AutoZone rant

So the guy STOLE your check!?!

I'd have a very firm conversation with the manager of that store. They
certainly have a right not to accept your check, but they have no right
to steal it!

Jeff DeWitt

Red Jeep wrote:
> I need to vent and explain why AutoZone just lost me as a customer.
>
> The driver's side headlight on my XJ went out tonight. I stopped by the
> nearest car parts place to pick up a pair of Sylvania SilverStars. The
> closest place turned out to be AutoZone.
>
> I didn't have $40+ in cash on me, so I decided to write a check. While I
> was writing the check, the sales droid said something about electronics. I
> was busy writing the check and ignored him. He took my check and proceeded
> to demand that I sign another slip of paper allowing them to electronically
> take the money out of my account immediately. If I had wanted to do that, I
> would have used my debit card! He refused to give me my check back and
> wouldn't give me a receipt, so I left sans lights. Tomorrow I will be
> stopping payment on that check. I won't be back to AutoZone.
>
> The Checker store just down the road was much nicer to deal with. They took
> my check and AutoZone's loss with be Checker's gain.
>
> BTW, the SilverStars are a big improvement over stock halogen headlights!

Most of the time I prefer to use my debit card for purchases over $50 and
cash for anything less. If I had planned to buy lights, I would have hit
the cash machine before leaving work. I didn't plan on having the headlight
go out on me tonight...

My father always said, "Don't get so mad you spend your own money." Maybe
by tomorrow I will have cooled down enough to call AZ and talk to a
manager. Otherwise I will pay the stop payment fee and figure it was a
cheap lesson.

"Jeffrey DeWitt" > wrote in message
...
> So the guy STOLE your check!?!
>
> I'd have a very firm conversation with the manager of that store. They
> certainly have a right not to accept your check, but they have no right to
> steal it!
>
> Jeff DeWitt

I agree with Jeff.
I would have made enough of an issue that the manager would have been
contacted if he were off site or I would have called the Police myself.
They had no business keeping your check.

The first time this happened to me, i was taken back a little, especially
when they handed me my check back after running the EFT. It was pretty
unsettling but now I only write about one check every three months. I don't
miss it a bit.

You seriously should have gotten your check back. I'd keep an eye on your
account to be sure the transaction didn't go through anyway. It just seems
like the sales person didn't know what he/she was doing. Maybe your boot up
their ass would have snapped them out of it.

Kate
(Cranky old Irish woman)

Kate wrote:

> Maybe your boot up their ass would have snapped them out of it.
>
> Kate
> (Cranky old Irish woman)

Please run for President of the United States in 2008.

Please?

Kate wrote:
> "Jeffrey DeWitt" > wrote in message
> ...
>> So the guy STOLE your check!?!
>>
>> I'd have a very firm conversation with the manager of that store. They
>> certainly have a right not to accept your check, but they have no right to
>> steal it!
>>
>> Jeff DeWitt
>
> I agree with Jeff.
> I would have made enough of an issue that the manager would have been
> contacted if he were off site or I would have called the Police myself.
> They had no business keeping your check.
>
> The first time this happened to me, i was taken back a little, especially
> when they handed me my check back after running the EFT. It was pretty
> unsettling but now I only write about one check every three months. I don't
> miss it a bit.
>
> You seriously should have gotten your check back. I'd keep an eye on your
> account to be sure the transaction didn't go through anyway. It just seems
> like the sales person didn't know what he/she was doing. Maybe your boot up
> their ass would have snapped them out of it.
>
> Kate
> (Cranky old Irish woman)
>
>

1. You should have been given your check back, but with the quality of
retail clerks these days, I'm not surprised.

2. I have 13 years of banking operations in my past, and I don't like
the electronic processing of checks one bit, but we are stuck with it.
The BIG banks write the laws. (I worked for a little guy, 8 branches,
bought up in 2000.) The first time I had this happen to me was at my
doctor's office, with a check for a $15 copay. I was shocked! These
days, I pay cash for my copays and demand a receipt. I got used to not
getting my checks back with my statement a few years ago, but if I'm
going to write a physical check, damnit I want it processed as a check!

3. Having you sign a separate slip was meaningless. I'm 99.44% sure that
your bank has modified your account agreement to make that completely
unnecessary.

4. I almost never write checks in stores these days. A few go in the
mail, one goes for the rent, the rest is debit card or online bill pay.

5. Walking distance from me there is AutoZone and Kragens. The clerks at
Kragen's are even more insufferable than the ones at AutoZone, so AZ
tends to get my business when it comes to that. For real parts, if I can
get there, I prefer the Mom and Pop store that has been around since
1928 and has their own highly respected machine shop. But that place is
5 miles away, and if the XJ ain't running, I'm stuck.

Best Regards,

DAVe

I've got a good one for ya.

While I was out doing errands this evening I stopped by a phone company
store to pay my bill.

They accept only checks, debit and credit cards, they do not accept cash!!**

The manager did mention I could go down the road to the Sunoco station and
either buy a money order or the Sunoco is authorized to accept payment but
charges a $1 fee to do so...

