Serious Decline in Quality Knowledgeable Counter people at Parts stores...

This is pretty much the reason why I wouldn't get a job at the Autozone here.

"Damn young kids, don't know nothing, etc., etc."

I might be young, and consider myself a hot rodder, but I don't know everything and don't like to be put in the position of being yelled/questioned at.

Autozone does sell Spot Putty by the pound....

 

I've gotten into small engine stuff lately[ Antique garden tractors]the counter man at NAPA I always deal with gave me a a NAPA lawn and garden parts book,I want to price out some parts and go to the NAPA online site ,Guess What? I can't even get into the site because the first thing they want is MAKE,MODEL,YEAR!!!and no 1957 Craftsman Kohler 8HP LGT won't work!at least now I can make up the shopping list with part #s and bring it to the counter.
Why is it that at OTHER parts stores the most helpful and Knowledgeable counter help is any one of the females working there!Example 1995 Escort cooling fan sending unit
Her -Make,Model,Year,early or late edition
Me it's a 95
Her-Yes Sir but they have a mid year change if you will get me the 5th through 8th digits from the vin we'll know which you have
I get the #s
Her -Thank you sir it calls for this unit
Me coming back in from parking lot
Miss this doesn't even look close!
Her-Well sir perhaps yours was close enough to the change over to have the earlier unit here is an early one
Me back from parking lot AGAIN!no this isn't it either!
Her to next guy over on the counter Would you cover for me a minute?Sir lets look at that unit on your car if you don't mind these are the only units listed for this model and year in my computer
She came out looked at my car and could clearly see that neither matched my car AND that nothing was altered in the wiring
Her I'll be right back sir
she returns in a moment with the entire bin of sending units!She stood there and opened several boxes until she found the match to my unit!
Her-Sorry sir I will notify the head office of the error in our computers.Thank you for coming to @#$%^$# Auto parts ,Have a nice day
Me-Miss I already have thank you!
I'm not making this up that is exactly what happened needless to say SHE was my counter man at that store for over a year and when she moved to assistant manager at a different parts store in town so did I!There was a second young lady that she trained there and working with her was just as pleasant I noticed that several people would wait for either of these young ladies for service even when they guys there were free to help them.

 

Last time I went to Napa, I was looking for thread sealant for flathead head studs and I couldn't remember what someone had recommended to me...

Guy helping me asked what it was for and I thought "Ohhh Shit, not this again..."
I tried to blow him off with "Oh, it's for a really old car..." He asked me again and I said, "It's for an ol' flathead..." He said; "for an old flathead Merc?"

Then he proceded to call his dad who built a lot of flatheads to ask him what he would use...

Don't paint them all with the same brush...

I've had lots of bad experiences (Like the guy at Ford who wanted to argue with me for an hour or so that I couldn't possibly have what I said I had...) but as long as they aren't arrogant and TRY, I'm happy...

The more of an ass you are, the better chance you're going to crap-out at the game of 'counter help.'

All that said, my daughter had to stop me (without doing a damn thing but just BEING THERE) from cleaning the counter with an idiot at O'rielys...
He wasn't stupid, he was just unbelievably rude and insulting...

 

Recently phoned our local Halfords Motor Super store looking for brake shoes for my wife,s daily driver Peugeot 306,a young lad answers the phone and I tell him what I want."Just a moment sir " he says ,he drops the receiver on the counter and I hear him as he flicks through a catalogue, after about 2 minutes he,s back on the phone "What year was the bicycle made sir"My reply cannot be recorded here.

 

I lost faith about 6 years ago when I went to get a set of pads for my wifes 72 Chevelle. The kid waiting on me takes off and comes back about 2 minutes later and asks "what make is that?" I goes, um...Chevrolet?

 

You know, that is suprisingly very true. I can't count how many times I've gone out of my way to help some guy with some sort of cool car only to be put down about not knowing some microscoptic detail on some obscure 60 year old pile just so that he can one up me and feel superior about his station in life. If that happens, he will usually get the most wet behind the ears guy I've got the next time around to make his experience as pleasent as mine was the last time he was in the store.

 

Time for the guys that work in parts stores to start our own thread,"The Most Idiotic Asshole Customer I've Had".

 

Ha!!! No Shit!!! " What do you mean..what year is my Quadrajet??? there all the same!!!" .... Or ..... "You didnt know all 56 chevy four barrel car had the fuel line on the out side of the frame ands its 5/16 line!" boy are we dumb! Damn.... Im glad I have the day off! Ha

 

agreed...there are counter people out there that do know what they are doing.

for all those bitching why don't you do 5 seconds of internet research and figure out the part number for what you want rather than getting pissed when they ask for your make, model, engine (even if it doesnt matter, just tell them, dont need to be an asshole and inform them of their supposed incompetence). it is a min. wage job you know


<---Former autozoner...A-Z ya later!

