I just left the Advance Auto Parts Store #6511, at 2045 W. Alameda Avenue, in Denver, Colorado. I have never had a worse experience in my life than the one I had there.
I placed an internet order at 11:32 this morning for some minor items. I placed the order by the internet so that they would be ready for pickup on my limited lunch hour. I received and printed the confirmation e-mail, which stated “Your Order will be ready for pick up at Advance Auto Parts on 2045 WEST ALAMEDA AVE in one hour and available for pick up until 08/04/2006. Because you ordered through PartsAmerica.com, you can proceed directly to the parts counter to receive your products.” (Caps in original)
I got to the store at about 1:00 p.m. I walked around a little because I had forgotten two items. I picked up the items and went to the front desk to pick up my order. When I asked for my order, I was informed that it was not ready and the store manager said "You want me to get them?" I said to him that it was my understanding that they were ready, both from the e-mail and from something one of the associates had said on his way out of the store. The manager, who refused to give his name, said the young man would be back in five minutes (time I could ill afford) and again said "You want me to get the stuff?" I again said that it was supposed to be ready. By the third repetition of this dialogue, I said, "Yes, get the stuff." I then had to wait at the counter while the manager rummaged around his store trying to find the items on my order. He did not bother to check the order that had popped up his own system, or he would have seen that one of the items was to be picked up at Checker. (Note for clarification, not in complaint: Advance and Checker share an online site called PartsAmerica.com – if an item is unavailable at one store, the site automatically places the order at the nearest alternate store)
Finally, another manager, let's call him Underling, came up and told me that they did not have the CRC Carburetor Cleaner. Since I wanted that brand, I told him I would get that one either later, or pick it up with my Checker order, but that I needed the rest of my order right then. He then proceeded to try to call the other stores (even though I told him I really needed to go and that I needed the rest of the order now). They finally determined that Advance doesn't carry CRC, and I determined that that item was probably was the one that was to be picked up at Checker.
Underling then tried to "check out" the prepaid order, a process which took another 10 minutes, because he couldn't figure out the computer system.
All in all, I spent 40 minutes in the store, in a process that should have taken, at most, 10 minutes, had the store staff actually done what Advance promises on their website. When I have ordered things at Checker, I do not have this problem.
The staff was rude and unknowledgeable about their own stock or about procedures in which they should have been trained. I do not know if there has been a recent staff change, but since I haven’t had problems at this store before, I must assume that this is the case.
I look forward to hearing from you regarding your resolution of this matter.
Before you get your flame pens out -- the whole purpose of the online order was to save time by checking stock and having the order ready when I got there. This has not been a problem when using the same onine service with pickup at Checker. If I hadn't had an appointment after work today, I wouldn't even have bothered ordering these things online. The whole point was to save time and aggravation. Instead, I ended up furious.