Foss Audio & Tint Kent — Local services in Kent

I came there for my promotion from groupon, owner ended up telling me I had to spend more money to choose my tint % (not what the groupon ad nor their website said). I ended up eating the cost, left my car and picked it up a few hours later, there were bubbles from the start that did not go away after the waiting period.

I rescheduled for a retint and gave them my flexibility by dropping my car in the morning and letting them work on it all day. 30 mins before they closed I had to call them and see if my car was ready to be picked up, owner said yes. I came to pick it up, THE CAR WAS NOT TOUCHED. The car had never been redone, confronted owner about it on the spot, said his employee messed up and he would redo it and retint my rear windshield as courtesy of the inconvenience. I scheduled another retint appointment, but wasted an entire day. Getting transportation back and forth to this place isn't exactly easy, so this is extremely frustrating.

Next day, I come to the shop and the employee that worked on my car handled the interaction. I explained the situation and what his boss had said and he was very unprofessional, walked me to the car and said that these bubbles may come back even after retinting (which is BS, just trying to make an excuse if the job ends up mediocre again after this next attempt) and lied out of his teeth and said he wouldn't be able to do the rear windshield because of the difficulty, he was trying to go behind his boss and play it off. He tried to refer me to a different Foss shop for more experienced tinters for their courtesy service, but it would be out of my own pocket (read that again, seriously?). I walk him to his own boss and asked the owner himself and the he confirmed that he was going to do my rear windshield. I leave my car in their possession for the day.

Later, I had to call them and ask again if my car was ready (always has to be before they close since they never tell you). Owner says yes, I pick it up and the rear windshield is extremely flawed, bubbles everywhere, creases everywhere, it's botched. The owner knew this and still put it out, telling me "it's rough, just bring it back in 3 weeks". I am extremely frustrated at this point, and do not want to bring my business to them anymore. Luckily I sold the car before needing to bring it back for a 4th headache. I will give 2 stars for the owners somewhat professionalism (low bar).

I have wasted so much time going back and forth with these guys it's almost criminal. I would say, if you want your car to be done right then go somewhere else, if you want your car to be redone multiple times without any guarantee of success in the next attempt, go here. It almost feels like my car is an experiment when I bring it here, for the employees to practice their skills on. It doesn't make sense to me why you would want to compensate your mistakes with even bigger mistakes to your customers. If I had unlimited time, maybe I'd be more forgiving but unfortunately it doesn't...

A few years ago, I purchased an alarm system from Foss Audio in Kent and had them install it in my 1st Mazda Miata. At the time, I thought the technician did a decent job, though after they hid the alarm unit behind the plastic underneath the steering column, I noticed it left a bulge in the cover which he claimed he couldn't prevent. The led light was installed a bit off centered and the alarm's antenna was left dangling loosely near the alarm unit, which I felt both were done quite sloppily and lazily of Tyler. It was a bit of an eyesore to see the installion defects every time I got into my car.

Fast forward 5 years later, I purchased a 2nd Miata (same generation) because my 1st Miata mentioned above had gotten totaled. I thought I would Foss another chance so I called them to get a quote to reinstall the alarm I had pulled from my 1st Miata after it was totaled. Tyler quoted me $150, so I made an appointment to have the reinstall done the following week. When I show up for my appointment, he told me they couldn’t install a used alarm system. Then quoted me $500 for an install of a brand new identical unit if I brought one in (BATE AND SWITCH!). On top of that, after the Tyler disappears for about 5 minutes in the back room, he returns to tells me I will also need to purchase a $100 chip for my alarm because my 2nd miata is a slightly newer model (but same generation). I believed him. So to save a few bucks, I went online and purchased the exact same chip he said I needed for half the price.

I few weeks later, now having trust issues with Foss, I decided to take my Miata to Stereo Centro in Renton (btw, a great audio shop). The owner tells me the chip isn't necessary because I don't have auto start. So it turns out I wasted $50. Stereo Centro only charged me $150 for the total install and he did an awesome job installing the alarm's main unit under my steering wheel column without leave a budge on the plastic cover, the antenna was installed securely and cleanly in a better location, and the LED was installed perfectly centered. I love them!

I'm glad I didn't waste $500+ at Foss Audio. I only wasted $50 on the chip I didn't need, which is not that a big deal. If Foss thinks they can get away with it, they will try to take advantage of you with unnecessary parts and shoddy workmanship.

I will never go back there again! I DON'T trust them and I DON’T recommend them. Stay away! They have given me the worse...

Update: Instead of the 3 star rating previously, I change my rating down to 1 star and take my word back about their installers "being great." They actually don't have a clue on what they're working with (or at least the installer that worked on my car didn't). After having my subwoofers installed for about a year, I noticed that my subwoofer was never performing at its full potential. Songs with low bass notes were never played, which was definitely frustrating for me since I paid a hefty amount on an actual nice subwoofer. I ended up digging through a bunch of forums online and sure enough, the installers wired my car's subwoofer wires completely wrong. I took it back during the summer of 2018 and had a rough experience with the front desk constantly blabbing about how they're more "experienced" than the people online. Nevertheless, I managed to schedule another follow up appointment and sure enough, the wires that the previous installer worked on were completely wrong just like what the internet says, and they fixed it up for me on the spot. Right after that, my subwoofer was hitting those low bass notes for the first time ever. This is my second and last time dealing with Foss Audio. Terrible front desk service and unknowledgeable installers.

Original Review: For a first time experience, it's a small audio shop that sells a bunch of Rockford fosgate and Memphis audio products. Their waiting room contains a small area with chairs and a TV you could watch while you wait for your install. I went to get a subwoofer installation and windows tint from them and it's been two weeks since the install and everything is working great so far. The installers know what they're doing and do what they do best. However, I don't want to point fingers here, but the front service desk isn't so great. They always seem like they're tired of hearing us customers and always try an easy way out. I asked the front end if they could disconnect my stock subwoofer during the install and I just got a "okay I'll tell the installers boss." Pretty sure they didn't tell the installers anything! Few hours later, I check with the installer as he presented the work done and I asked what happened to the stock subwoofer. "The stock subwoofer is still intact and working." And that's when I knew that the front end desk doesn't communicate well with their installers. Overall, the installers are great, but the front end service...