Audio Express, Inc.

I took my 2013 Subaru Legacy to Audio Express to get new sound system installed. Apon picking my veh up from Audio Express after having all new speakers, amp, sub-woofer, low pass crossover and hushmat product installed. I noticed that every single object they touched to install the items, they left a gouge or scratch. My vehicle was ruined by this business and they show no remorse over destroying my vehicle! I work at Subaru and I deal with customers every day and I know how important customer service is, Audio Express on the other hand does not, and does not seem to care! I would not refer my worst enemy to this place of business! They deminstrated poor workmanship and ruined my vehicle!Desired SettlementI would like Audio Express to replace all the parts in my vehilce that they damaged! When you bring your vehicle to a place that has "professionals", then you expect for the work to be done on a professional level...in this case it was not. Their work shows their inconsideration and lack of knowledge in what they are doing! Business Response Our store manager is aware of [redacted] complaint and has already taken action by having companies look at repairing scratches of the arm rest, dash area by the radio, and on her door panels. Yelling at the staff and cursing in our store is not going to resolve the issues, we have answered all [redacted]'s questions and have had other employees within our company reach out to contact [redacted]. [redacted] has not returned anyone's calls when we tried to contact her repeatedly. We need the proper time to have these claims looked at and fixed. Again we apologize and we will get these items restored back to original condition.

The first time I took my Jeep into Audio Express the staff gave false information about the services they would provide. They then kept my car for more then the scheduled time due to them not installing the product correctly and one employee said that the whole system stopped working and they didn't know how to fix it. This went on for several days. After the first mishap, there were several (roughly three times) when the product stopped working again. Every time I took it back in to be repaired it would work for a while but then stop again. Meanwhile, other features in my vehicle were not functioning properly. For example, right now, the product is working... but when I turn off the ignition the radio and the engine still run until I open the car door. This is causing my check engine light to come on (which will also prevent me from being able to register it when needed). On top of all the technical problems they have caused the staff has been rude, condescending and flat out lied.Product_Or_Service: Auxiliary CableDesired SettlementI would like to take my vehicle into a Jeep dealership where an expert can correct all the problems this has caused and get my Jeep back to functioning normally and for Audio Express to cover all costs.Business Response First we would like to apologize that everything has not gone as smoothly as we would all like it to have. We sorry that you have had to come in multiple times to have your unit reset but today a lot of these parts are computerized electronics and sometimes do require a hard reset like any other electronic device. Anytime your unit needs to be reset we are more than happy to do so for you anytime during regular business hours! We always stand behind the work we do and if any damages occur from our install we are always more than happy to make things right!

