Beware of RockAuto

[EagleMark]

I really don't think any lawyer would.
.

Of course they would not unless they were paid for their time. Their time would outway any return. The point was it's not a total Entitlement to want to be reimburesed for cost incurred with faulty part, the faulty part was lible for incurred costs.

Competition is good, undercutting is not. It's impossible for an independent retailer to be competitive with big box stores, when the bog box stores sell the same product to the consumer for less than the independent can purchase that same item for. Don't fooled for an instant that Walmart and most big box stores are "playing fairly" or are providing "healthy competition".

Walmart doesn't go to a manufacturer and ask "How much will this item cost us?"

They go to that manufacturer and say "This is how much we will buy this item for and no more." They usually also add: "We want exclusive distribution rights on this too."

For items they are not granted exclusivity on, they will sometimes get their own model numbers, but sell the same product as independents who pay more. This practice has been going on for years with the Car Audio industry. Pioneer Electronics is a co-hort to this. They will provide an "exclusive model" to a big box store, that has all the same features as the ones the independents get, but for less money and usually one digit difference in the model number.

I agree that employment is good, but don't kid yourself. One Walmart employs less people than if there were independent shops selling all the same product, even if it was only one store selling each of the different departments. They do this by having as few staff on hand as possible.

It's a downward spiral. A big box retailer moves in, closes down most of the independents, though a few usually survive, thanks to people who refuse to shop at Walmart, killing a bunch of jobs, driving up unemployment, without even attempting to reduce the unemployment stats. So now there is less money in that community to spend, so more people need to buy things cheap, where to get them cheap? Walmart, the same place that caused them to lose their job in the first place. So now the poor get poorer and Walmart feeds on this to keep the economy down.

What needs to happen is that bog box stores need to do business the same way the independents do, buying at the same rate, selling at the same rate, or close to, and then you'll see how real competition works.

Right. But Walmart business model was never to keep up. From the beginning it was to grow and conquer, they do things there way which is what other small business would like to catch up to.

I don't understand why so many people are against Walmart for growing big and making money? It's the American dream! People from all over the world used to fight just to get here and have an opportunity to work hard and thrive. Maybe the one sided media only reported what it wants? Corporations are bad, bad , bad!!! Greedy, greedy!!! Look at all the money they make? SO? They did it and they deserve it! Don't like how much they make? Well go out and do better! You don't think walmart got that way from sitting on their ass bitching? They worked hard for many many years to get to this point!

I've seen the stories of 13 year old kids in other countries sweat shops making garments for Walmart. Cruel and unusual punishment by our standards! But the dollar a day they make means their entire family EATS dinner every night of the week, they are heroes! They thrive to work harder and someday get to live in America where everyone eats... it's even gotten to the point where you don't have to work to eat here!

[Six_Shooter]

Mark you are missing the point. The failed part, regardless of whether there are any other costs needed in order to replace does NOT fall on the retailer of the failed part. Those costs are the responsibility of the owner/installer. Simple as that.

You're also not seeing how Walmart's Business ethics are bad for the economy. My feelings towards them are not media based, but what I see in my own area. They are NOT good for "healthy competition", they only want to have a monopoly, which means no competition and prices can be what ever that company wants. I don't care how much money they make, what I care about is how they DESTROY the local economy in order to make their money.

[kunsan1987]

howdy all, I work for a national parts chain and on any part with a warranty,the warranty is limited to the part itself. the only recourse to the customer (commercial or retail) would be to file a labor claim with the part manufacturer. it takes 6 to 12 weeks to get a response and is entirely up to them if they will pay a claim or not.
in my expierence about 20% of claims are approved and even then most only pay a portion of the costs.

[Hog]

I understand why people are against Walmart. They come into a town, undercut all local shops prices, buy from manufactureres, do lots of business with them which causes the company to expand. Then Walmart continually squeezes them, until they go bankrupt. Then buy the company for cents on the dollar and make even more money.

Yes they are simply in pursuit of the AMerican dream by buying products at a low price and selling at a higher price thus maximizing their profits. But they do so while paying minimum wage to its workers. I dont care what kind of company you are, if you are making record profits and still refuse to share profits with you the very people that are responsible for your company making such profits, something is wrong. Maybe it is the North American way more than people care to admit.

