Power Stop Brakes Warranty Claims - Buyer Beware (2 Viewers)

[Rednexus]

In late 2021 I purchased a Power Stop stainless steel brake line kit for my 2007 GX470 through Rock Auto and installed it. On 9/11/2023, I experienced a failure of the rear driver's brake hose where I lost a significant amount of brake fluid. Luckily I did not have a complete brake system failure, as I was towing my camper when this occurred. I called Power Stop customer service and was told to file a warranty claim (as this was within the 2 year warranty period), which I did.

Power Stop customer service (Tiffany) told me the line kit was on backorder until 9/20/2023. When I asked if they would pay or provide me a voucher/coupon to buy a brake hose from someone else so I could drive my rig, she gave me an answer of "no" as there was "no mechanism to offer me a refund". I bought and installed a replacement rubber hose from NAPA.

Between 9/11/2023 and 2/29/2023 I corresponded with Tiffany a total of 9 times asking for an update. Each time I was given a new production date for the hose kit. On 2/29/2023 I looked on the Summit Racing website and, sure enough, the kit was back in stock. I alerted Tiffany of this was was given the following response:

Hello,

We do apologize as the manufactures as we are only able to ship available product. We so truly appreciate you supporting the Power Stop brand! Please contact RockAuto at service@rockauto.com for assistance with your parts. We are unable to assist you directly.

Thank you,
Tiffany

At this point it was very clear they had no plans to send me a replacement brake line kit. It's been nearly 6 months. Despite claiming they would send me a kit, they went ahead and produced them anyway and never sent me one. When I brought this to their attention, I was told to "contact Rock Auto", which they could have told me 6 months ago.

Don't trust Power Stop. They don't stand behind their products and their quality is not very good for critical components like brakes. I filed a BBB complaint agains them as well, Power Stop has a D- rating with a very long list of complaints. The Google reviews are also horrible.

power stop chicago - Google Search

Power Stop LLC | Better Business Bureau® Profile

This organization is not BBB accredited. Brake Service in Bedford Park, IL. See BBB rating, reviews, complaints, & more.

www.bbb.org

 

[raisinhell2]

I have had really good luck with power stop pads and rotors. Never tried their brake hoses and prob never will. Dealing with anything to do with rock auto is always complicated.. Where was the hose leaking at? at the crimp from hose to fitting?

 

[Rednexus]

Yes, at the crimp fitting, on the caliper side.

Power Stop also has 2.7 stars on Google. There are lots of reports of non-existent warranty service as well, so my experience is typical.

As a last-ditch effort, I also tried Rock Auto to see if they'd make it right. I think we all know how that went . I've bought thousands of dollars in parts from Rock Auto over at least a decade, but may avoid them going forward due to nonexistent customer service (which is, to be fair, their business model and how they keep costs low).

Summit Racing often has prices close to Rock Auto and has pretty good customer service (when I've used it in the recent past), so I'll likely migrate over there for most things. It may be hard to totally ditch Rock Auto though, for OEM replacement Japanese vehicle parts (Denso parts, KYB struts, etc) they are often half the price of anyone else.

 

[raisinhell2]

Yes, at the crimp fitting, on the caliper side.

Power Stop also has 2.7 stars on Google. There are lots of reports of non-existent warranty service as well, so my experience is typical.

As a last-ditch effort, I also tried Rock Auto to see if they'd make it right. I think we all know how that went . I've bought thousands of dollars in parts from Rock Auto over at least a decade, but may avoid them going forward due to nonexistent customer service (which is, to be fair, their business model and how they keep costs low).

Summit Racing often has prices close to Rock Auto and has pretty good customer service (when I've used it in the recent past), so I'll likely migrate over there for most things. It may be hard to totally ditch Rock Auto though, for OEM replacement Japanese vehicle parts (Denso parts, KYB struts, etc) they are often half the price of anyone else.

Agreed I avoid rock auto for the same reasons along with internet business's whos customer service is internet based .. about the only items I will buy from them are the power-stop rotors and pads. I went through a 3 month long ordeal with RA trying to get a rad for a 60 series that wasn't smashed.

