so earmark is a reputable chain in dallas having a long history of installing. i found them because i needed a tint that was high quality with a nationwide warranty. my friend suggested formula one tint, which led me to earmark in plano texas because they were the only local dealer

i called and received an enthusiastic response and good quote.

so i went to my appointment this morning. i was greeted and treated well being given access to the DVD preview room wtih recaro seats & surround sound, and a selection of DVD's. good service, i thought.

uh ok

halfway through my wait (i was there for a few hours, today is an off day), i hear a lot of bass. im trying to make my self less of an ******* and im attempting the whole "nice guy" thing, so i give the guys the benefit of the doubt and i stay in my seat to enjoy the DVD. i could have very easily ventured into the bay to just take a peek, but then again they install audio for a living (duh lol)

hour or so later my truck is done. the tint looks good, albiet a bit light but im tired of being pulled over at the drop of a hat. i thank the salesman nick for his service and the DVDs. after walking outside, i notice 1) my CD player faceplate is mounted; i had CLEARLY taken it off before i had gotten service, i ALWAYS do. 2) my rearview mirror was also angled all the way down, as it is when my stereo is played very loudly causing it to resonate. at this point im very suspicious. 3) the last straw was when i turned my cd player on and it was set to a rap station. i NEVER listen to the radio . .my presets are still the ones that came from alpine's factory.

so i storm into the shop and i ask nick the salesman WHY #1 my faceplate was up, and WHY #2 my mirror was tilted. i omitted #3 to see how honest of a response id get. no question to #2, he didnt tackle it; however he TRIED quite UNDERHANDEDLY to convince me ford had some lock feature where if the stereo wasnt on the truck wouldnt lock. i told him very funny, a friend and i installed my viper 791XV, which the salesman has also seen, and nowhere in the viper manual does it say **** about a radio.

i then ask for a manager, to which he gives me at least three excuses then walks to the back. to my surprise, he sends out a tech. i go on and interview some employees. the consensus is that NICK the salesman played wtih my radio behind my back WITHOUT my permission. the ramifications? my equipment could be damanged because it was played QUITE loud (drowned out the DVD room i was in) BEHIND MY BACK, WITHOUT my permission and or personal operation.

at this point i go see the manager. nick comes out and asks me if i can be helped, he looks rather preturbed. to his repeated attempts to service me i reply "no thank you, im waiting for the manager". i have never had to be fakely polite so many times within sixty god damn seconds in my life.

the manager, frank, comes out. nick, somehow, decides he has enough ***** to stand right beside his manager. he probably thinks i am some stupid *** who would be rather intimidated talking about him in front of his face. i call his bluff and tell the manager EVERYTHING in front of him. eventually nick cracks under pressure and admits to his manager. now out of the crowd of three we have two unhappy individuals. additionally, i told the manager that nick's actions would leave me no choice but to hold earmark responsible for any failure of my equipment due to his salesman's actions. frank reassured me earmark would take care of me in the event of any problems. wow, i didnt even have to threaten for legal action, better business bureau, chamber of commerce, or anybody! i shake his hand, tlel him hes a good manager, and thank him for his business.

i am very satisfied with how the manager handled my situation, and i am impressed by the honesty of the bay crew.

i hope for mr. nick's sake, my stereo keeps functioning the same way it did before i dropped my keys off; or else ill have to amend this post.

so, grab a beer and let your friends know

 

Hey man, no double posting!

 

Hi.

Simple.

Next time, remove the temptation ... take your faceplate with you.

Cheers
Grog

 

Now what kind of self righteous indignation would be possible if he were to take personal responsibility and prevent some lowlife scumsucking salesman from listening to the Holy Stereo? It's gotta be somebody else's fault, not his!!! Just because I handed the keys to a $30,000 vehicle to someone who works with car audio all day long without telling him not to mess with it, and then that jerk salesman has the ***** to listen to my radio???

Personally, I don't care if they turn the stereo up all the way. I will ask them not to, but I can make sure they don't.

. . . because the stereo is hooked into the secondary valet switch for the alarm. No power to turn on the amplifiers makes it very difficult for someone to listen to the stereo.

 

soo . . your telling me its self aggrandization when someone, without my permission, manipulates my personal property? im wrong when without my permission my stereo is turned loud enough to damage two thousand dollars of gear? that its my problem i didnt remove all means to my equipment?

its not my responsibility to limit all access to all my personal goods in my vehicle. within reasonable bounds, that is called professional courtesy. in my mind, my faceplate was removed and placed into my console, i believe that is ENOUGH of a point. would it be ok for me to bang your wife, drink your beer, and watch your TV if i were contracted for example to shampoo your carpet or install your garage door. answer that for me because that is the exact same principle

why once again, why did i not 1) take the faceplate with me or 2) tell them not to touch my stereo? because that is professional courtesy. i am there to receive my tint, not to offend the salesman outright by assuming he would touch my property without my permission, and THEN lying outright

if you have a problem with that please let me know to my face, im all ears

 

I think you're out of line. I'd tell you to your face, but if you're all ears, you must be one funny looking sumbitch and I probably couldn't do it with a straight face!

