Advance Auto Rant

shawn said:
The SKU makes it a moot point, but this is basically what Craftsman, Kobalt, etc have done. Lowe's and Sears won't warranty your "lifetime" stuff - your beef is with a separate company. You can box it up and mail it to them, and they'll honor the warranty, but the hassle and cost makes it a losing prospect. OtterBox is the same thing. For what it costs to get warranty coverage, you can buy a new one faster and cheaper. Sounds like this is a different story, though.
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Otterbox warranty is stupid easy now, at least for phone cases and clips. Go to the website, pick your case, pay the shipping and done. You used to have to take pics and show what was broken and all that bs.

Duane
 
I'm just impressed the memory some of you have. I remember I replaced the battery in my Lincoln the day my wife gave birth. And the only reason I remember that is because the car was dead when I went out for her first meal. Now the big question is, was it kid #1 or kid #2...so some time in the last 2.5-4yrs I replaced my battery.
 
Rox&Mud said:
Same here. Brand new 1/2" ratchet, selector was knocked off the back first time I used it. Lowes would not replace it because it was not identical. The thing came in a set I got my son for Christmas a couple years ago so it's different from any single item off the shelf. I miss the old Sears days when they would throw the old, broken one in a bin under the counter and just tell you to grab a new one and that was it.
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So buy a new one. Take it home, swap the internals and broken shaft with yours. Return the broken one that does match their SKU.
 
shawn said:
Some people don't value their time very highly. :flipoff2:
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And maybe those people suck at math. The time to swap the internals on a ratchet is less than 5 minutes, including the beer. Drives to and from Lowes happen anyway.
I value my time somewhere around $100 an hour. So 5 mins is roughly... 8 bucks?
If 5 mins and enjoying a beer isn't worth a $20 ratchet, why are you even bothering to try and return it?
 
Had a similar situation. Bought a yellowtop Optima. Free replacement for 3 years. First one died at the 2.5 year mark. Took it back and got another one no charge. Fast forward to last winter...battery starts going out at the 2 year mark. Take it back to Advance looking for a free replacement.....

NOPE, the free replacement is only good for the initial purchase + warranty of one. Sat and argued with the manager for about 20 minutes and then just said fuck it it, sell me another one. They did discount it pretty heavily. Pretty pissed off with Optima about that one though...


In other topics, I frequent Lowes about 3-5x a week depending on the level of project I'm working on. I hate going to home depot and I get an employee's discount at Lowes so...
 
Ron said:
Well after a little polite but pointed conversation the manager dropped the price of the new battery to match the old and swapped them out...so the end result is in whole but unhappy it took an argument.

The winning argument was-•it says 5 years full replacement on the front. It you buy a new car with a bumper to bumper warranty and the factory rebate is over and the new model costs more...do they charge you the difference when your transmission dies in warranty. She agreed that sounded dumb but “this is different” ...I said yeah because you work here...she agreed “you are probably right -it isn’t my money I’ll just discount the new to match the old. But we can’t install the battery at this price. “
No worries it won’t fit the 65 mustang in the parking lot anyway....
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That last statement is complete BS... I worked at AA in college, and never once was their any question about price when you had to install wipers or batteries for customers. Even when it was some POS that required the inner fender to be removed to install the battery. Only vehicle I recall being off limits was a 90s Honda Passport (iirc) because the PCM would reset with the battery out, and required the dealer to reset it to be able to restart.
Heck, we often changed light bulbs for people, in the name of customer service. The statement above would be similar to charging to test an alt or battery in someones car, if it isnt an AA unit.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
That last statement is complete BS... I worked at AA in college, and never once was their any question about price when you had to install wipers or batteries for customers. Even when it was some POS that required the inner fender to be removed to install the battery. Only vehicle I recall being off limits was a 90s Honda Passport (iirc) because the PCM would reset with the battery out, and required the dealer to reset it to be able to restart.
Heck, we often changed light bulbs for people, in the name of customer service. The statement above would be similar to charging to test an alt or battery in someones car, if it isnt an AA unit.
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Agreed. I laughed at it tbh.
Though to be fair to them, their website says "We do not install batteries for this vehicle professional installaiton required"- because you have to remove four bolts and remove a brace apparently.
 
Done some work on my daughters car several weeks ago.
I had previously diagnosed the problem so she picked up the part on the way to our house.
AA guy gave her the wrong part ( big surprise).
Went back .... same guy .... we don't have what you need. ( soooooo, I guess he just gave her what he had .... I dunno)
AA on Patterson had the part. The correct part was 60 bucks more. I told my daughter it was gonna be more.
The manager just so happened to be helping us.
Handed us the part ..... have a nice day!

As far a batteries go.
Interstate Batteries on Patterson Ave. in Winston Salem for the win.
Been doing business with them longer than I can remember.
 
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