[Guest]

Howdy, this post is for "all o' ya'll."

Natch, we've all had our own "Autozone Experiences."

This one today reached to a New Level for me, at least.

Maybe you can post up with more Autzona Horror Stories.

OK, here's how this one unfolded.

Four weeks ago today we bought an '88 tintop from a pathological liar. Everything he said about the Zuki was false.

(We will NOT discuss ALL the OTHER stuff here. Just this.)

Soooo....as chance would have it, the master cylinder was (apparently) leaking. OK.

We went to our "friendly" Autozone. Seems the local employees had recently "left" their employer.

The store was staffed by people from distant stores. The guy who helped me was a retired District Manager that they coaxed into service to "fill the gap." We had a nice long talk and he assured me that I could return the master cylinder for up to 90 days. Ok. I went home and got a good night's sleep.

Fast forward to today.

So, I determined that the master cylinder really DIDN'T have a leak, afterall, the dik-hed that sold it to us had failed to tighten the bolts between the master cylinder and the booster. Ok, we will skip on his MANY transgressions.

Sooo.....here is where the story gets interesting.

I took that Autozone master cylinder back to Autozone for a return today.

Guess, what? They said it "wasn't theirs!" They said it was a "core" and that I was trying to defraud them by passing off a swapped-out core for the real thing.

Sum dum bubba #1 and sum dum bubba #2 both looked at the MS and said, "Caint be ours, we don't sell stuff that looks this bad, YOU swapped it out and YOU are trying to pass it off as new! We ain't gonna take it back. Get outta here!"

WHOA! I had to take a few deep, really DEEP breaths to avoid getting the cops called by cussing their g-d a++es out. I keep insisting that it was the very same part I took out of the very same store only two weeks prior to today. They kept insisting, "NO WAY, you are cheating us."

I have learned some lessons in recent years about NOT calling dik-heads, dik-heads, when they are dik-heads.
Finally, I said, "WELL, I bought this part from your retired former District Manager, how would you like it if I went to a telephone and called him up at his home right now?" I named him by name and mentioned I knew his street address in a nearby town.

Hum...there was a long period of silence. One of the bimbos peered intently at the master cylinder and the other bimbo fiddled with the register keys. We all made eye contact together and there was the pregnant pause.

The "bigger bimbo" turned away with a flourish and told the lesser bimbo, "Giv'em his money back."

You're G-d right!

Man, Am Igonna wire up the Autozone HQ website with some real PITHY comments on THIS one or what?

OK, hey, what's your latest horror story?

j&s

 

[Sarge]

The horror begins when I walk in the door . It's funny really, they all practically run over each other to get busy with something to avoid me . The last big fight was over their wonderful starters , after the third one failed I told 'em whoever sold it to me was gonna wear it . They cheerfully gave me my money back plus the core charge . I now run just an old rusty Suzuki stock unit , God only knows how many miles are really on it . It's usually like this : I walk in , they run and hide , whoever gets stuck with me says " what are you looking for that we don't have today?" . That's about it , I buy small stuff like Locktite and oil , or similar items but that's about it . Some poor soul the other day was buying an alternator and installing it himself in the parking lot , with not much luck . So , I started to help him out then realized , "hey, these guys do this as a service to their customers" . So, in the door I went . Found the manager , in his office since no one else seemed to be in the building , and politely informed him his employees weren't helping a customer properly by making him install his own alt . He decided to look for himself , and sure enough there is a guy right out in front in a suit getting greasy . I left when the heads started rolling so I wouldn't laugh at 'em , but it was fun....
Sarge

 

[purevil71]

Sarge, for some reason I can see you doing that...lol

I'm glad that I know almost everyone that works at our AutoZone so I get to avoid problems like these!

 

[RRich]

I'm surprised they are still in business.

They've been very successful at driving business elsewhere - to the point many stores are in trouble. Prime targets to be bought by McDonnalds, Jack in the Box or Payless shoes - they aren't in the parts business either.

If you want something that won't fit, or last long, they have it. Otherwise go somewhere else.

Won't be long now!

 

[2183]

I've had lots of bad experience when dealing with autozone. One for example is the crappy altenators they sell, with a "lifetime" warrenty. The first time I brought it back it was a little on the dirty side and the "customer service" guy said, we dont warrenty parts taht have been "off-roaded". So we go round and round about their warrenty policy. Finally the manager comes out because i'm starting to get treally ticked off and loud. I ended up having to tell the manager that I have a dirt driveway just to get them to replace it. Well that alt only lasted about, hrmm, 2 weeks maybe. I bring it back, the asst manger tries to tell me that I've never even bought one from them. He cant find a record for it anywhere in the computer. Well, I gone home steaming, find my reciept and go back. Now he trys to say that "this isnt our altenator" and proceeds to show me some mark on the back of it and says that this mark means that it came from the factory and is OEM. I convince him to pull a new one from his stock, low and behold, the same mark. So to make a long story longer, he finally gave me another altenator but with lots of hassle. I hate that damn place.......... Seems like they are more concerned with answering the phones instead of the tending customers at the counter. All this time, I thought it was just my local autozone that treated their customers this way.

