Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  My partner had recently received a key fob from this company on October 13, 2024 for his Dodge SUV. All of the buttons on this key fab did not work at the time he received it, but my boyfriend didnt want to bother them anymore because the fob was still usable to start his car (push start button). A month and some change later, (Tuesday, November 19, 2024), his key fob completely stopped working. It would not allow for him to start his car. He called this same business back and they insisted that because it was past the 30 day warranty he must pay for a brand new one. Desperate and in need of a way to start his vehicle, he said ok.The company came out, did not even bother to look at his old key fob to see if maybe it just needed to be reprogrammed, and told him that if he hooks his programming machine up to his car, he will be paying $225 for a new key fob.The employee insisted this was the only option, considering his warranty period was up. Fast forward, the man creates the new fob and my boyfriend pays for it. No discount because the first failed - nothing! He has now paid $225 x2 ($550) for this ************ is the catch; as soon as they programmed the new key fob to his car, the old one magically began working again - meaning it did just need to be reprogrammed after all. My boyfriend called the company to inform them of this error and they claimed they could not do anything about it because the new key had already been programmed to his car. I did some investigating and this company is notorious for fraudulent activity. I have screenshots of reviews from their ****** website AND to make things worse for them, i called pretending to be a new customer to make sure they were being honest about their 30 day warranty. They informed me that their warranty is good for 6 months (SIX MONTHS) and my boyfriend and i got them saying this on video, showing their phone ********** that they have our money, they dont care what happens. No refunds

• Initial Complaint

  06/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I lost my spare Jeep key and called Milwaukee Automotive Locksmith to get a replacement in November 2022. They came out and replaced the key. Within 2 months it started to set off the alarm on the car with any key pressed. I called and was told to replace the battery. I replaced it and it still malfunctioned.I called again in April and the guy came out and yelled at me and told me I had a bad battery and not to buy those again. He replaced it with his own battery.A few weeks later the alarm started going off if I even got near the car. I had to share the 1 good key I had with my daughter. I then was in and out of the hospital for a month.I called to let them know the key still was malfunctioning and was told they only had a 6 month warranty and he would not be fixing, replacing my key or refunding any money. I am disabled and this cost me $175.

  Customer response

  06/04/2023

  The last contact with the business was on 6/3/23, when they refused to fix the key,  replace it or refund my money

  Business response

  06/16/2023

  The customer called us on November, and we made the key. Everything was working until she called again in April and we came free of charge to fix her key. The tech replaced the customer battery for free even though it's not in our policy, and as we explained the customer when we were there, We are not responsible for batteries since we don't know how long the fob has been sitting in the warehouse at our supplier. We also explained and told the customer in April that it's a good thing she called before the warranty expired. If the customer battery died in January, I don't see a reason to call ** back only in ****** *** if it didn't work after 2 weeks in ****** I don't see a reason to wait for the middle of June to call ** back and complain. The customer was rude and at this point we don't see any reason why we should come back there again definitely not refund a job that was done and a key that served her for all this time.

   

  Customer response

  06/17/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  

  I did not call because the battery died. The key malfunctioned. The locksmith is the one that told me the battery died and to replace it and that should fix it. After replacing the battery, the key still malfunctioned so of course I called again because I wanted the key replaced. The locksmith YELLED at me that I shouldn't use the batteries I got and then he replaced it with his own battery. The key STILL kept malfunctioning - this is NOT a battery issue or else it would have been fixed with one of the replacement batteries that were put into the phone. No one ever mentioned a warranty to me and there is no warranty policy listed on the receipt that I supplied. They sold me a faulty key fob, then refused to replace it even after 2 new batteries were inserted. I've had key fobs for years without replacing batteries, so to have this key fob only work for a couple of months is proof that this was a faulty key fob and the locksmith kept trying to just replace the battery until he knew the warranty was expired so that he wouldn't have to replace it with a working one. He was very rude on the phone and in person. I am elderly and disabled and he thought he could take advantage of me and rip me off. I can't even go near my car with this key because it sets off the alarm even if you don't press a button and it won't unlock the car.

  signed

   ***********************

  Business response

  06/19/2023

  The original transaction was on November. 

  We clearly stated 6 months warranty.  And repeated that when we came, free of charge in April. 

  We will not come back again. The customer was the one yelling at ** and not the opposite. 

  We will NOT refund the customer after 8 months and servicing her key fob for free once. 

  Customer response

  06/20/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  Again, a warranty was never mentioned and was not printed on their receipt which I provided as proof. I did not yell, I was yelled at because they said the battery I replaced their original battery with was faulty and they replaced it with their own battery and the key fob again malfunctioned. I was unable to use the fob for several weeks at a time in between the battery being replaced because it would set my car alarm off and not unlock the doors. My daughter and I had to share one original key that was six years old and never had the battery replaced! The original key fobs that I had with the Jeep worked for 6 years without replacing the battery. I think it is proof that the key fob was faulty after failing with three different batteries. They should have just re-programmed the key when I called the first time instead of telling me to replace the battery, that being the case, when I called after replacing the battery to tell them it was still malfunctioning, it should have definitely been re-programmed instead of yelling at me about a battery and replacing the battery a third time. 

  They were rude, unprofessional and obviously took advantage of me because I am an older woman and disabled. They have also lied about everything they said. The key did not work for 8 months. I couldn't even carry the key on me because it would set off my car alarm. The key worked for 2 months before malfunctioning. After the battery was replaced the first time, it worked for another couple of months before malfunctioning again, this is when I called and was yelled at and they replaced the battery again, it only worked for a couple of weeks, I was then in and out of the hospital and called when I was able, my daughter was using the car with the original spare car key during this time and we would share it in between the duplicate key I had made by the locksmith was malfunctioning, that's when they told me there was a warranty and they wouldn't be replacing the key or refunding my money. I never yelled at them, I just told them I was going to file complaints and bad reviews, which is what I did. They obviously don't care. I would like a refund for this malfunctioning key fob they sold me.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