Dishonesty......

[Engineer9860]

The other night my wife was going to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Knowing that my company truck was needing a P/M in a few days I told her to pick up the oil, and filter that I would need.

So here is what she brought home:



I usually check the filters before I buy them, but since she wouldn't know what to look for I didn't even mention she do likewise. Fast forward to today.

Today, after work I took my truck home and proceeded to change the oil. SOP for me is to remove the oil, and filter, do all the other tasks, then replace the oil, and filter lastly. This allows time for all of the oil to drip from the engine.

Since she bought the filter and laid it on our kitchen counter I had not touched it until I needed it. Immediately when I picked it up I knew something wasn't right by the weight.......Well you can see why. The FL-2016 is a cartridge type filter, not a cannister.

So I set, at home, with no vehicle until she got off from work and could go to Wal-Mart for another (correct) filter. Apparently the Fram filter was $10, whereas the FL-2016 is $19.96. Somebody played the old switcheroo with a Motorcraft filter in a Fram box. Even the o-rings for the cap were missing. Of course the bar code reader doesn't know what is in the box, just what is on the outside.

So I am inconvienienced, and Wal-Mart is out $10.00 when we take this errant filter back. Im sure whatever human debris is behind this has already spent Wal-Mart's $10 on meth, or weed, or whatever.

Let my pain be a lesson to all: Check your filter boxes!!!

[PAThwacker]

walmart does not sell my filter Mobile 1 M301. My pita commuter do it all european spec vw passat 1.8T wagon. I usually have to wait for sales and snag a free filter with 5.5qt jug of mobile one 0w40 0.502 spec.
Havent had cheap oil for the past 15 years.

[BurbMan]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
I once bought a fish locator from Wal Mart. I took it home and opened the box and found it had been used and returned. I immediately brought it back 15 minutes later. I was told that I had switched locators with one I had and they wouldn't take it back. Treated like a crook by the Store Assistant Manager. This was a brand new model that had just come out. I had to go back the next day and plead with the Store Manager to get a refund. Once again I was treated the same way..He told me WalMart doesn't take items back and reseal the package..Finally got a refund but had to wait for them to mail it to me because I had used a check. That was the last time I ever allowed some idiot "Manager" to ever see a dollar of mine in a WalMart store. I hate WalMart.

B.O.

Not to defend WM, there is plenty to hate about them, but their return policy is among the most liberal. This is the same problem I had with the shop vac at Home Depot...put yourself in the manager's shoes, he's supposed to believe it's not you ripping him off, it was the guy before you?

I was in Lowe's just Sunday morning and a woman comes in carrying a coffee maker box and a garbage bag. I was waiting at the return desk for help on another matter, so I hear the whole conversation. The lady takes a coffee maker out of the garbage bag and says "I bought this 3 weeks ago and I am just not happy with it. I would like to exchange it for another brand.". The answer? "No problem ma'am!"

So they lady gets her refund and leaves, and the refund clerk turns to the supervisor and says "What do I do with this?" The answer was: "Repack it back in the box so we can restock it."

Obviously the lady was not a crook, but the store should not be taking returns on stuff if they cannot ship it back RTV (return to vendor). Yes the crooks are a problem, but I also blame poorly trained store clerks that don't know what they are doing. I am hoping the coffee maker in question is set out on the discount table and not re-inventoried as new stock and sold to some unsuspecting customer who is thinking they are buying a new item.

[gijoecam]

ALWAYS check the filter boxes, no matter the source. When I sold Auto Parts (holy crap, was that really 20 years ago!??!) you would be amazed how many Motorcraft, Fram, Delco, and Casite filters came from the factory missing the o-rings. I would personally find about one a week working the floor, more often if I worked the register. We had a store policy that we were to open all oil filter boxes and check for them.

