limits for weight of oil given, and suggested future analysis to monitor conditions. Both Fleet Farm and their wonderful insurance company have gone dark, which doesn’t bode well for a satisfactory resolution.

How would you handle this situation and what do you think would be a fair resolution?

So did the camera verify and does Farm Fleet acknowledge the fact hat the technician did not put in oil? I seems that usually a victim has to fist prove fault and then show a hardship resulting from the loss . If fault is admitted already seems you have half the battle won .

I changed my oil on our Explorer. Unknown to me the filter O-ring stayed on the engine. When I put the new filter back on it twisted the old O-ring and soon all my oil was gone. Drove about 25 miles that way. Did not seem to have any effect on that engine. Obviously, your results may be different.

What kind of resolution you looking for?

I hope they offered to pay for future monitoring and tests.

You shouldn’t have let 2 months lapse before getting a more firm resolution. Get on the case and get something in WRITING. Who’s going to do what, when, and with what results?

Do you have written documentation of the incident? A copy of Fleet Farm’s report, etc?

The more time that passes, the more they will blame any issues on “other factors” and you’ll be left holding the bag.

A very unfortunate situation. Sorry to hear about it.

Grouse

In addition to what has been said the techs and service manager will be gone in the wind. Employee turnover in those places is huge.
Have a attorney draft a quick letter so you start getting written documents.
Good luck.

See if you can get the vidio of the incident.

I had car wash doors close on my new SD350, FFarms insurance company had a check to within a week of the body shop estimate.

This is a big mistake on Fleet Farm according to what I hear. I am very surprised that you didn’t hear any knocking from the engine. Most of the time, your rod bearings are the first to go. A shop manager is not going to show fault on something that major. But I bet when you left, someone is probably no longer working there. My advice is to move on it quick. And do not take it to any other shop.

I’m wondering what you’re looking for as far as resolution. Are you thinking they should replace your engine? At this point I don’t hear you saying there’s any evidence of damage to the engine, just speculation that, maybe, the life of the engine will be reduced – did I miss that in the OP? I think you can chalk this up to getting lucky and not having to deal with a major problem on your vehicle. Had there been damage, FF and their insurance company would have taken care of it, but it would have been a major headache.

Just wondering who makes a SD350 or what that is?

huskerdu wrote:

I had car wash doors close on my new SD350, FFarms insurance company had a check to within a week of the body shop estimate.

Super Duty 350 Ford

mojogunter wrote:

Just wondering who makes a SD350 or what that is?

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>huskerdu wrote:</div>
I had car wash doors close on my new SD350, FFarms insurance company had a check to within a week of the body shop estimate.

Ford Super Duty F350