DO NOT SHOP HERE
Here is why I give this company a 1 star:
I bought a top of the line Interstate AGM battery for 2008 Chevy Avalanche AT $279. Drove away and went shopping around 2pm. At 3pm returned and the truck wouldn't start. Called AAA to get a jump, they tested battery and said it was "defective" - not low, "defective". I thought they just wanted to sell me a battery. Drove away and ran truck for 1 hour, turned off, 15 minutes later...dead. No click, no lights, no nothing!!! Called AAA again, got 2nd jump. Different AAA service person tested battery, said battery was "defective". I called Interstate store and they said it couldn't be the battery, it was the alternator or a short. AAA guy completely disagreed.
It's now around 4:30pm, wife is really getting pissed. Drove to another store, let engine run while shopping, came back around 5:15pm, guess what...dead again. Now, since young sales person at Interstate store was adamant about it not being the battery and, hard for me to imagine a brand new Interstate battery would be defective (I assumed they would have been tested at factory), I called a mobile mechanic who charged me $60 to come and check it out, $60 1 hour labor, and $150 for a new AutoZone alternator. I thought this would take care of the problem. Went to the last store to shop and once again, dead. I called AAA for the 3rd time to jump me over the last 5 hours. They tested the battery as well and said it was "defective"...3 different techs, same conclusion.
I drove hope and by now it was 10:30pm. In the morning, I called AAA the 4th time to have the truck towed to the nearest Chevy dealership. They started diagnosing the problem and told me they couldn't complete the tests because the battery was....drum roll...."defective".
I called the Interstate store to see if they could drive over a new battery as it was clear they sold me a bad battery. They said they could not. I later got a call from an owner who said she would drive over to pick up the original battery, but they'd have to run tests (I've seen that trick before) but, they couldn't bring me a new battery unless I paid for it and then hoped I got my money back after they tested it.
At this time, I had no choice but to have the dealership put in a new Delco battery in order to finish testing and get my truck back on the road. They put the new battery in and tested. There was only a 1.2 amp draw coming from my trailer brake controller. They disconnected it and there was only a 35 mil amp draw...virtually nothing.
So, I ended up buying an alternator I didn't need, a battery brand and type I didn't want and a total of 12 hours of total time diverted from work over this company's selling me a defective product.
Additionally, the traffic and turn into the parking area for this shop is dangerous and not worth the risk to shop there. If I hadn't been in a big, lifted 4x4 truck, I would surely have been hit by reckless drivers.
The corporate franchise office contacted me to find out what happened, yet they made no offer to compensate me for the time and expense I paid for their screw up.
If you shop at this store, you are a fool. If you buy a franchise from this company you are an even bigger fool. read more
