Here is my very long and convoluted letter to Advance Auto concerning a defective socket set I bought that they would not let me return.
I only paid $10 for the set, but it's the principal of the thing.
Or maybe it's not so much the principal of the thing as it is the $10.
$10 is almost three gallons of gas in these sad economic times. It's a loaf of whole grain bread, a box of oatmeal, and a bag of oranges. Six lengths of 1/2" PVC pipe. Almost a bag of cement.
Or maybe it's not so much the principal of the thing as it is the $10.$10 is almost three gallons of gas in these sad economic times. It's a loaf of whole grain bread, a box of oatmeal, and a bag of oranges. Six lengths of 1/2" PVC pipe. Almost a bag of cement.
$10 is worth less than it used to be, yet it's more precious.
April 12, 2011
Advance Auto Parts, Corporate Office
Store Support center
5008 Airport Road
Roanoke, va 24012-1119
To Whom It May Concern:
It used to be that whenever I needed a headlight for my VW Beetle or some wiper blades or decided to change my own oil, I'd head to Advance Auto. I loved it when you opened the store in Gaston, SC. It's a fifteen minute drive from my home.
My feelings about Advance Auto, however, have changed somewhat. I carry the socket set I bought from your Gaston store in my car, and I show it to whoever I can. The punch line is that I bought it at Advance Auto for "a really good price."
"It was a bargain," I say. "Take a look."
The humor comes from the fact that both ratchets are broken. I point that out, and I point out the hollowed-out 9/16 socket as well. It's just a joke, but I also want my friends to know that Advance Auto sells products that will indeed let you down, and then does not back them up with any sort of warranty. If you buy it and, while you're using it, it breaks, it's your hard earned dollars down the drain. Even if you've only used it a few times. Money is tight what with gas prices going up and all, but it’s better to invest in Stanley or Craftsman. My friend tells me that even K-mart will replace tools that break. Harbor Freight, that great purveyor of "bargain tools," will exchange defective ones no questions asked.
Granted, this set was inexpensive. On the other hand, it wasn't a good price, because the product didn't hold up at all. I only thought it was a good price. I thought because Advance Auto was selling it I was getting a good deal on a quality product, but I wasn't. Your good name fooled me.
I don't know everybody in Gaston, but the ones I talk to about my socket set remember the story.
The folks in your Gaston, SC store were downright rude when I walked in with my broken socket set. I'd been working in my yard all day. It was hot. I looked rough. I guess I didn't appear worthy of courtesy. It was the cheapest socket set on Advance Auto's shelves, and I didn't have a receipt. I explained that I'd carried the socket set in the trunk of my car for a long while, and when I finally decided to use it, it more or less came apart. I know that many stores won't refund without a receipt. A store credit would have been fine. Though the store wasn't particularly busy, the two associates and store manager pretty much ignored me and my problem. You would think it's their job to be minimally courteous and at least feign a little concern or empathy for a dissatisfied customer, but then they get paid whether a complainer like myself ever darkens Advance Auto's doorway again or not. That's the attitude I saw anyway. If the manager had courteously offered me even half of what I’d paid for the tool set that Advance Auto had advertised as a bargain--if she had, using a little ingenuity, offered me a store credit for five measly dollars for the toolset I'd purchased in good faith--I would have been satisfied. Instead, she barely blinked in my direction, and I walked out feeling like an idiot. If it had been my store, I wouldn't have let my customer walk out feeling angry and foolish. I would have thrown the dog a bone. I would have kept my customer coming back for more headlights and wiper blades. I would have made him brag about my service.
I wouldn't have so easily given him to the likes of AutoZone or O'Reily's. I swear, it's worth the drive. (It's only a fifty foot drive -- AutoZone opened right across the street from Advance Auto.) But at Advance Auto, customers are apparently dispensable. And why not? As P.T. Barnum put it, "There's a sucker born every minute."
I guess that's all I have to say. I called a number I found on your web site and the operator offered to pass my complaint on with an official complaint number, but I wanted to express my feelings to you personally. I apologize for the length of this letter.
I'd be happy to send you my Toolworks socket set for a full refund and the price of postage. I paid about $10 for it during your sale. It wasn't worth $10. It normally sells for about $20, but I didn't get $10 worth of use out of it. It's honestly a piece of garbage. It’s like I gave you $10. Of course, as I indicated earlier, if it was my place of business I'd recognize a satisfied customer as continued future sales and a dissatisfied one as bad advertising. Your manager and her charges in the Gaston store need some instruction in customer service. Money is too precious these days to be thrown away on total crap sold by rude people.
