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

x2 to almost all of that.
Been part jockeying for about 4 months and I don't know it all. I'll tell you if I don't, but I'm damn knowledgable for 19, and a fellow associate at 20 years old tops my knowledge ten times over.

I def know of all the the people the rest of you are talking about, but I like to think of myself as the person that people come to. If it takes me two hours to call company after company, I'll get your phone number and call you when I have it, cause I will get that part.

 

I worked at Carquest,Advance,and Lee Auto Parts.

Advance was the worst job experience I ever had.

I was the ONLY PERSON in the store,actually the whole area of stores,that knew antthing about cars.I had them calling me on my days off,and even after I no longer worked there,asking me questions like how do look things up,whats this part called,how this or that is done,etc.

I was the only one that actually helped people like they should be helped.If a guy came in and wanted to buy a new battery,I always asked if they knew that was their problem.Half the time they would end up only needing a cable,or the cables/posts cleaned off...those people became dedicated customers.I then did this in front of the District Manager one day,and was threatened because "That`s not the way to the customer`s wallet"...his exact words!

And there were always the customers that would insist I knew nothing...then buy a battery...come back for a starter....come back again for a solenoid....then finally check the damn cables.

I loved figuring out problems,and was the only person there that knew what a book was and how to use it.I never told someone we didn`t have something just because I was too stupid to find it in the system,like 80% of my co-workers did.

I was happy with my pay,until I was given a $0.05 raise.....I practically ran the whole store at that time.

I had to work with some of the most ignorant,uneducated people in existance.....they just didn`t care about anything but there paycheck.At any given time,I would be working with 3 others...and i would be the only one up front helping customers...while they stayed in the back room eating and watching Jerry Springer (literally). But I was just the Retail Parts Manager and not a Store or Assistant Manager,so I couldn`t say crap.

We had this 10/10 rule....greet every customer within 10-feet or 10-seconds of them entering the room.I was the only one that did it.

One busy Sunday afternoon...I was helping 2 different customers at the same time,and a third walks in....I look over at my co-workers...and they headed to the back of the store ignoring the lady....I excused myself with the person I was assisting and greeted the lady.......just as I greeted her...another guy walks in behind her and heads to the counter.So now theres 4 customers in the store needing help....just as I finish with the lady...the last guy to walk in taps my shoulder and introduces himself as the Regional Manager of all of the stores and wanted to know why I didn`t greet him right away. He didn`t ask where was everyone else,just wanted to know why I didn`t drop what i was doing to greet him.I explained to him hat I was already helping 3 people and that he should ask the guys in the back room whhy there not up here helping out.

The next day I came to work,and was informed by my store manger that I was being let go because I was too busy "flirting" with young ladys to do my job right.Nothing was said about the others that weren`t doing there job at all........a very racist company i must say (yes reverse racism does exist).

I realized that these stores do not want people that care about there job,or know anything about cars....they make more money by selling people the wrong parts.

Carquest was a great experience,and so was Lee.

 

I've been in the car business for about 35 years. Was a mechanic in a Chevy dealer for 15 of those years. Here's the ranking: dealer parts guys were good, but assholes--cause they knew they were good.Independant part store guys also were good,but not assholes---yet (wanted to be dealer parts guy). Then there were"the others" --Pep Boys come to mind--the "deer-in-the-headlights"--I asked for a set of AC R45TS plugs from a guy--blank look--I say"I just gave you the part number--ok?" Typical,"year,make ,model"--said they had "other plugs" that "might" work. I ask to see his plug selection---first rack:R45TS plugs!!! He and I had a little "training exercise"--showed him HOW to look up plugs and showed him the interchange section.
This guy works in a "parts store" now and really helps me out.So maybe we just gotta train these guys to our way of thinking---but no matter how good they are--they still don't make shit.
P.S.---NO PLACE in my area stocks SBC points anymore--got em in 2 of my cars--can get the shitty Chinese points at Pep Boys/Auto Zone/KKKKragen---but order good stuff from the real part stores. But then--it's been about 35 years since G.M. used em--OH SHIT---I'M OLD TOO!!!

