AutoPartsWay is getting sloppy
01-30-2013, 09:12 PM
#32
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IXLR8 picking the wrong part is also almost impossible since if you see our parts, each part has our label on it. The number from the label has to be entered into the system for the order in order for that part to basically receive a check mark as added in the system and be approved for the shipment.
What more likely happend to your friend is that certain stock may have been issued incorrect labels. That way the number from the label and entered at the time of fulfillment would match the order, but not the product.
I am personally not familiar with how we label items when we receive them from suppliers and manufacturers so I really cannot comment on this, but to me it seems like the most logica explanation. If you provide me your friends order number, I can do some poking around to see find out. I'm actually pretty curious my self.
There were also a couple of times that I am aware of where we actually received wrong parts in correct parts from suppliers. One I am very familiar with is spark plugs. A manufacturer sent us what we requested (large inventory number) and we started getting returns on them right away. We checked the box, all seemed good, but returns kept coming. We had to pull the item from our website, a later we found out that the manufacturer had some issue where they had different plugs in different boxes.
I'm not saying that the above is what happened to your fried, I really don't know without any info, and the above is not very likely to happen often either, but it does once in a while.
If you can get me your friends order number, I can also contact our billing team to see what they can do in regards to refunding the shipping costs.
What more likely happend to your friend is that certain stock may have been issued incorrect labels. That way the number from the label and entered at the time of fulfillment would match the order, but not the product.
I am personally not familiar with how we label items when we receive them from suppliers and manufacturers so I really cannot comment on this, but to me it seems like the most logica explanation. If you provide me your friends order number, I can do some poking around to see find out. I'm actually pretty curious my self.
There were also a couple of times that I am aware of where we actually received wrong parts in correct parts from suppliers. One I am very familiar with is spark plugs. A manufacturer sent us what we requested (large inventory number) and we started getting returns on them right away. We checked the box, all seemed good, but returns kept coming. We had to pull the item from our website, a later we found out that the manufacturer had some issue where they had different plugs in different boxes.
I'm not saying that the above is what happened to your fried, I really don't know without any info, and the above is not very likely to happen often either, but it does once in a while.
If you can get me your friends order number, I can also contact our billing team to see what they can do in regards to refunding the shipping costs.
01-30-2013, 10:30 PM
#33
Drifting
Thread Starter
Hi guys.
I work for AutoPartsWAY.ca.
2. We have a very flexible return policy. If you don't like a product return it. We say 15 days, but just contact us, we'll make it 30 days for you. No original box, as someone here mentioned, let us know and we'll still take it back in most cases. Our return rate is 2.7%, again one of the lowest in the industry.
I work for AutoPartsWAY.ca.
2. We have a very flexible return policy. If you don't like a product return it. We say 15 days, but just contact us, we'll make it 30 days for you. No original box, as someone here mentioned, let us know and we'll still take it back in most cases. Our return rate is 2.7%, again one of the lowest in the industry.
Just for purposes of clarification: is your current policy that I would pay for the return shipping on a returned item? This is certainly what I would expect, but I'm sure you can see that if that's the case, it does go some way to lowering the return rate.
01-31-2013, 07:24 AM
#34
Race Car
As for refund delays that someone mentioned, there are only 3 occasions where you may not get a quick refund.
1. You returned a core, which normally requires us to send back to manufacturer or supplier for inspection and approval.
2. You returned the part in person. This may sound ironic, but since the return doesn't go to the right place when you do that, it actually creates more work and delays your refund.
3. You returned the part without the RMA# on the box. These are looked at last since they take time to figure out what they are and for our warehouse how to inspect them. With the RMA# the warehouse just puts that in the system and can approve the refund for the return right away.
1. You returned a core, which normally requires us to send back to manufacturer or supplier for inspection and approval.
2. You returned the part in person. This may sound ironic, but since the return doesn't go to the right place when you do that, it actually creates more work and delays your refund.
3. You returned the part without the RMA# on the box. These are looked at last since they take time to figure out what they are and for our warehouse how to inspect them. With the RMA# the warehouse just puts that in the system and can approve the refund for the return right away.
Chat Transcript
Visitor: Chris
Operator: Steve
Operator: Tasha
Company: AutoPartsWAY.com
Started: 28-Nov-2012 1:18:44 PM
Finished: 28-Nov-2012 1:37:20 PM
1:18:44 PM: Chris:
Part of my order was cancelled, need to re-order.
1:18:44 PM:
Welcome Chris! Your request has been directed to the Sales department. Please wait for our operator to answer your call.
