How do you guys feel about Rock Auto?

[carmangary]

How do you guys feel about Rockauto? The more I use them the more I dislike them. I often get parts with boxes that had been opened. Not long ago I got some brake pads and some of the hardware was missing. Once I ordered a clutch and the friction disk was scratched up. Today, I receive some brake shoes for my Jeep that I ordered. The box looked ancient and has a date of 2017 on it. The pads are sealed plastic but they don't match any images on any other websites for them (ACDELCO 17538B). I imagine they are probably OK but they are bonded and I don't necessarily want to install 9 year old brake pads. Rockauto doesn't really have customer support. I attempted to return them through their website but they don't let you really choose but from a set of options that don't match my case and they want me to pay for shipping to return them.
What are your thoughts on this situation? I think I am done with Rockauto. I am not sure what to do about the shoes. They only cost $39 so I could call it a loss if I don't want to use them.

 

[Snukulu]

How do you guys feel about Rockauto? The more I use them the more I dislike them. I often get parts with boxes that had been opened. Not long ago I got some brake pads and some of the hardware was missing. Once I ordered a clutch and the friction disk was scratched up. Today, I receive some brake shoes for my Jeep that I ordered. The box looked ancient and has a date of 2017 on it. The pads are sealed plastic but they don't match any images on any other websites for them (ACDELCO 17538B). I imagine they are probably OK but they are bonded and I don't necessarily want to install 9 year old brake pads. Rockauto doesn't really have customer support. I attempted to return them through their website but they don't let you really choose but from a set of options that don't match my case and they want me to pay for shipping to return them.
What are your thoughts on this situation? I think I am done with Rockauto. I am not sure what to do about the shoes. They only cost $39 so I could call it a loss if I don't want to use them.

I don't have experience with them but you can call your credit card company to dispute the charge because they're not new.

 

[carmangary]

I don't have experience with them but you can call your credit card company to dispute the charge because they're not new.

That's a good idea!

 

[hear]

I've never had any problems, but I do hate that shipping can get crazy due to their warehousing or drop shipping or however they deal with inventory.

 

[macleanflood]

Rock Auto Roulette. You either win or you don't.

-Mac

 

[carmangary]

I went ahead and disputed it. They disputed the entire amount which covered the brake shoes, brake hardware kit, and shipping. I would have been fine returning it all and just disputing the shipping cost but I didn't get that option. I am curious to see how this plays out. The total was only around $55 with $11 of that being shipping so this is pretty petty but I don't want the spend the time to put on old brakes shoes that may not last like they should.

 

[dbbd1]

What Mac said.

 

[Snukulu]

I went ahead and disputed it. They disputed the entire amount which covered the brake shoes, brake hardware kit, and shipping. I would have been fine returning it all and just disputing the shipping cost but I didn't get that option. I am curious to see how this plays out. The total was only around $55 with $11 of that being shipping so this is pretty petty but I don't want the spend the time to put on old brakes shoes that may not last like they should.

it's not petty. That would aggravate me to no end, especially if I had set aside a day to do it.

 

[Unique Username]

I had used them for 10+ years and never had any issues. If they were still allowed to sell in Arizona I would still use them.

 

[MtPockets]

Like Mac said, sometimes you win sometimes not so much.
I try to avoid using them but sometimes the savings just cant be ignored.
Most of my experiences have been positive but I did see their lack of customer service on one purchase.
The delivered part would not fit the vehicle I ordered it for.
Between finding zero ways to speak to them, and then having them ask me to help pay for return shipping, I kind of quit them for a couple of years.
Unbelievably low prices eventually got me back, however.

 

[WVJeep304]

I had used them for 10+ years and never had any issues. If they were still allowed to sell in Arizona I would still use them.

This is the 2nd time I've seen this mentioned lately. I guess I'm out of the loop... Why are they not allowed to do business in AZ?

 

[Unique Username]

This is the 2nd time I've seen this mentioned lately. I guess I'm out of the loop... Why are they not allowed to do business in AZ?

Rock auto does not pay state sales tax. Arizona said they want their money before RockAuto can continue doing business in Arizona.

 

[tworley]

I've never had any issues and use them frequently

 

[TimV]

Same, have used them for many years, no issues worth mentioning.

Frankly, almost everything comes to our house now. Personally I've only been to hardware stores occasionally going back a decade or more.

Tim

 

[carmangary]

The top freezer door on my refrigerator out in the garage almost completely covered with rock auto magnets. I've used them many times but I'd say 1 out of 3 times has been a problem lately.

 

[WVJeep304]

Rock auto does not pay state sales tax. Arizona said they want their money before RockAuto can continue doing business in Arizona.

Ah, understood. I hadn't seen or heard about that being an issue anywhere. Can't say I'm surprised though.

 

[LJBean]

BTW, if Rock Auto is not paying the sales tax, you are potentially on the hook for making that payment to your state. Pretty lazy move on Rock Auto's part.

 

[WVJeep304]

BTW, if Rock Auto is not paying the sales tax, you are potentially on the hook for making that payment to your state. Pretty lazy move on Rock Auto's part.

They always charge me sales tax. That's why i find it odd they play that game with AZ. That said... They collect the tax from me. What they do with it after that, that's between them and their criminal defense attorney.

 

[KennethS]

Folks on classic car forums use NOS brake shoes, as in 30-50 year old parts, so your 9 year old shoes would be a non-issue. The shoes on my classic are at least that old, and the ones on the TJ may be as well.

 

[Squatch]

They're my go-to for most purchases (18 years' worth). While I've never received the wrong part, or experienced missing parts, I do hate the cost of shipping from their warehouses. To try and keep the cost down, I will sometimes buy products that all ship from the same warehouse, as it does help. I won't do it, however, if it means buying what I consider to be an inferior brand. Something else that I do is look up the parts on RockAuto first, get the part numbers, and then go to Amazon with that information and see if there's a seller selling the exact same product, but with free shipping, and/or a delivery date that is sooner than RA can provide.

As @MtPockets pointed out, their policy of making the customer pay for return shipping, as well as having no way to speak to a live human being (that I've found, anyways) just generally sucks. And yet, after I weigh the pros and cons, I continue to purchase from them on a very regular basis.