One thing I shy away from is writing a bad review for a business. I have only left a couple over the course of 25 plus years on the internet. But today, Bimmer Boneyard earned a scathing review. And here it is:
I purchased an oil filter wrench from them this past weekend. I received it yesterday and to my surprise, the wrench would not fit inside the hole to access the oil filter. The outer flange on the wrench is too large of a diameter and would not go in. It wasn't off by much, but just enough. I could have used a grinder and brought the outer diameter down to a point where it would fit, but screw that, I don't buy tools that are supposed to work only to have to modify them to make them work. This friggin pissed me off like you wouldn't believe. I purchased the wrench after reading several posts on here which directed me to their website. I found what I needed there and ordered it having faith that it would work. A trip to my local NAPA Auto Parts was needed after that and luckily, I found one there that worked. Same size 76/14, but the outer flange was smaller and it easily fit inside the hole to remove the BMW factory oil filter installed by the previous owner.
So today, I called Bimmer Boneyard to tell them about the problem. As soon as I got the words "It didn't fit" out, the person who answered the phone (Who later said he was the owner) got defensive and told me he doesn't know what the deal is, they sell a lot of them and they work as they are supposed to. He then asked what kind of filter I had to which I replied "It doesn't matter, the wrench won't go in the hole to engage the filter in the first place.". I could barely get out what I wanted to say because this guy kept talking over me and interrupting me. I asked him three times to let me finish what I was trying to say, but he wasn't having it. I then said just refund my money as it was obvious this guy is lousy when dealing with customers. He said he would do that and I waited on the phone for him to do so. I also told him I would make sure that I would let people know how this transaction went down, to which he replied "What are you gonna say, that I refunded your money?" I then promptly hung up after the transaction was complete. I verified this on paypal; my money was refunded.
Now, it should be known that I am a very mechanically inclined person. I was a licensed plumber/heating technician and have rebuilt motorcycles in the past. I do most of my own maintenance on all my bikes and a damn routine oil change is a pretty simple task, even for those who don't know crap about bikes. The instructions in the service manual are super easy to follow and anyone with a couple of common tools and a properly fitting oil filter wrench can easily do this routine task. So when I say the filter wrench would not fit in the hole, that is exactly what happened. For some reason, the flange on that one is too big. I tried to have an adult conversation with the supplier to explain the problem and all I got was his bullshit attitude on the phone. Maybe, just maybe, he got a bad lot of these. Hell, they are made in Taiwan, not exactly the bastion of quality manufacturing. Maybe the manufacturer screwed up something. But to talk to me like I am a piece of shit, interrupting me and talking over me, is goddamn uncalled for and disrespectful. He was talking like I was making this up. Why the hell would I even call in the first place? It is a damn $9 tool, not even worth my time really.
There is an old adage that applies to businesses: The customer is always right. For some reason, this guy doesn't get that. What should have transpired is a friendly conversation to try to figure out what might be the problem. A "You know, that's the first time I have heard of this. I will refund your money and try to get to the bottom of this. I will contact you if I find out anything." Bam, that's how you talk to someone. I would have thanked him and would surely be a repeat customer. Mistakes happen, sometimes they are beyond your control. But the one damn thing you don't do as a business owner is talk to your customers like they are shit. I would have easily accepted the above and moved along. Now, I'll never buy anything from this guy ever again. It is clear he doesn't value customers and quite frankly, I don't appreciate being talked down to by someone who should value my business. I am sure many of you had good experiences with him, but you should know that occurrences like mine can (and did) happen.
End of rant!
