Man left with $12k in damages after Circuit City GPS install gone wrong

Installs gone wrong certainly aren't all that uncommon, but the tale told by one VTECnical of the 8thcivic.com forum is undoubtedly a cut above the rest, and could well have you reconsidering that suction cup option. As VTECnical tells it, he bought a Pioneer AVIC Z2 GPS unit and some other components from Circuit City last July for more $3,000 and decided to let their installers do the installation work for him -- apparently after he was told that it'd slide into his Honda Civic without any modifications.The problems then allegedly began when the installer whipped out a heat gun, which was purportedly intended to be used to mold a mounting guide for the GPS unit but instead wound up melting one of the Civic's heating ducts. As if that wasn't enough, the installer apparently also used tape to hold the GPS unit in place, installed the antennae on the inside of the car instead of the outside, and used a glue gun to install the speakers instead of bolting them in place. All told, that apparently not only resulted in over $12,000 worth of damages but, according to the estimate from a Honda dealership, left the car "unsafe to drive." For its part, Circuit City apparently did eventually remove the equipment and refunded the full $3,000+, but VTECnical is now left dealing with Circuity City's third party insurance company to recover the rest of the damages.

[Via Autoblog]

[Ryan @ Mar 31st 2008 11:41AM]

that's what happens when you deal with circuit shitty.

[Kris @ Mar 31st 2008 11:44AM]

That's what happens when you rice out a Civic.

[Zak @ Mar 31st 2008 11:55AM]

Putting a GPS unit in your car is "ricing" it? I think you're unclear on the concept of "ricing".

[Flashpoint @ Mar 31st 2008 12:06PM]

I've witnessed Circuit City installers PUNCTURING Subwoofers by accident during install.

[Ray-- @ Mar 31st 2008 12:27PM]

here is a link to a video from the guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMhUhJmBStg

[OneLove @ Mar 31st 2008 1:01PM]

thats what happens when you have more money than sense.

[Shane @ Mar 31st 2008 1:10PM]

@Ray--

No way I'm falling for that.
RickRolling is so yesterday. Give it a rest already.

[Shane @ Mar 31st 2008 1:11PM]

Oops...Guess it actually WAS a link to a video dealing with the article this time! My bad...

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Mar 31st 2008 1:50PM]

I have had two family members get car stereos installed a Circuit City, on both accounts over the span of five years they could not get it right. Both times, the radios were loosely fitted and wired incorrectly. Apparently Circuit City cuts corners by enslaving illiterate gorillas and chimpanzees to do the work. Most Best Buy locations aint much better. So if you want the job done right, find a smaller localized shop with a strong reputation that has been doing business in your area for at least a decade or so.

[Za @ Mar 31st 2008 2:03PM]

It definitely varies by store; I know the one I worked at had qualified installers but the next one over was very questionable.

Also, though the scale might be uncommon, I am sure this happens all the time. Moreover, in my experience, the more a manager tries to help customers as opposed to focusing on profit margins, the higher his head is on the chopping block.

That, and in the past several months, the company "phased out" the Roadshop Installations Manager as a position.

[wsjchoi @ Mar 31st 2008 4:07PM]

I installed my Pioneer AVIC D3 on my rsx and it cost . . .
AVIC D3 (615 on amazon.com) + wire cutter (15$ at home depot) + American Int. dash kit (15$ on ebay) + wire crimps (20 for 3$?) = 648$

I have had no previous experience with electronics and wiring and I just followed the steps provided by forums and took me about an hour. (when I went to CC, they wanted 250$ for installation and their AD said "free installation" the retard guys at CC was telling me I had a BOSE sound system, which is on type S RSXs. . . which will cost an extra 100$ on top of the 250$... and I have a base auto RSX!)

in conclusion, research first before buying. . . it's so simple.

[Eric @ Mar 31st 2008 4:14PM]

Circuit City is possibly the worst place to have anything installed. When I had my old Corolla, I found that the alarm in it was originally installed by CC, the hood pin switch had been "installed" in place with packing tape.

[Aguiluz @ Mar 31st 2008 4:34PM]

@ Ray:

I knew that was original since the last characters of the address was not on my router ban list. I am un-rickrollable!

[wsjchoi @ Mar 31st 2008 5:12PM]

ah, forgot the harness from crutchfield.com, i think it was like 20 bucks

[Morgan Percy @ Mar 31st 2008 8:53PM]

It was martha showing off some arts and crafts at circuit city that day.
"Today we are going to show you how to install a gps unit and speakers with only tape and a glue gun! Crafting FTW"

[CosterMonger @ Mar 31st 2008 11:41AM]

must have been the new guy

[tom @ Mar 31st 2008 11:48AM]

Even ordinary joe wouldn't do that, this is common sense, why the hell would someone use glue gun and duct tape to install in car GPS?

