This will most likely be the last word on the JiffyLube Saga.
I was tired of being jerked around, played with, so I called up the RM and told him as much, that I wasn't willing to waste another day going to/from SLC to meet with him or not because he wouldn't give me a firm time. He said that he could meet with me this evening, as he was not up in Davis County (which he wasn't going to be on Friday). So I rolled into the Kaysville location (since the Fairfield one was experiencing a power outage.)
He was cordial, but I could tell right away that he wasn't vested and was pretty much sure of his decision before even seeing things. So he got down in the pit, had me get down and show him where the loom had originally run, and explain what happened. I told him that the anchored zip ties were just forward (toward grill) of the filter, as the car is old (I never said it wasn't) all it would have taken was a wayward wrench or glove if someone wasn't paying attention to hit it and cause the issue. He was focused on where the loom was in relation to the fan when it happend -- something I don't know nor could I have. I explained that we had to trim out a lot of mangled wire, and how the loom ran differently than it did right then, that we had to pull, un-loom, and make it work to get things good. He said "uh huh... but it looks like the loom contacted it here. (pointing to left side far far from the filter)." Yeah, that's where we had to trim it back to that point, but it came in contact and killed it way way farther down as it was sucked up and mangled.
So I explained it all again, he was giving me that "He's not changing my mind with anything" look... I was finishing up, when he got a phone call from someone. He had bluetooth on, said "sorry" and clicked what he thought was the call off. I continued - and then 10 seconds later said "hello??" and then said "I thought I turned that off, hold on." And then, rather than tell them to call back - he proceeded to talk to whoever (sounded like another irate customer) for TWELVE MINUTES while I stood there. No joke. TWELVE MINUTES. The tech that was helping him looked embarrassed for me. He asked if he could put the skid plate back on and top me off. I said sure. I went upstairs and stood against my rig, just waiting.
He finally finished, came over and said "I thought I had turned off that call.... So, what I'm willing to do is reimburse for the oil change since you claim we overfilled it, but I don't see how we could have caused the loom to become loose. That's what I'm willing to do." I pointed out that it was running like crap, that you don't overfill engines for a reason, and he said "well, I don't think we can be sure what caused that, as I don't feel we did anything to the loom. I want to make it right by you, but I have to think of the company too....."
I fought him more, it was clear I wasn't leaving until I said something. Painfully clear. So in frustration, and honestly to keep me from hitting him, I said "yeah, that the LEAST you should be doing..." He said "okay!" and stuck out his hand. I didn't do anything at first, but again, clear he wasn't letting me out of the bay, so I gave him a deadfish and said "i'm not pleased." He said "I'll call you tomorrow for the invoice on the service to get that reimbursed since the other location is closed..."
So that's that. I feel defeated and dejected. I don't believe in coincidence, never have, and I don't think that in my 30k miles of ownership it was the 4 miles after taking it to JiffyLube that all hell broke loose. All I can hope for now is that a tune-up will negate the ill effects. Hoping I don't need seals/rebuild, because I know that isn't going to happen with the kid here and wife working just part-time now. So much for that pipe dream of having a Moab/trail rig.