Anyone on here from Sparks Toyota want to hit me up before I put your parts department on blast?

Some pretty shady stuff going on over there.

 

Hope it’s the same dude I’ve been texting

 

let us hear what you have?? Never have had any troubles from them or Cool Springs.??

 

I'll give them a few before I post screenshots and receipts:
Cliff Notes version: I checked their price on the website for a replacement alternator as I've bought multiple things from them in the past

• Did a google search and a cheaper one showed up on ebay -
  
• turns out it was also sparks parts ebay account - so I sent a chat message asking if they would match their own ebay price so I could just order direct.
• I get a response that they don't match ebay prices but am offered a shipping discount - I ask why they don't match their own ebay prices
• I go ahead and order the one from them on ebay as I want to make sure it gets sent out before the weekend if possible as mine is about to fail
  
• I get a response asking for me to send me a screen shot of the price since that part supposedly is MORE on their ebay account
  
• I check their listing to send the screenshot they asked for and sure enough, the price has increased by roughly $80 to the new price mentioned in the text response since Toyota apparently "had a pricing change TODAY and it is updating across the board"
• About 3 hours later my ebay order from them gets mysteriously canceled and marked as "out of stock / damaged"
• The same part has already been relisted by them at the new higher price on their ebay account

 

Was a mistake and they fixed thanks to you pointing it out. Should have ordered it without calling them and then if it would have been canceled you could argue. That’s my opinion??

 

You’re kidding right? So it’s fair to not honor the original price they had it listed for and lie about the reason for canceling it? Plus not just acknowledge the fact that they needed to update the price and ask me for proof of THEIR lower price and try to be slick and change it real quick.
Fuck that.

 

I am sure if you call them tomorrow morning and speak to the manager and explain what happened I would bet they honor the price then there will be no problems. Let us know how it works out. Everyone there has always been more than helpful.


Call the main line and ask to talk to the parts manager.

 

I plan to call them. I’m definitely not ordering anything else from them and I’m really glad Roman is back here. My order was canceled at 5:30 and I wasn’t able to call before they closed.
If they had just said the lower price was old and needed to updated I wouldn’t be so heated. I get it, but to basically ask me to “prove it” and during/before asking that change the price - maybe I’m in the minority but that’s REALLY shady business.

 

Just my opinion, but (and if you’ve done this, I stand corrected) I personally would have called them first directly before putting them on blast here. I’m not saying that there’s not an issue, but I’ve had issues with other employees at businesses before, and speaking with the manager (respectfully) has cleared it up. I usually only resort to putting people on blast, hitting up social media, etc. after I’ve tried to handle it at the business to no avail.

 

not arguing with that. However, I didn’t have a chance to call yet and don’t have any reason to not post this. Honestly don’t ever plan to do business with them again.

I placed the original order at 2:28 and it was canceled at 5:29. They close at 5:30.
Im not going out of my way to save their reputation. I sent the same number that was texting me several messages and got no response. I’d rather pay more somewhere else and already did to keep my truck drivable.

 

That’s your decision - and mind you, I’m not trying to convince you otherwise - but unless I’m reading this wrong…you don’t have any way of knowing if this was multiple people screwing you over…or just one dude (dudette) handing a transaction *REALLY* badly.

That’s why I usually call/visit the business first. If it’s one person, walking it up the chain resolves the issue. If multiple people at the business back the shady actions? Yeah, then blast away. I just don’t like seeing both someone super pissed, and/or an entire business put on blast, for what may be one single person handling a sale terribly, that’s all. But I wouldn’t blame you for taking business elsewhere, for no other reason than the whole once bitten twice shy thing.

 

Under normal circumstances I agree. And I’m honestly not the type of person to not give a person/company 2-3 chances on things but I’m not looking for a handout or discount for this - I just want others to be aware of it. I have names/direct numbers that I’m not going to share. Part of what pissed me off more than anything is/was the fact that I didn’t have enough time to get an order in before the weekend because *someone* waited until the last second to cancel my order which I didn’t even know was possible on eBay, and then I saw it relisted. Immediately. luckily I got an order in from a dealer on the west coast and it’s already shipped.

 

Frankly, I'm not surprised they raised the price.

