Rock Auto rip off

I've been using RA for years and had no issues. Right now, I'm in the process of doing a body off restoration on my 86 cutlass. Since it will take 2+ years, I've made a list of all of the parts that I will need. I figured that I would order a certain dollar value every month to keep on budget. I put multiple parts in my cart and since I'm not in a hurry at this point in the restoration, I planned on deleting parts that weren't from the same shipping location. I looked at my cart and the body mounts were coming from D, and the Steering/suspension parts were coming from E. That was more than I wanted to spend this month so I eliminated the body mounts from D and added more parts from shipping location E. When I did that, the shipping location from the parts that were shipping from E changed to C. I emptied my cart and tried it again with different parts. Every time that I added more parts, they changed the shipping location of the parts that were already in my cart.

 

I've had this happen as well. Can't explain why.
Talked with Jerrold and will meet up with him next week.

 

RA=BS. That's their MO. Shipping for more than one part is a rip off. You can get shipping from 4 or 5 different warehouses. No thanks. I take my 20-25% off from Advance Auto

Norm

 

RA, shipping has always been a joke,
just as you said,

 

I find after shipping the prices are the same as amazon or the parts stores after their discounts.

I will say their selection is 10x everyone else and their site is a great resource for part numbers

 

The few times I’ve used them in a pinch, I’ve expedite-shipped (overnight a couple of times) and was amazed to see the same LI address more than once. So I googled the location and it was a very small, non-descript warehouse. Fast forward to now, and a very large auto parts wholesaler based here in Syracuse, NY became a “Rock Auto Dealer”. They added a third shift just to fill the orders. The owner does quite well with it. They are a very large company that caters to wholesale accounts.

There is a rumor floating around that a developer for a warehousing and distribution center bought a local golf course here. The plan is to build the world’s second largest (next to Boeing) facility and it is likely Amazon. $300 million facility and 4 million square feet. How cool would that be? My shop is 5 minutes away. Suddenly competition in auto parts may get a whole new meaning.

 

I doubt its Amazon. Anytime they are involved in building anything Bezos pits states against one another for the biggest tax breaks possible and it is all over the news for a year before anything happens. You would have heard about it long ago and Cuomo would not stop talking about a "win" like that.

 

Think the shipping is stupid? Try the return process.

 

I have bought from RA many times and returned without any issues. I give them two thumbs up. I also think that they have a great website.

 

You are not joking! They send me miss matched pistons and then refused to refund me my money. Yes they are low cost and yes they suck LOL

 

It is cheap so they try to make it up in the shipping. We all know they get a rediculous discount from the shippers or at least if I was shipping the volume they do I sure would have something negotiated.
They also know everyone is in a hurry and if you haven't priced the stuff at your local parts purveyor ra is still cheaper even with the shipping.
I look for the close out stuff on the cheap and things like that but as pointed out you have to watch em as they will ding ya on shipping if you aren't paying attention.
eBay is my other go to on some stuff. But ra has better prices on some things like oil filters. Bought two pairs of shocks for less on ra even with the shipping.

 

Never had a problem. Way cheaper than local even with shipping. They did handle warranty shock replacement but the was about 4 years ago. If I don't need it right away to keep a car on the road I use them.

 

I agree 110% Jim . I just order my parts ahead of time . Their site is GREAT to see the parts and compare before ordering

 

Nothing but good luck with RA, I like how they offer different brands and prices of a part when possible!

Bob H.

 

Not saying the parts overall are bad. Have bought many things from the with no issues. Ordered a set of engine mounts for a old Caviler my kid was driving. He totaled the car a day before the parts arrived. All the stuff came from 3 different warehouses which all had to be returned to the places they came. I put the supplied , numbered labels on each box as instructed and shipped them out. A week later no refund. Called RA cust service and they said they had the parts but they were at the wrong places so they were keeping the parts as well as my money. If I wanted the parts back I'd have to pay the shipping. It wasnt worth the 50.00 to go through all the hassle and I told them I'd not be ordering again ( although I have)

 

I have to say I've had great luck with Rock Auto. Even with shipping (unless very heavy), most parts come in a good 25-50% less than I can get them up here from any source (same brand). Also, they don't rip you off with import charges like UPS does (all prices are in our dollar and include any fees etc so easy to use as well). They sent me a rad hose once with a defect in it, sent them an email they overnighted a new one so can't complain about that either (that was a while ago). My Stage 1 is on one of their magnets even. Sorry to hear you guys are having issues.

 

The main thing to remember with Rock auto is that you need to check your order as soon as it arrives so that you can start a return if needed. I made that mistake, let a few boxes pile up and by the time I realized they had sent the wrong parts it was past the 30 day (may have been 60 day) return policy.

 

I've had good luck with them over the years until I had a defective water pump. I called and the rep told me that it was a premium brand and couldn't be defective. After a while he agreed to take it back but wanted me to pay shipping. I didnt buy anything for like a year from them. But I've gone back and not had any other problems.

 

I had bought from them, but only large items one at a time. Had a project car I needed several small items. All had good prices. Go to check out and they charged separate shipping and handling on each item which made the total about double the cost of the parts. Did not buy or will any longer.