The Car Stereo Company

 

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Marc S.

San Francisco, CA

Hmmmm, I went here today before reading the reviews as I was on my way to Trader Joe's.  The little dude in the store quoted me what I assumed was a rip off price.  Then when I said I needed to think about it and would get back to him he told me that the price was, of course, negotiable.  Anyone have a good recommendation for me?

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Joseph B.

San Mateo, CA

Only reason why I'm here is for the same reason as Jessica H.  Never go here.  A business that doesn't intend to leave the customer satisfied should never be in business.

http://consumerist.com...

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dank ..

Fremont, CA

I hate to give a bad review, but I went in to upgrade my stereo and they looked at me as if I was an alien.

I tried to get some stereo help and some quotes but these are guys were shady.  Ive done stereo work on my Supra and Bmws and they took me for an idiot, trying to get me to buy and install overpriced crap I didnt need.

I would absolutely stay away, unless you enjoy being talked down upon and ripped off.

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D H.

Santa Clara, CA

These guys had to work on my car three times to finally get my Pioneer DEH2000MP to work with my iPod...and they had supposedly done this install "tons of times". Not to mention crappy customer service every time I brought my car back. DON'T GO HERE.

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Jessica H.

San Carlos, CA

I'll tell you right now, that I've never been to the place, but I just read this story on the Consumerist called "Car Stereo Company Tries To Install GPS, Causes $12,398.54 Damage To Your Car"

http://consumerist.com...

So, it's safe to say I won't be going to this place with my car.

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B C.

Palo Alto, CA

I took my recently purchased BMW M3 to The Car Stereo Company in Los Altos, CA to have a stereo, speaker set, and GPS system installed.  When I got my car back, I noticed that there was a problem with the climate control and upon further investigation and meetings with BMW professionals and car audio professionals, it was revealed that several parts of the climate control system and other parts in the interior of the car were damaged or cut.  Some of these damages have contributed to the malfunction of my climate control system, and the rest of them have simply depreciated the value of my car.  The final repair bill came to $12,410.02, according to Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara, CA.  The Car Stereo Company did not inform me of any difficulties or problems they encountered during the process of performing the installation.  They also told me beforehand that they had previously performed this specific installation on another BMW similar to mine and assured me of their experience working with BMW cars.  

I took my car back to them subsequent times to allow them the opportunity to fix the problem, but it appeared that they just didn't have the skill and wouldn't admit it.  The salesman was getting annoyed with my frequent visits. They had spent a few hours trying to repair my car unsuccessfully, and I felt that they were acting as if they were now doing me favors by accommodating my requests to fix what they broke.  In fact, a couple times when I brought the car to them to mend a problem that they caused, I got the car back with another item broken.  For example, one time they tried to fix the hot air problem in the car and when I got the car back, the LCD on the climate control module was broken.  When I brought this to the installer's attention, he had the audacity to accuse me of damaging it myself.  I finally gave up on the whole idea of working with them and asked for a refund so that I could use that money to put the car back to stock condition.

I eventually had to take them to small claims court.  The judge said he was about to award me money for damages, but later changed his mind.  I lost because I entered into an oral contract with The Car Stereo Company, and most oral contracts are binding in California.  The contract that the judge said we agreed to was that I would pay for the damages on my own if The Car Stereo Company issued me a refund.  I had no idea at the time I asked for a refund that I was entering into any sort of contract.  I explained to the judge that I also didn't know what the cost of the repairs would be at the time of this conversation and that if I knew how expensive they were, I would never have even considered footing the bill for the damages.  However, as many people know the law doesn't always follow common logic, so that didn't matter.  What also didn't help my case was that two of their witnesses (an installer and a salesman) said that I said to them, "I release you of liability of the damages to my car."  This crushed my case, and I told the judge that I absolutely did not ever say that to them.  Honestly, who speaks in those terms anyway?  The judge said he believed them and said their argument was more credible since there were two of them supporting their side of the story and I was the only one supporting my side.  I explained that the witnesses were biased because they worked for the owner of the stereo shop.  The judge's response was, "They don't look biased to me."  I couldn't believe it.  So, needless to say I was dumbfounded by this whole debacle.  That's where the story leaves off.  I couldn't believe they got away with it.

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