Why the auto industry and all of its suppliers and ancillary businesses can go straight to hell

A couple of posts back, I mentioned some trouble I've been having with the new car stereo.  The saga took such an absurd twist last night that I have to start over, from the beginning.

I bought my first after-market car stereo from Crutchfield while I was in college in Charlottesville.  Getting that cathedral radio into my Packard was no small feat, I tell you what.  Anyway, I loved doing business with them.  So when Mrs. G and I were talking about upgrading the stereo in our car, I immediately thought of Crutchfield.  I actually called them months ago to ask a bunch of questions, and the guy was so helpful that I got his name and number, so that when I was finally ready to buy, he would get credit for the sale.  I bought new speakers and a stereo that is satellite-ready and came with an adapter to connect an iPod.  The iPod adapter is a cable that plugs in to the back of the stereo.  Remember that.

Because Crutchfield is based in Charlottesville, they can't do installations in other parts of the country.  Instead, they sell these things called InstallerCards, which are prepaid cards that one can take to a participating installer in one's neighborhood.

So far, so good.  I took the car to the installer, and when I got it back, I discovered that they hadn't plugged in the iPod cable.  And then the shop closed, either for the holidays or for good, I still haven't figured out which.

I also learned that I hadn't bought all the equipment necessary for satellite radio.  So I ordered that from Crutchfield, got another InstallerCard, and made another appointment, this time with a different installer, because the first place was closed.  That appointment was yesterday.  I asked the guys when I dropped the car off if they could plug in the iPod cable for me while they had the radio popped out anyway.  Sure, no problem!

About an hour later, I got a call - "there is no iPod cable, and you said it was already plugged in, anyway."  No, there is a cable; it's in a case about the size of a glasses case in the box of equipment I left with you.

When I picked up the car last night, the guy told me (again) that he looked everywhere and there was no iPod cable anywhere in the box.  So I found it and showed it to him.  "That wasn't there before, and anyway, I didn't look in that case because that's not a cable case."

OK, clearly they never had any intention of doing this for me.  I would have been annoyed if they had just said no, but this pretending to want to do it and finding ridiculous excuses to make it seem like my fault they couldn't was just maddening.  So I said thank you very much and headed for home.

On the way home, I tried to call the first installer.  Busy signal.  I tried a few more times and got a busy signal each time.  So I drove by the shop.  Locked up tight.

At home, I called the InstallerCard people (InstallNet, if you ever come across them in the future).  I explained my problem - I bought a stereo with an iPod adapter that no one will connect.  And here's what the InstallNet operator told me:

"The installer was right to refuse to do that.  Your iPod adapter isn't covered by your InstallCard."

And then my head exploded into a million furious stars.

What?  The adapter is part of the stereo!  What do you mean it isn't covered?

"No, your InstallCard is only good for an in-dash mounting, and that's what they did."

But it would have taken two seconds to plug the cable in!

"InstallCards are very strict about the kind of work that can be done.  Installers aren't allowed to do any work that isn't on the card."

At that point, I had a vision of some magical card that can unfold and robot up like a Transformer, shooting death rays at any installer who dares to defy it.

So you're saying I'm on my own for this?

"Correct."

So then I called Crutchfield to complain about InstallNet.  I explained the situation, got put on hold, and then received this explanation:

"Yes, the InstallCard does not cover your iPod adapter, even though it's a simple thing to do.  All we can do is have one of our liaisons reach out to InstallNet to see if they will find someone to install the cable as a favor, for a nominal fee, as a customer satisfaction item."

The guy from Crutchfield promised to call back tonight with an update.

Meanwhile, I went through superpages.com and called every car stereo installer in my vicinity.  For 6 out of 7 of the places, the numbers were out of service, and I left a message at the other one.

Finally, I did what I should have done in the first place and called a friend's father, who owns a garage, and asked him to recommend someone.  I have an appointment Saturday.

In the middle of writing this post, the dude from Crutchfield called back.  According to him, InstallNet said that they had fulfilled their obligation, and they were not willing to do anything more.

Why am I not surprised?  So now I want to know why Crutchfield sold me a car stereo with an iPod adapter and an InstallCard that doesn't cover installing it.

"I don't have an answer for that."

Well, I would like an answer from someone.

On hold...

"My supervisor is busy helping other customers right now, but I can offer this:  we'll split the cost of installing the cable, up to $30."  I mail them the receipt, they credit my VISA card for half the amount - up to $30.

Meanwhile, I bought a lifetime subscription to Sirius/XM!  From what I read, it should be good for another three months.