Just wanted to share my recent experiences with Rock Auto.
My first bad experience with them occurred about 6 months ago. I had ordered brake pads for my wifes car (front and rear) and when the items arrived I looked at the boxes to confirm that they were the correct part. It wasnt until 6 weeks later when I had the time to do the job that I discovered that Rock Auto had sent me USED pads for the rear. Not only were these things dirty, they had the compression ring from the caliper embedded on the outside shim. I immediately called RA and explained the situation to them. I got some resistance since I was past their 30 day return policy, but they gave in and took the parts back and paid for the return shipping. There was some confusion on the refunding of the money in that they sent out a new set to me that day when I simply wanted a refund. I had to go to the local parts store to get the pads as I already had the car torn down. So I got stuck with the return shipping on the second set that I didnt want. Whatever.... I chalked it up to an off day on their part. I had been using them for over 10 years and this was my first bad experience.
My second bad experience happened last month. I had order some parts for my car and I made sure to closely inspect them as soon as they arrived. The good news is that all of the parts were new. Long story short, when I went to install them I found out that one part was defective and another was not needed.
So I go online and initiate a return. The process was easy and I printed out a return shipping label, the cost of which would be deducted from my refund. A few days later I get an e-mail stating that Ive been refunded the cost of the defective part but not the unused part. WHAT??? Turns out that the box that the unused part came in was missing a label on the side which contained the part number. Apparently, when the box was originally shipped to me it was tapped in such a way that when I opened it, the label tore. According to RA they cant identify the part. So I told them that I have a couple of problems with this. First is that they sent the part in a plain cardboard box (didnt appear to be a manufactures box) and tape it in such a way that the label is destroyed upon opening (honestly, who keeps used tape?). Second is that the part itself HAS a label on it with the manufactures name and part number. So its identifiable. They then responded that the part cant be resold because they cant identify it from the outside. I guess penciling in the part number or walking it to the bin from which it came from is beyond their comprehension.
So I initiated a dispute with my credit card company who fortunately agreed with me and I got my money back. Its unfortunate because I have used RA for over 10 years and until now I had nothing but good experiences with them. Then again, I never had to return anything before. Looks like Ill be going elsewhere to get my auto parts.
My first bad experience with them occurred about 6 months ago. I had ordered brake pads for my wifes car (front and rear) and when the items arrived I looked at the boxes to confirm that they were the correct part. It wasnt until 6 weeks later when I had the time to do the job that I discovered that Rock Auto had sent me USED pads for the rear. Not only were these things dirty, they had the compression ring from the caliper embedded on the outside shim. I immediately called RA and explained the situation to them. I got some resistance since I was past their 30 day return policy, but they gave in and took the parts back and paid for the return shipping. There was some confusion on the refunding of the money in that they sent out a new set to me that day when I simply wanted a refund. I had to go to the local parts store to get the pads as I already had the car torn down. So I got stuck with the return shipping on the second set that I didnt want. Whatever.... I chalked it up to an off day on their part. I had been using them for over 10 years and this was my first bad experience.
My second bad experience happened last month. I had order some parts for my car and I made sure to closely inspect them as soon as they arrived. The good news is that all of the parts were new. Long story short, when I went to install them I found out that one part was defective and another was not needed.
So I go online and initiate a return. The process was easy and I printed out a return shipping label, the cost of which would be deducted from my refund. A few days later I get an e-mail stating that Ive been refunded the cost of the defective part but not the unused part. WHAT??? Turns out that the box that the unused part came in was missing a label on the side which contained the part number. Apparently, when the box was originally shipped to me it was tapped in such a way that when I opened it, the label tore. According to RA they cant identify the part. So I told them that I have a couple of problems with this. First is that they sent the part in a plain cardboard box (didnt appear to be a manufactures box) and tape it in such a way that the label is destroyed upon opening (honestly, who keeps used tape?). Second is that the part itself HAS a label on it with the manufactures name and part number. So its identifiable. They then responded that the part cant be resold because they cant identify it from the outside. I guess penciling in the part number or walking it to the bin from which it came from is beyond their comprehension.
So I initiated a dispute with my credit card company who fortunately agreed with me and I got my money back. Its unfortunate because I have used RA for over 10 years and until now I had nothing but good experiences with them. Then again, I never had to return anything before. Looks like Ill be going elsewhere to get my auto parts.