Today I had a very bad experience at Disount Hitch on the
Northwest Freeway in Houston,Texas. Let me say up front that
I had previously had a very good experience with Discount Hitch.
In 1998, I purchased a used 1996 F250 crew cab, and took it to
Discount Hitch for several upgrades. They installed a Ranch
Hand brush guard, a DrawTite Activator II brake controller,
a 5th wheel hitch, and had installed a Line-X spray in bed-
liner. They recommended the Line-X (I knew nothing about
spray in bed liners), and took care of getting it installed.
They installed the 5th wheel hitch, removed the rails, took
the truck to Line-X, had the bed liner sprayed in without the
bed rails, had the 5th wheel rails sprayed separately, and then
reinstalled the rails. Line-X removed the access plate from
the tail gate, sprayed it separately, and then reinstalled the
access plate. All in all, a very nice job, by both Line-X and
Discount Hitch. I was well pleased, and bragged about both
companies to a number of my friends and co-workers. I know for
certain of at least 3 people who went to Discount Hitch because
of my recommendation, and there were probably more.

Today, I took my new 2000 F250 into Discount Hitch for pretty
much the same treatment -- install 5th wheel hitch, DrawTite
Activator II brake controller, and spray in bed-liner. (No
brush guard this time, I think the new SuperDuties look good
without a brush guard.) I explained to the salesman exactly
what I wanted, including spraying the new 5th wheel hitch rails
separately. The salesman wrote up the ticket specifying the
DrawTite Activator, and I caught the error, making him correct
the ticket to specify the Activator II. But here is where I
made a serious mistake. I ASSUMED that Discount Hitch was
still using Line-X. Yes, I know, "Assumption is the mother
of all <expletive deleted>."

When I arrived back at 4:30 p.m. to pick up my truck, I
immediately noticed that it did NOT have a Line-X lining.
Turns out Discount Hitch is using some outfit called "Armor
Linings", which I have never heard of. The installer removed
only the cargo tie-downs, and then sprayed everything in sight.
And not very well, I might add. The lining is not of a
uniform thickness. There are obvious "puckers" in the bottom
of the bed. The material used is soft, and sticky to the touch.
The access plate on the tail gate is covered over in such a
non-uniform fashion that I cannot even tell where the bolt
heads are located.

I told the salesman (in a reasonable, polite manner) that I
was not pleased with the bedliner. I asked him why they
(Discount Hitch) were no longer using Line-X. He replied,
"I wish to G*d we could still use Line-X." When I asked why
they couldn't, he did not reply. I then checked the brake
controller, and noticed that it was the Activator, not the
Activator II which I had specifically asked for. I also
noted that they had charged me for the Activator II. When
I brought this mistake to the attention of the salesman, he
apologized and said he would get it taken care of. Two hours
and 5 minutes later, the truck was "ready" again. (Yeah, I
know what you are thinking -- two hours and five minutes
to swap out an electronic brake controller?) This time when
I went to leave, I discovered that I was missing the 5th wheel
hitch. The rails were in the bed, but the hitch was missing.
The salesman apologized again, the hitch was found and
installed, and I finally left. I was a good two miles down
the road before I realized that everytime I shifted into 1st
gear, I was banging the heck out of the brake controller.
Reverse is just about impossible. I guess tomorrow I will go
out and re-install the brake controller.

Yes, I know that I bear a great deal of the responsiblity for
the bed liner fiasco. I am old enough, and experienced enough,
to know better than to "assume" anything. But Discount Hitch
certainly deserves some blame as well. If they know (and they
certainly do know) that Armor Linings is doing a poor job, why
did they send my new $30,000 truck there and let them make such
a mess out of my bed? Why did they install the wrong controller
(and charge me the higher price for the controller I had
specifically requested)? Why did they misplace my hitch? Why
did they install the brake controller so that the shifter bangs
into it every time I reach for 1st or Reverse?

Some obvious lessons to be learned here:

1) Never ASSUME anything

2) Do not take your truck to Discount Hitch

3) If someone offers to sell you an Armor Lining, punch him in
the nose.