Since I've always been in the habit, I still do it today. I found a Motorcraft filter at the Ford dealer for my wife's car that was missing the o-ring just a couple years back. I found another one on the shelves at the local AutoZone just a few weeks later. I found still a third filter that had the WRONG THREADS in it!! (It was an FL-500S that wouldn't thread on properly)

[a64armt]

BenK wrote:


We honest folks pay for their thievery and they know it.

Wife and I just got home from Petsmart. I ran into Wal-Mart to get some oil for the car. Made a suggestion to a woman buying an oil filter to open and verify she was getting what she wanted.

Also, the same 4 motorcraft oil filter packages are still on the shelf.

OJ

[BenK]

Why so many packages almost impossible to open without a knife...even then
the thieves manage

We honest folks pay for their thievery and they know it.

Why I most always insist on opening it while still in the store and the few times
don't...too often screwed like this

[B_O__Plenty]

I once bought a fish locator from Wal Mart. I took it home and opened the box and found it had been used and returned. I immediately brought it back 15 minutes later. I was told that I had switched locators with one I had and they wouldn't take it back. Treated like a crook by the Store Assistant Manager. This was a brand new model that had just come out. I had to go back the next day and plead with the Store Manager to get a refund. Once again I was treated the same way..He told me WalMart doesn't take items back and reseal the package..Finally got a refund but had to wait for them to mail it to me because I had used a check. That was the last time I ever allowed some idiot "Manager" to ever see a dollar of mine in a WalMart store. I hate WalMart.

B.O.

[dodge_guy]

I've had this happen to me too. It's a pain, but WM has no way of stopping it easily or cheaply. And this will happen anywhere!

[Tachdriver]

I knew a guy who went tent camping in his younger days bought and returned a blender to be used on the trip.

I try to always open the boxes to make sure it is not used and put back. Unfortunately its this kind of thing that we and the store owners pay for.

[a64armt]

I had to check the image twice. After reading the OP's post I thought they were in Hagerstown MD.

A few months ago I went to Wal-Mart to buy oil and filter for my 08 6.4. I usually open the box, but this time the boxes were also looking a bit sad (worn ink, little off square, etc) so I was not about to buy one without opening it. I looked through all of the 4 they had on the shelf, 3 of the filters appeared to be off square (one missing the bag with o-ring) and one filter box had a "supertech" (Wal-Mart brand) filter in it. I took all of them to the auto service counter and the individual behind the counter just shrugged his shoulders and said "they should be ok". I asked if I should put them back on the shelf and he nodded. I bought the oil, but skipped on the filters and drove to the nearest Autozone for a filter.

I'm not saying only Wal-Mart has to deal with unethical thieves, but I could not believe the "service center tech" at Wal-Mart just had me put the damaged and incorrect filter back on the shelf. I guess you get what you pay for in labor as well as products. I have never taken a vehicle to Wal-Mart for an oil change and probably never will.

I am not Anti-WalMart, I believe that much of their workforce earns a fair wage for what they do, but I believe that some of the same people complaining about unfair wages will never better themselves or their work ethic, whether making $8 an hour or $80 an hour.

Hope Wal-Mart makes restitution.

OJ

[haddy1]

I recently special ordered a circuit breaker from NAPA. The breaker that showed up in the box was not only used, but also the wrong amps. So that breaker made it past the store that returned it and the warehouse that restocked and reshipped as well.

It cost me more in gas for 3 trips to the store than the breaker was worth. I'm hoping that something really bad happens to the thief that caused the problem in the first place.

[Ron3rd]

FishOnOne wrote:
Thanks for sharing this story. People have been known to drain the expensive synthetic oil and replace it with cheap dino oil as well.

X2, read on this forum a few years back that a member returned home from Walmart with his jugs of oil only to find they were full of dirty used oil. Yes, people drain their oil, put the old oil back in the jugs and return them to Walmart.

[gmcsmoke]

I'm not sure which would filter better the filter package or the fram filter.

[Gale_Hawkins]

I noticed WM has the high end head light bulbs secured so I guess they are doing the same with them.

[BenK]

double post...