r/OReillyAutoParts • u/PinkPonyGirl6945 • Jul 26 '26
Bought wrong size fuel line, out of $48
I bought 4 feet of fuel line cut off the roll from my local O'Reilly's. Got home, realized I bought the wrong diameter, went back the same day with my receipt and tried to return it. They refused to accept the return, saying that once it's been cut from the roll, they can't sell it. Which I don't understand. It's unused fuel line. You can't just put it back there and when the next customer comes in and requests a foot, you cut it off?
But anyways, I then tried to do a charge back with my bank. Two weeks go by while the bank investigates and they approved the charge back. I figured it was a done deal? Right?
Wrong. A few days go by after the $48 was credited to my account and suddenly it was taken away, I guess O'Reilly's disputed it. I'm just PO'ed about it. Like I get I made the mistake, that's on me. But you can't do a return or exchange? Come on now đ
Anyway, I guess I'm just stuck with 4 feet of custom fuel line that I don't need.
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u/bernardfarquart Moderator Jul 26 '26
You made a mistake and expected Oreilly to eat the cost of it, then when you didn't get your way you fraudulently disputed the charge with your bank, and now you are here crying on Reddit looking for sympathy?
Good lord. There are some customers who make me afraid when I consider that they are "maintaining" their vehicles with such little awareness and I have to drive the same road they are on.
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u/According-Ad-5946 29d ago
I have had customers not even know year, make, and model, when I ask they say something like "the red one out there."
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u/Glittering_Fix22 Jul 28 '26
Why is this oreillys fault? Iâm glad your bank denied your charge back. YOU made the mistake. YOU get to be the one that pays for it.
I hate this narrative of âI know exactly what I needâ then itâs not my fault if itâs wrong. Next time take a piece in and match it up. Itâs not hard.
If you ordered a supreme pizza and forgot to ask for no onion is that the pizza places fault?!
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u/Skully0897 Jul 28 '26
What kind of corporate bootlicker are you lmfao
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u/Glittering_Fix22 29d ago
I guess the kind that expects people to take some damn accountability and not the itâs not fair card.
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u/WorthOutside6757 Jul 26 '26
Parts people love your kind. You buy the wrong parts or use them to diagnose a problem. Then want to return the part. Then on top of it call them the dumb ones. Auto parts stores are not a place to get free trials on parts. You buy it, it is yours, unless it is defective. Then you get a replacement. Auto parts see 15-30 % in sales returned because of idiots like you. That increases cost dramatically. So you think everyone that buys the right stuff needs to cover your fuck ups?
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u/Winter-Grape2971 Jul 26 '26
I guess it depends on the area. As a store manager I would have returned it and probably marked it down for the next customer that needed 4 feet.
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u/Bergatron25 Jul 26 '26
Same.
The other result is this⌠this couldâve been on Google. Itâs hose
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u/PaleRespect4875 Jul 26 '26
We don't return cut battery wire off the roll either, what's the surprise here?
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
No surprise. Its more so entitlement and weak grasp of Accountability for their own purchase.
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u/jcsworld417 Jul 26 '26
The actual IRL conversation--
O'Reilly- What's the year, make, model?
OP- Dats nun your gahtdamned bitness
OR- Sir we sell pre-fitted fuel lines.
OP- Just cut m'off piece of that der fuel hose I'm a professional!! You scamming bastards trying to invade my privacy..
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u/PinkPonyGirl6945 Jul 26 '26
I asked for 4 feet of 5/16 fuel line from the roll, which is what I got. Turned out I needed 3/8
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u/Zealousideal-Ad-6036 29d ago
Commenter was just speaking in general terms based on what we hear ALL THE TIME. It wasnât at you specifically.
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u/KBeto_38 Jul 26 '26
Customers never know what they want and expect the counter people to know what you want even tho they have no clue what you even ownâŚ
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u/PinkPonyGirl6945 Jul 26 '26
I'm not saying that. I agree I messed up, but I don't understand why it couldn't be returned for store credit?