1:18:49 PM:
Call accepted by operator Tasha. Currently in room: Chris, Tasha. Thank you for visiting AutoPartsWAY. My name is Tasha and I am here to assist you. How may I help you today?
1:18:55 PM: Tasha:
Hello
1:19:13 PM: Tasha:
Please wait one moment while I look this up for you.
1:23:04 PM:
Operator Tasha has invited Steve to join this conversation. Currently in room: Chris, Steve, Tasha.
1:23:24 PM:
Tasha has left the conversation. Currently in room: Chris, Steve.
1:23:26 PM: Steve:
What is your order number?
1:23:49 PM: Chris:
445537. I'd like to replace the cancelled part with part # PBR1665861. Just want to make sure I won't be charged again for shipping.
1:24:33 PM: Steve:
Unfortunately we can't add/replace parts to an order that has already been placed. This is due to our highly automated fulfillment system. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
1:25:24 PM: Chris:
Right. I understand that. But I still need brake pads, so need to re-order. Like I said, I just want to make sure I don't get charged again for shipping, which is why I didn't just do an online order. I'm assuming shipping was billed with the partial order that shipped yesterday.
1:27:49 PM: Steve:
This order has been process for shipping and can no longer be change.
1:27:58 PM: Steve:
Please accept our apologies for this.
1:28:27 PM: Chris:
So what was the charge billed? It hasn't shown up on my CC statement yet, and the order page is still showing the full charge, including the cancelled part.
1:29:07 PM: Steve:
You were charge $45.40 for this order.
1:30:20 PM: Chris:
So $22.26 for the part, $17.92 shipping and $5.22 HST?
1:31:51 PM: Steve:
Shipping Cost is 9.99 and HST.
1:32:37 PM: Chris:
That doesn't add up. The part I received is $22.26. 22.26 + 9.99 = 32.95 + 13% HST = $37.23.
1:35:36 PM: Steve:
Okay. I have sent the information to the billing department so they can check on the order for you and issue refund.
1:36:03 PM: Steve:
Is there anything else I can help you with today?
1:36:08 PM: Chris:
I'd rather just receive a credit - I still need to order brake pads.
1:36:17 PM: Steve:
Okay.
1:36:20 PM: Steve:
Is there anything else I can help you with today?
1:37:14 PM: Chris:
no
Visitor: Chris
Operator: Steve
Operator: Tasha
Company: AutoPartsWAY.com
Started: 28-Nov-2012 1:18:44 PM
Finished: 28-Nov-2012 1:37:20 PM
1:18:44 PM: Chris:
Part of my order was cancelled, need to re-order.
1:18:44 PM:
Welcome Chris! Your request has been directed to the Sales department. Please wait for our operator to answer your call.
1:18:49 PM:
Call accepted by operator Tasha. Currently in room: Chris, Tasha. Thank you for visiting AutoPartsWAY. My name is Tasha and I am here to assist you. How may I help you today?
1:18:55 PM: Tasha:
Hello
1:19:13 PM: Tasha:
Please wait one moment while I look this up for you.
1:23:04 PM:
Operator Tasha has invited Steve to join this conversation. Currently in room: Chris, Steve, Tasha.
1:23:24 PM:
Tasha has left the conversation. Currently in room: Chris, Steve.
1:23:26 PM: Steve:
What is your order number?
1:23:49 PM: Chris:
445537. I'd like to replace the cancelled part with part # PBR1665861. Just want to make sure I won't be charged again for shipping.
1:24:33 PM: Steve:
Unfortunately we can't add/replace parts to an order that has already been placed. This is due to our highly automated fulfillment system. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
1:25:24 PM: Chris:
Right. I understand that. But I still need brake pads, so need to re-order. Like I said, I just want to make sure I don't get charged again for shipping, which is why I didn't just do an online order. I'm assuming shipping was billed with the partial order that shipped yesterday.
1:27:49 PM: Steve:
This order has been process for shipping and can no longer be change.
1:27:58 PM: Steve:
Please accept our apologies for this.
1:28:27 PM: Chris:
So what was the charge billed? It hasn't shown up on my CC statement yet, and the order page is still showing the full charge, including the cancelled part.
1:29:07 PM: Steve:
You were charge $45.40 for this order.
1:30:20 PM: Chris:
So $22.26 for the part, $17.92 shipping and $5.22 HST?
1:31:51 PM: Steve:
Shipping Cost is 9.99 and HST.
1:32:37 PM: Chris:
That doesn't add up. The part I received is $22.26. 22.26 + 9.99 = 32.95 + 13% HST = $37.23.