Installed headrest DVD players and cut heating element wire for heated seats to phish wire, never returned calls and refused to pay for new seats.Audio Express installed headrest DVD players on both front seats of my wife's 2013 Audi Q7 on 3/3/2014, invoice #[redacted]. The vehicle was returned to them approximately 3/15/14 because both heated seats stopped working after the install. Audio Express kept the car for a day and stated that they did nothing to the seats. The car was purchased new on 12/10/14 and the heated seats worked through the winter until the DVD installation on 3/3/14. We questioned them at that time and got nowhere. Due to the summer months arriving we decided to hold off until the fall and take the car to Audi for warranty repair. The dealer had to completely dismantle the seats to determine that the foam on both seats was cut in two places and DVD player wires were running through these holes. These cuts also cut the heating element wires rendering the heating element useless and more importantly causing a fire hazard! Due to this Audi stated that warranty would not cover the replacement seats, and due to the danger there was no choice but to replace both seats immediately. Audi kept both seats and took pictures as evidence for me to show Audio Express. Labor and materials to replace both seats was $2,154.74, invoice #[redacted]. The next day I took both seats and the pictures to Audio Express and spoke to the manager, [redacted]. [redacted] was defensive from the beginning and stated that he had to talk to his boss but that they likely would not reimburse any of the $2,154 due to the fact that they weren't given the opportunity to fix the issue and that they didn't approve the expense. They were given an opportunity to fix the issue shortly after the work was done and they did nothing. As far as approving the expense, once the wires are cut in the seat foam the only fix is new seats, so what is there to discuss or approve? [redacted] told me that he would call back within a few days with an answer and never did. I called him over a week later and he took a message and didn't call me back again. Desired SettlementI have read the fine print on the back of the Audio Express invoice and it states that "they must be given first right to review and repair and accidental damage that may have occurred during or after installation." They were given that right and did not find or resolve the issue. Secondly it states that "outside repairs performed without prior review and written approval by a store manager will not be reimbursed." I was not aware of this and therefore did not call them while the seats were dismantled because of the urgency of repairing the seats due to the fire hazard. Pictures were taken and the seats were kept as evidence which Audi and I felt would be sufficient. Due to this oversight on my part I am willing to split the cost of the replacements seats 50/50. I feel that this is a more than fair resolution due to the fact that I mistakenly did not perform Step B on the back of their invoice. Should Audio Express not accept this resolution I plan to hire an attorney and pursue legal action. My grounds for legal action will be based on the following: 1. We quickly returned the car and gave them an opportunity to identify and repair the problem and they did nothing. 2. The seats could have caught on fire at any time had we left the heated seats on causing severe burns or even death.Business Response First off let me say that our goal is to always provide the very best customer service possible. If we feel we caused damage to a vehicle we would take care of it. In this case there were too many things that did not add up. First and foremost we do not show record of you going back to the store after the installation to check on why your heated seats were not working. The crew does not remember and we do not have a check in invoice. If we would have looked at it we are assuming there would have been a bigger confrontation at the time. We would have then explained to you that if you felt we caused the issue to take it to the dealer and have them show us what happened. This never took place. Second when you had the work performed at the dealership you did not call us to go and look at what we were being accused of. Why would you pay for something that was supposedly caused by us if all you had to do was make a phone call so we could go inspect the damage? Showing up to the store with an invoice of work performed without us having the opportunity to see what happened and giving us the opportunity to remedy it of pay to have it done at our dealer cost. Third the amount of time from the initial installation until this repair was done was a long time. Anything or anyone could have been in your vehicle and caused that damage. Lastly we do not believe that what we did could have caused such damage to your vehicle. Just like anything we needed the opportunity to defend ourselves before the repair was done. This would have allowed for us to either not agree or agree and pay for the damage. This would have also meant we would have got our dealer discount to have the vehicle repaired. I hope you can understand that we just can't pay for something we never had the chance to inspect or approve for repair. Simply giving us a repair bill from completed work is like putting someone in jail without a trial. We hate for this type of thing to happen. We don't want customers to not be happy. We have been in business for over 40 years. However after reviewing everything we do not feel we are liable. We also do not feel the proper steps were taken to give us the opportunity to remedy or accept blame. Sincerely,[redacted]Vice PresidentAudio ExpressConsumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I have been out of town with work and very busy but I'm finally getting a chance to respond. [redacted], you mention that you don't have any paperwork from when we took the car back in to you to be checked out after the install, well that's because you didn't generate any paperwork and didn't give us any paperwork. When we took it back you had the car overnight and stated that you did nothing to the heated seats during your DVD install, and no paperwork was generated. Should I have created some paperwork myself?You question why it took so long for us to take the car to the dealership to get it checked out. We didn't do this immediately because we have an extended warranty on the car and summer was fast approaching and the heated seats would not be needed in the summer months. You question why we didn't challenge you harder at the time of the install, well, we gave you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't break the seats when you installed the DVD players, and we concluded that it was a coincidence that they stopped working after you did your work.What I find amazing about this is that you and your company have never once given us, the customer, the benefit of the doubt that we maybe actually are telling the truth. From day one your company has been defensive and accusatory of us and a reputable dealership, Audi. The evidence I have to show what happened is a detailed work order from Audi explaining what they found when they tore the seats apart (by the way tearing the seats apart was the only way to discover the holes that were cut in the seats, and obviously you didn't do that when I took the car back to you). I also have pictures of the seats in the vehicle with your wires running through holes that you cut in the foam. If you didn't cut the holes how did your wires get through these holes in the seats? I also brought the actual seats in to your manager that clearly show the four holes that were cut in the seats and also showed that the heating elements were cut in both seats. To me this is more than enough evidence to show what happened. But because I didn't call on a Friday evening so that your manager could go down to Audi to see the seats in the car you have concluded that basically this is all a big scam. And remember that the dealership told me that we had a major fire hazard on our hands with the cut heating elements in the seats and we had NO CHOICE but to replace the seats! With all this evidence you have still kept your stance that you did nothing to the seats. Instead you have determined that I have colluded with a reputable dealership, Audi, to create this grand scheme involving fake pictures and cuts in seats so Audi could try to get out of warranty work and blame your company for something it didn't do.Because I mistakenly skipped the step in the process of calling you to have you manager inspect the seats on the car at the dealership I decided to compromise with you and split the cost with you which I thought was more than generous, but you have turned that down.This is absolutely amazing to me and could be the worst customer service experience I have ever had, but unfortunately your company seems consistent. You have a very bad rating at the Revdex.com and also on sites like [redacted]. In hindsight I really wish I would have researched you ahead of time because with a little research I wouldn't have used you and I would have saved $2,100 replacing seats. Final Business Response Our last response explained our side of this matter and we have not change our stance.

We bought and had installed a remote start for my wife's car. The product was installed incorrectly and caused the car to be disabled. After having the car towed to our local shop they were able to determine that the faulty install resulted in the popping of a fuse that worked with the ignition. Our out of pocket for the shop to get the car drivable was $100. After the dealing with the manager (chris) and no credit or reimbursement for the mechanics fees, we decided never to do business with Audio Express of Reno again. The advertisements say "$1 install" and that's exactly what you get, $1 dollars worth of quality. Horrible management, sales reps are worse than the stereotypical "used car salesman", and poor quality in the install shop. Avoid this place like the plague. ","neg-1