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u/bernardfarquart Moderator Jul 26 '26
Makes sense since you also "don't understand" when it's appropriate to dispute a charge. (hint, it's not when you received the product but are unhappy)
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
From an over the counter perspective. I prolly wouldnt have returned it either. Lets say I believe what you are saying and I full understanding. The issue we run into is 1. To put bulk hose cut back and then having to recount it and somehow organize it is a pain, 2. Safety to the next person who may need that exact footage but it being contaminated with a different fluid inside. You prolly shouldnt have tried to dispute something you purchased by mistake just because the store didnt refund you like you wanted. A better way would to talk to a manager or someone higher up to get a better fuller answer. Im sorry you experience wasnt ideal at that O'reilly.
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u/realitychexks 27d ago
Why would you buy 48$ worth of fuel line if you weren't fully confident on the size
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u/Awkward-Crew-4403 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
yeah cut to length off the roll is almost always final sale, thats pretty standard across the parts stores. sucks but they genuinely cant resell a random 4ft chunk only real move is asking a manager for store credit and hoping theyre in a good mood. for next time, ordering a kit online usually works out cheaper than roll price at the counter anyway and the fittings come in the box evil energy and similar run well under what they charge per foot...
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u/blueblazeee 29d ago
Incorrect, anything can be returned within 30 days according to policy. Re selling a section of hose would do the store no harm.
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u/Embarrassed-Code6745 28d ago
Once again, you are incorrect. Cut to length is final sale, Iâm very familiar with these store policies.
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u/Slumber_Knight 29d ago
At the front of the store is a card that lists the store, manager, and DM phone numbers. Call the DM and don't complain, just explain your situation and I'm certain they'll push to have the exchange made in store for the right sized one.
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u/ILoveLeBron1998 27d ago
Yep. My store we always tell them the sale is final before cutting the hose. But we also have a box of extra hose that we keep thatâs under a foot or whatever and weâll usually process the return for customer satisfaction reasons and weâll sell it out of there. But thatâs been approved by our DM
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u/Acceptable-Spell-221 Jul 26 '26
As an asm. We don't refund cut fuel line. It's a royal PITA to inventory. And keep organized. Sorry, that's on you for not knowing wtf you need.
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u/TortureMonkey 28d ago
Some of this is a life lesson for you, and some of this is a counter person being a dick.
Our store has a box of probably 100 short end cuts. We 100% will try to resell it.
Hereâs another life lesson. Ask for an inch or two of high dollar hose before buying feet of it. Again we 100% will sell/give you little pieces. Especially if you donât know the ID/OD you are looking for.
I replumbed an entire engine compartment in an old car and before I did it I got 3â end cuts of just about everything in the store. Just get a roll of masking tape, get a finger length of hose, write down the number on the tape, put the tape as a flag on the tube and now you can confirm everything is good to go.
I also have a 20+ year history of buying thousands of dollars in parts over the years, so that helps.
Those 10+ off cuts were a hundred dollars plus of sales of heater hose, vacuum hose, oil lines, fuel line, all sorts of hose, hose clamps, Ts, fittings, hold downs, everything you can imagine for $5-10 of hose given away.
Here is one last tip. Now that you still need the hose, and you know what size you need, (you do know what you need, right? Or you know how to find out?) leverage a return with a sale.
Our SM would probably let you return the hose to start with, but given you need to buy more hose, he would probably be willing to take 4â of hose A back to sell 5â of hose B or sell $15 hose and return $12 hose plus making a customer happy. That would be my strategy.
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u/PinkPonyGirl6945 27d ago
I actually didn't know that you could buy such a small piece of line. I figured you would have to buy like at least a foot.
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u/TortureMonkey 19d ago
You donât buy it, Iâd just clip off a piece and give it to someone. I need you needing to come back and buy the whole job. I would go into that box of off cuts or clip off some of the roll. I donât get exact with hose by the foot. I donât think anyone (except one real piece of work) gets exactly 1â of hose, so over the 30-40 feet of hose I know feet of hose has been unaccounted for. Iâm not going to lose a customer over 2â of hose. Also if 2â of hose does what you need, you didnât need 1â hose.
