A BIG negative for CARS

After reading the good and bad about them on this board, and the AACA board, I rolled the dice and won.

I placed a mail in order with them last year, and received everything in short order with a kind hand written note from them that shipping was more than what I had paid them.
They shipped the parts anyway. They just asked that I call to verify shipping charges on my next order.

 

If you search this board you will see at one time or another every vendor has had some sort of problem. Parts Place, Year 1, and even at TA Performance to name a few. These places are only as good as their worst help. If you base your opinion on one guy at a place of many, you will always have this opinion. I met Jeff at the GS Nats in BG KY and I told him about these problems and opinions about CARS and about the V8 Board. They looked over all the complaints and told me that in the internet world, if they come in here and tell their side of things all it does is keep the waters churning. SOme people have problems with all the vendors. Some orders go thru smooth with no issues and others are hard to get completed. Its all in how you interpret the deal. My suggestion to you all that have issues is, call them. Half the time Cars doesnt even know there is a problem as some complainers takethe issues to the internet before Cars even knows there is a problem. Thats not really fair to them either.

If you are apprehensive about Cars and you want to get parts then try this, Call and ask for Jeff. Talk ONLY to Jeff tell him I told you to do so. I have never had a problem with them since I learned this trick.

 

Oh I called them all right. I got a true A-hole on the other end of the line. At that point I was done with them. My order value wasn't enough to put up with that crap. I gave away the parts to someone with a car they actually would work on, and found a local body supply store to spec order bolts for me. If I could walk into their store to get my parts, I probably would. As you know, people will treat you much differently in person than online or on the phone. And I do agree, ALL vendors have their issues now and then. Some just happen to stand out more, usually for good reason. You can only make a good first impression one time.

 

the place is simply great. only about 45 mins from me. I call for a part, they always have it and i pick it up. Good guys. Nice place too! and i have no idea who the owner is.

 

I agree 100% of this statement. Im sorry you got ruffled up there with them and you will have a legit reason to stay away, like I said tho if you talk to the correct guy all the other issues dont seem to happen.

 

I understand, but that should not be necessary.

 

I bought a rebuilt part from them that they rebuilt themselves. Very, very poor quality work that they made no apologies for. I think it is their policy to take the zero accountability approach with customer service.

 

i cantbeleive their shipping charges,10.00 to ship backup lens gaskets to ct,told the guy there i could ride my harley down and pick them up after the winter nuff said,buford owner

 

I have no problems with them. They have stuff that no one else sells. I have also lucked out and found many real nice NOS parts from them as well for reasonable prices. Why mess with Ebay?

 

It's funny, after reading all the posts, my final synopsis is that some people are willing to put up with crappy CS and others are not (and shouldn't have to).

Even a clock is right twice a day. CARS can have good CS (customer service) once in a while too (if you talk to Jeff I guess ) but when I want a part the last thing I want to have to worry about is getting an a-hole on the phone before even getting started.

Congeniality and auto parts sales do not go hand in hand. I can never remember them even being thought of in the same sentence in my experiences.

My best experiences with friendliness have been from Y1, but most of those guys there know less about my car than I do. Maybe that's a good thing though. :Smarty:

 

I'd be happy with competence and an attitude OTHER THAN "the customer is always wrong".

If I ever have reason to call CARS again, I'll be sure to ask for Jeff, but for all I know, that's who I spoke to before, I never wrote down the guy's name.

 

During the restoration of my 70 GS, I needed a lower shift boot for a car with a consolette. I ordered a reproduction from Yearone. My original boot was lots thicker and overlapped the retaining ring. I sent it back and recieved a full refund. After looking up the GM number 389900, I had the local dealer put it on locator. No other dealers had one. I looked on the CARS website and they listed one NOS boot and also repro boots. I called and ordered the NOS boot. When it arrived it was in a ziploc bag with a small piece of cardboard. On the cardboard, the GM number was hand written in pencil. The boot looked identical to the Yearone repro that I just sent back! I called CARS and they insisted that it was an NOS boot. I told them I wanted my money back. They gave me the money back for the boot only, so I paid for shipping both ways and they tried to make me pay a restocking fee! Needless to say, I will never order from those arrogant people again.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I like it either. My school of thought is whether you're selling auto parts, lipstick or vaccum cleaners, you should do it with a smile or at least a sense of giving a crap about the customer. I'm on your side.

Let me tell you, before I ever go to any of these after market companies, I almost always try ebay, or a local auto parts store, because it gives me another sense of control I don't have otherwise.

1A Auto is still my favorite of all the vendors, but the Buick stuff they have is generalized and not too specific unless you luck out. If they started carrying the same stuff as Y1 and CARS and Poston I'd buy from them in a heartbeat.