Warning: Autozone dealings

raleighjeepguy

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2007
Location
Raleigh,nc
So I bought a set of shocks for a different car alil bit ago. I ended up selling that vehicle before the shocks got installed so I took them back and ordered some bilsteins. They ordered them and all was well we me only dipping alil bit out of pocket. Well they sent me 4 rear shocks and no fronts. I was fine to just take them back up there as I wasn't installing them until my 8.8 is ready. They tell me they can't just exchange them but they can return and then rering them up. No problem right? Well whoever rang me up before rang up the order before took the price of the old shocks off the new ones leaving the exchange at like 50 bucks a piece. NOT GOOD. I explain that I mearly want my 2 for the fronts but they then tell me that I owe them 100 dollars for the full price of the shocks. I tell them what must of happened and they tell me thats not what happened and that I must pay the difference. I decide to just take the shocks to a different autozone and deal with them but they then tell me I can't have the shocks back b/c they have already been refunded. I give them a nice firm "screw you" an begin to walk out with my shocks when a rather large person decides to try and stop me. I enlighten him that if he doesnt move my foot is gonna be so far up his ass he will taste my shoelaces and he politely moves. I can't believe the crap that I just took for spending alot of $$$ in a store. Just a warning for all. I don't know if this is where this belongs but I apologize if its not.

:wtf:
 
So you bought shocks that were, say $100 a piece, and wanted to exchange them for shocks that are $150 a piece, and were pissed when they said you have to pay the difference?

I agree that they should have let you leave with your old ones, assuming you didn't get any cash yet...
 
I hate to assk this... but do oyu have the exchange receipt from the first return? When you brought back the 1st set, they should have had to ring up the return (this is a transaction), then applied to thepurchase (seperate tranaction).

If nothing else, try this. AZ keeps track of any purchase that involves a warranty, which is just about all of them (and hould be the case here). You hould have been asked for a ph # when you bought the 1st set.
Call (don't boter going in) and ask them to look it up for you. They should have a record of both the purchase and return, and the price paid. Then ask if they have a record of the 2nd set bought. Once you've established this, and devloped a good friendly interaction w/ the guy on the phone, get his name and tell him you're coming by. Find him at the store, and walk back through it all. I owuld *think* that would do it. you may have to *politely* ask to talk to the manager about it all.
If that dosn't do it.... then break a nose.
 
Rich said:
So you bought shocks that were, say $100 a piece, and wanted to exchange them for shocks that are $150 a piece, and were pissed when they said you have to pay the difference?
I agree that they should have let you leave with your old ones, assuming you didn't get any cash yet...
Click to expand...

I think what he means is, he DID pay the $100 difference. but he rung them up as 2 @$50 each, not 2 @ $150 each but had already paid $200. So when he had to retrun THOSE, the other guy wanted to return only $100, not $300. i'd be pissed too. IF I understand right.
 
Yea I had already paid the full amount but they gave me 4 rear shocks. I should have checked them in the store but I was in a hurry. I didnt have my reciept on me at the time b/c I was just getting off work and figured they had it online since I gave them my tele #. They had it all right there in front of them but they rang my 5100's up as less than I really paid b/c of the previous return. I have worked in retail and I still have no idea how they f'd it up so bad but it was fubar'd. Ive prob spent about 300 bucks on top of the 400+ for the shocks there this week so Im taking all of it back tommorow and going somewhere else if its not taken care of with the calls Ive made today after the fact. I've just never seen such attitude even from a 2 bit store like that. Im just pissed that I finally got an auto store 2min from the house and now have to drive 20 min
 
well the first error you made was going to auto zone. advanced is better
 
highrollintj said:
well the first error you made was going to auto zone. advanced is better
Click to expand...
But sometimes better is still bad. This is why I don't buy aftermarket parts from these places.
 
that makes my head hurt to read. no wonder they were confused.
 
Just go to Loop road off Hwy 70 in Garner for now on. Those guys will treat you right.
 
Moral of the story - check your parts when you get them, and keep your receipts.

Hope this works out, but if not, you are just paying some "stupid tax" as Dave Ramsey calls it.