What is this, Martha Stewart arts and crafts project?

[Kyle Burghart @ Mar 31st 2008 1:17PM]

Damn, big boxes. I worked at Best Buy in high school and they had some young kids working in the install bay. As you can see thats a bad idea.

[y3k.nik @ Mar 31st 2008 2:06PM]

why did they have glue gun and duct tape in an installation bay to begin with, let alone the new guy!

[Peter Fattore @ Mar 31st 2008 11:45AM]

Hey now, they do thousands of installs across the US everyday. Don't be too much of a hater Ryan.
I'll put money on that installer getting impaled on the top of that store somewhere.....

[BigDaddyM @ Mar 31st 2008 11:47AM]

Yes, but they should be responsable for their damanges.

Maybe they will send out a new car all signed by Circuit City crew.
M

[patsy @ Mar 31st 2008 1:53PM]

Yeah, a "firedog" car, all green and gooey.

[Ignatius @ Mar 31st 2008 11:46AM]

Duct tape and glue guns? What, is this an arts and crafts project?

Circuit City is probably going to be brought to court about this, considering when you pay for an installation, they insure 'proper and professional' installations.

[Jesse S @ Mar 31st 2008 11:48AM]

VTEC didn't just kick in, yo. :(

[n0thx1ng @ Mar 31st 2008 5:35PM]

it did kick in, VTECinal was probably ripping 3rd gear hit VTEC, and thus the g-force of the car ripped the A/C duct out and blew up his wiring. He's just using the excuse that Circuit City installed his navigation wrong.

[Peter F @ Mar 31st 2008 11:48AM]

I'm sure CC will settle and correct this. Unless we're missing some big portion of the story, there is little way to deny their fault.

[Jody @ Mar 31st 2008 11:52AM]

Ok, I don't know whats worse. CC having a complete moron tearing up this guys car or the dealership charging $12,000 to fix the dash of a $19,000 car.

[Peter F @ Mar 31st 2008 11:53AM]

Agreed. But chances are he took it to the collision center of the dealership and they just priced out the replacement parts of every damaged item. Honestly, it seems fair to me to get his car back in the same or better condition.

[Jimbo @ Mar 31st 2008 12:23PM]

Jody, this is a common misconception. Remember Henry Ford? Why is he famous? Because he was able to build really complex things on an assembly line. That reduced the production cost tremendously.

It would cost over $100,000 to properly build a Honda Accord at a dealership because they cannot do it efficiently.

Tearing apart a melted car and figuring out what's wrong, and installing new stuff is not as easy as sliding a chassis down an assembly line. This is particularly true with electrics, which go in so easily when the car isn't built yet.

[Jody @ Mar 31st 2008 1:20PM]

I worked in several body shops over the years until I went to school for IT suff, so I agree with you to an extent.
But $12k is more than a good body shop would charge to half-cut a honda civic including parts, labor, paint etc. (half-cut is commonly done for rear end collisions, where a good back and front of 2 different cars are welded together)

I'll even give the dealership a pass on the $6k in parts, but the bid included 51 hours of labor for almost $5K. 51 Hours!! Think about that, 51 hours!!! Sorry, but 51 hours of insurance time would replace the entire interior including all dash components and electronics of 2 honda civics.

[patsy @ Mar 31st 2008 1:59PM]

> he was able to build really complex things on an assembly line

Well, I don't know if you can call the Model T a "really complex thing" though. It had--what--two moving parts, including the rubber ducky used for a horn?

[Matt @ Mar 31st 2008 3:54PM]

actually using an assembly line to build the Model T was so efficient and less expensive... they decided to use it for a few models after that. i heard a few other companies gave it a try too

[tmulcahy365 @ Mar 31st 2008 6:57PM]

"I worked in several body shops over the years until I went to school for IT suff,
...
But $12k is more than a good body shop would charge to half-cut a honda civic
...
(half-cut is commonly done for rear end collisions, where a good back and front of 2 different cars are welded together) "

Aren't they illegal?? I seriously doubt any 'good body shop' would do this!
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/buying/buying/202620/spot_a_cut_and_shut.html
http://paultan.org/archives/2006/05/01/government-wants-to-curb-half-cut-car-sales/

[Motoken @ Mar 31st 2008 11:56AM]

next time, go best buy!

