Has anyone shipped an item back to rock auto on your dime and actually received a refund? They shipped the right side caliper in a left side box but say that I will have to pay to ship it back and they will inspect and decide if it deserves a refund...
any experience?
I had similar, they shipped me a totally wrong cv axle in the correct box. I think 13 years later it's still in my parents basement because shipping was going to be almost the whole refund. I don't care for their return policy
I had a similar thing happen last year. It took a little while but was cleared up correctly.
In reply to chandler :
I had that exact experience too. I don't remember the monetary outcome, just that it was enough of a hassle that I've not done business with them in the 2.5 years since.
Mr_Asa
SuperDork
12/5/20 7:03 p.m.
The one time I got the wrong parts I had ordered a pair of rear calipers. One of the two was a returned unit, possibly a core, obviously used and leaking brake fluid into the ziploc bag it was in. They just requested that I send in pictures of it so they could determine what the issue was, then they shipped me a new one and told me to keep the used one.
I can't remember exactly what it was, but I definitely got a part that was not what was on the order, and they shipped the correct part and sent me a pre-paid label to ship the wrong one back. No complaints here.
Looks like results may vary. I've had good luck, but have heard bad stories too.
I ordered a set of 6 spark plugs, got 3 wrong ones. They had the correct ones in my mail box the next day and never asked for the wrong ones back.
They sent me the wrong wiper blades once, and wanted me to pay to return out of my own pocket for a refund on the parts only (no shipping, so that I ultimately would have paid about $8 to have nothing). I declined as I'd rather have useless wiper blades around than throw away $8 just for the hell of it.
Core returns have always gone smoothly but I agree that the "we f'ed up" mistakes are not handled well.
thedoc
Reader
12/6/20 1:14 a.m.
I've had the wrong parts ship out. It seemed l Iike they shipped me a cheaper part, a la Amazon. It was easier to source it locally.
I got a new oil pan that was manufactured incorrectly (an internal oiling passage contacted the block, hard). I had pre-ordered a giant pile of parts for a project and didn't find out until months later. They said it's too late to return for a refund BUT I could exchange it for another designed-wrong part. Gee, thanks.
They sent me a damaged Denso a/c condenser last summer, and when I contacted them about it, I was instructed to hold it for 5 days in case the shipper wanted to investigate, then dispose of it. Refund came the same day. Unfortunately they did not have another of the same brand in stock, so I bought another from Amazon. Which showed up damaged in exactly the same way. Amazon had me ship it back on their nickle thru the local Kohls store, also didn’t have another, and also promptly refunded my money.
I also got the wrong axle sent to me in the correct box. They have horrific customer service and a crappy return policy. The axle shaft is in my garage still. I also haven't done business with them in years, and never will again.
bottom-feeder crap place that is.
Yeah, that's kinda where I am. I like the ease; I work out of town so I order on the weekend and it's there for the following weekend - but in this case it makes for a long time between if the wrong part arrives. Local flaps want $117 for a caliper when its $55 from rock.
I've had a few wrong part experiences with them. Nothing that ended badly, but enough to be a pain. So I sometimes find myself using them as a catalog (for cars that don't have FCP / ECS type places to order from), and then checking Amazon's price on the item I want. If Amazon has it at the same or better price, it comes from them. But if Rockauto has a decent part for what I need and the price is right, I'll buy from them.
I've never had a refund or return that didn't suck. Several straight up "you're stuck with it" so I don't purchase from RA anymore. they can kiss my grits. I'll look up parts there and then find them cheaper elsewhere usually due to the shipping.
I've had all these same problems with local auto parts stores. I'll take the risk going with RockAuto when the savings is so huge and the brand selection is so much better.
In reply to bobzilla :
Exactly. Especially with the Advance Auto speed perks the cost is often cheaper & almost always faster too.
pirate
HalfDork
12/6/20 10:54 a.m.
Cactus said:
In reply to newrider3 :
That's pretty much my experience.
Local had a VTEC gasket for 40 freaking bucks. Rock has it for like 12. I bought it locally to get my car to stop pissing oil all over the tranny, got one from rock, put it in the box and returned it locally.
How can this be considered honest or right in anyway?
But on to the question.
I have purchased numerous parts from Rock Auto and never had a problem. Their prices are always good and you are usually given choices to the manufacturer and quality perceived or not. Unfortunately I have received auto parts from Amazon and local parts stores that were clearly used parts. Was told it is getting to be a big problem where people order parts then clean up used parts put it in the new parts packaging and then return it for credit. It seems these places are not even checking returns before putting back on the shelf. I will say in the instances that this has happed to me the perpetrators must have spent a lot of time keeping the packaging pristine so it looked like the factory original unopened part.
This spring I returned a part I didn't use due my misdiagnosis; the process went fine.
That said, I don't often order from Rock Auto because they split my orders up and ship from all over the place. Worse, I can never tell exactly which brand part I'm getting because they appear to list most things I need for my particular cars by the distributor, not the part manufacturer. My latest frustration was when it seemed like a pretty good bet I'd be getting a decent part sourced from Europe but it turned out to be a Chinese part that, if I'd wanted the Chinese part, I could have bought for much less.
In reply to pirate :
I’ve had the problem with obviously used parts bought new. Now I know why!!
I already have a pretty low opinion on human beings as a species, so I shouldn’t be surprised!
pirate
HalfDork
12/6/20 2:23 p.m.
03Panther said:
In reply to pirate :
I’ve had the problem with obviously used parts bought new. Now I know why!!
I already have a pretty low opinion on human beings as a species, so I shouldn’t be surprised!
Was told by a manager level person the problem is big at Walmart. He said they have had packages returned with nothing in them except chucks of wood 2 X 4's to simulate weight of item.
pirate said:
Unfortunately I have received auto parts from Amazon and local parts stores that were clearly used parts. Was told it is getting to be a big problem where people order parts then clean up used parts put it in the new parts packaging and then return it for credit. It seems these places are not even checking returns before putting back on the shelf. I will say in the instances that this has happed to me the perpetrators must have spent a lot of time keeping the packaging pristine so it looked like the factory original unopened part.
I have been in this same position with auto parts from Amazon on two recent occasions myself. I have not experienced this so far with a RA order, fortunately.
Cactus said:
In reply to newrider3 :
That's pretty much my experience.
Local had a VTEC gasket for 40 freaking bucks. Rock has it for like 12. I bought it locally to get my car to stop pissing oil all over the tranny, got one from rock, put it in the box and returned it locally.
Wow!? Really?
You really do that?
I'll stop there.
I have no problem spending more to shop locally. I know I'll still get a wrong part here and there, and that'll suck. But being stuck with a wrong part because they screwed up is simply not acceptable, never has been, never will be.
Almost as bad as screwing a company out of money by fraudulently using their return policy.