I think OnBelay is trying to say this:

Nowhere does it say you told him not to mess with it.

You "assumed" his level of professionalism. You "assumed" he wouldn't jack with it.

You "assume" he turned it up that loud. I don't see anywhere that you have proof he even did anything more than put the faceplate on. If a $2,000 stereo was turned up loud enough to harm it, I can think of two possibilites:

1. You should have heard it-after all, a $2,000 system better be awful g-d-loud!
2. It's a **** poor system if you spent $2,000 and it can be harmed by one shot of loud playing. If it was designed well, gains on the amps were properly set, and the components were properly matched, an hour of full volume playing wouldn't harm it

So, I "assume" you are looking to be a victim instead of standing up and being responsible for your lack of care by not making the system unplayable.

By the way, the tough guy attitude is pretty unconvincing on the internet. John Wayne impressions and saying "if you have a problem I'm all ears" comes out as "Say one thing more and I'll kick your a$$" and doesn't impress anyone who is smart enough to realize you aren't in the same room.

Don't take it personally, you're expressing your opinion, and someone else is giving their's right back to you. You "assume" everyone will stop shopping at Earmark or wherever, and I "assume" that I would not have given the salesman the chance to jack with my stereo. OnBelay has a great idea by putting the amps on the valet lead of the security system-I have a buddy who just pulls the fuse to the amps at the battery when his truck goes in the shop.

So, like the old commercial said: "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"-just go ahead and hate me for having a different opinion. See if I care.

 

naw not hating you, but ill debate you about it

so you believe me taking the faceplate off and storing it in my console is not enough to parlay the message of "dont touch my radio?" again i went to get tint done . . clearly nothing stereo related. same comparison i wrote of going to someones house and drinking their beer / using their tv when i am only contracted to do some garage/carpet work.

rendering my system unplayable is not my responsibility because as a part of professional courtesy, you dont touch whats not yours. by promoting that as someone's responsibility, you are making every customer a victim and characterizing EVERY installer and salesman as an evil hearted person. hat would make you the party guilty of injustices.

my point is i took no safeguards (besides the OBVIOUS removing the faceplate) because i am a fair person. i approach all strangers fairly, i give everyone a chance and i am polite, up until the point i am slighted. i am not one to go up to a salesman and tell him "you are an evil *** hole who is sure to do horrible things to my personal property without my supervision, so im going to ask you not to do so." having that attitude or even vocalizing it would make you flat out rude.

i give strangers liek that salesman the benefit of the doubt because that is professionalism, i had no prior reason to do otherwise. if you are a decent human being, you wouldnt be prodding whats not yours.

and no, i am not e-tough guying OnBelay, my last name is not Wayne and im rather interested in what he has to say because this is a forum and forums involve exchanges of ideas.

lastly, lets go back to your assumptions

1) you assume i did not hear him turn it up loud. i heard it from a specially designed media room, quite a distance away from the install bay. it was loud enough to drown out the DVD i was playing at the moment, so please re read my initial post before you assume on that point

2) you say improper playing will not damage a high quality system? i cant say i agree with your statement in the last. there is always the chance of clipping a setup under improper usage no matter how well you have it set.

3) you assume i am assuming people will cease shopping at earmark? if that were my intent i would not have applauded the manager, nor the bay crew.

 

I'm with socal858 here... it is store policy at ANY custimization shop (whether they install stereos, tints, or lifts) NOT to touch the customer's stereo UNLESS it is part of the requested service.

There was absolutely NO reason for the guy to play his stereo. If he wanted to hear it he could have nicely asked for a demo.

another way to look at it? When you drop your truck off at a dealer for service do you tell the service writer that you don't want them to joy ride your truck, take naps in it, or do doughnuts in the back parking lot? No. you don't have to...because they know they aren't supposed to touch anything or do anything that isn't specifically related to the job at hand.

 

I'm with you Dizzle...If Nick the salesman wanted to take your system for a test drive and do a dB drive by...he should of asked first!!!! Plain and simple!!!! I would be a little perturbed if someone had the audacity to mess with my system w/o asking. I don't have my gain set too hot on my 9.0 and a slight touch of the gain setting on my VFD and it could be disastorous...especially, playing rap (which I never play on my system).

But, I do like the amp remote turn on connected to the valet mode of the alarm. I'm getting my new alarm/remote starter soon and will definitely look into that.

 

Socal858

Sorry to cut in but did you get my thanks for your audio info help emails?

 

naw drew, i dont think email on ftw is working at all . . if you need anything please dont hesitate to PM or email through this website ( i guess it would work better? )

 

Sorry to resurect an old thread, but I stumbled on this in a search and wanted to update you on Earmark and the salesman, Nick.

Nick (big surprise) is no longer at Earmark. He was terminated and now works for one of the competitors, where he is a “better fit”. So, for the record, there is no longer any connection whatsoever between Earmark and Mr. Nick.

Frank, the “good manager”, still manages the store.

 

And what do you do there at earmark Susan B?

sorry its late and I just couldn't help it.

 

I try to keep up! It's a busy place.

 

I figured Susan b was form there Oh well im glad to hear they do the right thing when it comes to quality service.