 

I have managed quite a few retail places and one thing I took from job to job was this...

It does a couple things...the person that is there shopping gets greated and knows that if they need to ask a question well that person greated me...maybe I can go to them.

A person that might be there to shoplift...well he knows that he is spotted and you know he is in the store. They do not like that feeling. They would prefer to slip in and slip out un noticed.

I used to like when I would say hi to a customer coming in the store and they would reply...just looking. I would reply...just saying hi.

and about the people being in the back...check this out.

one store I managed I walked in and no one was on the floor. I rolled a whole rack of merchandise out of the store waited to see when they would notice. they did not notice. I was livid.

I have also walked into a store and had the only person working ask me...can you watch the store I need to go out back and smoke. I did not know this guy at all and had never even been in the store before. I said sure go for it. WTH...

 

the tool area and asked the girl behind the counter if they had any thread pitch gauges. She gave me the blank stare and told me that the guy that would know was down a few isles. I walked over to him and asked him the same question and he gave me a quick oh sh!t look and told me they didn't sell them. I could tell from his look he didn't have a clue what I was talking about so I walked around until I found the tap and die sets (literally about 45 seconds). Low and behold they had thread pitch gauges right there next to them. I grabbed one and walked back over to him and told him I found them. I thought maybe he would ask to see it, you know, learn a little something. He just gave me another funny look and literally walked behind a display shelf so he wouldn't have to look at me. I was nice about it and was willing to explain what it was and what it was used for but he had no desire. Oh well.

Steve

 

i ordered a carb base gasket from pep boys about a month ago and they've called me at least 4 times telling me that it came in. i actually went in the second time they called me and they had ordered another one on accident so i got it for free!

 

Once, years ago now, I had a later model GM with a 307 Olds and it seemed to be burning a little oil, so I asked the guy at I think it was Western Auto then - since bought out by Advanced Auto - for a set of hotter plugs than the book recommended for that motor. Well, he couldn't find/didn't have in stock a regular AC or Champion in the next range.

So he sells me a set of those Split-Fire two-electrode plugs that were like $8 each at the time... for the AC price.. which basically amounted to getting 8 for the price of one. I don't know what the story was behind it, he seemed like he knew what he was doing.. maybe he quit that week or something.

But I've also had counter help tell me to fuck off, basically, one winter Sunday at 5:00 when I had a flat and a rounded off lugnut on a beater. I got so pissed off at them that I wanted to just smash my little POS car into all of theirs and tell them we can all walk home now. Or drive it through the front doors of the place. But instead I just drove it home on the flat thinking maybe the one lug left on it would come loose. At least I got home with a new respect for an '84 Buick Skylark. I don't drive it anymore, but I won't scrap it either.

If I need anything Napa I just go to their big warehouse store here in town. When I needed something as goofy as the pushrods for a Bendix brake setup so the wheel cylinder could push the shoes, they were able to pull out the book, figure out a part number, and sell me what I needed - and it was like a $2 part. I was so happy I bought a couple extras.

I've also found you can go to any of their websites and look up what you want yourself, so if you just want to bring in a part number, or see what they're going to see when they try to look it up so you can tell them how to look it up to actually find the part, it's not hard to do.

 

Its the same old story, its big business vs the little guy.
Its like comparing "McDonalds"to the "four seasons" resturant, which one is going to be better food!!Dah!
I myself know what i want when i walk in.so i'll work around the asshole at the counter.
Alot of times the guys at the "local" parts place have a real attitude which i can do without also.And talk about looking shit up in some old , out dated books!! give me a break!takes forever & is usually wrong.Nothin wron with computers, we wounld't be talking right now if we felt like that!lol
I myself like the low prices at AZ, advanced & all those stores, I'll stand there & look thru a book in walmart for a oil filter & save myself $3 or 4 dollars on a $6 item. You would have to be a fool to pay twice as much for a part because you think the "kid" behind the counter is a asshole.Look it up online first & walk in & tell them what number you want!! Then get the money you save & send 1/2 of it to me!!, keep the other 1/2 we'll both be ahead!!lol
JimV