 

[Guest]

In reply to:

If you want something that won't fit, or last long, they have it. Otherwise go somewhere else.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have heard of other people having problems with Autozone's alternators, etc. I have ALWAYS has positive experiences with NAPA and that is where I will continue to shop.

 

[Scott_CJ8]

Hmmm.... the guys at my local Advance Auto parts store are really helpful. I have had problems with batteries. This is the 3rd one in my X now. They'd work for about six months, then dead as a doornail. Alternator is working fine. They just test it, yep, a bad battery, and install a new one... no cost, no complaints or hassles. At least they work with it and are open. I don't visit AutoZone much, and I guess I won't be in the future. Napa usually has whats best, but with it comes higher prices. I figure if I get to know the guys at the store (which I do) then they'll work with me when I have a problem.
Next issue...

 

[RRich]

I've found CarQuest to be helpful and knowledgable - but that may be just my local store. Sometimes their "house brands" aren't the best quality, ask for name brands.

If they don't have it, I drive past the AutoChina and Krapen, then 50 miles to a NAPA - it's worth the drive to get it right the first time.

 

[1941]

Wow, sorry to hear about your bad experiences at Autozone.

My own experiences there are totally different. While I have only purchased stuff like brake lines, timken bearings (which BTW are very good and reasonably priced), grease, etc., but nothing big like a waterpump or starter.

They have been very helpful and except for one of them, are pretty knowledgeable.

On two occasions they have really bent over backwards to help. Once I was looking for a replacement generic steel EFI fuel line that I found in one of their motormite paper catalogs. The guy said it wasn't a normally stocked item but thought he had seen it somewhere in the store. He spent many minutes looking for it and finally found it.

Another time I was after a higher pressure EFI rated fuel filter that had 5/16" barbs on both sides. I did not have a specific application as this was for a EFI retro-fit on an old land cruiser. I couldn't find anything in the catalogs so the manager showed me where all the filters were behind the counter and let me peruse through them until I found exactly what I was after (BTW the filter was from a late model nissan x-terra).

Still, I prefer buying expensive bits like alternators and water pumps from NAPA. I might be biased, but when I used to buy these kind of things at Checker/Autozone in the past they did not seem to last as long as the factory stuff.

-Paul

 

[1438]

I had a fuel pump that was leaking oil from the vent tube. I replaced it with a fuel pump from a parts Sammy. (It became a parts vehicle partly because I could never get it running well enough to drive -- it had lots of other issues too). Anyway, I plugged that pump in and..., nothing. Didn't pump fuel. Not a drop.

The parts zuk had been sitting awhile so I convinced myself that it's possible the pump could have gone bad just sitting there. It looked brand new. So, off to Auto Zone. For $39.99 they sold me their "Master" fuel pump. After installation..., nothing. Didn't pump fuel. Not a drop. Oh, and the non-working fuel pumps were identical by the way, right down to several stampings so the first pump was quite likely a "Master" as well.

So now I'm wondering what I did to screw up my Zuk so that it didn't pump gas. Well, before killing myself trying to figure out some other potential problem, I thought I'd plug in the original pump that was leaking oil. At least it worked. Besides, I had the procedure down to changing a pump in a matter of minutes and I only dropped the front nut say, half a dozen times. Well, big surprise, it worked like it should.

My attempt to get a refund went like this: They wouldn't authorize a refund because, as the assistant manager explained it, he can't identify what parts are theirs. (Does that make sense to anyone else?) Well, that was only excuse number one. Excuse number two was once the part is installed, it becomes a warranted item and cannot be refunded.

At which point I explained to him that's not what is written on receipt regarding the return policy. Which is, "Return an item in original condition, with original receipt, within 90 days of purchase to request a refund. Return a defective item within its warranty period to request a replacement or refund. Requests for refunds may be denied if the item has been misused, abused or improperly installed." And no, it wasn't misused, abused or improperly installed.

So, excuse number three was that he was unable to authorize a refund and I would have to talk to the manager. So, what's the point of having an assistant manager if he can't do the job of the manager when the manager is gone? I didn't even bring up that point -- I was about to lose my temper.

Later, my wife took it back to a different store and told the clerk, “I don’t know what’s wrong with it, my husband said it didn’t work." He asked her if I installed it (like duh, how else would I know it didn’t work) and she said she didn’t know. So, he gave her the refund. Go figure.

WB

Auto Zone is for waxes, carb cleaner and the naïve.

