houston junkyards

[jorgensensc]

Here is one of the scenarios I distinctly remember. I bought something from him at the swap meet he attends. I can't remember what the part was, but I do remember it was specific to the year of truck, and I asked him if it would work. He was adamant that it would work, so I bought the new repop part. I asked if I could return it if it wasn't right and he said yes. I got it home, did some more research, then found out it wouldn't work. I never opened the package or did anything else to the item. I drove all the way out to his shop (I live about 20 miles from his shop) to return this item. The item was around 40.00 if I remember correctly. Spent about 5.00 in gas to get there. Okay, no big deal. THen when I get there his wife was there. She wanted to charge me a "restocking" fee. I said that he said the item would work, it wasn't correct, it was unopened, and I just spent about 5.00 in gas getting there, so I think a "restocking" fee is inappropriate. If she would like I would walk over and put the item back in the bin on the shelf where it goes. She tells me that is the policy. I ask her to please call her husband on the phone, which she obliges to after some hesitation. She tells him the situation on the phone and after much discussion and insistance on my behalf he finally agrees to wave the "restocking" fee. Stating he wouldn't be able to wave it again. Maybe I'm just a nice guy, but I wouldn't charge someone a restocking fee on anything unless I had a large warehouse type operation. Walking 5 feet to put something in a bin on the sales floor doesn't constitute "restocking" Maybe if it was a large item that needed to be forklifted or manpower and time to maneuver I could see a restocking fee even. But I definitely would ask for a restocking fee period if I told someone the item would work and I was wrong.
Water under the bridge, I used him again. i called ahead of time asking about a front grill assembly for a '72. Looking for a nice driver condition, not perfect, but shiny with a few small dings is fine. He says he has one in great shape for 200.00. I say okay, again thinking the savings in freight. He knows I'm coming from a good distance. I drive all the way out there again, and he takes me to the back and starts digging through piles of grills. He finds one that is really dull (anodize is completely shot) with some bad dents and says this is a nice one. I said no I was looking for one in better condition. He says that he thought he had a better one, but he guesses that he must have sold it. So I leave without the parts I drove 20 miles each way for, and wasted 2 hours of my time when he could have walked out to his shed and verified he had the item in good condition before I drove all the way out there. Where was the customer service with that?

I have thought long and hard about the freight charges and the " having it now mentality" What I have determined (for me) is that the shipping charges are barely more if not less than the tax charges I get charged for doing business in state. I usually shop vendors off this board for that reason. If it is wrong (their mistake), they cover shipping back and make it up to you for your time and inconvenience. I think that is great customer service. With that said, I do like Mike at Mikes Bump and Grind. He is always willing to help and has good technical info. Plus his prices are better than those of Outbacks. I don't mind paying sales tax when I get great local customer service. On top of that he is even farther from me than Outback, but I am willing to travel, again, for good customer service. These are just my experiences and my opinion, so feel free to take it for what it is worth.
Shawn