I’m done with Rock Auto

Glad for this post. Needed to order a ton of maintenance stuff for SWMBO Scion and saved almost $100 by getting it off Amazon

For us Canadians, rock auto is still the best by a pretty long shot. 

Amazon.ca has very little automotive content, and what it does have is priced at local brick and mortar prices.

I've never had an issue with RA fwiw.

I’m a prime member but amazon pricing on auto parts is usually so high that even with the “free” shipping it costs more than Rock Auto after paying for shipping. I’ve compared with several large orders and every time so far Rock Auto beat Amazon on price for the same items. Usually Moog or other such “name brand” aftermarket stuff. 

I'm one of the weird ones that actually tried to buy at Napa as long as it isn't too much more expensive.  For < 20‰ difference in price, I'd prefer to keep them in business locally.

When I need that wheel bearing by 3 pm regardless of cost, I've been happy I helped put the "investment"into the local economy..

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

That’s not weird, it makes sense. O’Reilys and NAPA are the two stores I still spend my money at. I use RockAuto for super expensive stuff that I can get a better discount on, but if I need it right here, right now, I go brick and mortar. 

In reply to dculberson :

That's where I am too. I cross shop with Amazon, NAPA, an RA but RA is almost always cheaper by a good margin. 

Plus Amazons search algorithm is hot garbage if you want something specific. It's hardly worth the frustration.

There is little customer service left in the world.

I have had my issues with RA in the past, but its every where. Ecommerce or Brick and Mortar.

Bought a motorcycle helmet on line, same model as I just had, newer mfg and paint scheme. I liked my old one, it fit well, and was not a sweat box, and better yet, I knew exactly what size fit my fat head, 2xl. It arrives, excellent, open the box, its 3XL. My head is fat, but not that fat. Reached out to there CS on line, apparently they don't believe I got the wrong helmet, then need pictures of the size on the box and the helmet, even though their invoice shows 3xl. OK mistakes happen, second helmet on the way. Ya Hoo !!! It arrives, 3xl again. Again they need pictures. So now, they are having the warehouse send a helmet to HQ to verify the size before sending it to me. Wrong helmets are sent back with labels they provided, but apparently they cant track them and they pester me about when they are being returned. I pull up the copy of the labels and track them, they are clearly in the system and on their way. Still waiting for my 2xl helmet.

Next up, B and M.  Chain auto parts store  (O'Rs) mentioned above. Trying to figure out whats wrong with my EJ swapped beetle (eJ falling on its face post). I figure I should run a real fuel return line to the tank instead of T'ing it in to the feed between the tank and filter. I need bulk hose, do the search, not an easy find. One place has it,  could do the buy on line pick up in store, not sure what the turn around would be, use the chat they say an hour. I could get to the store and back in 15 minutes, so I call the store to verify they have the length I need and the price. All is good until I get to the store, the price is almost double. They tell me the 27003 gates green (1.49 a foot) strip is vacuum at first and the double cost (2.59/foot) is fuel line. Then the state the gates is fuel but not for liquid, its for fuel vapor, and they cant find it  Just set me off. and what an attitude the dude had (was I cutting into his commission????). I wish I wrote down the name of the guy on the phone, or did the BOPIS and waited the hour. 

Any way, all that and it did not fix the issue and Rock auto has the gates at $0.64 a foot.

It's a no brainer really...

When rock auto screws up, you get threads like this.

When Amazon screws up you get threads like this:  http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=598171

The TV ads are irritating.

I pretty much go with whichever is cheaper between RA & Amazon, but even with Prime shipping on Amazon RA usually ends up being cheaper. I've not had any issues with RA that have required getting in touch with customer service, so I can't speak to that end of things...

We've been trying to scale back on our "support" of Amazon recently.  Not to get political, but putting so much of the consumer economy into the hands of one retailer concerns me.  This may be taking a fairly Macro-view of what ought to be a decidedly micro economic transaction, but I'm a believer that actions have consequences.  A long time ago I started limited what I went to Sprawl Mart for, for similar reasons.  I still use each, but only as much as I'd shop anywhere else.  