1:35:36 PM: Steve:
Okay. I have sent the information to the billing department so they can check on the order for you and issue refund.
1:36:03 PM: Steve:
Is there anything else I can help you with today?
1:36:08 PM: Chris:
I'd rather just receive a credit - I still need to order brake pads.
1:36:17 PM: Steve:
Okay.
1:36:20 PM: Steve:
Is there anything else I can help you with today?
1:37:14 PM: Chris:
no
01-31-2013, 10:09 AM
#36
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pontifex4 - Yes, you would pay return shipping on a return, unless our company is in some way at fault. For example if you order an air filter, and we send you a muffler, obviously you don't pay return shipping.
Also if you state something doesn't fit and our initial investigation states it does, you would be responsible for return shipping. We later take a close look at the part and if there was any error on our end, we reimburse you for the return shipping.
As I wrote before, most returns where the customer states we sent the wrong part are actually cases where the customer is not sure what they need exactly and purchase the wrong one. This is most likely why mechanics and store owners have a much lower return rate than Do-it-Yourselfers.
We do everything possible to make sure that our catalog is correct, so that if there is a return that doesn't fit, we take it very seriously and if there was in fact an error on our end, we reimburse for the return shipping. This can be in the form of store credit, refund back to credit card or a check.
Also if you state something doesn't fit and our initial investigation states it does, you would be responsible for return shipping. We later take a close look at the part and if there was any error on our end, we reimburse you for the return shipping.
As I wrote before, most returns where the customer states we sent the wrong part are actually cases where the customer is not sure what they need exactly and purchase the wrong one. This is most likely why mechanics and store owners have a much lower return rate than Do-it-Yourselfers.
We do everything possible to make sure that our catalog is correct, so that if there is a return that doesn't fit, we take it very seriously and if there was in fact an error on our end, we reimburse for the return shipping. This can be in the form of store credit, refund back to credit card or a check.
01-31-2013, 10:57 AM
#37
Race Car
CHRISTIEN LEDROIT,
This is to confirm that your refund for order number 445537 has been issued. The refund will appear on your credit card within 2-3 business days.
Please let us know if we can further assist you.
Customer Service
AutoPartsWAY.ca
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This is to confirm that your refund for order number 445537 has been issued. The refund will appear on your credit card within 2-3 business days.
Please let us know if we can further assist you.
Customer Service
AutoPartsWAY.ca
Become a Facebook Fan and receive a coupon now!
01-31-2013, 11:03 AM
#38
Race Car
You're kind of proving the point of the thread here - customer service there just isn't where it used to be. If your records are showing I was refunded in Nov. but I wasn't then there's something wrong with your record keeping, bank/cc reconciliation, etc. I did just double check my mastercard statements from the date of initial billing (Nov. 28) to today, and there's definitely no refund there. Again, we're talking about less than $9, but it's the principal of the matter.
01-31-2013, 11:29 AM
#39
Drifting
Thread Starter
I ordered this, but received only the outer gasket, even though your description clearly lists all the other items in the package.
When I called about it, I was informed that I was sent the part that I ordered according to your records, and was prompted for the APW part number on the sticker, which proved this to your satisfaction. That's fine, but the description clearly lists all the parts in the set (see attached screen shot), which were not there in the package.
The call wasn't confrontational, but your representative clearly had the position that APW wasn't at fault, so I could return the items if I paid for shipping.
Your system may work well most of the time, but this is a case where I believe that it failed and frustrated me.
Thanks for listening.
01-31-2013, 11:33 AM
#40
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Christien - I did some digging and I think I tracked it down.
The summary is, just like any website we encrypt your data at the time of order placement and send it to a credit card processing company that approves or declines a truncation and sends back a code indicating the status. The system is not perfect as sometimes the credit card processing companies are down, which results in a decline when transaction should be approved and so on. Sometimes we get back an approved code, we ship the order, turns out the charge actually didn't go through. This is not us, this is any e-commerce company.
Refunds work the same way except instead of sending the credit card info, we send the original transactionID created during the charge.
Well it looks like when one item on your order was cancelled you were charge for the shipped items only on November 27th and a refund for the HST on the cancelled item was submitted on Nov 28th. We received a successful refund confirmation status form our credit card processing company. The problem is, due to some error with the credit card processing company, the refund was actually declined. Now your're probably thinking how can a refund be declined, since this is what I was thinking myself. I asked and was told this can happen due to a system error or if the credit card processor has an outage or connection issues on their end. In any event, this is what happened, so our records indicated a refund issued as it should have been, but it wasn't.
