These pages are written for shop operations, not DIY consumer traffic. Each one translates a public vendor rule into the actual workflow your team needs: invoice captured, core bagged, due date visible, handoff recorded, and credit confirmed. Every page includes a last reviewed date and primary source links.
For a shop operator, the practical rule is simple: treat NAPA cores as a dated operational task from the day the invoice lands. The public policy is clear enough to build a shelf rule around 30 days, but commercial-account exceptions should still be confirmed locally.
The operational win with AutoZone is flexibility of return location, but that does not remove the need for shop discipline. The part still needs to be tracked, documented, and confirmed through to credit.
O’Reilly gives shops a longer public return window than many competitors, which helps, but the operational trap is assuming that longer window removes urgency. It does not — it just hides slippage until the shelf is crowded.
These pages do not try to win generic battery-refund or consumer parts-return traffic. They exist to help repair shops turn vendor policy into a consistent operating rhythm. When a rule cannot be validated from a primary source, it does not get promoted into the matrix.