Return Paranoia

One of our rear turn signals burnt out yesterday and so before heading out on a road trip this weekend, I went to AutoZone to get a replacement. I used the convenient part selection book to find the correct lamp and purchased it. Upon heading home and removing the headlight cover I found that I had purchased the wrong lamp. Pulling out the broken lamp as a reference I went back to AutoZone, found the lamp I needed, and went to the counter to make the return and purchase.

The clerk started on the return first and instead of just scanning the item and asking if I wanted it back on my credit card she asked for my name, phone number and address. I told here I didn't want to provide that information and she said for returns it was required. Not believing this, I clarified that even with a receipt and even having just purchased the item five minutes ago (literally, I live no more than five blocks from the store) they needed all this information. She said yes, the computer would not allow a return without this information. After thinking this over a few seconds I decided that it wasn't worth getting my name in their database for who knows what reason and told her I'd keep the wrong lamps and go buy the correct lamps at another store. Fortunately for me, one of their competitors is five or six blocks the other direction from where I live.

I'm not normally a big privacy advocate but am tired of getting junk mail and phone calls from corporations (despite being on the "Do Not Call" list) and usually decline to provide this information to businesses. Until now, none of them have refused to do business with me because I won't give them a name, phone number, or address. This was a first and its a bit scam-y that you probably don't know they'll want this information until they have your money and you'd like to make a return. All the more reason to make sure you buy the right item the first time.

Which, by the way, it turns out I did. I was looking in the wrong spot for the burnt-out turn signal and once I figured this out, realized I had purchased the correct part. In this one special case, I was able to stand on principle AND not be inconvenienced. I still don't plan on shopping at AutoZone any more, though.