Feel free to puruse a copy of this letter on my blog at http://papercreteparadise.blogspot.com/, with it’s link on Facebook.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
F. Michael LaRosa
Dissatisfied (Ex)Customer
Advance Auto Parts, Corporate Office
Store Support center
5008 Airport Road
Roanoke, va 24012-1119
To Whom It May Concern:
It used to be that whenever I needed a headlight for my VW Beetle or some wiper blades or decided to change my own oil, I'd head to Advance Auto. I loved it when you opened the store in Gaston, SC. It's a fifteen minute drive from my home.
My feelings about Advance Auto, however, have changed somewhat. I carry the socket set I bought from your Gaston store in my car, and I show it to whoever I can. The punch line is that I bought it at Advance Auto for "a really good price."
"It was a bargain," I say. "Take a look."
The humor comes from the fact that both ratchets are broken. I point that out, and I point out the hollowed-out 9/16 socket as well. It's just a joke, but I also want my friends to know that Advance Auto sells products that will indeed let you down, and then does not back them up with any sort of warranty. If you buy it and, while you're using it, it breaks, it's your hard earned dollars down the drain. Even if you've only used it a few times. Money is tight what with gas prices going up and all, but it’s better to invest in Stanley or Craftsman. My friend tells me that even K-mart will replace tools that break. Harbor Freight, that great purveyor of "bargain tools," will exchange defective ones no questions asked.
Granted, this set was inexpensive. On the other hand, it wasn't a good price, because the product didn't hold up at all. I only thought it was a good price. I thought because Advance Auto was selling it I was getting a good deal on a quality product, but I wasn't. Your good name fooled me.
I don't know everybody in Gaston, but the ones I talk to about my socket set remember the story.
The folks in your Gaston, SC store were downright rude when I walked in with my broken socket set. I'd been working in my yard all day. It was hot. I looked rough. I guess I didn't appear worthy of courtesy. It was the cheapest socket set on Advance Auto's shelves, and I didn't have a receipt. I explained that I'd carried the socket set in the trunk of my car for a long while, and when I finally decided to use it, it more or less came apart. I know that many stores won't refund without a receipt. A store credit would have been fine. Though the store wasn't particularly busy, the two associates and store manager pretty much ignored me and my problem. You would think it's their job to be minimally courteous and at least feign a little concern or empathy for a dissatisfied customer, but then they get paid whether a complainer like myself ever darkens Advance Auto's doorway again or not. That's the attitude I saw anyway. If the manager had courteously offered me even half of what I’d paid for the tool set that Advance Auto had advertised as a bargain--if she had, using a little ingenuity, offered me a store credit for five measly dollars for the toolset I'd purchased in good faith--I would have been satisfied. Instead, she barely blinked in my direction, and I walked out feeling like an idiot. If it had been my store, I wouldn't have let my customer walk out feeling angry and foolish. I would have thrown the dog a bone. I would have kept my customer coming back for more headlights and wiper blades. I would have made him brag about my service.
I wouldn't have so easily given him to the likes of AutoZone or O'Reily's. I swear, it's worth the drive. (It's only a fifty foot drive -- AutoZone opened right across the street from Advance Auto.) But at Advance Auto, customers are apparently dispensable. And why not? As P.T. Barnum put it, "There's a sucker born every minute."
I guess that's all I have to say. I called a number I found on your web site and the operator offered to pass my complaint on with an official complaint number, but I wanted to express my feelings to you personally. I apologize for the length of this letter.
I'd be happy to send you my Toolworks socket set for a full refund and the price of postage. I paid about $10 for it during your sale. It wasn't worth $10. It normally sells for about $20, but I didn't get $10 worth of use out of it. It's honestly a piece of garbage. It’s like I gave you $10. Of course, as I indicated earlier, if it was my place of business I'd recognize a satisfied customer as continued future sales and a dissatisfied one as bad advertising. Your manager and her charges in the Gaston store need some instruction in customer service. Money is too precious these days to be thrown away on total crap sold by rude people.
Feel free to puruse a copy of this letter on my blog at http://papercreteparadise.blogspot.com/, with it’s link on Facebook.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
F. Michael LaRosa
Dissatisfied (Ex)Customer
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