I can't remember what shopping was like before the internet. Not shopping in the sense of browsing, store-to-store, like a trophy wife with her husband's credit card, but for the sake of finding the best price on an item. In my experiences, I've always found that Pep Boys' prices were a little bit higher than their competitors, so I usually tried to avoid them. Sometimes Advance Auto Parts wouldn't have what I needed in stock, and it would take a day or two to get it. The internet changed all of that. I used to have three or four options to choose from around town, now I have hundreds of virtual storefronts to shop at, online, anytime. However, not all are created equal.
The good: RockAuto has the best prices, biggest inventory and fastest shipping of any place I've purchased from. Their online catalog is one of the best out there, very similar to the same databases that auto parts stores use. I just purchased some valve cover gaskets on Monday, and they arrived two days later on Thursday. I couldn't ask for anything more.
The bad: Auto Parts Warehouse sucks. I've only made one purchase from them, but the way it which it was handled, and the fact they still owe me more than $100, makes me never want to buy from them again. They offer a pretty wide selection of parts. I was actually able to find a wheel bearing from them that I couldn't find anywhere else, and for a great price. But after placing the order, thinking I would get my wheel bearing in three days, I only had part of my order. The wheel bearing was out of stock, which I wasn't informed of until I contacted "customer service" myself, and I still got charged for it anyway. Their customer service is terrible, and the wheel bearing that I never received still shows up on my credit card statement.
1 comment:
Dude, I hear you on Auto Parts Warehouse. I ordered a part in July, they delivered it to the wrong address, and when I had it returned they never refunded me. I call on a daily basis to yell at them, but I'm starting to lose hope.
Post a Comment