[Nicu @ Mar 31st 2008 1:55PM]

Yeah, Best Buy only caused about $500 worth of damage to my car when they installed a satellite radio. If you want it done right you gotta pay a professional - saving a few bucks by going to Circuit City or Best Buy will cost you a lot in the long run

[gaspero1 @ Mar 31st 2008 2:50PM]

My experience wasn't that bad, but Best Buy did botch up the XM install on my Civic when I had them install it a few years ago. The moron installer insisted the antenna had to be installed on the front driver side of the windshield, which resulted in less than stellar reception. Then, to make matters worse, he broke the seal on the windshield, so it leaked every time I got stuck in rain on the expressway.

The icing on the cake came just a few weeks ago, when I installed an XM receiver in my girlfriend's Cobalt. I did it in the dark, with a flashlight, in the middle of a snowstorm. I only had a few basic tools (screwdriver, scissors). It took me 30 minutes, and my job looks and is far more professional than the $80 install charge Best Buy bent me over for.

Needless to say, I'm done with the big box stores. I'll do my own work from now on thank you.

[Paul Tan @ Mar 31st 2008 11:02PM]

I believe that in this case the half cut is used to source for spares, not to be welded together as a new car.

[Ken @ Apr 1st 2008 1:51AM]

I ***WORK*** at Best Buy and they screwed up MY CAR at MY STORE, and they paid me to get it fixed at the dealer and the installer was (and still is) my friend).

[Pavan @ Apr 1st 2008 3:10AM]

I have to ask...why were you installing an XM radio in a Snowstorm? Though after realizing how mice it is not to have commercial-free music, I don't blame you!

[Peter F @ Mar 31st 2008 11:56AM]

@BigdaddyM
I just got your comment on the signed car. LOLOLOLOOOOOOL
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/22/even-happier-ending-for-cleaned-xbox-360-owner-gates-signed-c/

[NHAnimator @ Mar 31st 2008 2:19PM]

(wow)

[Brooks @ Mar 31st 2008 12:05PM]

I've seen a couple people on Digg say something to the effect of "You've signed away your rights to sue them on the service agreement"....but this only thing I've found is

"Certain Services may require drilling holes in walls, securing wiring to baseboards, and similar alterations to Your property. Neither firedog nor any Contractor shall be held responsible for any property damage relating to the incidental alterations necessary to provide the Services."

Thoughts on how this applies Nilay?

[Peter F @ Mar 31st 2008 12:10PM]

I'd like to hear back from Nilay too, but that sound like only what's necessary for the services. Seems like the services weren't provided. I used to be a firedog tech and it would've been a cold day in hell before I handed back someones property saying,"Eh, it's all broken now, cya!".
Things happened (not as stupid as what happened in this story), but we always covered anything that was our fault.

[Jeebus @ Mar 31st 2008 12:59PM]

As a general rule, you cannot sign away your rights. Any clause were you sign away your rights are effectively void.

[John @ Mar 31st 2008 2:32PM]

I don't think you can sign away your rights if your paying someone and they act negligently. There must be some reasonable level of competence and care when they act out the contract. If they don't meet that, I say they violate the contract. So its void and they just vandalized your property, and should pay.

[sjdurfey @ Mar 31st 2008 4:23PM]

unless a hot glue gun and duct tape, not to mention the melted heating vent are "alterations necessary to provide the Services." then this clause doesnt apply to the damage done to his car.

[Chris @ Mar 31st 2008 12:08PM]

The previous owner of my car had a Pioneer AVIC N1 installed by Circuit City. I knew they were careless when I saw that they pried off the trim panel and damaged the dash with a screwdriver. But that doesn't compare to their wiring job. One day while changing my tire I found the amp they installed. Not only was it lying on top of the spare not secured to anything but they were running all four speakers off of a two channel amp (which in itself isn't terrible) but they completely left the cars built in sub woofer disconnected. Along with many other bare wires that were periodically grounding themselves. I also found that they broke 90% of the attachment points to the cars inner trim pieces that they removed to run the cables.

Not to mention they used a $50 Two channel Target clearance rack amp to provide power for a $3000 head unit, all interconnected with MONSTER CABLES!!!!! Awesome. So now I am in search of a nice compact 5chan amp.

[Bobs @ Mar 31st 2008 4:54PM]

Shoulda used insulated coat hangers.

[Victor @ Mar 31st 2008 12:25PM]

Look at the itemization list of the parts he'd need. Do tell me why the heck they'd have to replace his front window (First item picture 7 of 9). The dealership is overcharging WAY too much. I've done enough personal audio installs to know that those wires hanging there are simply normal when there's nothing in there. I think the cost of repair is greatly exaggerated, and I'm still not convinced that they used tape to hold the part. Yes, never have circuit city or best buy install your auto parts if you want a guarantee.

[macona @ Mar 31st 2008 12:58PM]

To replace some parts in some dashes you need to remove the windshield. Yep, they are built that tight. Once the seal is broken the windshield should be replaced. Safety issue.