How many issues ordering part from Rock Auto?

I bought springs,  shocks and struts for a 1991 fox body earlier this year.  I just got around to putting the rear springs and shocks on.  The fit didn't seem that great in the back, but the struts in the front just do not fit, or maybe putting them on with  hammer is advised. ( Nope, don't see that in either shop manual.)

I didn't put the spring on in front because they def don't seem the right size.

I don't remember how long ago I bought these, but I'm sure I can't return them.

Is it common for them to send the wrong item?

I have not had a problem and I order quiet a bit of stuff from them.

As for suspension, just put on the rear springs and shocks I got last week, correct parts. Looked at the front springs I'm changing to, they are right also. Bought an entire front end kit for the same car, it was good.

Call them and see if there is anything they can do. At worst they say no.

In reply to thedoc :

Could they be backwards? Front to back?

Just asking for a friend. Not that I've ever done something like that...

Were the inner packages re-taped? I always check the parts I order for fit immediately because.....Recently I ordered a distributor pickup coil. When it arrived the box was taped closed. The manufacturer of this doesn't tape them. When I opened the box, out rolled a reverse idler gear.And no coil. Rock took care of it with a return label, and 3 days later I had the correct part, with no tape on the box. I figure a previous customer scammed them to get a free part. Unfortunately this means you can't order early or stock up on parts like a strut that you cant verify before dis-assembly

I've ordered from RA multiple times and only once has the order been correct and I did not get screwed out ofmy money. That is why I will NEVER purchase from them again.

I've ordered hundreds of things from them over the years. I think only once did I get the wrong part or one that didn't fit. 

I would say RockAuto is far better than, for instance, Amazon in terms of getting what you actually ordered or what you thought you needed. 

Weird. I order from them all the time and I've only gotten the wrong part once (and it was REALLY wrong, I ordered a prelude control arm and got Volvo springs).  But they corrected it right away.

Put me in the camp of having good luck with Rock Auto. Probably somewhere around 20-30 orders, only issue I remember is some brake pads that the caliper grease in the package leaked out all over the pads. I called, and they sent out a replacement set. I'm a happy customer, and the shipping is insanely fast. I ordered a set of rotors and pads around 10PM Monday night, they were at my house by Wednesday evening.

Ok, maybe it's me.   I don't think I ordered the wrong springs, but I'm telling you the strut needs to be notched and put on w a hammer.  I'm going to go back and look at the order.  For sure I could have put the springs on backward.  The brake parts were spot on.  This is for a fox body.  Parts I've ordered for my newer mustang were correct.

I have this many RA magnets (exluding doubles) and never got a part wrong. 

I have no complaints with them.  Oh wait, yes I do, they have cheap stuff that they can't ship to California, yet they still show it to me and let me put it in my cart and only complain when I go to check out, even though I am logged in with my address.   

Ordered from Rock Auto several times and only once did I get a wrong part, sort of. Ordered a left rear anti-sway bar link for my Miata and it didn't fit, the twist was backwards. Hmmn, looks just like the right rear. Contacted Rock Auto and they attempted to make it right, only they sent another right rear. Gave up and ordered a right rear and well what do you know, it fits the left rear. Told them their online catalog had it reversed and they just kinda blew it off. It's still wrong in the online catalog.

Not one bad part yet. I've returned stuff I didn't need with no pain and cores are pretty easy too. 

irish44j said:

I've ordered hundreds of things from them over the years. I think only once did I get the wrong part or one that didn't fit. 

I would say RockAuto is far better than, for instance, Amazon in terms of getting what you actually ordered or what you thought you needed. 

Yeah, this. Twice I've gotten parts from Amazon that were supposed to fit and just didn't. Never from RA. 
 

The whole front of my fridge is full, I've begun to move to the side. I've had a couple of issues, but at this point that's like a 1% problem rate. IF I order from anywhere else it's generally because I need something really fast (I honestly put Rockauto in the 'fast' camp when it comes to online shipping, but Amazon is usually 1-2 days..) OR the parts i need are just so scattered around their warehouses that the shipping charges get offensive to me. 

I order frequently from RockAuto and I've had very good luck with them.  Correct parts, shipped promptly, at a very good price.  Even paid for Air shipment once and got the part in 2 days.  I'm well satisfied.

My brother, on the other hand, has ordered from them like once, at my suggestion of course, and they (allegedly ) sent him the wrong brake pads.

RockAuto is pretty much my go-to source for most parts.  I love the fact that I can choose the quality of part that I want--they stock a lot of different brands on most parts.

I've received one part out of hundreds of orders from Rock Auto that I needed to send back. It wasn't their fault as it was a manufacture defect. I took pictures and set them via their support. It wasn't painful at all.

Put me in the "meh" camp.  It feels too much like JCW for my taste.  You look at the pretty pictures, see the good prices, place your order, and a short 6-8 months later, you receive parts that feel like they'll work.  Of course, if you order Champion RJ45Y plugs, that's what you get.  But if you order an off-brand rotor, bearing, or mirror, rest assured it will be incredibly cheap.

I've just found other means of getting parts for the same price, overnight, and equally dubious quality.  At least if I'm getting crappy parts, I can get them overnight from Amazon instead of waiting for RA's slow shipping.

I will say that Amazon's parts selection is slim, so I still use RA for parts that I don't need fast, I'm just careful to choose quality brands.  They at least have good prices if you're willing to wait.

I had one time a complete powerstop brake kit was wrong and was a pita to get right. Clearly it was someone loaded the shelves with wrong parts and the parts picker just went to "row 27, shelf c, bin 2" and pulled parts without looking at them and then the person boxing it up too missed the mistake.

The only other time was because ford decided to part substitute and it clearly doesn't work for my application but was easily handled.

When I had a Fox body, I noticed a ton of springs as options on RockAuto and some seemed more relevant than others. I did a lot of cross referencing numbers through other websites, models and years, but sold the car before buying anything.

what's worse than their inability to get you the correct parts is their complete lack of customer service. You no longer deal with a person, it's all online and they pretty much go out of their way to screw you.

Never had an issue. Usually a couple different selections for any part number so you can pick quality level. I try to order parts as I need them so they don't sit around for more then a couple weeks in case they don't fit but only had to return one package because of wrong part.

Only ever had one issue with getting the wrong part and it was solved with out issue. 

@ the OP. I would have approached RA before posting here. RA still may make things good but at the moment RA is getting hammered with out being given a chance to make it right.

I’m guessing I’ve ordered 200-ish parts in maybe 50-60 orders from RA.  One time I received a box from a supplier that was labeled correctly but contained the wrong part. Another time I received a damaged outer box with a part hanging halfway out of it. Both are order fulfillment issues, not specific to RA.

put me down as satisfied