RockAuto Shipping Blunder

I was supposed to receive my RockAuto order with brake pads for my daily driver yesterday. This afternoon I receive the following email:

"We issued you a refund for RockAuto Order # XXXXXXXXX because the carrier made a mistake and returned a package to our warehouse. If you still need these items, please place a new order on RockAuto.com with the correct delivery information. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Has anybody had this happen before? I verified that my shipping address was correct on the order confirmation so I have no idea what the issue was/is. Isn't the correct customer service response, "OMG, I'm so sorry but our shipper made a mistake. We've over-nighted you a replacement part to minimize the inconvenience" instead of "oops, our bad, but it's your problem now, so I hope you can wait another week for your parts, or I suppose you can pay a really high rate to get them only slightly late, or maybe you magically don't need them anymore, shrug"? They're even saying that they have the package, so wouldn't it have been easier to send it back out over night instead of processing a refund, restocking, and upsetting a customer?  

I've placed a fresh order but it feels a bit like insanity because I'm doing the exact same thing I did a week ago and expecting a different result...open to recommendations of similar sites. 

/Rant

Was it fedex? I'll bet it was fedex. berkeley fedex. Was it fedex?

No, I usually get the wrong item and then get screwed on the return. Its why I refuse to use RA and advise others to do the same.

Not RockAuto, but FedEx, I had one of two tires delivered and the other somehow remained on the truck. The second tire was delivered almost a week later.

I only use rock auto if I really have to. Generally they have been good but when it goes wrong it goes really wrong. They also don't really care about the little guy. You are just a order number in a computer data center.  
 

the funny thing is I used them to get a bunch of Jaguar parts that were shipped from England probably a dozen orders every one perfect.  A freakin half shaft for my 924s rebuilt in the us was shipped wrong and turned out that they had a part number issue. But then add in the core fee and the return and it turned in to a cluster really fast. I finally called the rebuilder directly from the labeling on the rebuild part that was wrong and spoke with them. We ended up doing a deal direct(I sent them my half shaft and the rebuilt it and sent it back. It was a 4day turnaround. It took 4weeks for me to get my refund from RA. They could not understand that there system was wrong. 

I've never had a problem with RA.

In your case they:

issued you a refund

Explained who seems to have been at fault and why - "the carrier made a mistake" and "returned a package to our warehouse"

Offered a simple solution  - "If you still need these items, please place a new order"

And apologized - "We apologize for the inconvenience."

Are you near a branch of Parts Authority? 

See details of Rock Auto price match in this thread of Ford brake parts

I don't have any advice, but I'm also curious as to alternatives. Luckily I've never had any issues with RA and their prices are hard to beat, especially with the 5% GRM coupon. 
 

Also curious if it was Fedex. Those guys can't seem to deliver anything to my house without it turning into a giant cluster. 
 

Edit: Advance Auto Parts always has 20-25% off coupons. And their rewards program is pretty good too. Buy online, pick up in store works pretty well for me. 

I had an order from a supplier that did that a couple of weeks ago. A phone call from the supplier straightened it out. 

Delivery companies suck sometimes. A .5% failure rate is still a lot of packages and sometimes you win that lottery.

E36 M3 happens. Move on. 

I've never had that happen for RockAuto, But I have gotten pretty much that exact same response on one occasion from Amazon. 

My suspicion was that the shipper broke or lost the parts and they did not have another one in stock to send me so they just refunded me.

Because otherwise why wouldn't they just send it out a second time?

I had an Amazon order for an over-the-range microwave that came in damaged. I generated a return, printed the shipping label, and sent it back. They were supposed to ship me a replacement. No problems.

A few days later I checked up on it and the return had been canceled as well as the order for the replacement. I sent them a message, they said to redo the return. So I did. A week later the replacement showed up. 2 days after that, the second replacement showed up. Still trying to straighten out that mess. Since they only charged me for one, I'm not too stressed over it. After a few more attempts, I'll quit trying and keep it.

This is how well my last RockAuto order went: https://www.fedex.com/fedextrack/?trknbr=913867673454&trkqual=12021~913867673454~FDEG

They insisted I wait a full week to see if the package magically appears before sending me a replacement or refund.  I wound up ordering from Amazon, getting the parts in 2 days, and eventually receiving a credit from RA.

