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Jimmy
May 4, 2009
Terrible company
I attempted to exchange an autolite battery to Kragen in Tracy, CA. The battery is two years old and still falls within the manufacturers exchange policy. Kragen says if you don't have a phone number or receipt attached to the original purchase, you will be denied an exchange. Your only recourse is to buy a new battery and relinquish this small investment which was created to save the customer money. This policy relies on the customer trusting the manufacturer and being unaware that a company can initiate its own policy against the manufacturers thus canceling out any advantages to them. Kragen seems to believe its brand name, time restraints and demographic information about consumers in certain economically challenged areas will save them money. These consumer groups provide the demand that Kragen has taken full advantage of through an exploitative marketing strategy and conniving company policy. In theses critical economic times, that's just bad business. Kragen obviously has no integrity when it comes to standing behind its brand and would rather save its self than it consumers. A Company that fails to honor their customers to increase their profit margin will eventually decrease their customer base and lose out in the end. One way or another, they will reap what they have sown in disloyalty since their brand is not a monopoly. When I contacted their corporate customer service, the representative had already been rehearsed to offer no resolution. He told me that it was my choice to buy elsewhere. Of course it is, however I did not call for a confirmation of the obvious. I called for customer service. However, like its battery exchange policy, I was brushed off and denied.
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Carl
December 30, 2008
Terrible experience
Kragen in Sacramento, located on Northgate Blvd., would not honor their word to return an autopart that we did not need. When it was discovered that the cheap battery they sold us, along with battery protectant that was not actually battery protectant, was not working in our car, we called the store to let them know.
During this phone call, we spoke to someone who said they were the manager and that he would return our money with a full refund although their policy might say otherwise. When we requested who to ask for when we come in, he said 'just ask for a Manager'.
That same day we returned the battery and when we did, a girl, named Rebeca, reacted with rudeness and aggressiveness. She instantly became confrontational about why we were returning the battery. We explained, for the second time to her, that we were instructed by the manager over the phone to bring it back and we would get a refund. Because we did not have the manager's name from the phone call she raised her aggression even more and stated that she would not give us our money back. We stated that she had to because we called and were told this would be done without problem.
Next the Manager, Tony, interrupted the conversation and also acted aggressively. The discussion became about how poor the customer service was in their store, which he denied in a raised voice.
We refused to leave until we received our money back because this is what they had told us in the first place. Stating that to Tony, he finally refunded our money but not without further confrontation over the matter.
I don't know if this posting will capture the intensity of the situation, but it was terrible to say the least. The customer service was rude beyond belief, and the laziness of the staff to act professionally and with respect was clearly evident.
We strongly suggest NEVER shopping for auto parts or anything else at Kragen Stores anywhere based on this terrible service.
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