Autozone refused to warranty water pump.

[ron350]

I need help is there a 1-800 complaint line for Autozone?

Took the second AZ water pump to go bad on my 75 Chevy C10 and the manager refused to warranty the pump on 2-24-13.
The manager was so lame she claimed I bought a water pump brought it back 3 days later and got a refund and stole the pump that I returned. The manager said their computer records confirmed this and did not show a water pump purchase in 1999.

What happened was in 1-29-99 my father purchased a new AZ water pump part C130-1270 for $26. That pump started leaking 9-22-2007 so I went to AZ and asked if it would be Ok to buy a replacement pump and then get a refund when I returned the bad one. They said sure no problem but the pump is now part CWP-490 and cost $29.99. On 9-25-2007 I returned the bad C130-1270 water pump and was given back my $29.99. I did this to give me time to clean up the new water pump and paint it so when I took the bad pump off I could just bolt the new one on.

The lady that handled the exchange made a big deal about me warranting an 8 year old water pump and she some how managed to keep the original receipt from 1999. I remember she said she had never seen an AZ receipt that old.

 

[eljefino]

Just go back in there when she's not on duty, or a different store.

 

[tgw323]

Autozone computers seem to have amnesia. My experience started with a friend calling me about an alternator purchased 2-3 years before. "Didn't we buy that at Autozone,they can't find it in their computer?". [censored] yes,we replaced it in the parking lot. Then, I had a battery go bad in three years. Hoping to have some warranty left, I returned. No records found. Besides its 10 years old, according to the sticker on the side. I remembered within days the time I purchased it. It was a dual terminal battery, so I suppose it could have sat there for 7 years. In any case the result was the same for me. Then they sent me a letter saying how they had given me 2 free dings on their $20 dollar rewards program. So, next time I went & tried to collect on that, no records found. Since their computer seems to be too overloaded, I have decided to do my part to ease its burden.

 

[sasha]

purchased in 99 started to leak in 07. sorry but most limited lifetime warranties only cover 5 years. yeah 26 bucks for a pump but catch 22 is computer data can only hold so much before it has to be cleaned out. AAP data will store purchase history for 3 years tops. sku history a bit longer. But it gonna depend on the manager. If you are a loyal customer and spends a lot of money yeah i'll take of you. If you purchased only that pump back in 99 than no.

 

[fxrider]

8 years on a waterpump & you want a free one now,, get real buddy.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: sasha
purchased in 99 started to leak in 07. sorry but most limited lifetime warranties only cover 5 years.


Lifetime warrantys are lifetime, not 5 years. If they only want to cover it for 5 years then don't lie and put a lifeime warranty on it. You don't get a free pass for misrepresenting the terms of a warranty.

 

[bullwinkle]

Guess some people's "lifetime" is different than other's "lifetime"-I'm replacing the OEM pump on the '93 6.2 currently, it lasted 150K and TWENTY years-why couldn't a quality new water pump make it ten??

 

[ron350]

Yes 8 years might be a lot of wear and tear on most vehicles in northern states but during those 8 years this garage kept truck only had 11,358 miles put on it.

With the antifreeze completely flushed and changed every 4 years any brand of water pump should be able to handle that in the deep-south. This 75 Chevy c10 is only driven to the grocery store and other short trips like 6 miles to Lowes and Home Depot.

Guess Autozone does not have a complaint phone number.

PS: FXRIDER how would you like it to being called a liar and a thief by Autozone?

 

[toneydoc]

Try this number 1-800-288-6966. They also have other ways to contact them on their website under the contact us tab. Good luck

 

[gman2304]

I replaced the starter on my 95 Nissan truck when it was about 5 years old with an AZ starter. I've been back twice since for replacement starters and all they do is look it up on the computer and exchange the old one ...no questions asked. I keep all the receipts in the glove box as well and have never had a problem. I buy a lot of stuff at this location and they're used to seeing me in the store...maybe them being familiar with me helped...don't know.