 

Wouldn't be surprised if they train the new hires to ask year-make-model and look it up on the computer.... so when you go in there looking for parts for a 1968 bumblefart, it helps to play with the online thing and figure out the interchanges so that if you have to look up an entirely different year-make-model to get the part, you can tell them that.


Sometimes incompetent help works in your favor. The last set of front pads I bought for my truck I priced the gold pads and the silver, decided to buy the silver, the counter guy never switched them back and I get out to the car and find I have the gold pads and paid for the cheaper silver ones. I can't remember now why he brought me the gold ones out to begin with.. maybe they were even out of stock on the silver.

Needless to say I didn't go back in and swap them. Probably not the right thing to do, but the guy would have had to suddenly become blind and brain-dead to not notice he gave me the wrong ones, the box is gold instead of silver all over it. If he doesn't care, I guess I'm not going to worry either. Heck, the same chain way back when it was Western Auto, I had a guy sell me those split-fire two-electrode plugs for the price of regular Champions because they didn't have anything in stock in a hotter heat range for the car I needed them on. I got like $48 of plugs for $8 -

 

been there and done both sides of that coin

 

Year, make, model is the only way to look a part at autozone. And give the kid behind the counter a break. If you were paid as little as he/she is you wouldn't give a shit neither.

 

Try dealing with people complaining all day about what you sold, like these brake pads that were "bad" and messed up his caliper.




the smooth finished side of the chunk of pad was stuck in the piston, the metal backing had welded itself to the rotor and ground the piston out. So even though he put his pads on backwards (friction side away from the rotor) its all our fault for selling him faulty pads, and on a side note, he says the rotors are fine he doesnt need new ones. So the hassle at the counter is more than both ways........

 

wow...that had to make a noise

 

I think the decline in knowledgeable counter people is in direct proportion to the pay scale. Just like any other business,when you barely pay minimum wage,you arent going to get good help.A couple of weeks ago,one of the "old guy's" at a local parts store quit and went to work at Walmart!! I guess the $1.60 more per hour had something to do with it.

 

Guy drove it approximately 50 miles to work, almost had to use the front of the building to stop the truck, said it never had a problem till he went to park it at work.......

 

When I worked for Pontiac we had a rotor hanging on the wall in the service department that had one side worn through to the cooling vanes!We got a wrecker call to pick this customers car up off the highway with a "Broken wheel"Customer insisted that "IT never made any noise just stopped turning "The piston was wedged into the cooling fins and locked up the rotor.

 

Ok, so is the bottom line here we HAMB'ers should invest in bringing the small business auto parts store back to our communities ourselves? Or should we keep going to Autozone? Whats the answer here?

 

Do you really think a mechanic will sit behind a parts counter for 10$ an hour?
I won't!, and I also don't depend on the guy behind the counter to know anything, he just opperates the register. I don't ask em for advice...I go in, tell them what I want, and if they don't know, I explain what I want, and move on.

 

Exactly! You wouldn't ask the check out girl at the grocery for advice on a recipe for stew. When going to the parts store, a lot of grief can be saved by first knowing what you really need. That means part #'s, years it was available, and what the application is for. Now there are some counter folks who really don't have a clue, but I can't begin to tell you some of the crap I've over heard come out of the mouth of customers. Sometimes I hear 'em and wonder if they even own a car, much less work on one.

 

Hi Everyone,
It is frustrating working the Auto Parts places out here. I recently went into O'Reillys new store in Clovis and told them to order me a BRAND NEW ridge reamer... Didn't want to borrow their used worn one...Just wanted a new one for 3-4 upcoming builds.. They said they would order it...but 2 days later, after a 60 mile one way trip to pick it up... They had set aside the stores' loaner tool for me... I told the counter person...NO THANKS!.. I ordered a new one and wasn't about to pay full price for their loaner..

Went back to Fort Sumner and borrowed my NAPA dealer's tool and will soon order a new one through NAPA, even though it is $20 more for the same tool and brand.. My NAPA dealer is experienced and knows cars which adds to my trust.. His cousin was the recently passed away..Boyd Coddington.

When I lived in Missouri, I spent a lot of money at O'Reillys...a bit more expensive there, but when you have a experienced manager, who knows cars...it goes better...

