Until last month, I had never had a bad experience at an AutoZone. That changed when I went to AutoZone with my friend who is of Polynesian-Indian descent.
We needed a battery replaced and had a warrantee for a free replacement. I stayed in the car because the battery was so dead we couldn't open the door again after it was locked (not even with the key). After about 15 minutes of waiting in line, they found his warrantee and asked him to wait until the line died down to help. I waited outside and observed filled parking spaces become empty and occupied again, multiple times. My friend waited for AN HOUR and 15 minutes.
After texting multiple times to my friend inside, I decided to go in. Within ONE MINUTE of me (a WHITE PERSON) entering the store, we had service and the battery was fetched.
The fact that i had quicker service than someone with dark skin shocked and appalled me. I told them I would be calling corporate, but that's when it got even worse. I've called around 5 times to ask them to look into this incident, and nothing happened. Each time, I was assured the regional manager would give me a call back, but never was.
The message made by this location and reinforced by their regional staff is clear: WHITE PEOPLE ARE A PRIORITY HERE AND PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE NOT.
As long as this racist, preferential treatment remains unacknowledged and unchanged, I will never set foot in any Arizona AutoZone again.