 

[Kabanstva]

Sadly lots of warranties are just a joke. They like to make the process super complicated and create delays (whether in response time, production, or simply beating around the bush).

 

[Rednexus]

Sadly lots of warranties are just a joke. They like to make the process super complicated and create delays (whether in response time, production, or simply beating around the bush).

On the flipside I dealt with Ironman on a warranty claim for my front FCP coil overs. The springs had bowed in and were touching to shock body and making noise. One phone call and a few emails later and I had a brand new set of FCP coilovers shipped to my house (which retail for like $1100 or so).

I've had a couple other smaller warranty claims that went fine as well.

PowerStop has been by far and away the worst to deal with. The only way to hold these companies accountable for dishonoring their own warranty is to stop buying things from them .

 

[Kabanstva]

On the flipside I dealt with Ironman on a warranty claim for my front FCP coil overs. The springs had bowed in and were touching to shock body and making noise. One phone call and a few emails later and I had a brand new set of FCP coilovers shipped to my house (which retail for like $1100 or so).

I've had a couple other smaller warranty claims that went fine as well.

PowerStop has been by far and away the worst to deal with. The only way to hold these companies accountable for dishonoring their own warranty is to stop buying things from them .

My favorite is when they say “sure we can honor the warranty” and the return shipping cost to send in defective product for “inspection” + shipping for new part is like 80%+ of just buying a new part without all the hassle and without waiting weeks/months for warranty claim to get approved and finalized. Seen this numerous times on smaller stuff under $200-300. Like I said, a lot of it is just a scam.

 

[little_joe]

Yes, at the crimp fitting, on the caliper side.

Power Stop also has 2.7 stars on Google. There are lots of reports of non-existent warranty service as well, so my experience is typical.

As a last-ditch effort, I also tried Rock Auto to see if they'd make it right. I think we all know how that went . I've bought thousands of dollars in parts from Rock Auto over at least a decade, but may avoid them going forward due to nonexistent customer service (which is, to be fair, their business model and how they keep costs low).

Summit Racing often has prices close to Rock Auto and has pretty good customer service (when I've used it in the recent past), so I'll likely migrate over there for most things. It may be hard to totally ditch Rock Auto though, for OEM replacement Japanese vehicle parts (Denso parts, KYB struts, etc) they are often half the price of anyone else.

JFYI, RockAuto isn't always authorized to sell the parts they have on offer. Thus, even if they had customer service, often the mfgr will not honor warranty if purchased through Rock. I always check before buying anything through them, and find myself buying less and less from them.

Timely example for me is KYB shocks: Rock is apparently buying them through other wholesalers. KYB makes it explicitly clear they are not an authorized/supported retailer and therefore will not warranty any KYB products sold by Rock. Bought mine through Summit, which is an authorized/supported retailer.

 

[Rednexus]

JFYI, RockAuto isn't always authorized to sell the parts they have on offer. Thus, even if they had customer service, often the mfgr will not honor warranty if purchased through Rock. I always check before buying anything through them, and find myself buying less and less from them.

Timely example for me is KYB shocks: Rock is apparently buying them through other wholesalers. KYB makes it explicitly clear they are not an authorized/supported retailer and therefore will not warranty any KYB products sold by Rock. Bought mine through Summit, which is an authorized/supported retailer.

I didn't expect Rock Auto to actually take any action. I was curious if they'd point a finger at Power Stop to avoid taking care of a customer who has probably spent well over $5K with them and sure enough they did. More of the old fashioned exercise of determining who is really your friend and who just wants something from you . But, we're on the same page - I'll only give Rock Auto my $$$ in the future if there is a substantial savings on something and I'm willing to have no recourse if the part fails in the future. That's probably going to limit what I buy from them to just limited Denso parts that I can't get cheaply on Summit.

In other news, I also left PS a negative Google Review. They responded this AM and told me to contact customer service. Guess the ~9 or 10 emails I sent them (dropped them one on Friday telling them I'd be filing a BBB complaint) weren't enough .