On Septemper 5, I made the mistake of ordering some parts from
www.RockAuto.com . Parts that their website said would fit my car. I received the parts in two shipments, one on September 9 and the other on September 10. On Sunday, September 11, I decided to install them. Low and behold, they were not the same as the ones that were on my car.
The parts were lower control arms. My car is a 335xi, and the lower control arms are made of steel on the AWD cars. The control arms (tension struts and wishbones) that they sent were aluminum. I came to find out that the parts are not interchangeable on the two, even though RockAuto's website lists those parts as being compatible with the 335xi.
I called RockAuto on Sunday, September 11 and told them of their error. I was told by the person that was working that they could not do anything for me on a Sunday, and that I would have to call backl on Monday to arrange for the return. I was later told by a manager that this was a lie, and that the person I spoke to on Sunday could certainly have helped with the return.
I called back on Monday, September 12 and was told that they could arrange a return, but that I would have to pay for the return shipping. I explained that the reason I purchased the parts was because their website specifically said that they would fit the 335xi. I walked her through clicking on the links and drilling down to the 335xi then the suspension parts for the 335xi then the control arms for the 335xi. I showed her that these parts were listed under the 335xi. She asked if my 335xi was RWD. I explained that there is no such thing as a RWD 335xi. She was quick to point out that while the parts were listed as fitting the 335xi, they would only fit a RWD 335xi. This argument went on for a few minutes, until I asked to speak to her supervisor. I was put on hold for about 15 minutes, then was greeted by a supervisor, who had obviously been brought up to speed on the situation prior to coming on the line. He, like the first person, explained that since the part was listed as "RWD", it would only fit a RWD 335xi. It was not until I explained that I was very active in online forums and was not shy about expressing my feelings about my experience that he said he would email me the shipping labels at their expense.
I shipped the items the same day, and they were received in the warehouse on Friday of last week, which was September 16.
Today, September 21, I am still waiting for the refund to show up in my bank account. I called them and was told that it will probably be another day or two before I receive email notice that the refund has been issued and another two or three days before the refund posts to my account. That puts the refund at about Tuesday of next week, which is tree weeks after placing the initial order.
Also, they have removed the parts from the 335xi section.