 

Everytime you walk to the counter the kids ask Whats the make and year....I think its there thing they have to say or they dont get their paycheck. I always throw them off and say 27 Stutz...whats the response...Our computers dont go back that far..and whats a Stutz? I know I wouldnt be working at any of the parts stores, but do alittle homework fellas..just open a few pages anight before you do you other High school homework!.

 

Yeah we used to test our radio tubes at the drug store too.

Give the people a break. Some of you guys are unrealistic in your expectations. There are literally millions of parts on the shelves that were never there when Hank could look at your core brake shoes and walk back and pull them off the shelf. Hank never pulled an O2 sensor, throttle position sensor or a catalytic converter. Honestly their were not that many numbers back then. If Hank were here today he couldn't remember them all today either.

You can bitch about how it was or you can go into the store armed with the make, model, engine size, auto or stick, PS or not and year that the part originally came on.

Oh there are rare people that have been around long enough to see these old things that we are looking for but don't blame a kid for being young. Help him to learn by giving him the ammunition that he needs to help you with your quest. Remember if he's been there 20 years and ready for a gold watch he still only knows what I consider space age technology compared to my world.

 

Welcome to the era of what i call "parts changers"..all this autozone murrays shite is for is the Now car buisness! they have no clue about the old cars and less about hot rods..todays cars just get parts changed..telll them the year make and mod. they can get you a DPT switch or a FDA sensor..but cant get something that can be made to work from another car and use any creative thinking..it is due to the computer age..and pure lazyness! oh BTW a FDA sensor is a Fu@king Dumb Ass and a DPT switch is a Dual Pole Titty! switch..just in case you needed one.

 

well they are relying on the computer to tell them everything..they are not allowed to think for themselfs

 

Well put. When I was an aftermarket parts store counterman in the '80s, I'd hear the same type of shit from all of the old farts that, basically, just came in to bitch. "Well, I remember when the countermen didn't even NEED the books, they had ALL the part numbers in their head!". No shit....back when Chevrolet had ONE car with ONE engine choice, I don't doubt that after looking up the same twenty part numbers a thousand times, you didn't have to look them up anymore. Being that I've been a motorhead since I was three, I still knew more than most of the self proclaimed "experts", but they'd still argue with me over it, because, being that I was younger than them, there was NO WAY I could be right and them wrong about anything. Today, I run the parts department in a G.M. dealership, and you can't even look up a key for most cars without having acess to the VIN so you can get an option readout on the vehicle in question. As far as telling the counter help that you've got a '27 Stutz just to fuck them up, I wonder why they don't give a shit about whether or not you get what you came in for? Every one of us was young and inexperienced at some point. When someone new to the H.A.M.B. asks what a dropped axle or a flathead is, do you answer their question, or just see it as an oppurtunity to tell them they're stupid? Go back fifty years, and you'd find the same old fucks bitching about how these guys in parts stores don't know nothin' compared to the countermen of 1926.

 

touchy

 

We are lucky here, our zone has a got most of the good parts guys, the local mom/pop store has always treated me like a plague, although they treat my dad good, and treat him good and ignore me when we are together. The local napa is twice the price and the owner is a douchetard.

 

Applied for a part time position at a Auto Zone last week. Think I'll ever hear from them?

 

Hey guys...Autozone, NAPA and Advanced Autoparts have websites. I'll bet the the other nationals do too. I do my research on the internet then bring my list (with their part number) to the counter kid...saves me a bunch of time dealing with retarded dumbasses. Not flawless, but it works.

 

My local parts place was bought out by Napa and still has all the old good guys.

However the Parts Pro near me can't even get me a fan belt when I give them the part number.

Me: "I need a 490K4 serpentine belt, please."