I also am staunchly against using off shore labour. Sure they provide for their family, but they do so in crazy poor work environments, while polluting the heck out of the envirnoment. Expoiting the devolping just so the company I buy something from can stuff their executives pockets. That is SO wrong, but people dont care, this was well evidenced. By the crash of 2008. Maybe they shouldnt have made TARP handouts. AFter all its the American dream, sink or swim. It might have done some good to see some of these "profit-swollen/money-obese/bonus-engorged executives to have go a few rounds with reality.
If this American dream has to be reality for us, why isnt reality for the top 1%?

There are more and more companies now bringing work back to North AMerica, this is the way it should continue, I dont care if I pay more money, so long as it stays in North AMerica.
I once worked for a parts producer that supplied Toyota. EVery single pice of equipement came in big wooden crates with Japanese writing all over them. All parts and chemicals came from Japan. There was this special glue that would "sonically-weld" these 2 plastic clips to the top of a windshield. We used about 1 gallon of this special "glue" every month. If we ran low, the company would air mail the glue from Japan rather than buy it locally.

Another, in Canada we have some decent softwood resources. There is a Japanese company that makes chipboard/plywood products. Instead of basing the plant in Canada, they park a big assed production ship 200km in international waters off the coast of British Columbia and feed it chips and bring the finshed product down to the US. Just to save money. But can I be mad at that company doing this? Sure I can, but its not properly placed anger. If I were an exec and I would get a nice fat cheque for saving the company money, I would probably do the same thing.

Why do most nations take their large ships to India for ship breaking? Its because they have no environmental/safety controls that drive up the cost of the scrapping of the ships.

What people need to stop doing is having kids. Yes its a harsh statement, but if the worlds population would follow China's lead with their 1 child only laws, the world as a whole would have a better future outlook.
We have it so good as North Americans, its not even funny. Then there are some of these African countries with Mom and Dad that both have active HIV and they have 8 children, untreated the Mom and Dad only have a few years of life, and then someone else has to raise these kids(usually the eldest child).

This more, more, more, increase profit margins, Western nation mentality HAS to stop as some point. This world cant take it for much longer. I think that humans are humankinds worst enemy.

Money money money, the root of all evil
Rant off.
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So far as the Rock Auto part. I have NEVER heard of a parts store paying for any additional work required by a warranty claim. Get you money back, or get another part.

"RockAuto only gave me two choices, send it back for another compressor, or refund it."
I didn't know there were OTHER options when you buy a part.

Tis the risk we take as do it youselfers. Want to mitigate that risk, pay more and have a shop do the work. They will give a break usually as they want repeat business and good word of mouth advertising.

peace
Hog

[EagleMark]

It's the USA government who has regulated and taxed small business to death that has caused all these issues! Add state tax to that and you can see why Texas is getting an influx of companies from CA. Companies overseas have a huge advantage to manufacturing then their products come here and are not taxed? We simply can not compete!

Fairly easy problem to solve. Our government is not working on it though... just want more power, more control, more taxs. Worried more about next election then fixing our issues? Opportunity for small business has been regulated and taxed to death, small companies can't compete with Walmart and others. Don't blame Walmart! Go to the source and blame government.

Even if you could afford to open small business, the economy is shot so there's no income for your product. There's still the point that your product can be bought from overseas cheaper... the circle of failure continues...

USA used to be a world leader in manufacturing! Unions, safety, regulations and taxs have gone wild and killed it. Yes they are needed, but we went extreme and used no common sense and put ourselves right out of business..

If we, the USA taxed products imported to US the same as we tax our own? It would be a fair playing field...

[woody80z28]

I had a sour deal with Rock Auto just recently, but it was a little different. I bought a brand new ACDelco brake master cylinder, thinking the OEM name would be good quality. It did not leak when I bench bled it, but it did leak out the piston into the booster once installed and the system was closed and creating pressure. The brake fluid leaked inside the booster and down the front, peeling paint on my engine bay in the process. It also killed the seals in the brake booster causing a vacuum leak.