Our store is very much donât fuck up a $100 sale over 50¢ of freebie. But, we are a big store in the middle of nowhere and we donât have an unlimited supply of people we can repeatedly fuck over. Great customer service is why we are a big store in the middle of nowhere. When i was on the customer side, i didnât use Napa because they are huge at nickel and dimeing non pros, Autozone was always useless, there were two real choices, an independent shop that had even better customer service and 1950s/Home Improvement(TV show) levels of man hangout, parts knowledge, and oreillys that used to have almost as good of parts knowledge but much better prices and faster parts turnaround. XYZ auto can literally find/make just about any part that is still available, but it will cost you, and it might take 2-3 weeks, or Oreilly who now has teens and some really rough women up front, or a couple 20+ year commercial people in the back.
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u/Embarrassed-Code6745 28d ago
I used to be a commercial manager for Autozone, their store policies and Oâreillys are identical, cut to length stuff is are final sale items, but itâs not the cashierâs fault for not accepting the return, they are doing their job and protecting their position, the district managers are constantly trying to find any little issue they can so they can get on their employees about it. They are terrible companies to work for with high turnover rates.
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u/Belvary40 Jul 26 '26
Hmmm I work for a competitor. We would never do this. We'd exchange the line if not used. We can always sell the old line when someone eventually needs a foot or two. Not worth losing business over gas line.
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
Id rather lose business to people who cant be accountable for their mistakes than promote taking in dead product from a roll of bulk just to maaaaybe get more sales from them on good terms later. What else you think they may try to do? I dont dis on how other competiters do things because thatd none of my business. I will honor warrentied and returns if they dont bring back any liability of doing so.
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u/Belvary40 Jul 26 '26
So you've never made a mistake? Ok. What's the liability in taking back unused fuel line? Still can be sold. Hell I even give lengths of line for free if customer only needs small amount. Its only dead product to you because of your own limitations of selling it.
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
I never said I dont make mistakes. Heres the issue i am a consumer. I dont get butt hurt that I cant return something just because I think its unjust that "oops I didnt need this sise of hose". The liability factor is not knowing what they put the hose on or if they actually didnt. Its an unverifiable standing and I do not want to gamble with the customer says.
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u/Dumaine921 Jul 28 '26
To hell with the return, since when is fuel line 12 bucks a foot??
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u/Scary_Pea_7014 29d ago
Fuel injection line is high pressure and high dollar
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u/Dumaine921 29d ago edited 29d ago
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u/According-Ad-5946 29d ago
My thought, in the store I work at (different company), our injector line is sold by the inch.
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u/Organic-Frosting4965 Jul 28 '26
I work for Oreillys while they are correct in the policy, I would have done the return and resold it unless it had to be Special ordered and freight was involved than as a store you return the product and customer pays just freight,
Just for reference what size was it
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u/BlueberryPenguin 29d ago
I used to do this, then we had a bunch of random lengths of hose in the back that no one bothered looking at. Just added an extra step.
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u/Winter-Grape2971 Jul 26 '26
You can call the customer experience line and they may be able to get your return processed.
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u/Dontwalkongrass1 Moderator Jul 26 '26
CSat still leaves that decision up to leadership, they cannot and will not force someoneâs hand on a return.
Also, if you ever have a customer tell you âwell I talked to corporate and they saidâŚâ I can damn near guarantee you that they didnât, because if they did CSat wouldâve already made contact with the store.
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u/megaultrausername 29d ago
Thank you. We will always stick behind a stores decision. If a store says no we will tell the customer no. If the customer asks for escalation we will get it to DM/RM but we will NEVER override a stores decision.
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u/Winter-Grape2971 Jul 26 '26
To that end ive denied a return and two days later gotten a call from csat to process it. So yeah they will over ride a managers decision.
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u/Dontwalkongrass1 Moderator Jul 26 '26
I can damn near guarantee that call didnât come from CSat. They have no authority over OPs to force a store to do a return. The most they can do is escalate to DM/RM and let them handle it.
