Benchmark Audio — Local services in Town of Horseheads

My recent interactions with Benchmark Audio resulted in the worst customer experience I've ever had. I would strongly suggest considering selecting a different company. Full story below:

We had been experiencing some electrical issues with our car, and the garage believed it was related to the remote car starter that Benchmark Audio had installed some time previously. I brought the car to Benchmark Audio to do some diagnostics. During the diagnostics, Benchmark called to ask if they could install a new battery, because their diagnostics would not run on the current battery. I thought this was odd, because the garage had just replaced the battery the day before, but I agreed to Benchmark doing the testing with a new battery. Benchmark was helpful in confirming that the remote starter was not the source of our electrical issues, and they believe the true source is related to the backup camera system. When I asked what I owed them, they stated 1.5hrs in labor, and $145 for the new battery. I agreed to happily pay for the 1.5hrs of labor, but requested not to buy the new battery since the garage had just installed a new battery the day before. This set off the salesman. He was furious and filled with rage. He stated that they would not give the car back unless I purchased the new battery. I explained again that I did not want the new battery, or consent to purchasing one but was fine to pay the labor for their time. I was okay with them using a different battery for diagnostics, but I just had a new battery installed yesterday by the garage. Benchmark Audio refused to give the car back, and even moved it from the front parking lot into their back garage.

The salesman was extremely angry. He said that I have 2 options: 1) pay for the 1.5hrs of labor and the car battery ($300) or, 2) They will install my old battery again and charge 5.5hrs of labor ($480).

This seemed unreasonable and I again asked to only pay for the actual worked labor, but not the battery. To this, the salesman stated very angrily: 'Leave my store now! You will never get your car back without buying the battery! ' He then proceeded to mumble 'Idiot!' under his breath several times as I left.

I left the store and called the local police dispatcher to send a patrol car to help us get our car back. The officer arrived and was very kind. After hearing the story, he informed the salesman at Benchmark audio that it is not legal from them to hold our car as ransom. If Benchmark was unhappy with the bill, or me only paying for labor portion, it was a civil matter and Benchmark Audio should handle it in small claims court. After Benchmark Audio still refused to give the car back, the officer told me that he can not 'force' benchmark audio to return the car, but if they refused, he could file a vehicle theft report if I desired.

Rather than filing the report, I offered to pay the 'option 1' of 1.5hrs in labor and the car battery. If I filed the report, it would take a lot of time and we still wouldn't have a car to drive until the courts heard the case.

After I agreed to pay (with the officer still in the room), the salesman promptly left the room and made us wait in the showroom for 15 minutes before returning to allow me to pay. When he did return, he asked that I pay in cash only. When I explained that I wasn't sure I had that much cash, he reluctantly allowed me to pay by card. After I paid, the salesman said he would drive the car around for me. The officer and I waited outside the store for another 20 minutes for the car to be driven out front.

This has truly been a bad customer experience, one like I've never had before. I will not be returning to Benchmark Audio in the future, and I would strongly advise caution when...

I would give zero stars if I could. I've had issues with their install from the minute I picked it up. Got there and asked the tech to show me through things which he kindly did- went to pair my phone with the unit before leaving and wouldn't work- they did keep the boat an extra day and fix it. Went to pay the bill and it was double what I was quoted by Carl. After asking why, I was for some reason only given component costs, which included no labor costs for some unknown reason, Carl knew I wanted them to install it. After launching my boat and using the stereo the first day- parked my boat and came to a dead battery the next day. After talking with Tim and trying to trouble shoot the issue he and his tech came to my boat an hour away from their shop- great customer service I thought. Well they blatantly lied and blamed the issues on my ignition and needing to add a second battery. I got a second opinion and a mess of wires they installed was found to be the issue. After voicing my displeasure, Tim offered to fix it for free even though he claimed his guys would never do work like that. This was a BRAND NEW boat which was never touched by anyone but them and all the wiring issues were at the radio connections. I took it back and they did fix the connnections and tidy up the wiring- however their fix to the battery issue was installing a switch that needs to be turned off everytime the boat sits or the battery dies over night. The original system I just turned off the key like a car and it could sit for a month and be fine- but not with theirs. A secondary switch is a cob job repair. While it was at their shop they ripped several tabs that are used to snap the cover onto the rails of the boat- never told me. Tim did have me bring the cover back and did pay to have it fixed- of course blaming weak stitches as the culprit instead of carelessness by his techs. I've since taken the cover to an upholstery shop and they said the stitching is fine. While taking the cover off they pryed on the rails to release it- bending it in several areas. Again Tim claimed they didn't do this, but again it was a brand new boat in which I was the only one to ever remove the cover and certainly would have noticed it. I could go on and on but anyone reading this can gather the type of work to expect. I have since asked Tim for his insurance information or a refund of some sort to which he refuses as it's still not properly fixed. I will be taking my boat to another audio shop and have them make repairs along with a detailed list of the issues with the less than professional install, in which then legal action will be taken. Tim will likely reply to this review with a series of lies in which I have already responded to in emails proving him wrong. Avoid Benchmark...

I've had Benchmark Audio do two major upgrades for my Jeep Wrangler: Replace the sound system and replace headlights/fog lights/turn signals with LEDs. The sound system upgrade went off without a hitch, but the light replacement was a long, drawn-out miserable experience.

Firstly, they will only touch LED lights from 3 companies, all of which sell practically identical lights to other companies just at a higher premium because they "know how their product works". The first two installation sessions were cancelled due to a scheduling error on the part of a new customer service rep (Austin). The third one was cancelled because of turn signal plugs not locking in place (stock turn signals worked fine before they got in there). Made me go to Jeep dealer to fix them before they would touch it. The fourth install session was when they finally finished, but the RGB halos are not always available in the Bluetooth app. Electrician says this is an iPhone BT issue, but I've used other BT devices (Android included) to no avail. After looking under the hood, I found that the BT controller had a grounding issue and was just sitting loose under the hood shaking around. The electrician claims to have 30 years of experience with automotive electronics and seems to know what he is talking about for the most part, but shows no pride in his work, as evident by poor cable and device management under the hood (I'm an electrical engineer and seeing his cable management after the work was done was terrifying).

To summarize, I would only suggest having Benchmark do installations of sound system upgrades or remote start functionality, as I have family and friends with good experiences for both of these. Unless you want to be jerked around, do NOT work with their new rep Austin. Work with the manager and/or the electrician for any work here. If you're doing lighting for your vehicle, find a family friend or somewhere else to help.

As a final note, they also ended up charging me an additional $100 in labor from what they quoted. As an engineer who quotes work all time, if you want to keep customers, NEVER quote less than what you need to do the job. Take the time to look at the vehicle and see how much work it will really take BEFORE giving the quote. They clearly do not value the customer's...