I placed an order with GM parts direct, and the freight would have been about $15.00, but they are charging $42.47

This overcharge represents a surcharge of about 10% on the order. Anyone else have this happen?

 

typical but your results may vary

 

From other posts here on the forum, their prices may be low, but there have been instances where the shipping/handling gets pretty expensive. But they seem to be able to get parts that are very difficult to find.

 

What did you order? If it is a large item, it will come from a frieght carrier, and not UPS or FedEX. So in those cases there is an additional fee over and above the normal shipping.

 

That's the reason that I don't buy things from them.

 

Set of brake pads and a tire pressure sensor for in the wheel.

 

Did they at least have the courtesy to give you a reach around?

I would think a reputable business would charge "real cost" transportation fee's, and not try to add to the bottom line by over charging on shipping.

 

I will never use these guys again, I ordered a part I needed fast and told them in my email I would pay for fast shipping and if they couldn't do it I would go another way, I ordered on a monday morning got a reply Wednesday saying my item was shipped UPS ground, It was a small item, An oil sending unit, It took almost 2 weeks for me to get it from when I ordered it. They told me it was in stock also.
Never again.

 

That place is horrible.

They advertise prices too cheap to be realistic; then they drastically overcharge on shipping to recoup that loss and claim it's "necessary to provide the lowest price possible." They are preying on people who don't factor in s/h costs when they order stuff and being intentionally deceptive IMO.

I've also heard their service is equally as bad.

 

I ordered from them ONCE years ago, it was for the CD changer harness, they charged me like $30 for shipping and handling and this was GROUND shipping on a cable that weighs maybe a couple pounds! Never ordered from them again. PM me if you want the link to order parts from a place I found that won't rape you on shipping and hadling charges.

 

I got my invoice today, and the "service charge" was almost 20% of the order. So I guess you really have to figure 20% over the prices they show on their site when buying from them.

 

A search or search this forum (in the red banner) in C5 General using keywords "gm parts direct" will produce lots of reading material.

This is the most recent thread. Included in post #13, is a reply from the new manager of GMPARTSDIRECT. You might contact him with you issue...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...ts-direct.html

 

They charge "shipping and handling" on every part number you order. $10-$15 for each part adds up

Nick

 

Hello Everyone,

Please keep in mind that we display the delivered price (including the cost of the part and the shipping and handling) in the shopping cart. We do not hide any of our charges, we display the charges in the shopping cart so there will not be any surprises on your credit card.

Gmpartsdirect.com sells parts near published dealer cost plus a percentage for a shipping and handling fee. This fee is not actual shipping charges only.

The shipping and handling pays for the shipping charges plus our other expenses like web programming, employees, etc. Another way to explain this is, we are selling you the part near published dealer cost, the shipping, and handling pays all of our expenses associated with running the web site. The amount left over after our expense is our profit.

Keep in mind our overall price is a tremendous savings over retail price and in most cases is even cheaper than dealer wholesale shipped to your door step, and without leaving the convenience of the Mouse. Compare the overall price delivered to your door.

If you find a lower delivered price at one of our competitors, please email us a screen shot and link of their delivered price and we will try to meet/beat their delivered price. If you compare our overall price, including shipping and handling, you will find that our delivered price is cheaper than other vendors selling GM parts. Again, if you find a lower delivered price, please email our customer service team so with a screen shot of the delivered price so we can meet/beat their delivered price, as we do not like being undersold. Not only will this save you money but this will help save everyone on the forum the money also.

Thank you,

Scott
GmPartsDirect.com Manager

 

What happened to the good ole days of factoring total cost to the customer?
Reasonable price for part + realistic shipping charge to customer's zip code = Old method

10% under cost for part + crazy high "shipping" costs = New method and pi$$ed customers

I'll give you an A+ for creativity and an F for functionality. You already get great discounting from carriers and the truth is very few vendors pass all of the discounting on to customers, hence, additional profit built into the sale.

 

It's is the way you do it that irks me. Why not just put up prices 18% above what you have and put the real shipping charges in it, and let us decide if we want it.

I saw the total delivered price in my shopping cart, and decided to go with it anyway. Next time I will try everyone else before I buy from you again.

Did you see how many people said they would never buy from you again because of this policy? Is business that good, that most of your customers would only buy once?

I do what you do, only in the motorcycle industry. We depend on repeat customers. We wouldn't dream of doing the fake low prices and a 18 to 20% "service charge.

 

High S&H on any product means they have less to refund if you return the item. That means a profit is made, regardless.

Item = 1¢, S&H = $50.00. Total = $50.01

Need refund? Guess how much gets refunded. I'll give you 4 guesses.

 

Great point. I never thought of it like that. Better to pay a real price with normal shipping.

 

Bingo!!! Never thought of that, but it is now all quite obvious.

Didn't see this mentioned in Scott's post above.