Besides, you shouldn't be paying more than ~$80 a piece for Bilstein 5100/5125 series shocks.
 
I have had several issues with the Zone in the past, they have a website, and you can go thru there and get it taken care of. On top of it, Both times I received a gift certificate for something additional, over and above what I had already bought. When you speak to the person on the phone, and they will call you, explain that you do a lot of business there, and how upset you are, and how upset your WWW community is too. ;-) it'll get fixed! Oh and on top of that when you tale the certificate in, and I would take it to the same store, let them know that you are using the certificate the home office give you for them screwing you up!
 
I've been a gear head so long and have had to deal with parts stores at all different levels. I can say it truly is the individual store. Weather its napa, Autozone, car quest, etc... The manager(s) for the place set the tone for how things run.. And as with any business good help is hard to find..


I normally have good luck with advance near my work, ive been going there for several years (6-7) and know most of the guys and they don't hassle me about stuff, and i can go behind the counter if I'm 'looking' for something based on fit etc..

But, I had a similer problem with Advance (partsamerica.com) some parts were web only (odd ball stuff) but some shocks and brake lines were local.. When I did the web order, it offered for me to 'pick it up locally' so i clicked ok.. Printed out my receipt/order # and WTF it has me going to the advance on the other side of Durham... So I went on down..

It got messy from there.. Honestly the store guys were trying their hardest to get it sorted out. But the problem was really simple. This is a new way of doing business for them. Not that im sticking up for them in anyway cause they've bent me over enough times anyway.. A real time order system with, instant inventory of local stores, with a 1 hour window for your stuff to be ready.. Think of the logistics of that..

Anyway I had all my paperwork etc.. and the guys had to do a bunch of manual overrides in the computer, the web price on the shocks I picked up in person were like $30 less (each) than their in-store price and they had to override that.. The fact that I stood in the store for over an hour while they figured things out and I was noticeably irritated with the situation, yet I didn't blow a gasket. In the end the manager gave me one of the brake lines for free.. So I learned a lesson on patience, they learned some stuff about their system and I got a $20 brake hose.
 
Do like i do, go to advance auto, look everything up yourself and then ring it up yourself, and i dont even work there. Seriously i have become very good friends with the people that work at advance and my uncle works there. They let me do everything myself, from looking it up, to gettting the part out of the back, to ringing it up. Thats the only way to get what you want and get it right at any auto parts store.
 
murderrsirenss said:
NAPA or Advanced. anywhere but auto zone
Click to expand...

It's actually Advance...no "d" on the end:rolleyes:


Regardless, I try to avoid Auto Zone if possible; it seems there is at least one smart ass,arrogant punk working in all of them that I've been to. Just my .02:beer:
 
yager is right on. Shop around till you find a place that knows what they're doing and try to stick with em. It's the people behind the counter that make the difference, not the name of the store. But... there are some items I won't buy at AZ or Adv, just because they are junk.
 
I can't believe that guy tried to stop you at the door. When I worked at AZ a few years back, it was company policy to not pursue anyone out the door, even shoplifters. As a matter of fact, they didn't even have camera's in the store!! If it was me, I would ask to speak with the store manager, not the stupid shift manager. The store manager's name should be posted somewhere around the front entrance. The store manager has a lot more lee way with transactions and should understand the situation better. The store managers are also trained to keep the customer happy no matter what. If that gets you no results, ask how you can contact the regional manager. It may take some time, but as long as you have all of your receipts and try to remain calm, you should have great success.

I actually quit using the local Advance for a few years, because they literally told me that I didn't know what I was talking about. I asked for a front axle U joint. Of course they brought me the front driveshaft U joint. I even went as far as drawing them a picture of what I wanted and even the store manager told me that they couldn't help me. So I politely asked if I could look at their paper catalog. Sure enough, I found the part number and they did in fact have it in stock. When they brought it out, they said, Oh, you needed a steering joint, if you would have said that in the first place we would have had it for you 20 minutes ago. I did not place one foot in that store again for 2 years. Then the store moved down the road to a new location with a brand new crew of people, and now there are at least 2 counter people that actually know what they are talking about. So to sum this book up, it is not the store, it is the people that work there. Good Luck.
 
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