I ordered some truck tires from Rob's Off-Road & 4 Wheel Drive in Clackamas, OR. I picked Rob's partly because I like to support local small business instead of just the big chains. I ordered the tires, they ran my check electronically and handed it back to me with the receipt for my order.
I went to my Mom"s (don't have a computer) and ordered (online) a set of wheels to mount the tires on, paying with a debit card number. When I got home that night, there was a message on my phone to call Hewlett Packard as they wanted to verify an order I had supposedly placed.
By the time I got in touch with Hewlett Packard, they had already determined the order was fraudulent. They were very helpful and told me they would contact my bank. I then went to the bank to see how much damage there was and get things straightened out.
At the bank, I found that the check to Rob's had bounced. Not sure why it hadn't shown up when they ran it electronically but my brother told me that some places wait til end of business to actually RUN them. I'm clueless as to that but even the bank couldn't figure out why it didn't show up when I gave them the check.
So I immediately called Rob's from the bank to explain what had happened. Brandon said they could not re-run the check and I would need to bring cash. He also told me that they had not placed the order and could not get the tires for three weeks. I told them to just go ahead and cancel the order.
I filed all the appropriate fraud papers at the bank and then looked for another place that might get me the tires sooner. I found a place, paid for the tires and thought I had everything settled.
Then four days later, I find that my account is overdrawn because Rob's DID re-run the check AFTER I cancelled the order. I went to my bank to see what had happened and then called Rob's. Rob told me that he did not have my money and would not be refunding anything. The bank had me fill out fraud papers against Rob's and said they would take care of it but that it would take awhile.
In an attempt to get things cleared up, I took the account printout from the bank to Rob's to show him that this had actually occurred and I wasn't just some scammer myself. Rob told me too bad, the tires had already been ordered. So I said I would try to get a refund from the other tire store and buy the tires from Rob's. Rob told me the tires were not for sale TO ME, and that if I did get my money back, there would be a 30% restocking fee. He then ordered me out of his shop.
As I was leaving, I said that it was a great way to do business—just kick people out if they had a complaint and he said, with a big grin on his face, and in front of all his other customers, "I'm not the tweaker whose check bounced."
Since I weigh about 240, calling me a tweaker would have been funny if I hadn't been so angry and frustrated. I also checked my receipt and it says nothing whatsoever about any restocking fee.
So now I just wait and see if the bank can get things straightened out but I sure would recommend taking your business elsewhere if you are looking for 4X4 parts or service.
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