We do not have Prime, and generally will pay a slight "premium" to buy something locally for the privilege of having it immediately and without paying shipping.  Many states are collecting sales tax on online purchases now, anyway, erasing much of the cost advantage.  Plus, purchased local, our money pays our local taxes and supports our local merchants in our community.  

If forced to chose, however, Rock >>> Amazon.  They've taken the time to put together (IMO) a very sensible website without a lot of garbage fluff that's useful for cross-referencing stuff and getting technical information.  Of all the thousands of dollars I've spent at Rock over the past 10 years, I've had a problem with perhaps $100 worth of merchandise- always resolved fairly.  

EDIT:  Took me about 15 seconds of surfing to find this:

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

Bingo.  I love it when I call up NAPA looking for something obscure, usually at 8AM, and they say, "oh, well, we'll have to order that, we won't have it till about 3 o'clock".

Pick up part on way home from work, fix car that night.  And while you're in there, grab a few gallons of their store-brand fluids.  Only marginally more expensive than at Wal-Mart, and it'll save you the trip.  

I have never purchased anything from Amazon, and I don't plan to.  I prefer to support local businesses that can provide me with the same thing---- and I actually like interacting with other humans face to face.  This is partly due to my aversion of ordering online, and also my lament at the disappearance of "Mom and Pop" brick and mortar stores.  

 I do however watch their programming on TV.  (how else can I get the Grand Tour?)

That said, I do support Rock Auto, as they have been long-time supporters of GRM / CMS, and I've had very good experiences with them.  I still am a "regular" at the local parts stores, as frequently I want something now--- and don't feel like ordering online and waiting.   For non time-sensitive parts, I'll continue to use Rock Auto.   They are also great people to deal with business-wise.  (advertising, etc.)  

wait - you guys don't order just to see what magnet you will get next?

ps, and related to above, I think we should do a rock auto magnet exchange at the challenge. Everyone bring your magnets and trade em like baseball cards.

I just received an order from RA and was a little depressed I did not get a magnet.

I don't remember getting any in the last few orders myself...

I received them in about 1/2 my order boxes. My hunch is it depends whether it ships straight from RA or a 3rd party. 

I got three magnets with one order once, twas a pretty good day! 

I like the idea of a RA magnet trading pool, I know I have a few duplicates.

This is why I've always paid the extra to deal with marque/chassis specific vendors. 

Thank you for reinforcing why I do.

An interesting side not is I have a gmc dealer about a mile from me and parts for my trucks have been very reasonably priced. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

Bingo.  I love it when I call up NAPA looking for something obscure, usually at 8AM, and they say, "oh, well, we'll have to order that, we won't have it till about 3 o'clock".

Pick up part on way home from work, fix car that night.  And while you're in there, grab a few gallons of their store-brand fluids.  Only marginally more expensive than at Wal-Mart, and it'll save you the trip.  

For me it's the call at 8am that says sure, we can have it by 3, and then I go at three and they say "What? Who did you talk to? That's weird, we never ordered it. We can have it by next Wednesday if you pay now. Probably."

So Amazon and RA for me unless it's an emergency and Oreilly's if it is.

Joe Gearin said:

Stay tuned......I've reached out to them.

It's kinda bad that you reached out to them five days ago and still nothing.

tuna55 said:

Joe Gearin said:

Stay tuned......I've reached out to them.

It's kinda bad that you reached out to them five days ago and still nothing.

I posted sometime after Joe’s post that I finally did receive a helpful email with a return shipping tag. I received another email today that the package arrived & it will be a day or 2 before I receive the PayPal refund. So once the money hits my account I’ll consider it resolved. 

However, I’ll also restate what I said previously: when a company makes it difficult for their customers to contact them - in this case by eliminating telephone customer service, plus I could not find an email or “contact us” link on their site - that tells me very pointedly that they do not care about my business. 

Will I ever use RockAuto again? Quite possibly, as sometimes the price difference is just too great vs. other vendors, or they may be the only one with an item in stock. But they’ve definitely gone from always being one of my first choices, to becoming a last resort. 

I've yet to have any issues with RockAuto orders.  I compare prices, and I've always gotten the correct parts.  Solid so far.