When I am in Springfield, Missouri, working on my step daughter's car, I buy at O'Reillys and at Auto Zone... both stores I use have experienced car folks...not kids just learning... It would be good if these stores had some serious training programs, as someday we will be running out of the old schoolers.... Guess one just have to check a few stores out in advance... Have a great day!....duane

 

These threads are funny reading if they were not so true! But a lot of the problem is a combination of both sides of the counter. I am a lifetime parts guy and a good day is when I learn from my coworker or customer. We often joke about knowing the proper "nomenclature", as in a starter drive being called a "Bendix". The reason they often are called this was back in the day, Bendix supplied a lot of these started drives and thier name was stamped on them, so there is the story, however, Bendix supplied a lot of other parts and this is no different then asking somebody if they want a Coke? Yeah, Dr Pepper for me! Same thing with " I need some Permatex" Okay, which one? And think about this, Points are listed as contact set most kids behind the counter were born after points were even used! Think about it! The votechs and tech schools don't teach auto mechanic students of them as they are obsolete technology! Attitude of the parts person and the customer have a lot to do with the resulting equation. When a young kid ask who makes a Chevelle, it takes no more breath or effort to say Chevrolet as opposed to yelling or??? Right? What level of society are you from? It sounds sad but I have to ask on some of the newer cars who makes them? Make me realize my age! If we all keep cool heads and the counter guys are professional and courteous.

 

I do support the local independant when I can but if there's no hurry I just log on to a website and order the part. Usually the shipping is less than sales tax and UPS drops it on the front porch in a few days.
I am lucky that the local NAPA store happens to be the region distribution center that supplies the NAPA stores in the greater Houston area. I have never had them say a part was not available.

 

This has been a good read for me. I am trying to get the local parts guy to sell me his buisness. I think I could make a go of it considering all the other stores are run by the same idiots mentioned here.

 

If there is an O'riellys near you, I have had a lot of luck with them, they seem to hire, humans.

Next time you want to get a laugh, call auto zone and ask for a flux capacitor for an 85 Delorian, or ask for a radiator hose for a 73 beetle. You will not believe how many times it will work. HAHA

 

These threads come up a lot.You have to remember two things when dealing with the chain stores:
They don't pay very well so you will not attract someone career minded,just someone working there until they get a "real job".

There are vastly more cars,models and variations of vehicles than ever before so the chance of someone knowing all of them is less.When I was growing up all we needed to know were about 20 makes of cars,all designed nearly the same.Now every manufacturer has a dozen models,dozen engines,foreign and domestic with many more parts designed specifically for them.

Go in knowing you will get no more help or knowledge than the minimum;do your homework and research before going into the store.

 

My dad works at AutoZone (retirement was boring). He's the grizzled old guy everyone lines up for. He's been there and done that. Last year he otld the store manager "I'm too old for this crap, there's no way I'm going to install a battery, write me up if you have to or fire me, doesn't matter to me". He's still there. My dad ran his own shop for over twenty years. He tries to help people out and give them advice but sometimes all he can do is shake his head. He hates the computer system.

While rebuild the wheel cylinders on my '61 F-85 I actually had a good parts store experience. The closest parts store to me is an Advance Auto Parts in the ghetto. I knew they didn't have the specific rebuild kit so I asked the young lady behind the parts counter to bear with me. I had her look up a rebuild kit for an 80s Honda, then asked if I could go with her to the back to get it. All the rebuild kits were together. I then told her I was looking for only a certain diameter, and where the diameter was marked on the seals. We spent maybe five minutes digging through the rebuild kits til we found the right ones. I showed her how the kits worked and why I only needed the right diameter. She listened and understood. It was her first day on the job. I thanked her for the help, then told the manager how much I appreciated her help and that she had done a great job.

 

What you find behind the counter is a mirror. Not of you, specifically, but of our country in general.

We absolutely WILL NOT pay a premium price for anything. We will drive 45 miles out of our way to save $2. We don't value anything, on the average, but low prices. We believe that if anybody is charging a higher price, than he or she is trying to "rip-us-off".

When is the last time you drove across town to save eight cents-a-gallon on a 12 gallon fill-up? Ninety-six freakin' cents!

We (as in the general public) just don't not care. It is not "our" problem if the kid behind the counter can't pay his bills and still buy food.

Corporations know this very well, and work it for every cent.

Some folks are fond of saying things like "You are stupid for paying more." This is a race to the bottom, and we, in the end, will all lose.

We are doing it to ourselves. Your lower price today is your lower wage tomorrow, and mine too.

Please stop, you're hurting me.

 

Interesting take.....I think I am going to agree with you,gimpy.

 

2 'helpers' at Wal-Mart last week had no idea what thread was.