So when you spoke to Tasha and she forwarded your info to the billing team, they check and refund showed as issued in our system to they closed the ticket.
Our accounting team would catch this error sooner or later, but it looks like you emailed us a few days ago. Since this wasn't the first ticket created for this refund it was escalated to a billing manager with credentials to the credit card processing company login area, he checked that the refund was actually declined and issued the refund to you on the 29th, confirming that it was now correctly processed.
Being that the refund was issued on the 29th, you should see it on your credit card today or tomorrow.
To make up for the delay and confusion, I asked for a gift certificate to be issued to you that you can use as store credit. I can't post the code here, but please email your order number to our customer service team and the gift certificate code is commented on your order, so they will gladly send it to you.
The summary is, just like any website we encrypt your data at the time of order placement and send it to a credit card processing company that approves or declines a truncation and sends back a code indicating the status. The system is not perfect as sometimes the credit card processing companies are down, which results in a decline when transaction should be approved and so on. Sometimes we get back an approved code, we ship the order, turns out the charge actually didn't go through. This is not us, this is any e-commerce company.
Refunds work the same way except instead of sending the credit card info, we send the original transactionID created during the charge.
Well it looks like when one item on your order was cancelled you were charge for the shipped items only on November 27th and a refund for the HST on the cancelled item was submitted on Nov 28th. We received a successful refund confirmation status form our credit card processing company. The problem is, due to some error with the credit card processing company, the refund was actually declined. Now your're probably thinking how can a refund be declined, since this is what I was thinking myself. I asked and was told this can happen due to a system error or if the credit card processor has an outage or connection issues on their end. In any event, this is what happened, so our records indicated a refund issued as it should have been, but it wasn't.
So when you spoke to Tasha and she forwarded your info to the billing team, they check and refund showed as issued in our system to they closed the ticket.
Our accounting team would catch this error sooner or later, but it looks like you emailed us a few days ago. Since this wasn't the first ticket created for this refund it was escalated to a billing manager with credentials to the credit card processing company login area, he checked that the refund was actually declined and issued the refund to you on the 29th, confirming that it was now correctly processed.
Being that the refund was issued on the 29th, you should see it on your credit card today or tomorrow.
To make up for the delay and confusion, I asked for a gift certificate to be issued to you that you can use as store credit. I can't post the code here, but please email your order number to our customer service team and the gift certificate code is commented on your order, so they will gladly send it to you.
01-31-2013, 11:38 AM
#41
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pontifex4 - This manufacturer used to make a kit that contained all these parts. They now sell just the gasket alone, but kept the same part number. Since the part number was the same, we didn't update the description. This is our error. If you would like to return the item please let me know and we'll get a pre-paid label to you.
01-31-2013, 11:47 AM
#42
Race Car
Our accounting team would catch this error sooner or later, but it looks like you emailed us a few days ago.
To make up for the delay and confusion, I asked for a gift certificate to be issued to you that you can use as store credit. I can't post the code here, but please email your order number to our customer service team and the gift certificate code is commented on your order, so they will gladly send it to you.
Thanks. Please understand I'm not trying to bust your ***** here. Autopartsway fills a badly needed whole in the parts supply area for us Canadians. I'd rather see you guys pick up the slack than go under because of too many pissed off customers. So what I'm trying to do here is show you, from a customer perspective, what's not working, and what we see on our end of it, in the hope that you can correct the flaws in the system.
I'm a small business owner, and value conversations like this immensely. It shows me where I need to improve service, and where people are happy with the service they're receiving.
01-31-2013, 12:22 PM
#43
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Christien - I very much appreciate you taking the time to have this discussion. I think this kind of thing is very much needed and the managers of the company agree since they posted a Feedback link on every page of our website. When you use that option, the comments go to every key person in the company, and believe me, they read all the comments, and reply to most as well. Maintaining good customer relationship is key to every company and we realize that. Please also realize that selling auto parts requires a lot more work and much better technology than for example selling sweaters or stereos or something. Just the size of the database, the amount of parts and possible variations is almost incomprehensible.
Anyway if you din't contact us about the refund recently, than our accounting team must have caught it as I suspected. They match up actual charges/refunds that credit card processing company has to our internal system when they do the reconciliation. I've seen cases where our billing team had to call a customer 2-3 months after they placed and received their order asking permission to charge their credit card for the order as it wasn't originally charged, same error would cause such a situation as your refund and same kind of accounting procedure would catch that.
