Auto Parts Scam in Progress

[Ironriot]

There's a Carquest a couple of blocks from my office, and the guys there are AMAZING. They tracked down a radiator and had it there the same day, when everyone else I checked couldn't get it for four or five days. They also quickly located the correct window regulator part. They've tracked down an incredibly obscure wheel bearing and many other impossible to find parts in the past.

A knowledgeable parts store person is the world's greatest time and frustration saver. It's really too bad the discount chains only seem to hire weedy teenagers who wouldn't know what a timing belt looked like if you slapped them with it.

Autozone is probably the worst of the lot, although the one nearest me is pretty good -- they mostly hire Spanish-speaking guys who really do know their stuff.

I guess working on your own car is muy macho, so there's a huge parts market amongst the Hispanic crowd, as well as a lot of talent to draw from.

Of course, it's still Autozone, so there's an aggravating portion of the time where their patented error injection systems ensure that you still end up with the wrong part. I think it's part of the whole discount experience or something.

I'm a weedy teenager hehe. Although if you slap me with that timing belt I'd slap you with a timing CHAIN and ask why are you slapping me with a timing belt lol.... And yeah I'd have to agree with you on the whole Hispanic's knowing alot about cars.... For some reason its just in our blood. All three uncle's on one side of my family are mechanics, They're also body men and drag racers. The other side there's only one male in the family. Which is my dad. While he may not know as much as the uncle's he can still hand the average person's ass to them in a battle of car info. Its scary sometimes on the things he knows. You know people blame the PEOPLE that work at AutoZone alot of the time. But the truth is its usually the customer. You guys give us the information in the first place. USUALLY that's what's wrong. The info. Its really a fool proof system. You just type in the info and then pull up the part. The second mistake customers make is not taking in the original part, so to compare. And lastly sometimes the computer just has the wrong part registered. Or they have it registered wrong. That's happened to me twice.... I will give you that some people that work at AutoZone are dumb as sh!t. But you just need to go to one that's full of hispanics. We'll help you out ;-)

[bwringer]

Just an update: I received return shipping info and shipped the part back the week before Christmas 2007. Supposedly, I will get a full refund (not including the cost of return shipping, but that was only $9). However, the email warns that the could take up to a month.

Of course, anyone who has dealt with credit cards knows that 4 weeks is ridiculous -- they should be able to process a refund on the spot, and it should hit my account in a day or two. They're just stalling, most likely to let 30 days expire so it's harder for people to make fraud claims.

I'll keep you posted -- again, RESEARCH before you buy online, especially if you find a site that appears to have something you can't get anywhere else or has it for a much lower price than anyone else.

Also, I found out that my credit card's purchase protection only applies if I buy something from a store within 100 miles of home. I have no idea why this rule exists...

[bwringer]

Not a full-fledged scam...

Another update: I just received a credit today for the full purchase price.

Therefore, I've downgraded this from a scam alert to a case of simple gross incompetence with shady undertones.

I'm still out the $9 for the return shipping, but most online retailers won't pay return shipping.