I live in New Zealand and I purchased a remanufactured alternator from Car Parts Discount carpartsdiscount.com in March. This review explains why I would give them a zero rating for product quality and customer service.

Please bear with me because it is a very convoluted story but it will give you a real understanding of this company.

Bosch is the original equipment manufacturer for this alternator/generator for my car, but the part is no longer available new. My dealer recommended I fit a Bosch part remanufactured by Bosch. The part was described on CPD’s website as a Bosch part, with the Bosch logo prominently displayed. Instead Car Parts Discount sent me a Valeo part, supposedly remanufactured by Bosch.

The part was defective anyway and not fit for purpose. The part had multiple issues including bent blades, connectors which had been broken and inadequately soldered back on, amateurish wiring and the wrong electrical plug. It only gave out one volt. My service agent advised that the part was remanufactured at some point, but the part had been interfered with since then and was clearly not direct from Bosch remanufacture. The bent blades were not caused in transit – the outer casing (indeed the whole package) was undamaged. The part was useless to me and instead I had my original Bosch alternator repaired.

I paid $253 for the part and $132 for freight to New Zealand. CPD’s returns policy is to refund the cost of the part but the purchaser bears the cost of the freight. That would leave me $264 out of pocket for outbound and return freight – more than the cost of the part itself.

I gave CPD a chance to cover my losses and pay their own return freight, but they would only offer their standard returns policy. Even though their website was misleading and their supply chain has been corrupted by a part which has been interfered with post-factory, I am to be treated no differently than a customer who has changed their mind? First Wow! I am not from the same parts as these people but where I come from a seller would put this right. It would be a reputation issue for them.

CPD refused to admit that I could have been misled. According to them, I should have enlarged the photo on their webpage and I would have seen that the part in the photo was a Valeo part. Second Wow! Alternators all look the same to me and there was nothing unusual in the unenlarged photo to warrant closer inspection, let alone suggest a substitute manufacturer. CPD later suggested that they have no responsibility for misleading information on their website because it is provided by third parties and they simply repost it. Tell that to a judge.

In relation to the defects of the part and its questionable history, CPD denied any responsibility and denied that the item could have been a returned part. For obvious reasons, I don’t believe them and it doesn’t matter who is at fault, it is their responsibility. They suggested that, somehow, an online low margin retailer has less responsibility than other sellers. They also claimed that the market knows about quality issues with Bosch remanufacturing practices. Seriously?

Instead CPD suggested I lodge a warranty claim with Bosch Australia (who don’t even supply this part). This is irrelevant anyway because my car was repaired, so it was too late for a repair or replacement of this part by Bosch. Also, the obvious interference with the part would invalidate any warranty. Was I supposed to go a month and probably more with my car off the road whilst waiting for Bosch and CPD to argue over the provenance of an adulterated part? I don’t think so. Third Wow!

I did not trust CPD to refund this part. It was clearly not in the condition it would have been in when it left the factory and CPD does not refund parts that are not in original condition. I couldn’t risk spending another $132 on return freight to then have CPD refuse a refund. I have read reviews which indicate CPD will find any excuse to refuse a refund.

So buyer beware. CPD does not stand behind what it sells. The returns policy does not provide an adequate remedy if the freight cost is a significant part of the total cost. There is no redress for being hoodwinked. This part was not the genuine article and neither is CPD.

All this only proves that you get what you pay for. I have paid $385 for a display piece to remind me to be careful who you trust.

Thanks for reading all this. I have used ECS Tuning in the past and will happily do so again.

 

I spoke to my bank to commence a dispute and recovery. They advised that VISA’s procedure requires that the part be returned first, then they open the dispute if a refund is refused.

My bank was vague about whether VISA would pursue a refund of my freight costs if the part cost was refunded. After all, the vendor has a clearly published returns policy and freight is not covered. In my view they are in breach of contract so I am not bound by the returns policy but that is a point of law and I anticipated that CPD would continue with their deny, deflect and dispute policy. I think they wrote the book on that.

In the end I was not willing to throw good money after bad ($132 return freight to USA) to maybe recoup a net $121 ($253 part cost less return freight) but probably just deepen the $385 hole I was already in.

People have advised me that Paypal do not require the part to be returned and will refund the part cost and the outbound freight cost with the seller paying return freight if they want the part back. I will probably be using them on such purchases in the future.

Since I am here, I might as well add that I lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (who dropped the complaint and removed it from their website after a couple of exchanges between me and CPD) and posted a review on Reseller Ratings (which they deleted after about 3 days). Turns out on further research that both organisations fund themselves by accepting (or extorting?) money from companies to drop these complaints. That is probably the biggest Wow of all for me.

In my now deleted Reseller Ratings review I posted a link to the CPD webpage for people to visit to see for themselves. In response CPD amended that webpage to include the following statement:

“The Bosch eXchange program uses a variety of authorized replacement alternator cores, such as Valeo, Bosch, and other interchangeable equivalents. The reconditioned unit you receive may differ from the brand in the photo.”

I checked 10 other CPD webpages for Bosch remanufactured alternators (part no. ends in X). None of the others had that warning. I hate to be so cynical, but they keep proving my point about what kind of company they are.

 

BBB is a bigger scam than any lousy part you might have been saddled with.

that said. paypal is pretty good in handling online purchase disputes as often the sketchy seller would rather maintain their "good standing" with them, rather than keep the ill gotten gain of one sketchy or misrepped transaction.

as to cards. amex is best. but best is to "know your sellers" in this day and age.

 

I am sorry you went through such a mess with CPD. It always amazes me when companies do not step-up and just do the right thing. I have always voted with my wallet when it comes to buying parts and then post about the good and the bad experiences to help or warn others as you have done. I agree with you regarding not returning the part at your expense as just throwing more money at an existing loss. I wish you the best in your future parts ventures. Cheers, Michael