That being said Amazon also screwed me recently by shipping a wheel hub/bearing in the original MOOG box and not taping it shut.  The driver literally left an empty box on my front step :)

I've ordered tons of parts though RA, and very rarely had a problem, and when I have, I called, and they were quick to fix it.   Seems like they were fair in dealing with you.  Their email doesn't send warm fuzzies, but they informed you of the problem and refunded your money in a pretty timely manner.  Sometimes E36 M3 happens.   If its a major deal to you, and you've gotta have the part right now, suck it up and pay extra to buy it locally. Otherwise, reorder and move on. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

I've never had that happen for RockAuto, But I have gotten pretty much that exact same response on one occasion from Amazon. 

My suspicion was that the shipper broke or lost the parts and they did not have another one in stock to send me so they just refunded me.

Because otherwise why wouldn't they just send it out a second time?

 

Logical to you and I, yes. But that may mean a lot of hurdles in their computer system and liability for the employee for a 100% loss to the company. Yes it's obviously the correct thing to do but holy hell most employees at that level in the company are idiots with no sense of thinking outside the box to solve a problem.

TGMF said:

I've ordered tons of parts though RA, and very rarely had a problem, and when I have, I called, and they were quick to fix it.   Seems like they were fair in dealing with you.  Their email doesn't send warm fuzzies, but they informed you of the problem and refunded your money in a pretty timely manner.  Sometimes E36 M3 happens.   If its a major deal to you, and you've gotta have the part right now, suck it up and pay extra to buy it locally. Otherwise, reorder and move on. 

Who did you call? They cancelled their in person CS some time back and there is no one to call.... which is why their CS f'n sucks. 

In reply to bobzilla :

Guess it's been that long since I've had a problem. It was only one instance. I called, they picked up, we chatted, and got the issue resolved.  I've had no reason to contact them since, but have continued to buy from them.  I have done a couple returns due to my own request rather than a issue on RA's end, which were satisfactorily handled over email. 

I've found that just about everything went to E36 M3 utilizing the excuse of covid. super frustrating. I expect it will be years,  before businesses staff back up and provide customer contact in the way we all wish they would (if they ever did) .  

Toyman01 + Sized and said:

Still trying to straighten out that mess. Since they only charged me for one, I'm not too stressed over it. After a few more attempts, I'll quit trying and keep it.

If they can't be bothered to take it back, and you don't have a use for a second microwave, I happen to know a guy currently shopping OTR microwaves who loves discounted products.

I found a phone number under the "about us" section on the website. Not sure how useful it is, but I'll throw it out there if someone needs it. 
 

You guys use Rock Auto because they're the absolute cheapest option :) Keep that in mind when you want them to spend money to keep you happy.

Car parts are often time-sensitive. If the initial shipment didn't get through, it's pretty common for the customer to use a slightly more expensive (or less effective) but faster solution to get the car back on the road ASAP. I think RA's response of letting the customer choose between another attempt and a refund is a good one.

Bummer, it's not their fault but I feel like the right solution would have been RA offering to send you what you need overnight.

I use RA if I'm not in a rush and when the shipping makes sense.  Shipping costs can be expensive if your parts are coming from multiple warehouses.  When I have had issues, it was impossible to reach an actual person to speak to and they refused to offer a reasonable solution via email.  I ordered motor mounts that the manufacturer incorrectly identified as compatible.  I don't remember the details, but I think they still wanted me to pay shipping to return the item, or wouldn't refund my already paid shipping costs.  It may not have been diretly at-fault...but I certainly wasn't at-fault.  I wound up just selling the parts myself.

EDIT: I've tried the phone number and managed to get a live person on the phone.  That person wasn't able/allowed to do anything to resolve issues with customer orders.

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

I have had multiple wrong things shipped or things show up that were returns that they never inspected and just shipped out again.  Most of the time they have told me to keep it and I get my refund.  I have three nice Aorus z590 motherboards that I got this way. Shipped with out any of the accessories all in the same box. I only ordered one. They said keep them and shipped me a replacement.  
 

