Auto Zone Tried to kill "Black Betty" Benton Illinois

I used to work for Auto Zone and I have seen this happen before. I had only seen a hanful of individuals who had in fact been able to successfully get a labor claim paid. I have personally witnessed managers do everything they possibly could to make a complaint or claim such as this sound like the installers fault. I saw a complaint on her earlier wher the person was not happy with the fact that Auto Zone did not give her a replacement part before her other part was off of the car. She ended up getting her car repaired by the District Manager supposedly. If that was indeed the case she was very lucky.

I'm not sure what AZs actual policy is a on claims like this but they don't get dealt with in a timely manner. I never could understand what good a warranty was on a aprt that caused other damage when it failed. After a faiilure such as that it's unlikely that replacing that water pump with another AZ would be something you would want to do. I have workled at other parts stores besides AZ. Auto Zone is the only one I've seen from personal experience that tries so hard to get out of honoring their warranties.

The theory behind the warranty is that since it does not transfer to the person that buys your car if you sell it, and most people sell or trade their cars before parts fail. The AZ that I worked at doesn't even have a commercial department, it has become strictly DIY. Where the problem lies here is that they sometimes try to get ot of paying these claims because the part was not installed by a "professional".

I would stay on them about your claim. I personally don't buy parts from Auto Zone because I'm not fond of getting junk to fix my original problem. On more than one occasion I picked up water pump off of the shelf and alternators that were locked up. A lot of the other parts make have only been a short time away from failure.

The only tome I go to Auto Zone now is if I need an item such as motor oil or car cleaning stuff. I leave the hard parts up to the professionals.

I used to work for Auto Zone and I have seen this happen before. I had only seen a hanful of individuals who had in fact been able to successfully get a labor claim paid. I have personally witnessed managers do everything they possibly could to make a complaint or claim such as this sound like the installers fault. I saw a complaint on her earlier wher the person was not happy with the fact that Auto Zone did not give her a replacement part before her other part was off of the car. She ended up getting her car repaired by the District Manager supposedly. If that was indeed the case she was very lucky.

I'm not sure what AZs actual policy is a on claims like this but they don't get dealt with in a timely manner. I never could understand what good a warranty was on a aprt that caused other damage when it failed. After a faiilure such as that it's unlikely that replacing that water pump with another AZ would be something you would want to do. I have workled at other parts stores besides AZ. Auto Zone is the only one I've seen from personal experience that tries so hard to get out of honoring their warranties.

The theory behind the warranty is that since it does not transfer to the person that buys your car if you sell it, and most people sell or trade their cars before parts fail. The AZ that I worked at doesn't even have a commercial department, it has become strictly DIY. Where the problem lies here is that they sometimes try to get ot of paying these claims because the part was not installed by a "professional".

I would stay on them about your claim. I personally don't buy parts from Auto Zone because I'm not fond of getting junk to fix my original problem. On more than one occasion I picked up water pump off of the shelf and alternators that were locked up. A lot of the other parts make have only been a short time away from failure.

The only tome I go to Auto Zone now is if I need an item such as motor oil or car cleaning stuff. I leave the hard parts up to the professionals.

I used to work for Auto Zone and I have seen this happen before. I had only seen a hanful of individuals who had in fact been able to successfully get a labor claim paid. I have personally witnessed managers do everything they possibly could to make a complaint or claim such as this sound like the installers fault. I saw a complaint on her earlier wher the person was not happy with the fact that Auto Zone did not give her a replacement part before her other part was off of the car. She ended up getting her car repaired by the District Manager supposedly. If that was indeed the case she was very lucky.

I'm not sure what AZs actual policy is a on claims like this but they don't get dealt with in a timely manner. I never could understand what good a warranty was on a aprt that caused other damage when it failed. After a faiilure such as that it's unlikely that replacing that water pump with another AZ would be something you would want to do. I have workled at other parts stores besides AZ. Auto Zone is the only one I've seen from personal experience that tries so hard to get out of honoring their warranties.

The theory behind the warranty is that since it does not transfer to the person that buys your car if you sell it, and most people sell or trade their cars before parts fail. The AZ that I worked at doesn't even have a commercial department, it has become strictly DIY. Where the problem lies here is that they sometimes try to get ot of paying these claims because the part was not installed by a "professional".

I would stay on them about your claim. I personally don't buy parts from Auto Zone because I'm not fond of getting junk to fix my original problem. On more than one occasion I picked up water pump off of the shelf and alternators that were locked up. A lot of the other parts make have only been a short time away from failure.

The only tome I go to Auto Zone now is if I need an item such as motor oil or car cleaning stuff. I leave the hard parts up to the professionals.

I do not understand why you would not wait until the next business day to get a performance water pump. You wrote that Auto Zone was the only place open at the time. You could have ordered from Summit, Jegs, or many other places. As questioned earlier, did you put on just a new water pump or a rebuilt water pump? The store could have ordered you a performance water pump but it would have cost you much more. Most auto chain stores usually stock a high volume water pump for common small block chevy motors. Those high flow water pumps will move about 3 times the water vs. a stock water pump. It is a high flow pump, not a high performance pump.

Now lets discuss your liability claim. None of the different auto chain stores manufacture their own parts. Just like their warranty disclaimers state, they do not and will not assume the liability responsibilities of the manufacture. The same goes for items sold in Sears, K-Mart, Wally World, Home-Depot and so on. Most business apply the standard practice of having their disclaimer for merchandise sold, written on the back of printed receipts.

In auto parts, if there is a part that is defective and the customer wants to file a claim for reimbursement. That part is sent back to the manufacture of the part. They can take 8 weeks or more to make a determination on your claim. If the manufacture of the part determines that it is defective, then the manufacture will compensate you.

Albeit, you wrote that the water pump cannot be installed properly, you are wrong. Improper tightening of mounting bolts will cause failure. Even a over tightened drive belt will cause the bearings to fail. Out of balance fan blades will cause failure. I am glad that no one got hurt. If you really want to be compensated, you need to take the manufacture to court. Remember, the manufacture has already determined that it was not a manufacture issue.

I don't know why you waited so long.

If you're so determined that it was a defective part and not a misapplication of the part or misinstallation of the part, you could sue them in small claims court.

The statute of limitations clock is running! In NY, you have 3 years to file a small claims.

Sir or Madam,

I am so sorry for your problems. But, there are a number of things that have been left out of your story. First off, did you tell the counterperson at Auto Zone that this was a high performance application? With out knowing that the counterperson would have sold you a standard one. Also did you buy new or rebuilt? Rebuilt did hold up as well as new.

Also did you install the pump yourself or did a lincensed shop do it? I do not care how many years you have been working on cars, with out a lincense you are still only an amateur. You also need to keep in mind the engine you had built was no longer a standard equipment engine. But, you now had a "high performance" engine. More power and torque and hroses. Get the picture.

Even with pictures and a complete report, Auto Zone was right in refusing your claim. Who ever said "the customer is always right" never worked retail.

Partman James.