 

[CharlieW618]

The A-Zone here is great on honoring guarantees. Found an A-Zone sticker on a alternator I didn't even remember getting it there and got a free one. A battery I had 5 years, they looked at it and "That's still under pro-rate". $25:00 dollars off new price. Shocks that were 10 years old replaced free.

 

[Kruse]

It's always funny to me how their lifetime is different than my lifetime. I bought a "Great Neck" 1/4" ratchet set from Autozone to throw underneath the seat of my car. The ratchet failed and they gave me a hard time about replacing it. The counter man ask me several times if I had purchased it at THAT store. Finally, the store manager walked out and lightly chewed out the counter man by saying "What's the problem here? Give him the ratchet!" Obviously, they are trained to put up some resistance or everybody would expect free replacements for everything.
I have also purchased some lifetime warrantied brake shoes from another chain and they have told me that the "lifetime" is good for one replacement.

 

[wkcars]

If they didn't want people using the lifetime warranty, they shouldn't have sold it with a lifetime warranty. They offer lifetime warranties on things to try and get more sales, it doesn't matter if the part cost $1 when it was purchased, people should be able to claim on the lifetime warranty if they are within the terms of the warranty. Like others mentioned see if you can get someone else at that location to resolve it,if they refuse you can try contacting AZ through their website http://www.autozone.com/autozone/contactus/contactUs.jsp?breadcrumb=contactus or if that doesn't work you can go through the BBB

 

[sasha]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: sasha
purchased in 99 started to leak in 07. sorry but most limited lifetime warranties only cover 5 years.


Lifetime warrantys are lifetime, not 5 years. If they only want to cover it for 5 years then don't lie and put a lifeime warranty on it. You don't get a free pass for misrepresenting the terms of a warranty.

guess that came out wrong. warranty policies on automotive parts are actually very detailed to what is covered. Limited lifetime means and this is how i go by it so IMHO. During the service life of the item against the workmanship of the parts, manufacturing defects only. If the part fails because of abuse,improper installation, improper use I.E. off road, modification of vehicle, racing or if the vehicle itself has problems that lead the part to fail than no warranty. and there are two warranties. in store and manufacture. in store its usually 3-5 years. after that the manufacture warranty is in place to cover the rest. For an 8 year old water pump the manufacture should have handled the warranty. not the store. this is MHO. And i do apologize if anyone does not like what i posted. just trying to be helpful.

 

[caravanmike]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: sasha
purchased in 99 started to leak in 07. sorry but most limited lifetime warranties only cover 5 years.


Lifetime warrantys are lifetime, not 5 years. If they only want to cover it for 5 years then don't lie and put a lifeime warranty on it. You don't get a free pass for misrepresenting the terms of a warranty.

i agree either its lifetime or not! thats why i save all auto parts receipts!

i have never had a problem collecting on a autozone warranty, which makes me think the op problem is local to the store.

 

[KrisZ]

Personally I would have no complaints about a $26 part that lasted this long and paying for another one, however since this lifetime warranty is used to lure in the customer, I would insist that AZ honors it.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Personally I would have no complaints about a $26 part that lasted this long and paying for another one, however since this lifetime warranty is used to lure in the customer, I would insist that AZ honors it.


Yea, every time I'm in the local AZ or O'Reilly store, they always mention the "lifetime warranty" and "guaranteed low price" on every thing that it applies to when telling me the price of the item. They need to be held to it.

 

[tig1]

It does pay to keep a cpmplete paper record of parts purchased.

 

[Virtuoso]

I would be [censored] if the receipt said "lifetime warranty" (with no further explanation) and then be told they won't honor it or be told I had to go through the manufacturer.

The only time they should get around that is if you lost the receipt... I keep them until the warranties are up.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I think the a big problem here is the manager. If this is an accurate account of what really happened, no manager from any retail store should be accusing someone of stealing without hard proof, not just coming up with that conclusion when there's no way to back it up. That manager sucks and needs to be fired.