 

[JIMZUKI]

howdy,
here's ya a real kick in the nuts store from my local Autozonout Store, but remember this is the old Autozone, not the sport tuner Autozonout of today.

i had to buy a new 1.3L alt. cause mine had come-up pow, after a bad water crossen that turned into a it was not that deep before.

so i brung in my old one for core. got my new, and went wheelen. and for some weird reason my sammi is 4wheel drive, and the alt got muddy and stoped worken. so when i got back home i took off the 2day old alt and returned it for a new one, cause it was life-time replacement*.

do you see that little star i put by lite-time replacement. well i was told by the pimped face ass. maniwanttochokeyouger. he told me that it could not be used to get the replacement cause i used it to 4wheel with. but wait, they sold me an alt for my samurai that happened to be a 4x4 that just happened to be used to 4wheel. and after telling him this, i still got a SOL speech. so ask i am walken out the door, a chick that works there tells me to wash it and come back at 5pm and she would replace it.

so i washed it and went back at 5pm. she bench tested it, and found it to be shot. she then replaced it, and gave me her number. this was 1997, i was 17. it is now 2003, i am now 23, and she, the autozone chick is my wife and mother of my 2 year old baby gurl. and all this happened over a POS alt. autozone sold me.

 

[13337]

Jim that is a great story .

 

[hedo]

Yea I am not a big fan of Autozone either. I bought a 3 year battery from them for my 95 tracker it last only about a year and they test it and its shot. The pro rate it but i still have to shell out some bucks. On my zuk I am on my 2nd starter in less that 4 years or so. I have bought switches for lights and such and the only lasted 2 to 3 years. Just the other week I went down to buy some fuel line hose for my atc. Some older salesman that seemed to know what he was doing sold it to me. I made sure I asked him are you sure this is fuel line hose and not vac hose, he said yes its fuel line. Well needless to say after running the atc for 2 hours I turned it off and was working around the garage and I smelled gas turned around and looked it was running out all over the place. The fuel line exploded as it was just sitting there. Next day I went and bought the right fuel line hose and have been running it ever since. Autozone is only about 2 blocks away from me and I dont seem to learn STAY AWAY their parts are only good for 2 to 3 years, if your lucky!

 

[zooky]

In reply to:

the autozone chick is my wife and mother of my 2 year old baby gurl.

[/ QUOTE ]
that gives new meaning to customer service

 

[Yankee Tim]

In reply to:

the autozone chick is my wife and mother of my 2 year old baby gurl

[/ QUOTE ]

Did she come with a warranty too? Did you have to bring in your old core?

 

[RRich]

Watch out - even their chemicals are fraudulent - the prices.

They'll have a pile of something, say carb cleaner - sign says 99 cents.
You grab 10 cans and a few other items - then wonder why the bill seemed high.
Looking at the reciept - they charged you 1.99 for them!
You go back and complain - the manager laughs - yes, the sign says .99 -- but it's for the small size - and they don't carry that size!

The one here in Yucca Valley does that all the time - and when you show them it's false advertising they just laugh at you! I've sent in 2 complaints to Weights and Measures about it - but that's govenment, so of course nothing's happened.

I won't do business with a place that practices fraud or "bait and switch!"

 

[Guest]

the autozone chick is my wife

This is SOOO cool. Your story is COOOL! Wheel on!

My wife and I have this saying that everything happens for a purpose, even when it seems like NOT!

Like with this goofy 88 tintop we bought from this pathological liar. Well, heck, we've learned more "fun" stuff from fixin' his goof-ups than we would have EVER learned from a Zuki with a "real" pedigree.

So, we been jokin' that we got to go to Zuki School whether we wanted to or NOT! Been fun. Afterall, workin' on a Zuki beats any school I ever been to!

J&S

 

[1438]

In reply to:

I bought a 3 year battery from them for my 95 tracker it last only about a year and they test it and its shot.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had a very close friend who was told by a manager at Chief (now Auto Zone) not to buy their batteries -- even with the warranty. He said it's because they're designed to fail and they make their money on the pro-rate.

WB

 

[supazuk]

I used to work for auto zone years ago .. till I saw them comming in the door with boxes of candy bars and sending back MR gasket in exchange for APC and spectra .. they do not have the customer service they used to. The used to have good looking uniforms and have pride in having educated ASE counter man now if you can fill in your name and have a grey shirt witha collor you have a job.. they used to give out awards for emploies that would go out of their way like to a customers house to drop off a part that the customer ordered wrong or the parts person messed up on now they say well i'm sorry the computer said it was right .. they used to have great auto shows now if you hang out in there parking lots they call the cops ... i could go on but its a shame they took the auto out of the zone . I'm almost ashamed to say I worked there .. but thats the truth

 

[1264]

In reply to:

The horror begins when I walk in the door . It's funny really, they all practically run over each other to get busy with something to avoid me . The last big fight was over their wonderful starters , after the third one failed I told 'em whoever sold it to me was gonna wear it .

[/ QUOTE ]

Funny thing here is that I usually just go down the list and read the messages, and don't glance over to see who wrote it all the time. As I read this I'm laughing to myself thinking "I bet that's what its like when Sarge goes into the auto parts store..." Sure enough...