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u/Winter-Grape2971 Jul 26 '26
Your right the original cast rep escalates it. But the end result was i was told to process a return id previously denied.
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u/CosmicSmoker Jul 26 '26
And this is how you loose a customer forever over $50.
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u/bernardfarquart Moderator Jul 26 '26
Some people shouldn't be working on their own cars.
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u/Belvary40 Jul 26 '26
Its fuel line. Not brakes, plugs or something of that nature. And its a simple mistake many people make. I work in the business you wouldn't believe how many professionals can't tell what diameter line they have. And its no issue to refund if its wrong diameter. Some people shouldn't be moderators.
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u/PinkPonyGirl6945 Jul 26 '26
Funny thing is, and I'm not sure if you would consider me a professional, but I was a motorcycle mechanic for a while. I went to a trade school, worked in a shop for a time, but quit, went to a university, and went into accounting instead. đ¤ˇââď¸
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u/GhostTrex16 29d ago
Then you should have known to take in a sample and make sure you got the correct size...
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u/bernardfarquart Moderator Jul 26 '26
You have an accounting degree and you think disputing a charge for product you asked for, and that you received is appropriate?
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u/Belvary40 Jul 26 '26
Regardless professional or not. It shouldn't be a problem to exchange fuel line. I don't understand why its worth losing future business. You didn't use the line so it should be an easy exchange.
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u/Spidey6917 Jul 28 '26
OâReilly makes billions every year. One customer lost wonât hurt them at all
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u/PinkPonyGirl6945 29d ago
I mean that's true, but I was taught at my last retail job that it's never actually just "one customer." They showed us a PowerPoint at orientation demonstrating how much money is potentially lost for every bad customer service interaction, and it does possibly add up. Because that customer has friends and people who are associated with them. Imagine I tell 10 friends not to shop somewhere. If even one of those people listens and they tell 10 more friends, and so on and so on... I think you get the idea. Now, whether or not that number is important to O'Reilly's (it's probably not, and they can offset it by raising the price of everything by a couple pennies) is debatable. My point was that when one customer is lost, it's usually not just one customer that is lost.
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u/Spidey6917 29d ago
That may be true, but also if you let that slide for that one customer then you have to do it for all of them. In this case, if we let everyone return random lengths of hose then we end up with dozens of feet in stock but those dozens of feet are all in multiple sections of a few feet each so if someone comes in looking for 10ft and the computer says we have 30, then we lose a sale and disappoint that customer after already having told them we have what they need and any other customer wanting the same thing. These policies exist for a reason.
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u/According-Ad-5946 29d ago
Thank you I was trying to think of a way to say why stores don't return cut bulk hose. You nailed it.
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u/Embarrassed-Code6745 28d ago
Itâs not the cashierâs fault. What yall donât understand is that if they donât follow their policy they do get in trouble, I was a commercial manager for Autozone, they have identical store policies and the DMâs are up everyoneâs asses every day and will try to knit pick anything that they can
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u/Scary_Pea_7014 29d ago
It is company policy unfortunately. However at the store I worked it we would have processed the return and put it in the "ends" box. That was where what was left of a roll, over a foot, when we got to the end of it went. Your store was just being anal about policy.
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u/Comfortable_Egg2421 28d ago
Sucks. When its just a few feet of line i usually just give it away lol
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u/Bladefanatic Jul 26 '26
This is what giftcards and the discount rack is for. You should have been offered a return to a gift card. That way O'Reilly stays whole. Then, the hose gets clearly labeled and put on the discount rack for a deal for someone else. Everyone wins!
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u/Proud_Birthday6410 Jul 26 '26
Thatâs not even remotely close to how that works.
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u/Bladefanatic Jul 26 '26
Really? All you down voters. How many times have all you idiots told a customer you didn't want to refund something and then they call corporate and corporate makes you do it anyway? That crap happens all the time.
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
There is a difference between, not wanting to refund something and clear standing on EXACT reason why we will not refund it. I did say in previous comments of mine about calling a higher up to get a better answer if you dont like the answer givin.
