Complaint Review: Auto Parts Giant/ The Auto Parts Store

On February 19, 2007, I purchased a fuel pump from www.autopartsgiant.com. I then received an e-mail invoice for the purchase. I suppose I should have been suspicious since the price was so much lower than everyone else, but I guess that's how they get everyone. The other oddity was that the invoice was from www.theautopartsstore.com, even though my purchase was made from the above mentioned URL.

After the stated 3-8 business days had passed, I sent an e-mail asking where the part was. No response. I checked the website (both of them) and tried the Order History link:

"This feature is currently Down for Maintenance and will be available again soon!

Thanks You for Shopping with Us."

The next week, I sent a second e-mail. No response. After two days, I sent a third e-mail threatening to turn it over to the authorities if they didn't respond. The response: "Order invoice - #124312 Has been shipped." That was it. No date, no tracking number. So I replied asking for that information. No reponse.

Finally, I decided to do some digging on the website, and I was able to find a phone number. This was now over a month after the initial purchase. When I called the seller, I informed him that the order was over a month old, and his immediate response was "Oh, it was probably cancelled."

So I inquired as to why my money hadn't been returned if the order was cancelled. He asked for the order number. After I gave it to him, he repeated that the order had been cancelled. So again, I asked why my money wasn't returned. He tried to scapegoat with something about a separate billing department handling charges, although he wouldn't let me speak with someone from that department. I told him that he needed to look into this, and he said "No, I don't need to look into anything," and then he hung up on me.

I called him back and asked him why I hadn't received my refund, and his response was "You won't get that back today. You won't get it back until next week or next month." Obviously, these guys aren't used to dealing with intelligent people.

I called my credit card company and had the charges reversed.
Who knows how many people this company has victimized, because they think they can get away with it. Someone needs to shut them down.

Patrick
Providence, Rhode Island
U.S.A.