Beware of warranty policies

1a auto out of Olathe, KS does great advertising but, don’t do business with them. Their warranty of products are good but, where you lose out is the shipping on returns. I purchased a pair of struts and did no sit correctly, They guaranteed the struts and shipped me replacements. The new struts cost me approx. $136.00 and change. The freight cost to return the defective struts was $110.00 and change with UPS. I wrote to 1a auto about crediting on my freight charge and now they tell me it’s my responsibility for the freight charges. Now these worthless struts cost me $246.00. I thought this company was honorable and see otherwise. I should have just kept the struts here and told them to come and get it. Have others had this kind of problems with 1a?

There are companies that pay return freight and just as many that don’t. You have to read the warranty/return policy especially for heavy items that will cost a lot to return. That being said, $110 shipping seems steep. Did you send them back cheapest method possible? (ground, freight)

Buying vehicle parts online is not something I would do. Paying freight to return parts and a restocking fee are normal practice.

Rock Auto sent a replacement headlight when I reported one was leaking just under a year after I bought it. Along with it they sent an address label to use when returning the bad one. When I took that one to a local place that handles shipping for several carriers, they measured it and weighed it and were going to charge something like $90. Then I showed them the label from Rock Auto and with that label stuck on, I didn’t have to pay anything.

So yes, beware of warranty policies, especially re: who bears costs of returning defective or incorrect merchandise.

Yeah agree. That’s one of the issues with buying on line. If you went to NAPA, you’d just go down and exchange them. I have relatives there but not sure about that business but you may want to edit out the name. I have found that internet references really are not very reliable. One person has a great experience and another a lousy experience. We never hear the other side of it which in this case seems like they did what they said they would.

“You have to read the warranty/return policy especially for heavy items that will cost a lot to return”.

… and, of course, the time to read that policy is prior to purchase, not after one finds out that the parts he ordered are defective.
:thinking:

I’m pretty sure if you go back and read their warranty return policies it will state something to the effect of “customer pays return shipping”.

That is not a rare policy by the way.

Buy parts from Amazon. If they screw up, they pay the return shipping. If you make the mistake, you pay the shipping. Even though I typed that, read their policy on returns. Don’t rely on some faceless internet person.

Question for the OP: Were the struts you purchased defective?

I don’t like buying parts online, or anything else for that matter, but occasionally it’ll be necessary. When it is, I try to buy only from a company I’m familiar with, like Rockauto or Autopartswarehouse.

1aAuto is an eBay vendor. Below is a cut and paste from one of their strut ads.

Returns:
60 day returns. Buyer pays for return shipping

Me neither. I almost always get a less than satisfactory result with mail order products. But I did find a place to buy prescription eyeglasses recently that worked out pretty good. $12 for a pair, which included shipping. I used to purchase contact lenses by mail too. Maybe there’s something about medical-related products where you can bypass the US’s bizarre health care system, so mail order makes sense then.

I can’t say I’ve ever had a problem, but I do it so rarely that I may just be lucky so far.
I did just order and receive a treadmill over the internet… from Walmart. I ordered it because delivery is free and it weighs 74lbs, too heavy for me to move myself. The UPS guy was kind enough to put it in my dining room, where I wanted it, but that’s not their policy, he was just a nice guy.

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My brother used to have a treadmill . . . it was a LOT heavier than 74lbs

I can understand if one were to buy something and returned it because he/she didn’t like it or ordered it wrong but, when the product is defective and warranted, I think it should be the seller that replaces it at their cost. I buy many automotive and personal products on the net, and this is the first time that I ever had this kind of experience with. Most companies are really good about returns especially if their at fault. Need to be more careful next time. No more 1a auto though.

I respectfully disagree with you.

The ad plainly states that the buyer pays any return shipping charges. There is zero obfuscation there.

If you had read the ad and saw the bit about buyer paying return shipping you should have said, “Self. What if the part is defective or doesn’t fit?”.
Then you could have made an informed decision about whether to proceed or not.

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