Terrible customer service rant thread

[DaraSue]

So I was going to buy a spare valve cover for my CRX if I could find one for less than $50, and I called a scrapyard in Colorado that had one listed on car-part.com. When the guy tells me it's going to be $50 shipping (the actual part was $25) I tell him I'll get back to him. He responds with "No problem, I'm used to people wasting my time." WTF? Is it seriously some kind of grievous offense to request a price quote from a scrap yard and then not buy the thing? If you're so slammed with work that you're going to get butthurt at somebody for taking up 5 minutes of your time and then not buying anything, how the hell do you have time to expend making little bitchy-ass comments instead of just saying "Have a nice day" and hanging up? I seriously would not buy from this asshole even if he had the last one of whatever I was looking for on the face of the earth. It was Phil's Salvage in Hotchkiss, if anybody was wondering.

...Or did I break some unwritten rule of scrapping that I was hitherto unaware of?

[DMC5180]

What year is your crx and what size engine? Is it a V- tec?

If these are applicable, they are in your budget.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F39 1881489760

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F30 2690634794

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F19 1504068700

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F30 2307725064


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DaraSue]

What year is your crx and what size engine? Is it a V- tec?

If these are applicable, they are in your budget.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F39 1881489760

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F30 2690634794

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F19 1504068700

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F30 2307725064



Nah, it's an 87 carbureted 1.5. I figured out that I actually didn't really need the valve cover (the part I thought was bent turned out to just be the old gasket which had come out of its groove and gotten warped) but I figured I'd pick one up just in case I ever needed it, since apparently I have the least popular model of CRX and parts are increasingly hard to find. There's a place about 130 miles from here that I might stop by if they still have one listed when we're doing our park trip in June (I called them too but they couldn't tell me for sure what engine it fit, but at least they weren't jerks about it).

Thanks anyway though!

[DMC5180]

Darn, well I tried. Good luck [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shep]

"I'm not used to paying more for shipping than the goddamned part, are you paying your uncle to drive it up?!" would have been my response. Last time I shipped a valve cover it cost $15 to ship it UPS to the other coast, I'm sorry but you made the right call by not rewarding this guy for overcharging AND for being a douche. If anything went wrong, he'd blame the courier, who probably wasn't insured, rather than you being able to go after him directly. This is why you should never buy things off eBay that cost $1 with $49 shipping if there's an option for $50 with free shipping.

Just remember: he's being a dick because nobody's nice to him. Which is because, he's a dick. "He's used to it" tells me he hates his job but has to do it. Take solace that you can make him hate it more over a measly $25 part. :)

[DaraSue]

"I'm not used to paying more for shipping than the goddamned part, are you paying your uncle to drive it up?!" would have been my response. Last time I shipped a valve cover it cost $15 to ship it UPS to the other coast, I'm sorry but you made the right call by not rewarding this guy for overcharging AND for being a douche. If anything went wrong, he'd blame the courier, who probably wasn't insured, rather than you being able to go after him directly. This is why you should never buy things off eBay that cost $1 with $49 shipping if there's an option for $50 with free shipping.

Just remember: he's being a dick because nobody's nice to him. Which is because, he's a dick. "He's used to it" tells me he hates his job but has to do it. Take solace that you can make him hate it more over a measly $25 part. :)

LOL yeah, reading the reviews that weren't written by his staff, it sounds like I'm not the only one to have experienced this guy's winning people skills. I guess I can feel blessed that I found out how shitty their customer service was before I actually gave them any money.

His rationale for the cost was that it's a you-pull-it yard so somebody was going to have to pull it for me. Like, ok, but it took me less than half an hour to get the cover off my own car and probably would have taken a real mechanic less than 10 minutes so if that's worth $30+ I'm in the wrong line of work. Even then I might have considered it if the dude hadn't been such a dick. Hope his little moment of glory was worth it, LOL...

[Shep]

reviews that weren't written by his staffDidn't an entire game developer get banned forever from Steam over that like a month ago? Yeah people don't like it when you do that...


His rationale for the cost was that it's a you-pull-it yard so somebody was going to have to pull it for me.There's a thought in there: if you can find a guy on here with a local "pull it yourself" junkyard with the part you need that can arrange a removal and ship at-cost, you can save a few more bucks. And probably pull a DMCTalk first, I don't know that anyone's tried that before. (It snowed again today here, but Pull-A-Part is local to my part of the country.)

[Lwanmtr]

Yeah we have a pull a part like a mile from here too. They had decent prices when i went there years ago.

[Josh]

Generally speaking I have found auto wreckers to be consistently grouchy and rude. They do deal with a lot of idiots which makes them sour, but they are running a business after all and should be more considerate.

[DaraSue]

Didn't an entire game developer get banned forever from Steam over that like a month ago? Yeah people don't like it when you do that...

There's a thought in there: if you can find a guy on here with a local "pull it yourself" junkyard with the part you need that can arrange a removal and ship at-cost, you can save a few more bucks. And probably pull a DMCTalk first, I don't know that anyone's tried that before. (It snowed again today here, but Pull-A-Part is local to my part of the country.)

Heh, I'll keep that in mind. There's a possibility I might actually need the part b/c when I replaced the gasket it was still leaking from the same spot where the old one was warped, but I'll see what happens.


Yeah we have a pull a part like a mile from here too. They had decent prices when i went there years ago.

If you happen to be there and spot a carbureted gen 1 CRX with a decent valve cover, snag it for me and I'll pay you back. :)


Generally speaking I have found auto wreckers to be consistently grouchy and rude. They do deal with a lot of idiots which makes them sour, but they are running a business after all and should be more considerate.

The one I usually go to around here is decent enough but unfortunately this isn't a part of the country where CRXs are plentiful so the chances of getting one of my specific model are minimal. But yeah, it's like, if you're going to get pissed off at somebody for asking for a shipping quote maybe don't advertise your stuff on a site that doesn't show shipping? Or hire somebody who isn't a dickhead to answer your phones? :rant:

[Lwanmtr]

If you give me the details on your honda i can give 'em a call and see if they have any in their yard.

[Shep]

If you give me the details on your honda i can give 'em a call and see if they have any in their yard.Why? Did the online search feature break? It's right on their homepage: https://www.pullapart.com/

Cleveland's right around the corner, W 130th is a VERY familiar area to me, I've been there a few times.

[DaraSue]

A postscript to this story - a yard near me got an 86 in with the same engine as mine, so I went and grabbed the valve cover for $11. Suck it, Phil's Salvage! (I didn't even really need it but it was in decent shape and I figured I should get it just in case.)

Now if only the front fenders had been intact...

[valdez]

When the guy tells me it's going to be $50 shipping (the actual part was $25) I tell him I'll get back to him. He responds with "No problem, I'm used to people wasting my time." WTF?

Clearly you need to enquire about more parts. Even for cars you don't own. Then he will have a valid reason to be pissy with you.
Also ask for a pic - then ask for another from a different angle - then tell him you found one local - but thanks for wasting your time with over priced shipping.