They sold me the wrong part. How do I get them to pay for the consequences?
October 27, 2011 9:12 PM   Subscribe

National auto parts chain sold me the wrong part. They asked me, and I told them the year, make and model and engine size of my car, and they still sold me the wrong part. By name, it was the part I asked for, but it was one that only goes in other models of cars, not mine.

After buying the part, I went to a garage that lets you bring your own part if you want to (which is a way to avoid the parts markup garages normally have) and they opened up my car, and only then did they discover that it was the wrong part. So the garage charged me for the labor for taking my car apart and putting it back together. Fortunately, I managed to get them to give me a discount on the labor, although they didn't really seem to think I deserved one. (Please don't discuss whether or not they should have given me a discount on this thread. That is not my question.)

Later on when I thought about it, I realized that the auto parts chain should pay for the labor, since it was their mistake. Is there any way I can get them to do this? I have the receipt. It says nothing on the receipt, or on their website, about this kind of issue. Is there anything I can say to them when I go back there to return the part? Maybe get my lawyer boss to write them a letter? (This wouldn't be his specialty, but people tend to listen to letters from lawyers.)

After the discount, the amount in question for the labor is under $100, but it's still a big deal to me because I am furious about this whole issue because, among other things, the price of the proper part is almost three freaking times what I paid for the wrong part. (That is why the garage had to put my car back together with the old part in it, I couldn't afford what the right part cost.) So I at least want the national chain auto parts store, with three heads in its logo, to pay for the labor, since they're the ones whose screwup caused the labor cost.
posted by serena15221 to Law & Government (14 answers total)
 
You should have verified you got the right part before you went to the mechanic. If that was not a task you were capable of, then you should have paid someone else (the mechanic) to do it for you.

Why didn't the mechanic verify the correctness of the part before they tore your car apart? Why aren't they the ones at fault.

Sorry, but the auto parts store is not liable for your actions taken after you bought a part from them. They did sell you the wrong part. They should take it back and refund the purchase price. They didn't make you tear your car apart without checking if you had the correct replacement parts. They also didn't make you put it back together without fixing it instead of leaving it disassembled while you went to get the right part.

Sorry, this is your fault.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:22 PM on October 27, 2011 [11 favorites]


You are dreaming. They sold you the wrong part. They are obliged to take it back and give you a refund or the correct part. If they are smart, they'll give you a discount for your trouble. But they are in no way obligated to pay your mechanics costs. This is why it's sometimes better to pay the markup at the garage on parts.
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:42 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


In theory, if you sue on a contract theory, you can recover not only the price paid, but also consequential damages not wholly unlike what you are describing.

However . . . I doubt you could recover, under the best of circumstances, the labor spent in reassembling your vehicle with the old part in it. And the fact that you could not afford the proper part undercuts your theory of having been disadvantaged by the original installation of the wrong part. So your case is not as clear as you may think it.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 9:47 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


What everyone else said. I've bought my own parts for non-essential interior stuff -- specifically, self-contained electric window units from scrapyards and eBay -- but I've seen my preferred mechanics on the phone to their parts suppliers, and whatever markup they charge is worth it for a) them knowing their shit and b) being able to come back to them if there's a part-specific problem.

If sending them a nastygram will make you feel better, go ahead, but this is one of those situations where learning comes at a price.
posted by holgate at 9:48 PM on October 27, 2011


I agree with everyone else. Getting a deal on a part somewhere else doesn't mean that you're actually going to save money in the long run (as you are finding out). Bringing your own part means that the mechanic isn't liable for part failure or customer negligence (bringing bad or wrong part) and subsequent damage.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 9:55 PM on October 27, 2011


And, to help you feel better, yes, it totally sucks, absolutely sucks, 100% SUCKS. But it is, nevertheless, something that you were in the driver's seat for. Additional responsiblity is the price we (occasionally) pay for (usually) getting a lower price.
posted by davejay at 10:32 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


1 ) You're hosed for the labor. Sorry, but had you done the work yourself, as most people who buy parts from these shops do, you wouldn't have expected a refund for the time you spent tearing things apart and putting it back together. Wrong parts do happen, and you don't always know until you have the car apart. But if they reimbursed you for labor costs in those cases, parts prices would be so high that you might as well pay the mechanic's markup.

2 ) Find out where your local shops order parts from. They get a few things here and there from the chains, but they've got good supplier for everything else. The prices are competitive and you know you're getting good stuff. They're also more likely to know if a part won't fit for some reason.