I went to audio express I payed them 300.00 for two front speakers and dropped it off at my scheduled appointment time. When I picked it up that afternoon the two front speakers were not installed and instead they had placed two speaker box's in the back of my truck and wanted more money. I told them that is not what we agreed upon and that I did not want speaker box;s in the back of my truck. They then said that I did not have 2 front speakers to begin with. I told them that they are wrong and are just making excuses to take the easy route instead of removing my dash and replacing the two blown out speakers that I currently have. I called 3 other car audio shops and they too all said yes you have front speakers in the year and model. When I got into my truck I noticed immediately the damage to my dashboard they had stuck there fingers into my speaker holes and broke the webbing covering my speakers, in doing so the vinyl cracked. I told the manager that someone had damaged my dash board. He said "why would I even touch that!?" I said "because we agreed you would replace the speakers in that exact spot" I asked him if he did the work himself he said no I told him again my dash didn't have that damage when I dropped it off. We never came to an agreement. If the damage was on the dash and around the front speakers we would have talked about it when I first came and dropped it off. There was nothing discussed because there was no damage before I took it in.Product_Or_Service: Audio speakers Order_Number: [redacted]Account_Number: [redacted]Desired SettlementI would like everything he installed removed and the work done properly buy different car audio professional. I am also asking for compensation for the damage done to my dash board. I payed them 420.00$ I would like it all returned and an extra 300.00 for the damage done to my dashboard. Total of 750.00Business Response We are aware of this matter and have also responded to your [redacted] review. Your significant other was fully in the loop and approved what was installed. As we told you when you picked it up we would be happy to remove the dash and advice from there.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)My dash board was broken buy the staff at audio express how do you intend on making this right?my dash WAS NOT damaged until your staff started digging around looking for speakers once you break the dash you claim I don't have speakers there. Sounds like you guys made a mistake and wont take responsibility for your actions.

I purchased 2- 15 inch subs, a box, and an amp on 12/12/2015. They also charged me for the wiring and labor. All together spending over 2100.00. They installed it the same day for me. The next day when I got into my car to start it before my radio would even connect by speakers I just bought in the trunk would beat really loud for 15-60 seconds. Then on Monday it did the same thing. It specifically did it when the car had been sitting for more then an hour. On Tuesday 12/15 I called audio express to let them know of the problem. I spoke to [redacted] I believe and he told me to bring the car down. When I got there after driving from work when I turned the car on it didnt make the noise. They then tried to ask me if it sounded like different things they would do in the shop on show equipment and nothing matched. He then had his technician take my car in the back and look at it to make sure everything was fine. Which took about 45 minutes. I was told it was because I had not done my door speakers and amp and it was a connection issue but nothing to worry about. I then asked around and no one had ever had the issue regardless of having stock speakers in the doors like I was told. I then contacted another installation company in Reno who said it was not normal. They said they would look at it and find the problem. They then spent 2 hours re-wiring my car and fixing the issue. I ended up paying for 2 hours of labor at $85.00 an hour a total of $170.00. I basically had to pay for my same stereo equipment to be installed twice because it was not done correctly and then even taking it back they didnt fix the problem but tried to convince me that it was not an issue and it was normal for it to do that.Product_Or_Service: Speakers (subs), amp, wiringDesired SettlementBecause I had to pay for the installation twice. I feel like I should be reimbursed whichever installation charge was more. I am confident that I spent more then $170.00 at audio express to have them install the equipment wrong.Business Response We are sorry for your recent experience. Would you please get in contact with our store manager [redacted] at [redacted]. We are sure[redacted] will be able to help find a solution.

Complaint[redacted] from Audio Express promised me that they could have my custom stereo system installed prior to my scheduled painting for my car on 1-9-14. I told him that I would not let anyone work on the car right after the paint was done. I dropped off the car to them on 1-7-14 at 3:00pm. The next day 1-8-14 I went to check on the progress at 3:30pm and they have not done anything in my car yet and said they only had the custom box built, but they would be done by that evening at 7:00pm. they also mentioned at that time that they screwed up and took on 2 more jobs and put them ahead of mine. They assured me that they were going to call me that evening and let me know it was done. I got a call from [redacted] at 8:45 that evening to say that they screwed up the measurements on the custom speaker box and that it was too big and that the installation would not be completed and wanted me to take it as is and bring it back to them after paint. I told [redacted] no because I would not let anyone work on the car right after I got it painted. He mentioned at that time that his boss ([redacted]) chewed him out for taking on this installation and not allowing a week for the install. I went there the next morning and spoke to the manager ([redacted]) and he said that they screwed up, but there was nothing he could do. I even offered to leave the car an extra day, but he said he couldn't get it done. I wanted him to remove what they partially installed, but he said no and charged me for the parts that were "installed". even charged me for 2-sub woofers in the original box thrown in the trunk and an amp screwed to a piece of board flopping around in the trunk. I even asked about the crappy job they did on some of the items that were installed and [redacted] said that that's standard. I took my car to another shop (also found that audio express installed lesser cost equipment than what was on my invoice, that's called bait and switch)and had them redo and finish the installation before I got the car painted.Order_Number: [redacted]Desired SettlementI am seeking a partial refund to offset some the cost of another shop cleaning up and finishing the installation on time.