I bought a starter just a few months ago which now occasionally does not start. It is very obvious from the sound that it is just the starter not properly engaging maybe 5% of the time. The employee at this store insisted on testing my starter with their starter tester, which obviously showed that my starter was working because my problem is only intermittent. She also had no idea what she was talking about mechanically, which would be fine if she didn't try acting like she knew what she was doing and that I was wrong. After talking to the manager, he said that there is no way that they could warranty the starter if their starter tester does not show that it is bad. I explained the details of the mechanical situation and how the starter likely failed, but because of their strict adherence to their made-up policy, they were unwilling to honor their lifetime warranty on carquest parts.
They were also unwilling to process the warranty unless I brought in the old starter first, which is obviously difficult because it is currently on my car. Every other advance that I've been to has been able to sell me the new one at the price of the old one and then just refund the old one when I bring it in. This manager made it sound like that was a completely novel idea.
Their adherence to their ridiculous policies is extraordinarily frustrating and not the experience I expect to have at Advance. After this, I went to the one just down the street and they were able to process my warranty with absolutely no issues and were even confused by the stubbornness of this location and their insistence on testing. I've also had to warranty other parts at advanced stores before, and while other stores have wanted to test, they have never really insisted on the part failing the test. They just want to help you diagnose the problem, but if you insist and explain exactly what the problem is they are usually willing to warranty the part. I'm never coming to this store again and this almost makes me want to swear off advance Auto parts in general, which I would if not for the positive experiences that I've had at the other store down the street and in other locations.
