Pep Boys
711 E Gay St
West Chester Pennsylvania 19380
United States of America
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Pep Boys Sold a seriously defective part (nearly caused an auto fire) and refused a full refund West Chester, Pennsylvania
*UPDATE EX-employee responds: So you want two core refunds
1Author
1Consumer
1Employee/Owner
Bought a Prostart starter motor ($116 + $40 core charge) 10/23/2011. Gave in old starter to waive core charge.
Prostart motor failed on 11/15/2011. Total short in motor, according to mechanic that examined car afterwards, could have caused a harness fire. My wife was driving the car at the time and after being called by her where she had broken down, I disconnected the battery as there was smoke coming coming from the engine compartment. The mechanic told me that by doing that I had probably prevented a serious fire. There was a very strong smell of smoke and burning when i got there.
Mechanic examined car on 11/16/2011, told me that it was not unusual to see major problems with Prostart starter motors. Returned Prostart motor to Pepboys on 11/17/2011, wanted refund of purchase price and return of my starter core, or any core that could be returned for core waive fee OR refund of the $40. Pepboys agreed to refund of purchase but not core charge.
I then told Pepboys manager that i would actually prefer for them to return my old starter but was told it was not there. I then told them I was happy to take any starter that my mechanic could take to waive the new core charge he needed to charge. The manager gave me a starter which I took to my mechanic. It was badly broken, in his words, it had been removed forcibly from what ever car it was on and that it would not be able to be returned for core charge. He also told me that the pepboys manager would have known that and that it had probably been sitting in their store with nowhere to go.
When pepboys processed my refund, the computer asked should the core charge be refunded (I saw the question on the computer). They had already told me that was impossible.
1) Prostart starter motors appear to be unreliable (Dangerous in this case) 2) Pepboys have now won on their deal with me, they are $40 up and I'm down over $200
Have made a formal complaint to pepboys over the web. Complaint sent to the manager in pepboys west chester. No response so far.
Will call them tomorrow to follow up. If there is no resolution by them, will file report with BBB and Attorney Generals Office.
I gave x + y to get z. z was faulty so I got back x but not y. And in fact i've paid even more then x+y.
Total cost to date is $200+ and I have NO intention of letting it go........
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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
1Consumer
1Employee/Owner
Updates & Rebuttals
#1 Ex-Employee
AUTHOR: LEE - Loogootee (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, November 29, 2011
POSTED: Tuesday, November 29, 2011
So you buy a part, its defective, you take it back. when you purchase a reman part they want a core so you dont get charged for them having to supply one at re manufacturers plant, so you paid for a starter.
Now you go somewhere else they have to have a core or charge you fee, just as Pep Boys would.
I KNOW it sounds odd but you got your core charge back on first one, when you took bad starter back you could ,one) take another starter or two) accept a refund on the defective starter. which you did.
Now you would expect them to give you money back on the core also, BUT issue here is that after so many days cores go back and get re manufactured again.
As for their starters going bad, I worked at a Pep Boys store for over 2 yrs and have had MAYBE 2 starters actually bad. And as for causing a car to burn ,yes it could but the starter you would get from ANY reman company can do this.
Your complaint is a relative one,should the manger as a courtesy gave you the core charge back, well maybe, since it was shorted, sure I would have, but you also have to balance that HE has to answer for ANY refunds as such to his superiors or he gets fired.
Have I had to go to other sources with out a core, sure, I even do it when I build new project cars.
Your argument is baseless, your dissatisfaction is not.
Were you treated fairly, in basic business sense yes, in good faith and in sense of being fairer no.
But you were not ripped off.
If you walked in and bought the starter straight out, you would pay a core charge, all stores do it. IF you surrender your core, you get a discounted price based on condition and rarity of said core.
You got your core fee back on first part.
Yes you still are out core fee for next starter. Again ripped off no, disappointed I am sure.
The store gets charged for each starter and a core charge, they lose money without getting a core or a small fee for said core.
Lets say they have 300 starter, total core value on all of them $1000, now they get charged for them one way or another OR get credit for the ones sent back, if they gave 50% of the core charges back in theory they would LOSE $500 (actually more, if the cores not taken in or paid for are higher in value).
The cash you got off the price for bad starter is going towards the next one. Now if core is very expensive, sometimes you can get one from local salvage yard cheap.
The same thing might also happen if your original starter was broken, no or lesser core allowed.
#2 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: TJB - havertown (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Sunday, December 04, 2011
POSTED: Sunday, December 04, 2011
In this story the buyer of the defective product is only asking for what he originally gave. Money for the starter and a usable core. (it must have been usable as they accepted it for a core fee discount)
If the buyer takes this to court I believe he will get all his money back.
And a fee equal to the value of the core or a core he may actually use to purchase a starter elswhere.
He is not looking for two core charges....only his original money and the actual value pep boys assesed his core at. Very simple. Not some piece of junk that is not an acceptable core. Pep Boys couldn't get rid of it so what value could it have?
