Dispute Resolution Process

Dispute Resolution Flowchart

If at any point during a transaction either party feels they are being mistreated, they are encouraged to do the following:

  1. Initiate contact with the other party in an attempt to resolve the issue.
  2. If the first step fails, the user must submit a claim to claims@automotivespecialtytool.net requesting assistance to resolve the issue. We will send a Claim Form to you so that we obtain complete information to help in the review of the complaint. Upon receipt of your completed Claim Form at disputes@automotivespecialtytool.net , we will share your Claim Form with the other party for their response. This will start the internal staff review process. The claim must provide in detail if the tool was loaned or rented and specify the Tool ID and Transaction ID.
  3. We will proceed to contact the other party and get their response. Within 10 business days, we will issue a finding and notify both parties of the finding.
  4. Both parties have 2 weeks to decide if they'd like to appeal our decision. If you choose to do so, be advised that arbitration by the 3rd party costs $200/case and is paid for ENTIRELY by the parties involved. Automotive Specialty Tool only acts as a supplier of requested information at this point. The information regarding our 3rd party arbitration vendor(s) is available on our website. Should you choose to pursue an appeal, please send an email including, again, the transaction ID, tool ID, and your role in the transaction (borrower or lender) to appeals@automotivespecialtytool.net.
  5. Once the 3rd party reaches a decision, any funds over which AST has control will be released based on their decision as it is FINAL. If you are a borrower and we/our 3rd party vendor rule in your favor, we will support you in a Paypal dispute to recover your rental fees and shipping costs.

Our third party arbitrators are Beth Barlow Grant, Harold Kessler, and Carter Phillip Ferrington whose experience and contact information can be found on our Policies/FAQ Page.

General Notes

We highly recommend that both sides of the transaction monitor condition of the item upon reception as well as before shipping the item out. While this feature will be included on the site soon, we will keep track of notes, shipping receipts, pictures, and anything else you might deem important to maintain records in the form of emails with attachments sent to transactions@automotivespecialtytool.net every step of the way. These emails should include the paypal or CC transaction ID, tool ID, date, and the status of the tool. Status of the tool would essentially be the point in the transaction that the information is being noted. i.e. about to ship from lender to borrower, just received by borrower, about to ship from borrower to lender (before/after use), just received by lender from borrower. Both parties should also maintain this information locally for their own records.