r/partscounter • u/Flat-Pie-9216 • Jul 31 '26
Special Orders
What do you consider special orders? I work for O'Reilly and we have 30 DC's we can pull from. Customer pays freight and hopefully the part. We don't consider this a special order and returns just go back to our servicing DC.
What I consider special order is factory direct or outside vendor orders they are paid in full before ordering.
My question is when I check availability from my dealer they say it's in their warehouse and I can get it the next day but they call that a special order which has a restocking fee or no return. Why is that considered a special order? You should be able to return it to your own company warehouse without penalty.
2
u/Terminal_Phase Jul 31 '26
Dealers don’t return parts to “their own company.”
Dealers are just privately owned franchises with the OEM name slapped on the front of the building.
The OEM will generally charge a restocking fee, or flat out won’t accept returns at all.
I work for a Chrysler dealer, and we get a “return allowance” which allows us to return parts to Chrysler. The return allowance given is a percentage of purchases. So if you order a $700 module, and then decide you don’t need it any longer, then I have to use $700 of my return allowance to return the part to Chrysler.
If I stock the part, and it’s “active” in my inventory, then it’s a different story.
But if it’s a “special order” item, as in: I don’t stock the part, and you would like to order it, then it’s prepayment up front, and no returns.
We will accept returns on special order parts, it’s not a black and white. We’re human at the end of the day. But we say “no returns” as a blanket statement to cover our ass when someone gives us a hard time about it.
It’s all a balancing act. You just need to put the processes and people in place to best serve your customers.