BEWARE THE O'Reilly's Brake Pad Scam: so i bought brake pads with "lifetime warranty" in 2023 and they wore out prematurely (in my opinion), but even if not premature my understanding of the O'Reilly's brake pad warranty is that:
"O'Reilly's policy, and that of many other major chains, generally DOES cover normal wear and tear on their premium "lifetime warranty" brake pads. The idea is that you buy one set, and as long as you own the vehicle, you get free replacements for pads that simply wear out.".
So i brought in the pads and the white guy ran up to the counter to help me. I pushed the box of used brake pads toward him and said "I'm returning these for a refund". The white clerk opened the box and quickly "inspected" the brake pads. He didn't even look up my account before quickly saying "I can't refund these. They've been used".
DUH ?! REALLY ? like he thought he was sherlock holmes and had detected a major lie. It was SO RIDICULOUS - he was treating me like I had found some old brake pads on the sidewalk and thought I could walk in and get $50 bucks for them.
The reality is I purchased new brake pads at a different O'Reilly's near where I was earlier in the day (Westminster) and had them replaced at my shop near there. Then I had a meeting in Newport Beach, so afterwards I stopped in at the closest O'Reilly's to hopefully get treated with the respect I deserve.
I told him "I know they've been used. I am returning them for a warranty refund. The Vietnamese fellow at the other O'Reilly's said I could return them "as long as they're not metal on metal" . But this white guy said "No. I can't do that." And said that "normal wear and tear" is NOT covered by lifetime warranty, which leads me back to the above quote .
I have been a faithful customer at O'Reilly's over the years because (usually) they are honorable about their warranties without playing Sherlock Holmes. But, sadly, this was quite a different experience. Shame on this clerk for mistreating me. If he had a legitimate denial of my warranty claim it seems in contradiction to what I've been told and read. If anybody feels scammed, it's me, by him.
"While the exact legal wording might differ slightly, the intent and common practice for both O'Reilly's and AutoZone's "lifetime warranty" brake pads is to replace them when they are worn out from normal use...While both companies intend to cover normal wear on "lifetime" brake pads, the individual employee's understanding, training, and interpretation of "defect" versus "excessive wear due to other issues" can lead to wildly different outcomes...So, the real difference isn't so much in the underlying policy (which for premium pads often DOES cover normal wear), but in the consistency of [or lack of ] training and application by individual store employees."
"O'Reilly's policy, and that of many other major chains, generally DOES cover normal wear and tear on their premium "lifetime warranty" brake pads. The idea is that you buy one set, and as long as you own the vehicle, you get free replacements for pads that simply wear out.".
So i brought in the pads and the white guy ran up to the counter to help me. I pushed the box of used brake pads toward him and said "I'm returning these for a refund". The white clerk opened the box and quickly "inspected" the brake pads. He didn't even look up my account before quickly saying "I can't refund these. They've been used".
DUH ?! REALLY ? like he thought he was sherlock holmes and had detected a major lie. It was SO RIDICULOUS - he was treating me like I had found some old brake pads on the sidewalk and thought I could walk in and get $50 bucks for them.
The reality is I purchased new brake pads at a different O'Reilly's near where I was earlier in the day (Westminster) and had them replaced at my shop near there. Then I had a meeting in Newport Beach, so afterwards I stopped in at the closest O'Reilly's to hopefully get treated with the respect I deserve.
I told him "I know they've been used. I am returning them for a warranty refund. The Vietnamese fellow at the other O'Reilly's said I could return them "as long as they're not metal on metal" . But this white guy said "No. I can't do that." And said that "normal wear and tear" is NOT covered by lifetime warranty, which leads me back to the above quote .
I have been a faithful customer at O'Reilly's over the years because (usually) they are honorable about their warranties without playing Sherlock Holmes. But, sadly, this was quite a different experience. Shame on this clerk for mistreating me. If he had a legitimate denial of my warranty claim it seems in contradiction to what I've been told and read. If anybody feels scammed, it's me, by him.
"While the exact legal wording might differ slightly, the intent and common practice for both O'Reilly's and AutoZone's "lifetime warranty" brake pads is to replace them when they are worn out from normal use...While both companies intend to cover normal wear on "lifetime" brake pads, the individual employee's understanding, training, and interpretation of "defect" versus "excessive wear due to other issues" can lead to wildly different outcomes...So, the real difference isn't so much in the underlying policy (which for premium pads often DOES cover normal wear), but in the consistency of [or lack of ] training and application by individual store employees."
The initial reaction you received ("They've been used!") was indeed ridiculous in the context of a warranty return, as the whole point of returning a worn item under warranty is precisely that it has been used and worn out .."
re O'Reilly's location at
1739 Superior Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
