late October, I contacted Speaker Easy because I wanted a basic, affordable solution for Bluetooth…read moreor Apple CarPlay in my 2010 Range Rover. I told them upfront that the vehicle was inexpensive and I did not want to spend a lot of money on a stereo.
Jacob at Speaker Easy told me he had a simple, effective, and reasonably priced solution. He referred me to a company called Emerald Integrations, identified the exact part needed, texted me the link, and told me to order it. Before buying anything, I even sent him a picture of the part to confirm I was ordering the correct item. He confirmed it.
The part ended up being back-ordered, so it took about two weeks to arrive. Once it came in, I brought the vehicle to him expecting a straightforward plug-and-play install--because that's exactly how it was described to me.
A few hours into the job, he called and said, "This is a lot of work, I have to completely take apart your dash." If the job required that level of teardown, I should have been told before anything was touched. He sent me pictures showing my entire dash completely disassembled. At that point, I had no real choice but to let him continue since the vehicle was already torn apart.
I asked for a ballpark estimate. He told me they "usually charge $750 for the day." I was shocked--this was never mentioned upfront, especially after I had clearly said I didn't want to spend much. But the dash was already apart, so again, I had no options.
Shortly after, he called again: the unit would not work, and he had no solution other than advising me to call Emerald Integrations. Emerald responded that they did not have a fix and recommended closing everything up so they could issue me a refund for the part.
Jacob then told me he had to return my vehicle that same day because he was booked the next day, meaning he wasn't going to fix the issue regardless--he'd just reassemble the dash and hand the car back.
When I arrived to pick up the vehicle, he informed me he would "discount" the charge from $750 down to $600. I was stunned. I ordered the exact part he told me to order, he confirmed it, he tore my entire dash apart, could not complete the job, provided no solution, and then charged me $600 anyway.
I told him clearly this was not fair and asked him to reconsider. He refused and stated he would not issue any refund.
In my opinion, this situation falls under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and if I am not refunded, I will be seeking legal counsel to address the damages.
I've been in this industry for decades and I have never dealt with a situation handled this poorly. Maybe he does quality work--I can't say, because he never completed the job. But charging someone hundreds of dollars after recommending the wrong part, confirming it, disassembling the entire dash, failing to install it, and giving no upfront estimate is, in my experience, unethical and unacceptable.
If you choose to use Speaker Easy, I strongly recommend you get every detail in writing--the cost, the scope of work, what happens if the part doesn't fit, and what you are expected to pay. Otherwise, you may end up in the same situation I did.
There are many honest and transparent shops out there. Based on my experience, this was not one of them.
