So I posted a while back about an alternator failure on my D2 and may have said that living outside the US ( Cayman Islands ) parts are super expensive so when the wife was up in Houston last we thought we would take a chance on a reman from O'Reillys......well in case you didn't already know, don't touch these guys and their crap parts with a long stick !

Long story short, I check the part on the Internet, send it to SWMBO, she goes to the store to discuss it and even has me call the parts guy at the store to confirm the right part is coming in. She calls to collect it and pay, checks with parts guy and explains the part is leaving the US so MUST be correct. No problem says he, it's all good.

Part arrives back with her and soon as I look at it it obviously wrong - has the wrong regulator on it and even has VW/Audi markings on the case......

Email O'Reillys, send us a picture they say, which I do. Back and forth we go o mail. They say their supplier may have messed up and will look into it. At least 10 days later I email again and say can they refund. No they can't unless I send the alternator back. I explain the situation, say it will cost anywhere between 75 -125 bucks to ship that back, that's why I was so insistent that the part was right before it left the country.. will they refund the shipping cost.. No they don't have a budget for that.....and they will only send a check for any refund not back to the card it was ought on, no a lot of help when you have no US bank account.

So bottom line, O'reillys will stuff you if they can, I'm down 250 bucks for the wrong part which is no fault of mine and a massive chain store like that has 'no budget' for shipping - what a pile of crap !

Anyway, like I wasn't gonna tell them, the part fitted, just had to put a new fitting on the exciter wire. It ran great for 14 days then crapped the bed so its pooched anyways..... if just one person doesn't buy from this crock of crap store again I will be happy !

Got a reman on island in the end, shipped in and mine for the sum of $731 usd.....for a reman !

sorry for the rant guys !
Peace out
Paul

 

IMHO you would have pretty much the same result with any big box chain store. If SWMBO did not have photos to work with this kind of thing can happen. As far as web sites, they may have a better list of gear, since this is all they sell. But shipping outside base country adds up quickly.

Better off to seek local rebuilder. Or boneyard.

Sorry it happened. Not surprised at the short term before blow out, the turn over of reman alternators by big box stores makes you wonder how they put up with the 50% failure rate.

 

Yeah I kinda agree Buzz, it' just that we were specific about it being right in the first place. they maintain that their parts guys can't check stuff like that but Ffs it even had the wrong brand on the case. I could kinda accept the early failure rate......
Would have had the old one rebuilt but my guy on island has been kicked off to reset his immigration clock again which sucks cos we use him for work stuff too !

 

As an O'reilly's employee, I can at least make an attempt at explaining this part...any sort of refund of parts prices/labor doesn't come out of corporate coffers at O'Reilly...it comes out of the store manager's end of the year bonus check. The manager makes approx. 25k a year or so, barely more than someone like me (I'm the night supervisor, three steps down from the manager), the extra that makes his job worth having comes with that bonus check. Any theft, labor costs, refunds, advertisements (i/e job postings in the local paper), comes out of the manager's bonus, as an incentive to do better. BUT he also has to hire lots of folks who know absolutely nothing about cars, fixing them, or even the computer parts-finding system. So they screw up, he gets screwed, corporate keeps their money.

On an unrelated note, I have replaced the entire A/C system, the entire braking system, and various bits and bobs on my 02 Disco with O'Reilly parts, and have had no problems with them. You can take that or leave it, everyone who comes through the front door leaves with a different opinion.

Cheers.

 

Well presented points. And the store employees are at the mercy of computer weasels some where else that set up part numbers in the system. Those hard working IT professionals are seldom seen working the counter (same in most companies).

 

I kinda feel you on this it happens to me every now and then specially the pepboys auto part store you give them the part number and everything still they give me the wrong parts but I don't blame them cuz they just work minimum wage so I don't expect them to do the extra mile to make it right.

 

When I was broken down beside the interstate in Greensboro NC the local O'reilly's was willing to deliver parts to me beside the road (ended up needing a tow so they didn't need to) and to take my CC # over the phone which they have a policy of not doing. They ordered several parts for me, for delivery that afternoon, just in case I needed them (timing cover and several gaskets) and didn't give me any grief at all when I returned them since I didn't need them. This was for my F-250.
I never rely on a chain auto parts store to give me the correct parts for one of my Land Rovers. I have to wonder why your wife didn't call you and ask if the VW markings were of concern.
When my wife is buying me parts when she's in the UK I always send her photos to match to, because I know it's going to be a PITA and expensive to return anything.