Walmart Auto Center on Charlotte Pike Fails Customers—a Review

Centers receive a mixed bag of reviews, with some customers praising the affordable prices, convenience, and quick service, while others report issues with unprofessional staff, delays, and inaccurate work. While many customers appreciate the ability to shop while their car is being serviced, and that certainly sounded good to me, many other customers complain about numerous issues: 

Negative Aspects: 

• Unprofessional Staff:

  Some reviews mention rude or disrespectful staff members.

  • Delays and Inaccuracies:

    Customers have reported delays in service, inaccurate work, and incomplete tasks. 
  • Lack of Communication:

    Some reviewers have experienced a lack of clear communication regarding service progress and completion. 
  • Inconsistent Quality:

    While some customers report excellent service, others have had negative experiences, suggesting inconsistent quality across different locations. 
  • Limited Services:

    Walmart Auto Care primarily focuses on basic services like oil changes, tire installation, and battery testing. They may not be the best choice for more complex repairs. 

  
  

  My Personal Experiences

  
  

  I have tried the Charlotte Pike Supercenter auto center location on three different occasions over the past year. Each time the estimate was far lower than the actual charge because of hidden fees and taxes. In addition, Walmart Auto Center CANNOT order tires from Walmart.com, having to go through a more expensive third-party vendor, nor can they set appointments over the phone, in addition to not being able to add taxes and various known extra fees to estimates to make them accurate. Any other car repair place can offer these basic services, but not Walmart.
  
  All three times I have used Walmart, I paid much more than I was quoted and have experienced other communication and customer service issues. It doesn’t help that NO ONE answers the store phone when you call the store to speak to a manager. Customer service is a thing of the past. 

  Half of the fault seems to lie with the local auto department however, and the other half of the issue appears to be the ridiculous and inept corporate policies that tie their hands.
  
  If you need an oil change, the convenience of having it done while you shop might offset the fact that the oil change might cost quite a bit more than you were quoted, but if you have to get new tires and don’t have an easy way to place an online order yourself like many senior citizens or people without computers and smart phones, you are in for a rude—and costly—awakening.

  
  

  I took my brother’s truck in for an oil change and was quoted a price of $58. When I went to pay, it was well over $70. They said it was because it used an extra quart of oil. I asked how much that cost and they said $4 or $5 dollars. The rest was tax and other fees. Ok, that sort of made sense, so I decided to try Walmart again for tires for my own car, which ended up being a big mistake, as the tires cost substantially more than I was quoted. 

  
  

  Walmart does not give you a printout with your estimate. I was verbally quoted a price from a young woman who read the price off her computer screen which I agreed to, but when I went to have the tires put on, the actual cost was much, MUCH higher. 

  
  

  The woman who was there when I went to pay was Lakeisha. Lakeisha did not give me the estimate, but Lakeisha had a story about how things were done. Lakeisha told me the girl turned the computer screen around and showed me the prices—prices that were substantially higher than what she verbally told me, and when I tried to tell her I never saw the screen and repeated what I had been told, she told me, no, none of it happened like I remembered. 

  
  

  Lakeisha did everything but outright say I was a liar. She has clout with the manager of the department who took Lekeisha’s word for everything EVEN THOUGH LAKEISHA WAS NOT THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE ORDER AND GAVE ME THE ESTIMATE, nor was she involved in the original order in any way. 

  
  

  
  I just took the same vehicle in for another oil change and was quoted the same $58 price AFTER we discussed the extra quart of oil this particular 6 cylinder vehicle requires. I asked that the extra quart and any other fees be added to the estimate. THEY COULDN’T ADD THE EXTRA QUART to the estimate even though they said it would be probably by needed.

  
  

  I got a quote for the tires and this time I insisted on  printed estimate with all the fees added, and they couldn’t do that. I asked that they give me a written estimate that would be as close to the final price as possible. I asked that the oil change be added for a complete estimate I could give to my brother, but they couldn’t do that. They gave me a rough estimate for the tires. 

  
  

  I had to pay a premium because they had told me I would have to drive home and order my tires online, and then set up my appointment online. Since I don’t own a computer or other device except an old smart phone that has been dropped so many times it no longer works well and has to constantly be reloaded, turned off and on, reset,  and have the network setting reset because it constantly freezes, I told them I would prefer they order the tires and set the appointment —you know— like ALL THE OTHER TIRE PLACES DO. But Walmart does not want to do that—they want the customer to do the work for them. 

  
  

  Because it is not convenient for me to do that, they told me they would have to buy my tires from a middle man, and they would cost much more, because WALMART AUTO CENTER CANNOT ORDER TIRES FROM WALMART.COM. That’s right. The Walmart Auto Center cannot get tires from Walmart. So I got the estimate for the more expensive tires and had to agree to the higher price, because I have so many issues ordering items online now with my old, broken, erratic phone. I was given an estimate when the tires would be in and asked if I could make the appointment for three days later on my day off, but they couldn’t make the appointment until the tires came in. Before I left, I talked to the Auto Center manager again about the estimate for the tires and the oil change, and he gave me a final estimate.

  
  

  When I got the notice that my tires had come in, I called the auto center and asked if I could make my appointment for the tires and oil change for following Thursday. No. Walmart Auto Center does not make appointments over the phone. I was told I needed to create an account where I could go in and make my appointment on my computer and had to go through the explanation of how that doesn’t work well for me. Then I was told I would have to drive to the store, make the appointment, and then drive back home… which I did. They made my appointment for the next Friday at 3. 

  
  

  When I got there at 3, they told me I didn’t have an appointment. I insisted I did. They asked me for my tire numbers. I told them that information was all recorded when I placed the order. They said they had no record and I would need to go out and find the tire numbers for them. I pulled out the paper where the tire order had been placed, and she got two more people involved. They told me there was no record of my order and that I didn’t have an appointment. The manager was not there.  They were trying to get me to leave when a young lady who was there when I made the appointment showed up, assured them I had made an appointment and said, “her tires are here somewhere.” 

  
  

  Twenty minutes after my appointment was scheduled, they acknowledged I had an appoint for TIRES but NOT for an oil change! So that had to be added. 

  
  

  An hour and a half later, the tires were on and the  oil was changed… and the total was $120 more than the estimate. 

  
  Any “convenience” I might have experienced shopping while my car is worked on is completely overshadowed by the fact the Walmart Auto Center cannot order affordable tires for customers from Walmart.com, they cannot provide accurate estimates and they cannot schedule appointments over the phone like every other auto service out there. They want the customer to do the ordering and scheduling. 
  
  Whoever is in charge of overseeing the Walmart Auto Centers needs to be held accountable for these ongoing issues.
• And please fix the inefficient system the remodeled stores 

  are facing of having no one to answer customer 

  service calls.

  
  

  Walmart Auto Center at the Supercenter on 

  Charlotte Pike earns 1 star out of 5 for inability 

  to provide good, clear estimates; for not being 

  able to order tires for customers from Walmart.com; for not being able to make reservations over the phone; and for an inefficient phone system that does not allow customers the ability to call the store and speak to a manager. 

   ⭐️