Al & Ed's Autosound — Local services in Santa Monica

Disaster!!! Ruined trim panels, scratched body, installed equipment doesnt work correctly, installation was done not according to requested method. Read below...

Brought in my 2013 Mercedes GL450 to get the dashcam installed. Brought the dashcam (front and rear), hardwire kit, trim puller kit, add-a-circuit kit. Didnt get the trip puller kit back, didnt get the unused add-a-circuit kit back.

Specifically requested that no wire splicing was to be done and that I wanted it installed by tapping into fuses. The installer had no idea of how to connect the dashcam. I had to explain why both the ignition and constant wires had to be connected to different power sources. Said again that I wanted it to go to fuses. Was reassured that they are professionals with years of experience and that they knew what they were doing.

When picking up the car the installer wasn't there. The owner or manager said the dashcam was wired to the battery. Seemed to be on, but I couldn't really check and was being rushed out. I asked multiple times which fuse box it was connected to. The owner/manager pointed to the hood. I was given back the camera box with a cigarette lighter power cable and some small stuff that came in the box. Later I remembered that they didnt return the trim puller kit and the add-a-circuit kit (kit came with multiple sizes, including those not used by my car).

I paid, drove back to work and continued my workday. Before going home (late at night) I connected my phone to the camera to check recordings. Noticed that the parking mode only recorded 10 minutes of footage. This was wrong. Then looking at the rearview mirror I noticed that one of the trim panels on the rear hatch was sagging from the top.

I opened the hatch/liftgate to take a look. The panel was hanging on "by a thread". Not connected to the hatch body in the middle. In order to reattach it the bottom panel, then the middle panel had to be removed. I took the bottom panel off only to notice that a sharp instrument was used to pry it away before. (I guess he didnt use the plastic pry kit I supplied and he didnt return). The middle panel was undisturbed and looked intimidating to remove. So I assumed he probably ripped out the top one out of sequence and couldn't put it back correctly. I was right. I removed the middle panel and then the top of that was sagging. Out of 5 spring clips that hold it to the body of the liftgate 2 were still in the body and one was on the panel and was bent 90 degrees. That is why the panel was sagging. It was only connected to the body on the side and to the other half panel at the top. That is how he ran the wire to the rear cam. By damaging parts and not reinstalling them correctly. Luckily I was able to fix that issue.

Then I decided to look for the hardwire connection under the hood. Popped the hood and saw one wire running to the engine compartment fuse box. I was cramped down between the edge of the box and the cover so hard that insulation was being cut. The wire disappeared at the foot of one of the fuses. No add-a-circuit was used. And it was only one wire. I followed the wire to under the hood hinge (what????) Back to inside of the car. So I pulled the little door on the side panel of the passenger side paneling. Saw the other dashcam wires behind the panel. Assumed the wiring went to the fuse box on the passenger side fuse box on the end of the dashboard. Opened the cover... nothing. Pulled the bottom of the door well trim off... flipped it over and nearly lost my mind. Plastic was chewed up with a sharp instrument. All the tabs were forcefully bent down, plastic was ripped as the panel seemed to be forcefully removed and then reinstalled. I couldn't believe my eyes!!! And then I see where the other wires were connected to. He spliced two wires in a bunch, one had a piece of the dashcam wire added and then cut off, the other was still attached.

So, in short, I want my money back. $272. I will be calling today to...

Richard & the crew at Al & Ed's do their work to pristine fashion. Granted the price was a little more than I had expected to pay, but for the amount of work necessary and how well everything it was executed I wouldn't hesitate to go back. To give you a breakdown of my job:

My vehicle is a bmw 3 series 2005 model. The job was a large one: required installation of subwoofer + amp, an audio/video input, a Pioneer AVIC D3 in-dash navigation + Ipod + bluetooth.

I told him the urgency of the installation because i was about to go on a roadtrip later that night and it was important that everything gets installed immediately. He immediately got 2 guys off another job to assist me & i was set to go by 5pm.

The reason I went with them is when I had brought my car in they seemed to have the most familiarity and understand the meticulous tasks involved in the install. I had shopped around for a solid 3 weeks prior, to a few sound system places in north hollywood & a few best buy locations. Working on installations myself with this car I know how tricky German cars can be (i.e. Mercedes, BMW, Audi) & could immediately notice these guys had no idea what they were getting themselves into, they were blindly confident. The guys at Al & Ed's knew precisely what goes into the job, specifically the in-dash set up, which was the most complicated.

Overall, if you care about your car and willing to spend the extra $ for the job, these guys can assure...

I was leery of going to a big chain store for a receiver but I'm really glad I did. I put the store manager, Richard Berfield, through retail hell. I'd be more specific but I don't want to encourage anyone else to do it!

Aside from being a really good guy, he knows the stuff he sells, he's straightforward and direct, and he went way above and beyond the call to make sure I was happy with the receiver I finally ended up with. Over the course of three visits (totally my fault), he and his guys put up with me professionally and with good humor. On my last time in they actually installed a Kenwood Apple CarPlay reciever and Sirius radio, including running the CarPlay USB line into my center console, while I waited.

You can go online but it's rough out there. You don't know if you're getting a refurb or not, if you're getting all the mounting parts you'll need, and of course you have to deal with installation yourself. And there's no warranty. Not worth the hassle or the risk. Fear the big chains no more - or at least not Al & Ed's on Wilshire in Santa Monica. Tell Richard I sent you. It's the...