Blain's Farm & Fleet - La Crosse, Wisconsin — Local services in Onalaska

I brought my car in for an overall inspection on September 27th 28th knowing I was going to get work done and simply wanted a diagnosis of my vehicle so I can know exactly what needed to be addressed. I WAS NOT CHARGED FOR THIS INSPECTION. I was going to pay and was told. WE DONT CHARGE FOR LOOKING AT IT but if we decide to do work I would be charged and we’d go from there! I thought to myself “great” I told the service desk I would be back within a week or so. He was shorter, younger had glasses and provided excellent service! The blains farm and fleet service I’m used to. The only reason I like farm and fleet is because it’s where my grandfather used to take our vehicles before he passed. But that is beside the point. I come back a week later to get work done. They estimated 1600 worth of work that needed to be done. So I came back with 800 dollars to fix half of what needed to be taken care of and did so with no problem! I even told the technician I had brought a few of my own parts and he said that was perfectly fine! It was perfect for everyone! But this is where it turns, gets inconsistent murky and muddy. I realized after parking my car roughly a month later. There was a burning smell coming from my driver side brake. I realized this because a woman in passing looked at my car like It was on fire. So after looking into it I had a caliber brake line issue. it was a common brake line issue with my vehicle. So I brought it to farm and fleet to see what they would say. Having in mind that they would diagnose it for free like LITERALLY EVERY OTHER TIME IVE HAD WORK DONE THERE. But after talking with the technician he said he was going to have to charge me 15.00 dollars for the inspection. I agreed. Upon looking at my brakes I was told I would need rotors, calipers, lines, lines bled it would be another 500 dollars. So I ask already knowing the answer to my own question. What about if I bring my own parts? The new guy I’m dealing with says no “ we don’t do that we have to use OUR parts”. And our parts are good parts. I mean there good, worth the money. It sounded like a Donald trump line. After being told it was going to be 500 I declined the work because I simply couldn’t afford it. The tech said he would put everything back together and have my car waiting. This was sep 26th at 4. I went to pick my car up at 630 before they closed and my car was still in the air with no tires and nobody knew what was going on! I told them I would be back in the morning to retrieve it once it was put back together. So oct 27 this morning Im at the Onalaska location to pick up my vehicle. I bring up the fact that I was never charged before for this type of service and explained my self to the service desk worker Darin and he got the manager. I asked themanager the same questions. I come here for work often and have never been charged for such lite work. And in the most unfriendly rude tone told me things aren’t “free”.! Every time I tried to talk or get a word out he would belt over my voice and not let me speak. I told him I’ve been to this location for this exact service and more and have never been charged I was puzzled. He told me to be happy that I got the inspections that I did! I told him this doesn’t make sense that it’s inconsistent and that I feel taken advantage of and I want a copy of the customer service policies so I know what is to be expected by the company. He gave me a print out for the cost of my parts and said that he doesn’t have to give me anything...after doing research of my particular make and model of vehicle has a problem with brake hoses. So I asked to simply change my brake line. Knowing I replaced my rotars pads etc roughly 1 year ago and not my lines. I tell them. Well let’s just change the line. They reply NO it won’t be covered under warranty. They need to replace calipers and everything. I literally just bought sway bar links From eBay and had them installed by blains with no warranty my own parts...These guys aren’t so bright. I know it’s my brake line. ...

I had an alignment done on my car today at Farm and Fleet in Onalaska and they couldn't get the alignment right which is understandable given my cars age and history. It was as close as it was going to get. This is where it gets interesting. My vehicle is a Chevy Camaro and after what seemed like an eternity of a test drive I noticed the employee pulling back into the lot with the engine revved noticeably loud. He parked my car and said it was all done. I paid and got into my car to leave. My car is a manual and was left in neutral with no parking brake on, free to roll away. The jug of washer fluid I had in the backseat had tipped over from when I had dropped it off. I started driving away and went to hit my brakes and they went all the way to the floor as I attempted to stop to enter traffic. Luckily I had enough time to veer back into the parking lot because I couldn't stop. I was irrate and went back into the office and told them that my brakes were working fine when I dropped the vehicle off. They said okay and got my keys from me and drove it back into the shop. After 10 minutes and no one saying anything I asked to speak to a manager and a man came out and told me my brake line had rusted out and that he had the audacity to try and tell me he would give me a break on the labor to replace it. He said this would have happened anywhere I would have taken it to get an alignment. Not everywhere would take your car out and beat it so hard that a brake line completely blows! The worst part of this is that the employee knew the line had gone and let me drive the now unsafe vehicle off the lot! They wouldn't admit fault or compromise on anything. I ended up having them top it off with fluid and very cautiously drove it home to repair it myself where I know it will be done right. DO NOT TAKE YOUR VEHICLE TO BLAIN'S FARM AND FLEET...

I never, ever write reviews, but this experience was so bad that I just feel I must. My husband and I have been customers of the La Crosse Farm and Fleet for years. We have always had great customer service. Until today. We are repainting our entire house and I went in to purchase a few paint samples to paint on my walls to make sure that the color we choose works in our home. I have never been treated so rudely in my entire life. I was asking typical questions about paint, especially about the undertones since they can really change how the color looks when painted on a wall versus on the paint swatches. To make it worse, when he asked me how many I was looking to buy (4-5 I said) he called over a young man and said it would be a good practice situation for him. Unfortunately, all the young man learned was how not to treat a customer. I ended up not staying and then asked to speak to a manager at the front desk. I was hoping for some sort of customer service-at least an “I’m sorry”, but that did not happen. I will not be spending another penny in this store. Unfortunately I had an order for pickup so I went to the drive through pick up area and apologized to the very kind man there that I needed to cancel my order. He was very kind and helpful—and gave me the first positive customer service there today. Too bad they are not all like him! I ended up ordering the dog food (my pick up order) from PetCo—even 10 cents cheaper! Double win! I will be heading to Hallman Lindsay or ace hardware to get the paint I need for our big...