Parts Droid: "What make model and year?"

Me: "Pardon?"

PD: "I can't find the part number without the make model and year..."

Me: "I just gave you the part number - 490K4. A 470K4 will also work. They are over there on the wall."

PD: "Make model and year!"

Me: "Ok...its a 1987 Chevrolet S10."

PD: "What engine?"

Me: "A 305."

PD: "Thats the 4 cylinder right?"

Me: "No. Its a 5.0L V8."

PD: "They never came with a V8. I will put in the 2.8L V6 What transmission is in it?"

Me: "Trust me, its a V8. I put it in there. I just need a 490K4 belt."

PD: "What transmission?"

Me: "Doesn't matter - its not stock. I just need the belt, please."

PD: "I you won't tell me the transmission, I can't find the part number. I will put in the automatic. Does this have a towing package?"

Me: "What?

I already gave you the parts number. I can see the belt I need hanging on the wall behind you. Can you please get the 490K4 belt that is hanging right there."

Besides, you have ignored me and put in the wrong engine, wrong transmission, and I have already told you its a swap so its not stock.

PD: I will put it a trailer package.

Me: ARRRRRGHG!

I got so pissed off I sold the truck.

 

I won't even go to the local chain auto shops. One of the bigger ones around here is Murrays. The guys at the Royal Oak shop don't know jack. They also don't stock common sizes for oil filters. Just stupid stuff like that ticks me off since I have to go across town to another shop, or wait until Joe's (a good, knowledgable shop) is open during the week.

Even NAPA is better than AutoZone and their ghettotrash.

 

I walked into my local Autozone when I needed some spark plugs for a trip to the dragstrip. (I was using nitrous and needed colder plugs)

I went to the longhair guy behind the counter. He looked like a car guy to me. I figured it would be an easy trip.

"I need some spark plugs... NGK part number R5671A-9... a box of 10 please."

"Ok. What year car?"

(sigh)

"Its for my El Camino. The box is on the bottom shelf, right there." *points to box on bottom shelf in desparation.*

"An Elcamino? Does it have a big block 454 in it?"

(double sigh)

"Uh, no... R5671A-9 please."

He grabs the box and slides them towards me. As I go to grab them he pulls them away and asks...

"Are you sure this is what you need? What engine is in the car?"

Finally I have had enough and give him the specs as fast as I can.

"Its a 10 to 1 small block Chevy with angle plug aluminum heads and a roller cam. I'm spraying 200 horse of nitrous through a single plane intake running on 112 octane fuel. I have to run these plugs because they are a couple of steps colder than the ones I run on horsepower."

His face went blank and he slide the plugs back to me and never said another word.

 

The only place I go to here is NAPA. There are 3 guys there that know their shit. The other ones are just counter people, trained to look on the computer and go get the part. Hell, they don't even know how to look through the books. Checker, that's a whole different ballgame. I went in there and asked for a set of AC plugs for my '83 Chev truck and the guy told me that I didn't want the ones that I asked for. WTF? I argued with this kid for at least 5 minutes before I left. The bad thing, the so called manager is just as dumb.


Larry

 

I need a oil pan gasket for a 74 SBC. "what is the make" 66 chevy truck "hu we don't have anything that old.". Truck is a 66 has a 74 block 87 sub sus etc etc. Gets them way off. Last time i was in autozone i asked if they had anyone there that knew anything about vehicles. Think they got pissed. Nature of the best right. Kids now days grow up on a computer so that is all they know right? Have to branch outside the norm.

