NAPA is the only game in town for me if I want to buy locally. But I don’t buy from them online. I go into the store and place an order. When it comes in I go and pick it up. If it’s the wrong part they take care of it on the spot. I won’t say they’ve never gotten the wrong part but they always take care of any issues. I’m very happy with my local NAPA.
As a 50 year professional technician/ shop owner, "I feel your pain"!
That being said, I still get defective or damaged parts. Frequently, the packaging looks like the thing was used as a soccer ball!.
I ordered a power brake booster from my local GM mega warehouse/ dealer for a Suburban a few years back (2 years IIRC). When their contracted delivery service showed up, I commented to the driver that the packaging was so damaged, that he needed to wait while I checked the content.... He shagged a$$.
I opened said package and heard a rattling noise. Upon inspecting the part, the face of the booster where the brake master cylinder attaches was bent inward and BOTH M/C mounting studs were down inside of the canister!
When I called my guy at the dealer, he said another unit was unavailable (unobtainium!) I pressed him, and he discovered that there had been a part number changem and that the updated replacement was a couple of days out (which i could easily handle). The bomb was that he said the "replacement" up dated, ultra-zoot, gitty up go fast unit was significantly higher in price. I firmly said that the price difference wasn't my problem, that I'd sold the repair job to my customer, and I wasn't going to cost myself a valuable customer by passing the added cost to him, due to the bufoon-ish oversight. We did eventually go 50-50....
I ate the 50 on my part. Rutzafrutza!