Rock Auto did not even refund or replace the master cylinder, let alone the brake booster that it directly caused to fail. Their 30-day warranty was up by a week or two because the car sat in the garage for a bit while I was working on it and finishing up the rear disc swap. I told them the part was obviously defective from the start (the cylinder would not wear to the point of leaking with less than 100 miles on it) and was just not visible immediately due to leaking inside the booster. They didn't care, wouldn't replace it, and basically told me it was tough luck. I understand the 30 days was up, but given the circumstances I found that to be piss poor customer service.

[1project2many]

I bought a brand new ACDelco brake master cylinder, thinking the OEM name would be good quality.

Buyer beware: AC Delco was sold by GM several years ago and they are now just a brand like any other.

[Six_Shooter]

I had a sour deal with Rock Auto just recently, but it was a little different. I bought a brand new ACDelco brake master cylinder, thinking the OEM name would be good quality. It did not leak when I bench bled it, but it did leak out the piston into the booster once installed and the system was closed and creating pressure. The brake fluid leaked inside the booster and down the front, peeling paint on my engine bay in the process. It also killed the seals in the brake booster causing a vacuum leak.

Rock Auto did not even refund or replace the master cylinder, let alone the brake booster that it directly caused to fail. Their 30-day warranty was up by a week or two because the car sat in the garage for a bit while I was working on it and finishing up the rear disc swap. I told them the part was obviously defective from the start (the cylinder would not wear to the point of leaking with less than 100 miles on it) and was just not visible immediately due to leaking inside the booster. They didn't care, wouldn't replace it, and basically told me it was tough luck. I understand the 30 days was up, but given the circumstances I found that to be piss poor customer service.

The problem here is that they likely hear this same story time and time again, could be true each time, but not likely and because of that they need to follow policy. I wouldn't call that a "sour deal" it was just due to other reasons you did not catch it in the warranty period.

[Six_Shooter]

It's the USA government who has regulated and taxed small business to death that has caused all these issues! Add state tax to that and you can see why Texas is getting an influx of companies from CA. Companies overseas have a huge advantage to manufacturing then their products come here and are not taxed? We simply can not compete!

Fairly easy problem to solve. Our government is not working on it though... just want more power, more control, more taxs. Worried more about next election then fixing our issues? Opportunity for small business has been regulated and taxed to death, small companies can't compete with Walmart and others. Don't blame Walmart! Go to the source and blame government.

Even if you could afford to open small business, the economy is shot so there's no income for your product. There's still the point that your product can be bought from overseas cheaper... the circle of failure continues...

USA used to be a world leader in manufacturing! Unions, safety, regulations and taxs have gone wild and killed it. Yes they are needed, but we went extreme and used no common sense and put ourselves right out of business..

If we, the USA taxed products imported to US the same as we tax our own? It would be a fair playing field...

Blame the government if you want, and I agree that they are partially to blame, but they have less influence on this than the corporations themselves.

Taxes are not to blame, though I do believe in many cases they are being grossly misused, reducing taxes alone will not solve this. The same tax breaks that big corporations get also need to be allowed for the independents, or even more tax breaks for the independents, would help promote more employment, and more spending. It would also force big box stores to be in the same realm as the independents where it comes to overhead.

[ony]

I have been looking for a compressor on line, I noticed auto zone has lowered their warrenty down to 3 months that was on all their compressors.

[bentrod]

If we, the USA taxed products imported to US the same as we tax our own? It would be a fair playing field...

Fair'er' but mostly I agree. It's amazing how the gross exploitation of labor markets just keeps going on seemingly free of government regulation, taxation or reasonable tarrifs. I dont know how people in the US expect to compete with labor from countries without a social security system, OSHA/EPA regulations, collective bargining, well followed labor laws or a sue happy culture.

I have been looking for a compressor on line, I noticed auto zone has lowered their warranty down to 3 months that was on all their compressors.

Some of the warranty periods are just ridiculous nowadays. I remember even as late as the 90s you could go into any store and pick up a starter, ps pump, alternator, radiator plus a lot more stuff with full lifetime warranties. Today it seems like you're lucky to get a 30day warranty.

I say fk them all, just fix these things yourself and don't deal with this crap. Especially with the AC compressor and master cylinder stories in this thread. Why even bother?