AutoZone Bad customer service, lied, and refused to give refund in the same manner the purchase was made Tulare, California

I went with my mechanic to Autozone to purchase an alternator. When paying, we asked if (as long as we paid cash for the core charge) we could put the rest on my debit card and when returning the old alternator we could get cash back. If they had said no, I would have gone to the bank and pulled out cash to pay for it. However, cashier #25 assured us that there would be no problem getting the cash back.

We purchased the alternator, my mechanic fixed my car, I gave him the receipt so he could get the cash he paid for the core charge back, and I thought I was done. For the past two days, however, my mechanic has been to the store about 30 times trying to get the cash back and being told he couldn't. He was even waiting on a reply from the store manager (which was promised to him) but to no avail.

Finally, after realizing he was getting nowhere with the situation, he called me. I had to leave a barbecue I was at and bring my 6 year old with me to Autozone. After arguing with the manager on duty, Jason Whitlow, for about an hour, he finally said the best he could do was put the money on the card the alternator was purchased with. This didn't make any sense to me considering we paid cash, but we did it anyway.

I had to take the $50 my mechanic paid cash for out of my wallet to give him and now have to wait about a week for the money to (hopefully) be back in my bank account. They couldn't even tell me how long it would take for me to receive the money. All in all, the cashier lied, I have to wait a week to get money back that I paid cash for, I'm out an additional $50 while I wait, and I am getting absolutely no customer service from the store, managers, or corporate. DO NOT SHOP AT AUTOZONE IF AT ALL POSSIBLE!!!

FYI: The original transaction took place on 7/4/12 and today's date is 7/6/12. Also, I still have my original receipt.