I mention #2 because I recently ended up in a situation where I had to bring a part to the mechanic (the repair needed a special tool that was pretty expensive but that all the shops have.) At first they weren't going to do it, but then I showed them that I got the part from the same place they get parts, and then they were cool with it. They explained that had I gotten it from a chain, they wouldn't have touched the repair.
posted by azpenguin at 10:55 PM on October 27, 2011


I have encountered something like this with a national chain, though the correct part was about 20% higher than what I paid and the store ate the difference without my having to ask 'em to. (Fortunately, the mechanic noticed this before he did much work and the shop delivered the correct part in about 15 minutes.)

No loss in talking to Manny, Moe or Jack to see what they'll do, doing everything you can via social media, etc., to bring this to their attention.

Realistically, seems like you have a better shot at getting the part at a big discount, maybe at their cost, which doesn't take money out of their pocket the way their paying for you labor would.
posted by ambient2 at 12:52 AM on October 28, 2011


the price of the proper part is almost three freaking times what I paid for the wrong part. (That is why the garage had to put my car back together with the old part in it, I couldn't afford what the right part cost.)

Your inability to afford to fix your car is not the auto parts store's fault. If you could've afforded the correct part then you would've exchanged the wrong part for the right one and had it installed, and the labor wouldn't have been wasted. It certainly sucks to be in your position, but the consequences of the mistake have more to do with your finances and your decision to have the car reassembled with the bad part than with the auto parts store's original error. A discount on the right part would've been the thing to go for, but the time to do it would've been before they put your car back together.
posted by jon1270 at 3:24 AM on October 28, 2011


By name, it was the part I asked for, but it was one that only goes in other models of cars, not mine.

So you asked for the wrong part and they sold it to you? Did you ask them for advice or ask them to confirm the part was compatible with your car? Unless someone at the autoparts store specifically said, yes this will fit your car then I don't see how they're responsible for you ordering the wrong part.
posted by missmagenta at 5:52 AM on October 28, 2011


Ordering car parts can be a real PITA. Sometimes the only way to verify a correct part is through the VIN number, as a parts change can be made halfway through the year, and cars with VINs prior to a certain number in that same year will have a slightly different part (that of course, won't work on the rest of the vehicles, damn them.)

DH, having been there and returned parts several times because of this and other foul-ups, recommends always working with a cooperative mechanic who will help you out with this.

That said, I think you're SOL. Car parts dealers are notorious for their lousy attitudes. Just be grateful you can get your money back. Some won't take returns if the box is open. (Just how the hell are you supposed to figure out if it fits, you sent a the wrong part, for the wrong car, you jerks, and it's broken, and ARRRRRGGH!)
posted by BlueHorse at 9:52 AM on October 28, 2011


Dasein: "(where was the warranty that it was the right part for the repair? Someone saying they think it's the right part doesn't cut it. Caveat emptor)"

IAAL, but IANYL.

The above is, in general, completely ass backward and wrong, as is most of the advice above. It's even wrong from a "common sense" point of view. When you walk into a store, supposedly staffed by knowledgeable people, and ask for a part, are you not entitled to rely on their knowledge to at least give you the correct part? How is the average non-expert supposed to know that he's been given the wrong part?

As a legal matter, there's something (in American law) called the "implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose." Google it. It applies automatically when you buy goods where the seller knows or has reason to know that the buyer is "relying on the seller's skill or judgment" to select the correct part. The warranty can be disclaimed by the seller, but only in writing. If there has been a breach of the warranty, then (as pointed out above), the injured party can (in the proper circumstances) recover "consequential damages" following from the breach.

Now, the above is nothing more than a thumbnail sketch, and is not legal advice to you or anyone else who might read this. You'll have to consider your options -- talking it over with your lawyer-boss sounds like a good start.
posted by lex mercatoria at 1:00 PM on October 28, 2011


This is why most people let the mechanic buy the parts. If you take things into your own hands, and then dont even verify that the part is correct before your car is worked on, then whatever costs you incur are your own fault.
posted by twblalock at 1:10 PM on October 29, 2011


lex mercatoria, that implied warranty does work that is unnecessary in this setting -- there's nothing special about the purchaser's needs here. Merchantibility would be fine.

But as I remarked above, perhaps as part of the assbackward advice you malign, consequential damages may be available in principle, but there are facts here that make recovery more complicated. As a practical matter, I think suing on that basis here is not worth the trouble and expense. I too do not provide this as legal advice to the poster.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 1:22 PM on October 29, 2011


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