How to get Circuit City to fix the broken car stereo they installed?
December 3, 2007 9:59 PM Subscribe
I got a new car stereo installed by Circuit City, and it doesn't work. How can I get them to fix it?
Yesterday I took my 1998 Acura 3.0CL to Circuit City for a new Sony car stereo. It was $100 for the stereo, about $60 for equipment, taxes and fees. I purchased it and they installed it. When I picked up the car and started it, the radio was on and working. So far, so good. Then I put in a CD. The stereo pulled in the CD, the display turned to CD mode, it showed the CD playing (0:00, 0:01, 0:02, etc.)... and there was no sound. I turned up the volume, I let the CD play for a few minutes, and there was no sound.
I confronted the installer guy. He poked at it for a minute, and said that to get it to work, they would have to "bypass the amp". I think this means changing the way the thing is wired in the back. Since it was the end of the day, I would have to bring the car back another day, leave it for another two-plus hours, and pay another $60. He said that there was no way he could have known that the amp would have to be bypassed until the stereo was installed (baloney, of course, but that much is moot now). It works fine in radio mode, which makes me think the CD-playing mechanism in the stereo is faulty, and no amount of "bypassing the amp" is going to fix that. But what do I know?
Can I get Circuit City to fix this without giving them another $60? I thought the deal was that I would pay $160, and drive away with a working, installed car stereo. How can I hold them to that?
Yesterday I took my 1998 Acura 3.0CL to Circuit City for a new Sony car stereo. It was $100 for the stereo, about $60 for equipment, taxes and fees. I purchased it and they installed it. When I picked up the car and started it, the radio was on and working. So far, so good. Then I put in a CD. The stereo pulled in the CD, the display turned to CD mode, it showed the CD playing (0:00, 0:01, 0:02, etc.)... and there was no sound. I turned up the volume, I let the CD play for a few minutes, and there was no sound.
I confronted the installer guy. He poked at it for a minute, and said that to get it to work, they would have to "bypass the amp". I think this means changing the way the thing is wired in the back. Since it was the end of the day, I would have to bring the car back another day, leave it for another two-plus hours, and pay another $60. He said that there was no way he could have known that the amp would have to be bypassed until the stereo was installed (baloney, of course, but that much is moot now). It works fine in radio mode, which makes me think the CD-playing mechanism in the stereo is faulty, and no amount of "bypassing the amp" is going to fix that. But what do I know?
Can I get Circuit City to fix this without giving them another $60? I thought the deal was that I would pay $160, and drive away with a working, installed car stereo. How can I hold them to that?
If the manager doesn't budge, contact their corporate office. Consumerist.com may give you more ideas
posted by Sufi at 11:36 PM on December 3, 2007
posted by Sufi at 11:36 PM on December 3, 2007
"Bypassing the amp" to get the CD working is bullshit, plain to say. If you were getting sound out of the radio, then the CD should give sound as well, unless there's something gorked inside the unit itself. The audio comes out of the same wires to the speakers for both CD and radio, after all. When you go back, ask for the manager, and then when talking to him, get him to ask his installer about "bypassing the amp".
posted by barc0001 at 12:00 AM on December 4, 2007
posted by barc0001 at 12:00 AM on December 4, 2007
Just to be clear: your new stereo is a combined radio/CD unit, right, not a radio-only unit hooked up - or maybe not, in this case - to your existing CD changer?
posted by Pinback at 1:18 AM on December 4, 2007
posted by Pinback at 1:18 AM on December 4, 2007
When I had a stereo system installed by CC in 1997, and the speakers started rattling several years later, CC fixed the problem no charge (they had to tighten up something and no extra equipment was needed). In fact, after I had purchased the equipment and before the install, I got a call from CC informing me that I had failed to purchase a needed install kit component. I called their regional office and told them what happened (plus I was going to return everything I had purchased), and they threw in the install kit for free. Point being that CC, at that time, was dedicated to customer service and had stood by their installation job. However, the last couple of times I have been into CC I noticed that the customer service and general organization of the store (especially the check out) has deteriorated to the point where I avoid the place at all costs. YMMV.
posted by Raymond Marble at 2:52 AM on December 4, 2007
posted by Raymond Marble at 2:52 AM on December 4, 2007
Call your credit card company and dispute the charge. Hopefully you paid by credit card.
posted by zeikka at 3:03 AM on December 4, 2007
posted by zeikka at 3:03 AM on December 4, 2007
Response by poster: Thanks for the ideas. It is only an in-dash unit. This one, to be specific.
posted by Dec One at 6:40 AM on December 4, 2007
posted by Dec One at 6:40 AM on December 4, 2007
They sold you a bunk head unit. What douchebags to want to charge you to do something that won't fix it.
If it were the radio not working, it could be partly an issue with your car, particularly having the radio antenna built into the rear glass. Even then, it's only an issue if they broke something, which they surely didn't, since they had no reason to be in your trunk to install a head unit. (the amplifier for the in-glass antenna is under the rear deck in the Honda/Acuras that have them)
That should be the only amp in your car, unless the car had a premium stereo option package that included one. Even then, that's not the problem. The installer is making shit up.
posted by wierdo at 7:02 AM on December 4, 2007
If it were the radio not working, it could be partly an issue with your car, particularly having the radio antenna built into the rear glass. Even then, it's only an issue if they broke something, which they surely didn't, since they had no reason to be in your trunk to install a head unit. (the amplifier for the in-glass antenna is under the rear deck in the Honda/Acuras that have them)
That should be the only amp in your car, unless the car had a premium stereo option package that included one. Even then, that's not the problem. The installer is making shit up.
posted by wierdo at 7:02 AM on December 4, 2007
I have had good experiences with CC, too. Installed many years prior but the speakers would intermittently cut out. I brought it to the store, I had no receipt or proof that I'd gotten it there, but the guy looked at it. The tech seemed incredulous at the problem -- that some wires weren't wrapped properly, causing them to short out now and then. He fixed the problem, free of charge.
posted by indigo4963 at 8:58 AM on December 4, 2007
posted by indigo4963 at 8:58 AM on December 4, 2007
barcode and wierdo are correct. the stereo is defective, and should be replaced. bypassing the amp indicates that the installer doesn't know what he's doing, or just doesn't care. talk to a manager.
posted by lester at 10:17 AM on December 4, 2007
posted by lester at 10:17 AM on December 4, 2007
Best answer: as a professional installer i could tell you that the installer is right he could bypass the amp, and $60 bucks is about right for the charge,, but he could also hook the remote turn on line up behind the radio allowing the amp to turn on when functions other than radio are used. at circuit city, the smart connect harnesses they use have separate wires for turn on and antenna and your car's remote and antenna lines run together off of the pin that normally would control the antenna. hence your amp turns on when the radio is on and not the other functions. it should be a free fix that takes about ten minutes. tell the guy to tap the blue with white stripe over to the solid blue wire.
good luck
posted by BiffSlamkovich at 8:38 AM on December 5, 2007
good luck
posted by BiffSlamkovich at 8:38 AM on December 5, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:47 PM on December 3, 2007