I'm sure you've heard about this inflation thing. I'm betting their suppliers raised the price during the listing of the price. You just got caught in the middle.

Last I heard, a business's 1st priority is staying in business.

No way they can stay in business if they charge less for a part than what they paid for it originally.

It sucks. I have the same problem. I can't quote a price that is good for more than 7 days for my services. It's embarrassing and makes me feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

I hate begging the customer for more money.

 

Agreed, I deal with it everyday And can’t hold quotes past a week. Like I said, I get it with the increase / price discrepancy and if said person had just “sorry, that price is wrong it should be the price on our website” I would have COMPLETELY understood. It’s the whole dance asking me “where’d you see that price?” knowing damn well you literally changed it within 10 minutes. Also, a dealership like sparks isn’t going out of business for not bumping their eBay price points.

 

Im in retail and ive had two price increases across the board in 6;months which has never happened. It may seem shady what you experienced as a consumer but i can assure you sparks has a great reputation here and if anything they ahould have just been more communicative with you if there was a pricing error. Things are changing so rapidly it sucks for all of us. If you dont like their current pricing id just look elsewhere

 

No offense but I think you missed something. My gripe has shit to do with the cost and inflation. Also has ZERO to do with their current pricing. The price on their website was still lower than what I paid somewhere else. Acknowledging the pricing error would have been fine and I would have still bought it from them without a hitch.

 

I guess I'd cancel the order and just start over.

 

Orders on ebay, Amazon, etc are often cancelled. Low or no stock, sometime e-commerce outpaces inventory. Retailers with eBay accounts often list lower prices there. It's like two different markets, discount and mainstream, retail, whatever. It's frustrating to me, I've been expecting an arrival to find out something was never shipped. But, it happens and nobody F'ed you.

 

Not sure what you think i missed but imo the grivences you listed imo dont equal them being shady which seems to be the point of this thread. I was just trying to find a middle ground in that they should have been more communicative with you but the fact is that the environment and state of things in general sucks for consumers and retailers as well. If this is lost on you then expect more dissapointment in your retail adventures because this shit isnt getting any better any time soon.

 

Wow. I’m on your side. I’m tech savvy and know when sites fuck up. They were trying to cover their ass which is understandable but fucken stand by what you advertise. That’s basically bait and switch.

 

I am with OP that's some shady BS. If it's listed wrong and they don't fix it in time then that's on them not OP. For them to have him submit a screenshot and then change it. That's some next level sheisty sheet. The amount of business they do it wouldn't affect their bottom line. Do I think it was an error yes. But the aspect of taking a customer screenshot and then cancelling your order! Come on now!

 

If you purchased it at a listed price, they should ship it. Simple. You're always going to get pushback on any forum with a parts supplier they're familiar with, but in this situation they're in the wrong. It also sounds like they weren't honest about it, which goes a long way.

 

Yeah, that whole screenshot thing was stupid. Probably in a flow chart for customer the service rep on price matching. Meantime, the pre-inflation inventory ran out and updated prices kick in. Bad timing overall.

 

agreed on the communication part but yes, if by me seeing and actually buying something at a certain price only to have that companies representative ask me to show them said price bc they KNOW they just changed it to a higher one isn’t shady then that’s the part you missed me being upset about. Not inflation or the market being a shit show right now.

 

Guess I work in a different world than a lot of people. If I spec something or quote something at a certain price and someone pays for it - that’s the price. I don’t get to just change it whenever the fuck I feel like it AFTER they paid bc I’m not making a high enough margin on it. Thanks for listening everyone.

 

That's why smaller companies or individual contractors tend to be more like you - the principals are not lost in the day to day. I did have the opposite experience with Optics Planet. I got an email ad for a scope I wasn't shopping but had everything I wanted and the price was stupid low. I quickly researched it to be sure it was for me. I found that they had the same scope listed twice on their site. The hell yes price and on another page, the yup price. I ordered it and the next morning hell yes page/price was gone. But the scope arrived for what I paid. That would have been cool in your case.

 

I agree with you OP that is a total scumbag move on their part

 

Short story even shorter - “tried to get a deal on eBay and it went poorly.”

 

I can tell ya one thing; you wouldn’t be hearing this story about Cool Springs..