Mike's Subaru / Andre / Mike's Auto Parts lied about engine availability, lied about refund, and apparently I'm a loan service. Sun Valley California
I came to these guys for a rebuilt engine after I heard they had one in stock ready to go. The guy on the phone, Andre, mentioned it would be shipped the next day and would arrive in 10 days. During that time, I didn't receive any receipt, invoice, shipping information, nothing. He did, however, charge the card immediately the day I called him.
Well, 12 days later I decided to follow up and get the tracking information. I called them back only to be told that parts were back-ordered and should be back in stock shortly... I decided not to wait, considering they had previously lied about having an engine ready to ship. Who knows how long "shortly" would be.. I canceled the order and wanted my money refunded to my credit card.
At this point, the shadiness was taken to a whole new level. I was told that the refund would be done and I should expect to see my money back in my account in 3-5 days. After a week of nothing, I called Andre back to see what the deal was. He checked with the "accounting department", and verified that the account was in fact refunded. After waiting another week, nothing. I called Andre back and once again, he's giving me excuses, saying that the refund was finally processed. Another week went by of me nagging him for my money and yesterday he gave me a transaction number for the refund. He refunded me the $500 (the core charge), but NOT the $3400 for the engine... Ridiculous..
I've gone 5 weeks now without a vehicle. I can't get repairs because I have $4000 sitting on my card and I'm stuck having to rent a car for who knows how long.
Andre is a perpetual liar who will say anything to get your money.
Lie #1: He didn't have an engine ready to go.
Lie #2: He didn't refund me my money when asked, over and over and over.
Lie #3: Said he refunded me my money, and it was only $500.
I gave this guy plenty of chances, but after being fed lies repeatedly, I'm beyond angry. At this point, I just want my d**n money. It's bad enough these guys have pretty much had my money as an interest free loan... If I was to do it all over again, I would spend a few extra bucks and get a reliable, professional company. These guys apparently have no dignity or respect for people's time or money.
Thanks and good luck.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
In closing...
#3Author of original report
Wed, July 08, 2015
Almost true, Andre, but once again, you fail to include important details like the dates, the information you originally told me, etc.
So let me empathize the important details which can be confirmed with call logs, billing statements, and emails.
What you said before the purchase: The engine was ready to go. You had all the parts in hand. The engine would be shipped out the next day. The shipping would take 10 days.
What happened after the purchase: 14 days went by. No shipping information, no calls, no emails, nothing. I called you and THAT is when I first found out that the engine hadn't even been shipped out yet. So that right there puts me behind my build plan by 2 weeks. Plus another week for the pistons to come in, and another 4 days for expedited shipping. (And that's assuming it came in when you said it would... You also said I'd have an engine in 10 days, so your track record didn't help you much) Anyway, that's 3 weeks and 4 days behind my scheduled build date. That's an extra 3 weeks and 4 days with a rental car at roughly $35 per day. That's over $700 into a rental car. Don't worry though, I didn't lose a single dollar!!!! Not one penny thanks to this transaction.
I decided to turn down the delayed engine shipping for a refund instead, since as you said yourself "It would only take about 3-5 business days." Boy were you wrong! It ended up taking an additional 3 weeks. That's 15 business days by the way. Not the 3-5 business days you originally quoted. And NEVER did you mention anything about 30 business days. Waiting 30 business days for a refund is unheard of. Maybe you're confused with the common practice of businesses allowing customers to ask for a refund up to 30 days after their purchase? That's completely different from how long it should take to PROCESS a refund once the refund is requested. You still had the goods in hand, nothing was shipped, this was a simple reversal of payment.
And you have an engine on your shelf without a customer. Apparently you had it before I came into the picture according to your story. All you were waiting for was a new set of heads, right? How is it that only now you have an engine on your shelf, Andre? Or maybe you're just trying to play victim...
In the end, I finally got my refund after constant pestering. I got all my money back from the purchase, but that ignores the other costs involved with this botched transaction. The unprofessionalism and lack of customer service/communication cost me $750 in car rental costs on top of waiting for my car to be completed. That's definitely time and money I lost because of this transaction.
Mike's Subaru
Sun Valley,California,
USA
Re: Refund to Peter
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, July 01, 2015
Here is our side of the story :
Peter ordered reman. engine and when we started to put it together we did find out that one of the new Subaru pistons was chipped in the original Subaru box during shipping. We had to order a replacement one from Subaru again and the part was on back order so it took some extra time to get it. When he called to check on the status, we advised him that will be a week extra delay because of it and since he is on the other side of the country in WV, we did offer him faster shipment time with Fedex to make up for some lost time due to the piston replacement from Subaru. He declined to wait extra 5 days and cancel the order for no other reason. Peter used VISA credid card to place the order , so he is protected from any money problems anyway. We use Paypal as credit prossesing service ( i admit is not the best one ) and we did have some problems with Paypal which we advised Peter about it. After all both charges the $500 and the $3400 were refunded but aperantly showed back on his credid card statement with diferen dates . We did verify with Paypal that he has receved the $3400 as well , so there is no problem with his refund nor he is not short of any money as implied by him. We did not charge him any restocking fee nor 3% credid card prossesing fee , so Peter has not lost even $1 as of today, but we have an engine build for him sitting on the shelf without a customer atm. Anyone who likes , may contact us to get a copy of the transaction receipts as proff that Peter has not lost $3400 with us. In any case even after the paypal isues , the refund of both $500 and $3400 was done within 30 days , as normal business practice for credid card transactions.