 

Oh, this is a thread near and dear to my heart. The local Napa is awesome, the guys there know their stuff, but they're closed on sunday, which is my "car day". The Monument and Kragen downtown seem to only hire mildly retarded wigger kids who don't appear to ever have worked on a car. Every time I go it's something new, last time, when I was looking for a 100A 1 wire SBC alternator for my Ford 300 in an Econoline, I expected problems. They have the alternator I wanted in a box in the front, I can see it, but the kid won't let me have it, he needs to know year / make/ model, so I irritatedly tell him, letting him know that it's not important. When I'm done, he opens the book, thumbs through it, and tells me "Nope, we don't carry parts for your car. I've never even heard of the Economy Line", so I get frustrated and walk away. The guy in line behind me gives me a worried look, walks up, and says
" I need a water neck for a 401 Nailhead."
"What year?"
"It's in a boat. It's a different part number, it's a #### (I forget, but he named the part #)"
"Hmm, we don't sell boat parts..."

 

lesson: the world is riddled with idiots. it's up to you to figure out who they are.

 

I work at the local AutoZone over the summer ... we used to have some real idiots working the counter. They'd be doing the exact stuff you guys are talking about. Our crew now is fairly knowledgeable though. As a HAMBer I have kind of a leg up for people with motor swaps, and older cars. What I've really learned a lot about working there is the new stuff. The rest of my crew usually asks for me when someone has a question about old car parts.

 

You know when you talk about auto parts stores I say ...... six of one half dozen of the other. I've worked for them and I've bought sutff from them, the young people don't know cars and us old guys don't know to much about late model cars (and we don't want to know!).
You ain't going to get much for $7 bucks an hour with no bennies, give them a brake!

 

1.) Went to O'Rielley's (sp?) with my disc brake hub/rotor in hand to buy lug nuts (not included in the kit).
2.) Parts counter guy asks me, "what year and make?".
3.) I reply, it's a disc brake conversion kit for 37-41 ford spindles, so it's not really relavent. I just need 1/2" #20 lug nuts.
4.) Parts guy says "I still need to know what vehicle they're for".
5.) I reply "'29 Ford Tudor Sedan".
6.) Parts guy says "Our data base doesn't go back that far".
7.) I say "OK......what do we do now".
8.) Parts guy sighs and says "Let me see what I have in the back"
9.) Parts guy comes back with a box of lug nuts. We try them and they fit, but there's only 8. I need 10. Parts guys sighs again and goes to "the back".
10). Parts guys comes back with a second box and says "these should work but they're a 13/16" bolt, not 3/4" like the first box.
11.) I say great, that'll match the lug bolt size of my '87 Toyota rear end.
12.) Parts guy says, I thought you had a '29 Ford.
13.) After a small pause I say "I do........now how much do I owe you?"

Can't wait till I've got to buy new brake pads.

 

All them part stores have a "SBC" isle, so all you geniuses don't even have to deal with the counter dink.

 

Depending on what you buy, they need the year, make, model for the warranty slip. You do want a warranty for something if it's available. Don'tcha?

While I still hate going to them and do avoid them, sometimes there is motive to the madness. Also, as has been mentioned, they ALL have websites and guess what? You HAVE to put in the year, make, model, etc to get a part number. So, do it, get the # and have a little ammo when you go in. After that, it's up to the attitude of the person behind the counter.

Also, throwing a curve ball, like asking for a part in a car you did a swap on. Yea so now you're feeling cool because you have a hot rod, well, that will just add to the bullshit. If you need spark plugs for a 327 SBC that you put in a Hudson, let the guy know! Tell him what year, make and model the engine came out of and if you don't know, use whatever car may have had it. Trust me, regardless of how YOU feel, that 16 year old with the hopped up Honda could give a damn about the hot rod you have.

 

There are some good and bad points in this whole thread.

I am an ASM at a parts place and have pretty good knowlege of car parts. What I would like to do is take one of the people that complain about shitty counter help and put you in my shoes. Try finding good people that are willing to work for what your going to pay them. Then try trainig them not only on helping customers and looking up basic parts but 50 other bullshit things that have to be done throughout the day. This place is so far from an auto parts store its not even funny. We sell candy pepsi toys lighters and anything else you can think of. Not to mention that 70 to 80% of our sales is in wash wax cleaning and accesories, not hard parts.

And yes I know that sometimes the counter help sucks but I have delt with some pretty stupid customers also so.........