OMG: went looking for a foot of 5/16 rubber hose and was asked, what car, model, year, etc. Makes me wonder what the requirements are for a parts counter job? ARE YOU BREATHNG? yes or no?
I went to a-zone for a brake line. set the old bent, mangled, rusty line on the counter and the "counterperson" said " will that be all?" - I'm guessing they have Used parts in the back somewhere??? Don't think there is a test to get hired there, as long as they have a uniform to fit, LOL
A sad result of a good economy and low unemployment rate. As one of the contractors working on my house told me "The good workers already have jobs, the bad ones are always looking." Believe it. He's had trouble finding grunt laborers for $20 an hour in this area that are willing to work for longer than one paycheck. And that's damn-good money up here. I was in a small parts store about a month ago, the kid working the counter complained about having to work, said he could be sitting at home playing video games instead. No skills, no work ethic and no future? Or IS that the future of our country?
Seeing that reminded me of some of the older cars like IH, Studebaker, etc. that had left hand threads on one side and right hand on the other. Can you imagine the confusion that would cause for the parts counter kids nowdays? James
The search function on most company's websites isn't any different. Just the other night I was trying to run down a replacement Hayden cooling fan control relay. I had bought one locally at O'Reilly's not long ago, but the O'Reilly's site refused to show me what was in stock locally until I input a year/make/model since I didn't have the exact part number. In defense of some of the counter folks, I've mentioned this to them before. They shrug their shoulders because they're forced to deal with that same exact thing themselves all day long. They can't get a part number either without entering a make/model/year.
"No skills, no work ethic and no future? Or IS that the future of our country?" We have one in our group at work. We call him Bueller because he takes off work for the flimsiest excuses (I think both his grandmothers have died at least 3 times now). He's 35 and lived with his parents until about a year ago when they bought him a house after they bought him a new Mustang GT. He plays video games and cruises Facebook on a company computer on company time. The boss knows about it but his hands are tied by the HR department. He's dumb as a box of rocks except when it comes to computers.
I'm so sick of local parts stores that I buy 99% of my parts online, Summit and eBay mainly. No tax, free shipping and the parts are here in 2 days. Early in my '59 build, the local Napa soaked me $100 to press on 2 axle bearings. I could see $50, but not $100. Almost everything else I have bought at Napa has broken by now, ignition switch, solenoid, brake light switch. I needed a brake shoe e-brake clip on a Friday night a couple of months back. The lady at Pep Boys was perplexed even after I showed her the mangled part, funny to see their eyes glaze over when given a challenge. Next stop.. Advance. There I got the parts lady to have her eyes roll back in her head....
My local Ford Dealer parts man (gotta be in his fifties) has been O help in my search for parts, Every time I give him a Ford Parts No., he tells me" thats an engineering number, I need a part #." A simple internet search on that #, and it comes up. Tasca Ford internet store brings that Ford # right up. Other Ford Dealers look it right up. While trying to match a dipstick tube up with my trans, he was telling me without a VIN # he couldn't help because the hole for the dipstick tube would be a different diameter depending on the make/model. Now I realize Ford doesn't like interchagability, but my trans rebuilder says" bull." Thankfully, I seldom need a dealership.
The Jalopy Journal
