Los Angeles woman visits auto shop for new windshield wipers. Days later, she’s bombarded with phone calls: ‘You literally can’t win’
A call she did not expect to receive.
People often prepare in advance when there are warnings about upcoming severe weather or conditions—whether that means stocking up on food and supplies or replacing worn-out items. But for one woman who had her windshield wipers replaced to prepare for the upcoming rain, the supposedly mundane task turned into an exasperating experience when she received a call from an employee who allegedly used her information to contact her.
“So, you wanna know what it’s like being a woman?” Carly Butler (@carlyrbutler) began, opening her TikTok video with the question. Butler told viewers that rain was about to hit Los Angeles at the time of the incident, and to prepare, she went to O’Reilly Auto Parts to have her windshield wipers replaced because they would install them for her.
On her visit, a male employee assisted Butler with the windshield wiper replacement. However, the employee allegedly installed the wrong size despite Butler informing him of her car’s model, year, and even the license plate. According to Butler, she had to return to exchange the size.
An unexpected call
Butler was told that she had to make an account with the shop to make an exchange. At that point, Butler hoped to get everything over with and complied with the employee’s requests. “When he does the exchange, they were like, ‘Oh. You have to make an account to do the exchange,’” Butler said. “I was like, ‘Yes, whatever.’ They said, ‘Just give us your phone number.’ I give him my phone number to make the account.”
Nothing seemed amiss during Butler’s interaction with the employee, and she left shortly after the exchange was completed. However, days after Butler’s visit to the auto parts shop, she claimed to have received multiple phone calls from an unknown number.
“I get a phone call this morning; I deny it. I get a text that says, ‘Hey, Carly. How’s it going?’” Butler said. “I’m like, weird. Because I don’t give my number out. Even when I go out.
When Butler received another call from an unknown number, she said she decided to answer the call and discovered it was the employee, who introduced himself as Daniel, from the auto parts shop. According to Butler, she initially freaked out and hung up the call before Daniel sent her a text message that left her in disbelief.
“Hey, Carly, I thought you were cute. I thought we could get to know each other,” Daniel told Butler in his text message, based on her recollection. Suddenly receiving a text message from someone you barely interacted with can be off-putting, but it’s especially jarring when an employee allegedly takes your contact information from the shop’s customer database.
“This guy went into the f****** system, looked up my phone number so he could text me,” Butler told viewers in exasperation. “Like, that has to be illegal. And I thought we had a nice interaction, like we barely talked. […] Like, you literally can’t win.”
Legal yet unethical
While obtaining a personal phone number through a customer database does sound illegal, there isn’t a federal law against it. Nor is a phone number protected personal data unless it’s in a healthcare setting. However, it is unethical and likely goes against company policy.
According to O’Reilly Auto Parts’ Privacy Policy, the company implements security measures to protect customers’ personal information, including limiting workforce members who have access to it, following internal procedures and policies in handling information, and training its workforce members. However, the company disclaimed that the information is not 100% safe despite the security measures in place.
Instead, the company’s policy does not address the use of a customer’s personal information for an employee’s personal agenda. Rather, it outlines how the company uses customer information, which is primarily for business-related purposes. Although Butler likely won’t have legal standing unless she can prove the incident caused her harm, her best option would be to file a complaint directly with the company.
Viewers were left disappointed but not surprised by the incident. Some alleged that the employee made the mistake on purpose in an elaborate attempt to get Butler’s number. “He sold you the wrong wipers on purpose just so you’d have to give him your info,” one commenter wrote. Others urged Butler to escalate the incident, saying, “Call corporate, report him, get his a** fired.”
Some were also skeptical about the need to get Butler’s license plate: “TAKE YOUR LICENSE PLATS TO THE DMV AND EXCHANGE FOR NEW ONES!!!! I have NEVER had anyone ‘need’ my plate info.” It remains unclear what happened following the phone calls and text messages, or whether Butler filed a report. But her experience just showed the unintended consequences of others having your personal information.
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