06/14/2013
How reliable is my recycler?
The internet is a great tool for finding anything we want. Belgian chocolates in the shape of the Sphinx? Check! Doc Marten flip-flops? Check! Auto parts (except for flux capacitors for a DeLorean)? Check! The downside to this is with the increase of on-line commerce comes an increase of dishonest merchants.
As the saying goes, a few bad apples can ruin the bunch. Fortunately, there are several on-line forums and websites geared towards consumer protection, where people just like you get to voice concerns over transactions gone wrong, and warn others of disreputable vendors.
Auto parts can be costly. If a part is purchased from a dishonest merchant, it may end up costing the consumer more in out-of-pocket expenses beyond the part itself. We at Lone Kiwi Parts realize that this can be a scary proposition. In order to protect yourself from scam artists, we highly recommend you do a little research about the merchant prior to making any online purchase.
HERE’S HOW:
A simple Google search for "company name + complaint" is a good start. This will give the consumer an idea of how many complaints may be out there on a particular merchant, on any number of websites. For instance, if you typed in “John Doe Auto Parts + complaint” and 50 different websites came up with hundreds of consumer complaints on each website—you’d think twice before purchasing from them wouldn’t you?
A legitimate business should have a Better Business Bureau file (www.BBB.org). The things to look for there are length of time in business (some vendors change names after getting too many complaints), the number of complaints, and the nature of the complaints. If there is a pattern of customers saying they were told they were buying an 18K mile part but it really had 100K, that vendor is probably not one to be trusted!
There are websites that are strictly geared towards consumer protection which should be checked out: ripoffreport.com, complaintsboard.com, pissedconsumer.com, to name a few. If you do a search on these websites on a particular merchant and there are lots of complaints, take it as a warning sign from fellow consumers - you risk losing a lot of time, money and energy going with this seller!
Finally, and we cannot emphasize this enough because we’ve seen too many customers fall into this trap: If you’ve done all your research and found loads of negative evidence for a particular merchant, do not be lured into the false sense of security that your transaction will be "the lucky one". If you purchase from a merchant that has left a bloody trail of consumer complaints, you’ll probably find yourself posting your own complaint on the very websites you chose not to heed.
At Lone Kiwi Parts, we feel it's important to promote integrity in the used parts industry. We have over 13 years in business, and hope we can add you to our long list of satisfied customers. Good luck shopping, and remember... "Let's be careful out there".