Ordered a starter for a 944. Got a notice the order was canceled and I got a credit. I ordered another one and the starter showed up the next day.  But then another one showed up 2 days later (Amazon prime shipping). Tried to return it but gave up after two attempts as the people on the phone could not figure out how to accept a return on a canceled order.  
 

Ordered a box of pens for the office. I got a box with 50 box's of pens.  Amazon did not want it back. That was over 500 nice pens for $12.95. They are going to age out faster than the office can use them. 

I had something similar happen with spark plugs.  
 

Years ago I Ordered one sheet of plywood a whole skid was sitting in my driveway when I got home. I took my sheet they came back and got the rest.  

About a three weeks ago I ordered a box of 5 clip boards for the office. I got a box with 5 packages of 5 clipboards. I went back and checked my order and the Amazon add. I tried returning them and Amazon insists it was shipped correctly. 
 

Fedex has been pretty reliable from RockAuto generally. DHL not at all... berkley those shiny happy people. Last shipment through Fedex seemed to get stranded (very expensive diesel injectors) after a week and a half I was minutes away from calling the company to file for lost package when I get text notifications that they were due to deliver. If you need it sometime soonish... sure use RA, Need it tomorrow.. best get overpriced junk locally.

The bigger Fedex issue is trying to get support, Customer Support pings India which nets you a "Sorry you are having an issue... call the shipper.", no phone number for local hub to just pick up something etc..

Having said that RA Customer Service has treated me well with the issues I've had. 

Crazy times shipping anything. 

Keith Tanner said:

You guys use Rock Auto because they're the absolute cheapest option :) Keep that in mind when you want them to spend money to keep you happy.

Car parts are often time-sensitive. If the initial shipment didn't get through, it's pretty common for the customer to use a slightly more expensive (or less effective) but faster solution to get the car back on the road ASAP. I think RA's response of letting the customer choose between another attempt and a refund is a good one.

Perfectly stated on both subjects.

I refuse to use FedEx if there's an option. I don't care if UPS is 30% more. The last issue was a part that made it all the way to the local hub, before they decided my address didn't exist, and returned the package. Then I had to pay shipping AGAIN and wait for the item which was no longer on sale. I like my drivers on a personal level, but fedex's lack of berkeleys, lost me as a customer.

I agree with Keith that RA margins are likely so low, I wouldn't expect them to rush shipping on their dime. I've been happy with oreillys, they usually have a 10-20% ship to home sale, there's 5 stores locally, and they keep emailing me $5-10 no minimum purchase coupons.

Old thread, but I'll add my recent experience.  I've been a long time user of RockAuto, but I think today I placed my last order.

Needed some belts and hoses for an engine swap project next week.  FedEx Ground delivery date of Tuesday the 27th to my shop...doable, but tight, as I'm planning to do the work on Wednesday AM.  FedEx Ground to my house shows Monday the 26th....weird, but okay.  I should note that I own an e-commerce business that ships a LOT, so I'm pretty well-versed in probability of hitting delivery dates, especially around Xmas.  

I pay the extra $5 to have it shipped to the house (residential address) and get the "your order has shipped" a few hours later.  Tracking number looks weird and nothing like FedEx, so I click the link....and it takes me to DHL, with an estimated arrival date of Friday the 30th.  DHL is berkeleying AWFUL.  Drunken blind monkeys would do a better job of delivering my package.  I've had plenty of international shipments ship to the shop via DHL that have been delivered to the wrong business, delivered to the wrong door in a multi-tenant building, claimed to "attempt delivery" yet no truck ever materialized, etc.  If there's hatred for FedEx (and my luck with them has been pretty good, actually), your head will explode with DHL.

Naturally, RA has zero customer service and no way to contact them at all, so I can't stop the package and have them reship with the carrier they offered to arrive on the date they provided.

Net-net, I will order from AutoZone and have it delivered tomorrow and figure out what to do with the RA order when it arrives.  If RA had given it to FedEx and FedEx delayed delivery, I wouldn't be mad at anyone but myself....I gambled and lost.  With them switching out my FedEx option for DHL, I'm pretty much guaranteed of no chance of receiving the parts in time.

@RockAuto - if you're listening, drop DHL like a bad habit and ship via the option that your customer selects.  Might help you keep your loyal, multi-year customers going forward.