Sound Decisions Remote Start Experts — Local services in Mount Pleasant

I wouldn’t bring a car to Sound Decisions to have it vacuumed. This was one of the worst customer service experiences of my life. Owner was rude, dismissive, and accusatory. Ordered the wrong parts and gave lip-service to making the install right but never honored it. They introduced a 1kHz buzz in the sound system that I had to call to their attention and required me to make 5 trips back to their shop to fix. They never did fix it and quit on the job. They even scabbed in mismatched parts in an attempt to disguise the problem.

I recently took my 2017 Colorado to Sound Decisions and owner Chris Hilbert for a new amp and speakers, front and back. My truck had all stock OEM equipment so the install should have been pretty simple for a company with experience. I decided to take my truck to this shop because they had a good Google rating. But upon closer inspection, their rating is mostly based on remote starters and other low-tech installs. Not high-end audio. Don’t bring your vehicle to Sound Decisions for a car stereo installation.

The process started badly when they ordered and installed the wrong set of speakers for the fronts and blamed Harman/Infinity for their product numbering system. They ordered speakers made for Harley Davidson motorcycles. This should have been a clue to them to investigate more closely before proceeding. They emailed me that they’d make this right. They never did.

From the first day, the audio had a 1 kHz buzz that they introduced and couldn’t fix. I’d take the truck back in over and over again and they’d say it was fixed, only to find, as soon as I drove the truck off the lot, there still, was the annoying buzz. The owner even called me a liar in the middle of his store in front of other customers one trip when I told him that they still hadn’t solved the problem. I said “The noise is still there.” “It is not!” Chris yelled in the middle of the store. His installer confirmed it was indeed still making the buzz. Yet they insisted the problem was solved when they called and said it was ready for pickup. It wasn't.

They even went so far as to say the problem was with my truck. But at no point did they ever hint at an apology for wasting my time bringing my truck back again and again ti fix the same problem. Worst of all, they couldn’t hear it until I pointed it out to them and they’d acknowledge it. I asked their installer “Would you accept this job if it were your car?” He said no.

Fast-forward 5 trips back and forth to their shop, the owner called me saying they were giving up and said they couldn’t figure out the buzz and were going to abandon the job, replace all the original GM factory gear, walk away, and issue me a refund. They didn’t even ask my opinion or offer suggested remedies. They just quit - saying they couldn’t isolate the problem they originally didn’t hear nor acknowledge existed. What a waste of time. 10 hours over the course of a week only to end up right back where I started.

All car audio installers aren’t created equally. A pro knows what to listen for. A pro knows how to diagnose problems. A pro works to get a job right. Not at Sound Decisions. They’ll waste your time, not take responsibility for their workmanship, blame you for their mistakes, take shortcuts, and leave you hanging if they run into a problem.

UPDATE 4-24-23: One week ago my truck started developing serious electrical problems. Took it to the dealership and they said several ground wires were cut and became dislodged. Half my systems were not connected to proper ground - the horn went out, lights didn't work, and I started getting warning messages on my console. $500 repair. Worked perfectly for 81,000 miles but suddenly goes out after this debacle at Sound Decisions. I can't prove this was Sound Decisions handiwork but sure seems like the result of hack workmanship done by a shop chasing an electrical problem they couldn't solve.

Stay far away...

Let me tell you this.. I WOULD NEVER AGAIN ALLOW ANYONE TO TOUCH MY CAR EXCEPT THIS SHOP . Chris the owner and his staff take huge pride to make the work they do RIGHT instead of taking cheaper routes , cutting corners and making more profit.. I took my BRAND NEW CHALLENGER HELLCAT with 400 miles on it to Stereo One on 27th.. the photo attached is what Chris found behind the sub they put in by folding down the back seat.. COMPLETE MESS !! and easy fire hazard... furthermore they put in an expensive Audison BIT TEN Processor and we found they never set ANY LEVELS to it.. All were set at zero same as right out of the box so it was doing NOTHING.. the feedback was so loud I couldn't take it anymore and took it to Sound Decisions who has worked on many of my cars and they have ALL PICTURES of ALL PROBLEMS created by Stereo One on 27th St. and full detail.. the sub box was a disaster.. the led lighting fell down all the time.. the processor was mounted crooked .. and the wiring Stereo One used was RCA cables.. again have pictures of everything.. DONT TRUST ANYONE EXCEPT CHRIS AND HIS TEAM AT SOUND DECISIONS .. My Hellcat stereo was basically RUINED and he has started fixing it all but will take a few visits because as I said my 70,000 + Hellcat was done so poorly it was embarrassing .. I learned a lot through this.. I did not pick Stereo One, the dealership did I was buying a car from.. WHAT A MISTAKE and they will hear from an attorney because I again have all pictures and documents from Sound Decisions and just look at the ONE picture I posted.. WOULD YOU WANT ALL THESE LOOSE WIRES laying in a mess behind your back seats? NO WAY and they cannot fight it because of the documentation and pictures provided .. Trust me I am careful with reviews and everything is FACTUAL and proven.. Go to a professional like this place that actually cares about the work they do and how it acts on the road.. Again I LEARNED ON THIS ONE THE HARD WAY but Chris and Audison have been great at trying to make this right.. Thanks again.. sorry for the long review but this community deserves to know how great Sound Decisions is and how bad others can...

My family has been doing business with this company for decades. As soon as I was old enough to drive and started my own voyage in the car stereo industry, I have been hooked to only dealing with Chris and the Sound Decisions team. From as early as I can remember, it has always been a more of a family type of environment walking through their front door. If you want to learn about car stereos systems and have a knowledgeable understanding of what key points to focus on, Chris has the best advice one ask for. As a teenager, the coolest thing we were all going for was the amount of rattle your trunk lid would make. We used to think the more power, and bigger speakers would make for the best bang out there. Chris politely schooled me and told me that he could stick some loose change in the trunk lid of my old 85 Cutlass and get more rattle than anybody if that's what I wanted. Instead, he talk me about sound quality, and even as a shallow pocketed teenager, he always worked with me to get me the best sound my pockets could afford.

15 years and many stereos later, he is still the only guy that I go to when it comes to anything 12 volt related. Aside from the sound quality, he can build some very sweet custom enclosures, such as cutting the back wall out of a crew cab pickup I owned and building an enormous custom designed (and factory looking) subwoofer box in the bed of my truck.

If you plan on having any work done on a vehicle, whether it being a stereo, back up camera, remote start, or even window tint, Sound Decisions is the way to go. Give them a shot, and you will never want to deal with anybody else again.

Like I said, I will only deal with them, and I live...