AutoZone

My name is Renee' Johnbaptiste. I had taken my car to Firestone to check my car battery, because it wouldn't hold a charge. They tested the battery and told me the battery was bad. It was still under warrenty at Autozone. I went to the Autozone on Uvalde Rd. in Houston, Tx. I waited in line and asked for Debbie the manager. She was not in. I proceded to tell the employee about needing a new battery and that the old one is under warrenty. He looked at me and said he needed to take care of all the other customers in the store in line after me, before he could take care of me. At first, I was going to comply and then I said no, I am inside, and I am next in line, and you should take care of me next. Well recultantly, he asked me for my phone number, and after repeating the number slow enough (five times) he looked at me and said "I can't put the number in as fast as you are saying it" and it was in a pissed off manner. I asked him what his name was because obviously he did not want to get his hands dirty, afterall he was wearing blue plastic gloves. Then I realized his badge, said Craig, he said he was the asst. manager. Well the day only gets worse. He asks me which car had the battery and i tell him my suburban, and then he asks me do i know the model of the battery, I told him know, my husband (who is in Iraq, serving our country) had always delt with the cars. Well Craig the manager said he needed to see it and we walk to my car, which he could not open the hood so I did, all the while having a very bad attitude toward me. As we walk back into the store, an employee named Carl told Craig that he was leaving for the day, and Carl asked Craig where the other employee was. Apprently he had went to lunch and should have been back 30 mins ago. Craig the manager then proceeded to tell Carl bye and looked at me and said across the store that he could not help me if the other leaves, and I would have to come back another time. I told him, look my car probably won't start again and I can't go home without a new battery, if I could have taken it off I would have, I was in tears, telling him how rude he has been and I have never been treated so poorly, and ignored in my whole life. After expressing my feelings about being treated so badly, Carl the employee that was leaving decided he would stay and take care of me and I so appreciated that. What I took away from this day was that if your battery or any other part is under warrenty from Autozone, you have to wait until everyone in the whole store gets waited on first, I can say that was the worst start to a beautiful day. If that is what Autozone teaches their managment team, I will shop elsewhere. Changing a battery isn't that hard, I know, but this battery is a side mount and I wasn't familiar with how to remove this type, so yes I needed help and I was made to feel like I was not important enough to wait on, and everyone else in the store was more important, why? because they were men, I was the only woman in there at that time. With half of our men in Iraq, some of us women have to do both jobs of mom and dad, and sometimes we need help and it is so dissappointing that Autozone isn't a place where you can get that without having to stand your ground so you can get it, but it definetely not from the manager that doesn't want to get his hands dirty.