Advance auto parts loan-a-tool program

[whitehot1]

I called them yesterday to see if they had a harmonic balancer puller available and they did.

The guy said there will be a deposit of $90.00 required for the tool but it will be refunded when the tool is returned.

I thought that was just crazy, so i never went to pick it up.

I normally use the loan-a-tool program at autozone but their pullers were loaned out.

I ended up buying a puller from autozone for $16.99

I had been thinking about buying one for awhile this experience just helped me along.

The guy at autozone said he heard that O'reilly's now charge for using their battery/charging test equipment in their lot.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Hhhmm......why would it cost $90 to loan out a harmonic balancer puller? Unless the tool itself costs that much.....which for just the puller I wouldn't think so...unless a hydraulic piece was included.

 

[Dabigguy]

Maybe it was one of those fancy ones that installed the balancer too.

 

[corsair231]

Maybe it was one of those fancy ones that installed the balancer too.

They are. Most of their loaner tools are also multi-vehicle kits. The $90.00 covers the cost of the kit.

 

[sasmith350]

The guy at autozone said he heard that O'reilly's now charge for using their battery/charging test equipment in their lot.

guy at autozone is lying to ya....i work at oreilly's and there's no charge for testing(if they say there is, call the corporate office)....as for the rental tools, we overcharge the fee so they come back...most of the tools you buy for under $20 are not meant to be used over and over like the rental tools are, and a lot of the time they come back missing parts/broken because someone didn't know how to use it(even with instructions in the box).

 

[Junior Samples]

Heck I loaned out my puller to my Bro many years back to pull his steering wheel
He brought it back.... fast forward a few months when I needed it to pull a damper so I opened the case and 3 bolts were shaped like bananas.

Talk about pissed off, he had the puller on upside down so the bolts were riding on the taper side thus bending, of course he used to gorilla torque everything.

Not that this had anything to do with the thread but it made me remember back about my Free loaner program to my own flesh and blood

 

[typhoon]

I went to Advance to buy a puller and ended up buying/keeping the loaner tool. Guy gave me 10% for being used. (looked like 1 time).

It is more than a puller, installs also, has bearings to install, and fits just about anything with more than 1 wheel. Much nicer than a $16 puller for sure.

I told them when I paid the $ I was keeping it got tired of renting or borrowing one all the time.

 

[whitehot1]

Autozone is the place to go for loaner tools since they charge a reasonable deposit for them in my opinion and that's probably why they didn't have the tool i needed at that time.

I called O'Reilly's too just to compare the deposits on the harmonic balancer puller.

Autozone deposit $15.00
Advance deposit $90.00
O'reilly's deposit $46.99

The harmonic balancer / steering wheel puller i ended up buying at autozone for $16.99 is pretty darn close to the one they loan out except it comes in a hard plastic case. But for $16.99 and a lifetime warranty that is a heck of a deal and will save me some trips to and from their store,since that's the only tool i normally rent from them.

I don't know if the guy was lying to me about O'Reilly's or not as he did say it was something he had heard.

John :smile:

 

[benoitthegr8]

Home Depot

I went to Home Depot to rent an auger for digging some fence post holes, they told me they had to pull the deposit off a credit card (no cash deposit), and it would take 10 business days for it to be credited back to the card upon return of the tool. Well it's been 3 weeks and they still have not credited my card....

 

[scottyb]

I went to Home Depot to rent an auger for digging some fence post holes, they told me they had to pull the deposit off a credit card (no cash deposit), and it would take 10 business days for it to be credited back to the card upon return of the tool. Well it's been 3 weeks and they still have not credited my card....

Call your credit card company now and dispute the charges. You only have a limited amount of time before you will have to resort to much more difficult means of getting things straight.

 

[benoitthegr8]

That's the worse thing I actually charged it to my debit card.... I'm going to give them until the end of the week, then I'll go through the BS of retrieving what is rightfully mine. Ya wonder why I hate big Corporations???