Rock Auto address observation

John105 said:
I wonder if it’s like some doctors don’t accept this or that insurance because the rates are low. Maybe it’s embarrassing to say one works for RA because of low margins. That one is willing to take them.
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Their price for this particular product on RA was higher than buying direct from them. But that could be whatever they sell to RA, or even less. What was funny was I was able to buy something from Amazon delivered to my house for less than RA or PA so Bezos wins again.
 
Kruse said:
Wandering off subject here....slightly.
I love Rock Auto. I've used them for over 15 years. And if you've been with them for a period of time, you'll realize that the warehouse that ships you the parts could be from anywhere. (We all know they don't actually own anything. But that's another subject)
With few exceptions, I no longer purchase parts from them unless it's on a closeout. That way it (almost always) gets shipped from the same warehouse and it's for something that I have sitting on the back burner that won't get used immediately.
I've only had to do a return on them once, so I know my attitude toward them is biased because talking to a live human is impossible.
Lately, I've noticed that some of their parts are labeled "Famous Brand". Again, that could be almost any brand on planet earth.
But I did roll the dice and ordered a "Famous Brand" new alternator from a 2005 Ford Explorer. It cost a grand total of $29 (before shipping) and I happened to receive a Carquest-branded alternator that had not ever been installed. So that was a win.
The shipping for it on the other hand was a disaster. Somehow, I somehow managed to choose FedEx instead of UPS. FedEx in this area is a complete disaster. FedEx took a grand total of 17 days to deliver my package when UPS or USPS would have taken two. Another reason I don't order from them if it's needed immediately.
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Be careful with USPS. Two orders in the last 6 months with USPS have been plain stupid. They took orders for me from about 600 to 800 miles north of where I live. I tracked them. First order (several months apart from different companies) was sent all the way south to about 15 miles from my home. Only NOT to be delivered until they were both sent on round the USA tours. Next one got 25 miles from my home , then across the USA to only 1500 miles away. It just took them about 7-8 days after that tour to make it to my home. Total shipping was over ten days on first one. Second order (complete different company and location) get sent on a near identical trip from shipper to near my home and then all around USA again before making it to me. Another 10-12 days on the roads.
 
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bdcardinal said:
Their price for this particular product on RA was higher than buying direct from them. But that could be whatever they sell to RA, or even less. What was funny was I was able to buy something from Amazon delivered to my house for less than RA or PA so Bezos wins again.
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Just ordered this from RA and had it shipped to a shop—$325 + $21 shipping.

https://a.co/d/3UY4XBJ

My hunch is only a limited number actually are holding the part. It’s simply too limited in application and takes up too much space. My co once did that for Amazon and we were losing $300k per month. It’s costly to store these bulky slow moving items…
 
bdcardinal said:
I asked our rep for PA if they were a drop shipper for RA and he danced around it.
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They aren't allowed to say they are, but the return addresses give it away. If you notice, RockAuto makes every effort to suggest that they are the supplier, shipper, etc and never mention that they "work with distribution partners" or anything like that.
 
SammyChevelleTypeS3 said:
Be careful with USPS. Two orders in the last 6 months with USPS have been plain stupid. They took orders for me from about 600 to 800 miles north of where I live. I tracked them. First order (several months apart from different companies) was sent all the way south to about 15 miles from my home. Only NOT to be delivered until they were both sent on round the USA tours. Next one got 25 miles from my home , then across the USA to only 1500 miles away. It just took them about 7-8 days after that tour to make it to my home. Total shipping was over ten days on first one. Second order (complete different company and location) get sent on a near identical trip from shipper to near my home and then all around USA again before making it to me. Another 10-12 days on the roads.
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yes, I never take the USPS option at RA. Fedex or UPS is only a buck or two more, even if I am in not rush.
 
Hall said:
I realize it's not RA's doing, but the Fedex (Ground) rate to my work address is typically 1/2 the price for going to my home. On the other hand, and I don't request or select the option, Fedex Ground here delivers (7) days a week so I could get the item(s) on a weekend at home, for instance.
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I suppose USPS, UPS and FedEx could all be randomly substituted in my post, depending on the region.
But FedEx in my area is a disaster. Looking back at the original shipping number, I pulled up a RockAuto order carried by FedEx.
It was picked up by them in Texas on December 30th. It was delivered January 18th. That's almost three weeks of them having my package when ordinarily it takes two working days by USPS or UPS. In the mean time, just about every day the tracking said that "It is out for delivery". Then at about 8:00 that night it was logged back into the warehouse. One of the reports said that they had also mangled my package and they had to rebox it. I guess that what happens when you load and unload it every day. I finally got two calls in where I talked to a human being. These human beings were answered by a "Steve" or a "Joe" and the phone latency told me they were working in India or Pakistan. The local TV station did a piece on this FedEx warehouse that had hundreds of people posting about the poor service, including one woman finding several dozen packages in a ditch where the driver had simply unloaded his truck. In a true FedEx response, the reply was that the driver no longer works for us.
 
Kruse said:
just about every day the tracking said that "It is out for delivery". Then at about 8:00 that night it was logged back into the warehouse.
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Their drivers aren't employees (see next answer), they're contractors that are paid a daily rate, whether it takes them 6 hours to make ALL their deliveries or 14 hours. After so many hours in the day, the drivers decide to quit making deliveries and return to the hub. Anything undelivered gets pushed to the next day. Issue is, their route is the same so unless they drive faster, run faster, skip lunch and dinner, those deliveries at the end of the route are still at the end of the route.
Kruse said:
the reply was that the driver no longer works for us.
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Fedex Ground contracts with companies like "Joe's Delivery Service" who has to buy (or lease) Fedex Ground branded vans and supply their employees with uniforms. The driver that brings your packages doesn't work for Fedex at all. The turnover is outrageous. At my work, there was a period where we had a new driver every 3-4 weeks. Just the other day, one of our old drivers dropped off packages and I joked with him, "hey, you're back !!" and his response was, "they all keep quitting".
 
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