ComplaintsforA2Z Vehicle Parts

• Initial Complaint

  08/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 7/30/2022 I order a **** **** pickup front bumper for ******. after nine days I called to check on this order since I hadn't had communications since order date and was looking for tracking info. I was told that they meant to call me and tell me that not only had my bumper been on back order that it was now going to cost $40 dollars more. It was not posted on the website that it was back ordered and I also didn't see any postings of prices being likely to change. The money was already taken from my account why should I have to pay more? He said he would refund my money but I believe they should have to honor their original pricing.

  Business response

  08/15/2022

  We have already been in communication with the customer and gave her a full refund of her order promptly, as she requested.
  When a part is not in stock, almost all companies simply tell the customer their part is on backorder and they can either wait or get a full refund.  They do not look for another option, just wait or refund.
  We gave both those options to the customer but what we do is go the extra step to give the customer a third option, to get the part from another supplier for the best price we can offer.  Most of the time, this is for more money than the original order and we work with the customer to help them get their part now instead of waiting.
  Most of our customers appreciate this as this helps them get their part right away and they dont have to go online again and spend the time to try to find the part elsewhere.
  In this case, she felt we should have honored the original price, but we have the right to cancel any order and also we post under our terms and conditions that prices online may not be accurate and can change without notice.
  She took our attempt to help her different than what we intended, but regardless of this, when she didnt want the third option, we promptly and immediately issued a full refund for her order.
  Before the automotive parts industry and global supply chain were affected by the pandemic in early 2020, our suppliers had most parts in stock, and if it wasnt in stock, the supplier would have generally have it with a matter of weeks.  Even if it was backordered, many times we would find the part with another supplier for a similar price and be able to fulfill the order for the customer promptly.
  As most people are familiar with, the industry has been unable to keep up with the demand of parts and have not only sold most of these parts, but now can have backorders for several months when they run out of inventory.
  Where we are at now, as a result of all these factors, many times the best priced parts have already been sold out and have a long backorder time before they come back into stock, so we have to go with the second and third suppliers, which tend to be for more money.
  Now, with this situation in the auto parts industry, we do our best to find the best options for our customers.  We answer the phone promptly and work to take care of our customers in a timely fashion.  
  In this case, she felt that she didnt want the option to fulfill her order with another supplier, so we honored her request for a refund immediately.
  
  

  Customer response

  08/18/2022

  Complaint: 17688879
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Everyone is using the covid excuse I get that I've waited 6 months for a part, but I was also made aware of this issue up front and other businesses wait until they ship the part to charge you for it. I was not contacted by you in anyway I saw that the money was taken from my account and called you because I had not been notified of shipping let alone that the piece was back ordered. You charged me for it I should get what I paid for because you didn't notify me of the backorder or price change. You wasted my time thinking I was getting my part when I could have been looking elsewhere. It's the lack of common courtesy that gets me the most. This all could have been avoided with a simple phone call.
  Regards,
  
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