Again, sorry about the delay and any inconvenience.
Anyway if you din't contact us about the refund recently, than our accounting team must have caught it as I suspected. They match up actual charges/refunds that credit card processing company has to our internal system when they do the reconciliation. I've seen cases where our billing team had to call a customer 2-3 months after they placed and received their order asking permission to charge their credit card for the order as it wasn't originally charged, same error would cause such a situation as your refund and same kind of accounting procedure would catch that.
Again, sorry about the delay and any inconvenience.
01-31-2013, 12:23 PM
#44
Drifting
Thread Starter
pontifex4 - This manufacturer used to make a kit that contained all these parts. They now sell just the gasket alone, but kept the same part number. Since the part number was the same, we didn't update the description. This is our error. If you would like to return the item please let me know and we'll get a pre-paid label to you.
Nevertheless, I do appreciate the offer.
To be clear, like Christien, it wasn't about the money for me: the inconvenience is just as real for a hobby mechanic as it is for a real garage, and these recent transactions have undercut my confidence that when I order, I'll get what I need. That was the real point of this thread, though the response was a lot more constructive than I was expecting.
As someone who primarily works on cars on the weekend, I don't have the luxury of trying a part to discover that it doesn't fit on Tuesday and having you get me the right part by Friday. In reality, I'll try it on Saturday, and if it doesn't fit, I'm out of luck until the next Saturday. That's a pain that I feel a lot more acutely than, for example, a 30% premium on small parts.
As a side note, I think it's worth noting that when you make the claim that the majority of your returns are from hobbyists who order the wrong part, you do yourself a disservice: sharing information like that only invites the impression that you're an habitual customer blamer.
01-31-2013, 12:55 PM
#45
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pontifex4 - Understood about the return.
I only gave out statistics about returns because our company keeps a record of very return and we try to maintain our catalog in such a way that returns are as close to 0 as possible. No one likes returns, customers don't like them because they want what they want and don't want to deal with returns. Companies don't like returns because it costs them money and creates dissatisfied customers.
As you can probably tell, we do very little in terms of advertising. We rely on repeat customers and word of mouth, therefore we do everything possible to ensure that are customers are satisfied. If there is anything I can do for you please let me know. I'm not part of the customer service team but will work with them to do whatever I can. Its one of the reasons I joined this forum when someone referred to it on our facebook page.
Just a side note, I was taking a marketing class back in 2010 and by far the most common reason given by any customer, for any online company is "you sent me the wrong part". The "wrong part" usually does not refer to a different part being shipped than being ordered, but rather that the customer ordered and therefore received a different part than he pictured in his head. We all do it, and I myself do it and remember that class every time I do it.
Right before the holidays in December I ordered some sneakers online. I received them and was disappointed because tof they way they looked. I logged into the company website that I purchased from and when the website asked me for the return reason my original instinct was to choose "shipped wrong item". At that moment I immediately paused and knew that even though I took that marketing class, I am like every customer and although I looked at the images of the sneakers online, I was expecting them to look like I pictured in my head, not like they actually look. So they were the correct ones, just not what I wanted or expected. Funny how the human mind works sometimes.
I only gave out statistics about returns because our company keeps a record of very return and we try to maintain our catalog in such a way that returns are as close to 0 as possible. No one likes returns, customers don't like them because they want what they want and don't want to deal with returns. Companies don't like returns because it costs them money and creates dissatisfied customers.
As you can probably tell, we do very little in terms of advertising. We rely on repeat customers and word of mouth, therefore we do everything possible to ensure that are customers are satisfied. If there is anything I can do for you please let me know. I'm not part of the customer service team but will work with them to do whatever I can. Its one of the reasons I joined this forum when someone referred to it on our facebook page.
Just a side note, I was taking a marketing class back in 2010 and by far the most common reason given by any customer, for any online company is "you sent me the wrong part". The "wrong part" usually does not refer to a different part being shipped than being ordered, but rather that the customer ordered and therefore received a different part than he pictured in his head. We all do it, and I myself do it and remember that class every time I do it.
Right before the holidays in December I ordered some sneakers online. I received them and was disappointed because tof they way they looked. I logged into the company website that I purchased from and when the website asked me for the return reason my original instinct was to choose "shipped wrong item". At that moment I immediately paused and knew that even though I took that marketing class, I am like every customer and although I looked at the images of the sneakers online, I was expecting them to look like I pictured in my head, not like they actually look. So they were the correct ones, just not what I wanted or expected. Funny how the human mind works sometimes.