What the ell is with Rock Auto?!?

[Tomeal]

So I have in my hands one inner tie rod and two outer tie rods sent from WISCONSIN, via UPS,and USPS, and ordered AFTER the RA order. 5 days later no trace of the tie rod from Rochester NY via DHL. Rochester is an 8 hour drive from Shitty City but I guess DHL uses a donkey kart to transport stuff.

Stuff I ordered a couple weeks ago and didn't catch that it was sent dhl spent several days in one location before moving again. It's like they wait to process it or wait for more before moving it along.

Same as you, I had a commiefornia shipment arrive before a new York shipment.

 

[joesregalproject]

While I haven't had any issues with RA, I know DHL sucks, second only to Lasership for worst carrier award.

 

[Ribbedroof]

In over 15 years of buying from RA, I have had exactly 2 issues.

First was missing valve stem seals (from a sealed Fel-Pro set)..contact them, they offered to either send a set or issue a refund to the card for the value of them

Second was I ordered a valve cover gasket for my Scion, received a pair of E-series Ford van alignment eccentrics. They sent the correct part, and told me to dispose of the caster/camber eccentrics however I saw fit.

These episodes were 10 years apart. I'm OK with that...because if it's mission critical to get to work, I'll buy locally. If it's routine maintenance or project car stuff, it's not the end of the world if things go a little sideways.

Our local GM/Ford/Chrysler/Hyundai/Kia/Honda/Jeep/Toyota wholesaler...that's another story altogether. Wrong item picked/short on count/damaged/previously returned in wrong box/previously returned after desired part stolen/mangled/every.flippin.piece.of. "new".sheetmetal.damaged.ALWAYS. nWe won't even talk about their abysmal inventory counts.

 

[79 USA 1]

I've only had 1 parts issue which was in a rear brake all in one kit for a Toyota Avalon, shipped with two left side calipers due to the supplier marking the boxes wrong. Ended up paying $25.00 more locally for the same part but they too found incorrect packaged calipers in their "Powerstop" inventory. Rock Auto refunded 100% of the shipping cost including the return core shipping charge for the caliper that was correct.
My only complaint had to be on an order for a thermostat and cap for my Super Duty, Roughly $4.00 shipping for $8.00 worth of parts and they shipped from a warehouse a mile and a half from my location- Same zip code!-. Cheaper for the same brand of products then the local parts stores were charging but, Wish they had a customer pick up area for that one.

 

[69hurstolds]

I bought a new GM Cutlass fender from the dealership many moons ago in the 90s. When it arrived it had the right part number sticker on it on the inside. But it was for a 4th gen F-body. Doofus in the labeling area. They did ship another fender, so all was not lost. But still. Sometimes even the manufacturer parts department gets screwed up.

Rockauto has been pretty good for me over the years. Lately, though, they're getting a bit scary.

 

[Bonnewagon]

dhl spent several days in one location before moving again

This what my buddy spoke of. They don't move unless they have a full truck load. Most carriers have non-stop pick-ups and deliveries going on. All will stop by and pick up the days shipments so you don't have to drop them off. I know because I used to do it. But when was the last time you saw a DHl truck? 2008? But I guess if DHL tells RA we can save you $.25 on every parcel then the corporate bean counters eyes glaze over and they dream of big bonuses. And the end customer suffers. So today my mailman dropped off the last tie rod. DHL wasted a week slow-walking it from Rochester and handed it to the PO for final delivery. What a system. Note to self- when ordering from RA- don't use the US mail.

 

[joesregalproject]

My brake pads came today via FedEx.

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

You all keep talking about DHL, they are on it in Germany..

 

[random_farmhick]

That's odd. I've never had any trouble with RockAuto. On the other hand, I recently encountered a really odd deal that's appeared on Ebay, called "Aquiline Tracking." It basically spoofs an order that comes from Amazon under their "Fulfilled by Amazon" program, which is being heavily used by outfits in China. Amazon boats the stuff over and holds it in a warehouse, then ships it out when ordered on their site. Only now the stuff can also appear on Ebay, and when ordered Amazon will still ship it, but it has "Aquiline Tracking" that doesn't show the actual carrier. And that's if it actually ships at all. My item did, some others have not fared so well. And there's no warning up front that this is what's going on.

I ran into this the other day on something. I ordered it and the tracking said Aquiline, and that it was ready to be picked up for 3 days. On the third day it came amazon prime, still saying that it was ready to be picked up through eBay. Of course, about 5 hours later ALL of the tracking information was in eBay, and my neutral feedback erased because as I quote from eBay, "you said your item wasn't damaged and as described, and the tracking information doesn't show anything wrong". If I wanted to order it though amazon, I would have ordered it through amazon...

 

[Bonnewagon]

Hmmmmm. All of a sudden DHL is now an option at RockAuto. It is even partnered with FedUp for 'next morning' delivery. Alone, it was $5 more to use DHL than FedUP alone on something I was looking at. I wonder even if paying $5 more it still gets dumped off at the PO? Has anyone ever seen a DHL delivery vehicle around? I have not.