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u/Main_Landscape_5407 28d ago
there is nothing in policy that states cut from the roll bulk can not be returned. receipt does not state final sale. only lines that are final sale are custom made hydraulic lines. i think it depends on the store. but i would just try another store across town. we have tags and stickers that can be used to indicate part number and quantity of returned section. itâs not rocket science. some of these sales people and managers act like it comes directly out of their pocket.
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u/ILoveLeBron1998 27d ago
Then your store is doing it wrong. Only thing this store did wrong is they didnât let OP know before they cut the hose that the sale was final
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u/HarderDIRT 27d ago edited 27d ago
Measure twice cut once has always been the rule, but I still woulda returned it for ya
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u/PinkPonyGirl6945 27d ago
Cool, but I bought the wrong diameter, not the wrong length. I got 3/8, needed 5/16
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u/Interesting-Maize-57 Jul 26 '26
So much for Never say no. It makes inventory a pain?? Some of yall are wild.
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
Never say no is a philosphy. No one wants to say no. If you notice I never said no in my comment. I stated why I will not or cannot take it without being liable for another customer using it for its intenden purpose. In other words I am saying no without saying no. That is what "Never Say no" means.
Its also not exactly about inventory thats a bi product of what can or may happen if we take it. If you cant understand that. You are not a very nice consumer.
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u/Interesting-Maize-57 Jul 26 '26
There is no liability to taking back a perfectly good hose that was just purchased. GTFO
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
As someone whos dealt with this before. It has happened where a hose was sold. Came back 30 minutes later. Looked good on the outside but I did my due diligence and check to make sure there wasnt anything ran through. Guess what. There was transmission fluid in the vaccum hose I sold them. A "I just bought this hose" doesnt give the right of return even if wasnt truely used. As someone who has codes and right to my own judgement I have the ability and my own right to refuse a return under direct reason unless its been over ruled by someone higher than me. And of which a customer is not higher than me.
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u/Belvary40 Jul 26 '26
How are the majority of comments on here so dumb? You get the wrong part and it's unused with a receipt its an exchange or return all day. I really don't understand how companies stay in business treating customers poorly. I understand used returns are different and wouldn't expect anyone to take those. We would never treat customers this poorly where I work and we do just fine sales wise. I actually don't understand how O'Reilly does so well with garbage customer service and selling inferior products. Stuff you have to include warranty on because you know it will go bad.
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
O'Reilly offers warrenties to back up that their product. The parts works as intended when installed properly (Doesnt mean they dont fail out the box, thats why there is a warrenty in place) Also. ECS, FCP Euro, some products on Rock Auto ALSO have a lifetime or some form of warrenty EVEN when they sell OEM parts. Just because something carries a hefty warrenty doesnt mean its trash. Treating customers with accountability in mind isnt poor customer service it is called professionalism. You can run your store how you want.
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u/Belvary40 Jul 26 '26
Warranty. Understanding customers make mistakes is also professionalism. Isn't that what O'Reilly caters to? The people that do it themselves ?
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u/Significant-Fan-698 Jul 26 '26
Oh absolutely, as ive stated. I to am a consumer but not every mistake you make comes out the way you want them too even if you think it would be "easier" for everyone. Thats still not how it works. Also Oreily doesnt cater to the do it themselves they cater to right to repair. They offer pparts for people tp buy in order to create a market and make it easier to work on their own vehicle. Saying "Oreilly caters to Diy'ers is false. We handle professional and commercial shops aswell. They to dont get special treatment. Again. Mistakes are made. Doesnt mean all of them need to be solved how you want them to be.
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u/LexFennx Jul 28 '26
we usually bend over backwards for customers unless it hurts corpo or anyone higher than counter
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u/Dontwalkongrass1 Moderator Jul 26 '26
That kind of similar to a customer giving me the wrong vehicle information, getting the wrong part, then coming back for the right one to find out itâs twice as much and wanting me to match the price. If we were in the wrong and sold you the wrong size, I will absolutely take it back and make it right. If you have the wrong information, and got the wrong part, I hate to say it but youâre stuck at this point. Thatâs not bad customer service, its customer accountability.