**I can pay cash if I drive downtown to the main business office during
business hours, none of the non-ghetto locations will accept cash in
payment.




"DaveW" > wrote in message
news:dIqgh.11236$Q36.4041@trnddc08...
> Kate wrote:
>> "Jeffrey DeWitt" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> So the guy STOLE your check!?!
>>>
>>> I'd have a very firm conversation with the manager of that store. They
>>> certainly have a right not to accept your check, but they have no right
>>> to steal it!
>>>
>>> Jeff DeWitt
>>
>> I agree with Jeff.
>> I would have made enough of an issue that the manager would have been
>> contacted if he were off site or I would have called the Police myself.
>> They had no business keeping your check.
>>
>> The first time this happened to me, i was taken back a little, especially
>> when they handed me my check back after running the EFT. It was pretty
>> unsettling but now I only write about one check every three months. I
>> don't miss it a bit.
>>
>> You seriously should have gotten your check back. I'd keep an eye on your
>> account to be sure the transaction didn't go through anyway. It just
>> seems like the sales person didn't know what he/she was doing. Maybe your
>> boot up their ass would have snapped them out of it.
>>
>> Kate
>> (Cranky old Irish woman)
>>
>>
>
> 1. You should have been given your check back, but with the quality of
> retail clerks these days, I'm not surprised.
>
> 2. I have 13 years of banking operations in my past, and I don't like the
> electronic processing of checks one bit, but we are stuck with it. The BIG
> banks write the laws. (I worked for a little guy, 8 branches, bought up in
> 2000.) The first time I had this happen to me was at my doctor's office,
> with a check for a $15 copay. I was shocked! These days, I pay cash for my
> copays and demand a receipt. I got used to not getting my checks back with
> my statement a few years ago, but if I'm going to write a physical check,
> damnit I want it processed as a check!
>
> 3. Having you sign a separate slip was meaningless. I'm 99.44% sure that
> your bank has modified your account agreement to make that completely
> unnecessary.
>
> 4. I almost never write checks in stores these days. A few go in the mail,
> one goes for the rent, the rest is debit card or online bill pay.
>
> 5. Walking distance from me there is AutoZone and Kragens. The clerks at
> Kragen's are even more insufferable than the ones at AutoZone, so AZ tends
> to get my business when it comes to that. For real parts, if I can get
> there, I prefer the Mom and Pop store that has been around since 1928 and
> has their own highly respected machine shop. But that place is 5 miles
> away, and if the XJ ain't running, I'm stuck.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> DAVe

Guitar Center is widely derided by most pros because of the sales-drones and
their attitudes. On the flip side they ususally do have the best prices
anywhere, but most of the folks that work there are clueless. Imagine a
large group of rock musicians providing customer service...

"JimG" > wrote in message
...
>I don't understand that analogy... Are you saying they don't play your
>tune?
>
> "Matt Macchiarolo" wrote in message...
>> Auto Zone is like the Guitar Center of auto parts.
>
>

Demand that the Auto Zone reimburse you for the stop payment fee if they do
not give your check back. What the clerk did was illegal...keeping your
check without giving you the merchandise. Remind the manager of this.

"Red Jeep" > wrote in message
...
>
> Most of the time I prefer to use my debit card for purchases over $50 and
> cash for anything less. If I had planned to buy lights, I would have hit
> the cash machine before leaving work. I didn't plan on having the
> headlight
> go out on me tonight...
>
> My father always said, "Don't get so mad you spend your own money." Maybe
> by tomorrow I will have cooled down enough to call AZ and talk to a
> manager. Otherwise I will pay the stop payment fee and figure it was a
> cheap lesson.
>
>
>
>

Kate, Irish??? Whood a Thunk!!!


"Kate" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Jeffrey DeWitt" > wrote in message
> ...
>> So the guy STOLE your check!?!
>>
>> I'd have a very firm conversation with the manager of that store. They
>> certainly have a right not to accept your check, but they have no right
>> to steal it!
>>
>> Jeff DeWitt
>
> I agree with Jeff.
> I would have made enough of an issue that the manager would have been
> contacted if he were off site or I would have called the Police myself.
> They had no business keeping your check.
>
> The first time this happened to me, i was taken back a little, especially
> when they handed me my check back after running the EFT. It was pretty
> unsettling but now I only write about one check every three months. I
> don't miss it a bit.
>
> You seriously should have gotten your check back. I'd keep an eye on your
> account to be sure the transaction didn't go through anyway. It just seems
> like the sales person didn't know what he/she was doing. Maybe your boot
> up their ass would have snapped them out of it.
>
> Kate
> (Cranky old Irish woman)
>
>

"Matt Macchiarolo" > wrote in message
. ..
> Demand that the Auto Zone reimburse you for the stop payment fee if they
> do not give your check back. What the clerk did was illegal...keeping your
> check without giving you the merchandise. Remind the manager of this.

Or you can remind the local police department.