I have my son take his 2017 Ram 1500 to the dealership in Stillwater. The truck is still mine until he graduates then it's his. He needed a full oil/filter service done, front end alignment, tire rotation and he also needed the passenger side mirror replaced and the passenger door lock actuator replaced. The dealership is telling me the side mirror and door actuator are both on order. the door part is backordered with no date for delivery. The service writer or parts guy then tells me I have to pay for the ordered parts along with the services already provided. I tell him since when does a dealer require payment for parts that are not even in stock nor are they installed on the truck. He tells me "its policy". I told him his policy is phucked and not normal. Told him to forget the parts and we'll get repaired/installed elsewhere. He then tells me there will be a restocking fee for the ordered parts. I about flipped my lid. So much so the gal in the office next to me came over to my door to make sure I was OK. Told him again how $^&*@($ his policy was and that he could go ahead and charge me the restocking fee then I'll dispute the whole charge. He put the phone down and can hear him pick up another chatting with a guy to find out about the backordered part delivery date.
In all these years I've never been told to pay for a part that is on order prior to the work being performed and parts installed. Is this a thing now? You guys ever hear of this crap? Maybe I'm wrong and chewed some azz for no reason but this seems totally odd. Anyways, just a little rant for the day.
As my friend that runs a body shop explained it, they "order" most parts they don't stock from a commercial-only parts house in the region (for instance I think the Ford one is in Dallas) that basically functions as their extended warehouse. That parts house makes a daily run to Tulsa and parts are delivered to the shop. If they end up not needing something they can send it back with the same delivery person that drops things off. My guess is that your parts weren't available in such a scenario and had to be special ordered, therefore the special order and up-front payment though the guy you were working with obviously didn't explain the difference. A "returned" special order part probably would have a restocking fee since they'll have to send it back but since it's out of stock and hadn't been shipped yet they should have just canceled the order. You can't restock something you don't even have in hand so that was a bit ridiculous of the guy. At this point he was probably just retaliating to your being upset.
I bet you can find that part online somewhere. Look at eBay and Amazon. They have a ridiculous amount of parts online and usually a lot cheaper. Then find someone good at taking apart car doors (like a body shop) and have them install it. Good luck with it!
Bryan