I recently ordered a starter on line from NAPA, none of the local mcparts stores had it in stock. NAPA had a good price and very fast free delivery.
I took the old one to my local NAPA store and they could not process the core credit as the sale did not go through their store (franchise) I could have driven 50 miles to a corporate store but did not want to waste the gas or time.
I spoke to NAPA online and they emailed me a prepaid UPS tag, very nice. It was received by NAPA on FEB 18, and as of today no credit. They verified that is was received but not processed. They promised to do it in the next 24/48 hours.
The next time I order from them I will ship to my local store and pick up from them, they will be able to process the credit as the sale goes through them.
I never buy anything online and have it shipped to me when a core is in question, and since the local store did not receive the funds from the sale, they should not be responsible for the refund of the credit as it goes against their P&L statement, even if under the same company…
Would you be able to buy a hamburger at one McDonalds and return it for a refund at a McDonalds across town??
Yes, when a core is involved, either eat it, return it, forget it and hope for the best, or have it shipped to the local store so they get the credit… I buy almost everything online BTW…
I think OP is asking about process. Not whether others think it’s good/easy/difficult to buy stuff online. RA also mentions core charges on electrical stuff like alternators and starters. But I’ve never bought stuff like that from RA.
I would verify that with the local store just to be sure it works that way with their systems.
What surprised me is you had to ask for the core return. Most of the online stuff I buy, they already know it has a core and they send that by default inside the box the new part came in.
If the local Napa doesn’t have it, the warehouse is only 12 miles away. They send m3 to go pick it up. I have found the Napa site very hard to use and don’t use it. At any rate, for $100 or so, just wait it out. I waited seven weeks to get my car back from the transmission shop and 11 months to get a warranty engine replaced on my snow blower.
Glad it worked out for you, dealing with the pro/commercial side of things, Napa was always the best to deal with, O’Reilly’s was pretty decent other than they had the worst paperwork dealing with returns, AutoZone was the biggest but kissers, but had the highest defects and warranty claims, Car Quest was close to Napa standards with Advance being so so… But Napa commercial always seemed to be the best when available, although they always took care of their customers, they were not corporate but kissers, like me (not kissing corp booty, never liked upper management)… Napa’s other issue I found was not having enough stores and or drivers to cover all the different shop locations I worked at, sometimes I couldn’t use them due to the time it took to get parts… A lot of times I had parts coming about every 30 minutes most of the day, so the best parts place to deal with could change from location to location, but I always gave Napa a chance, and I new all the reps and they all loved it when I was sent to a new shop and got all the paper work straightened out… Talking about being but kissers, most newer AZ stores are being built or have been built close to a Firestone, but that is for another day…
Yes I know a couple of T’s are missing, it is by design… lol
I ordered a part online and the local NAPA took such a nasty tone with me I will never return there. I ordered online to get a favorable price. The attitude I received at the store makes me think that the store looses money on online orders.
It was a franchise store. From what I understand many times a franchise will loose money on a 5 dollar foot long or a 5 dollar hot n ready.
I however never have had a tone taken with me at other places for using a loss leader coupon. I have never had to hop in my automobile with my 5 dollar footlong and had to roar the engine squall the tires to voice my displeasure.
Napa used to cover proto tool warranties stuff. Local Napa said they don’t anymore. I called proto service and they sent me new tool. Asked what model number and I got a new one. Didn’t want old tool back. It was $90 online so it wasn’t “cheap”.
There is one main thing that all these people with attitudes towards you have and it is you, you are the one common denominator in all this, and when you say you rev the engine and spin the tire in protest it just all points to you even more…
Some people (like me) just naturally come across as A*holes (I’m one of those) at 1st talk, but if you give them some time you will see they are very willing to help… I think what is happening is you are just super sensitive and very quick to react to a persons tone thinking they are being rude when in fact they really didn’t mean anything by it… But when you start talking like you make it out to sound on here, then I am sure they DO get an attitude with you…
I was sent to many different shops over 17 years with my last company to help out, straighten out paperwork etc etc, and I never seen someone have the issues you have had in life unless the person was just a prick to begin with… just saying…