Projects Parts store counter help, or not...

So, today I went to the local NAPA store to get some brake line for my roadster (excuse me if this post seems redundant, 'cause I had asked for advice on making lines earlier today). One of the things I wanted was line clamps for the tubing, and figured they'd have some in blister packs. The kid behind the counter, gave me a blank look, and I then tried to explain I wanted Adels, or some plastic line clamps to hold the line to the frame. No kidding, he replied, "Most guys just use wire."

I also had wanted to buy a flare tool kit, as I don't have a double flare tool. They didn't have one, in fact the guy helping me had no idea what it was I wanted, nor that anyone would want to flare their own tubing, but one of the counter guys said, "We have those sometimes, but we seem to sell 'em right away." No offer to order one, or to check and see if they have one in the sister store 20 miles away.

Is it just me, or does it seem odd that someone who works in a parts store wouldn't have some basic knowledge, or at least an interest in learning a little bit about cars in general? Or, how about offering to try to order a part or tool that by their admission, they sell as soon as they stock them when some asked for that item? Obviously, they had stocked them in the past.

I don't want to sound like an old geezer, but I remember in the not too distant past, at big stores, counter guys that would rattle off part numbers, know what would interchange, what things were and in what catalogue to look, and actually try to help customers.

 

it does not surprise me at all. i work at oreillys and i have seen some real *****s get hired. one girl that got hired had no idea what a camshaft was. The girl we have now only thinks she knows what she is doing because she "helps daddy with the race car." she drives his car on the strip and thinks that driving a car makes her a mechanic.

we have had alot of people apply for jobs lately because of the economy i have seen people get p***ed up who were ase certified, factory trained, or had other automotive training because they wanted $2 an hour more than the kid who didnt know a wiper blade from a water pump.

they need to realize that paying a couple of dollars more per hour for a parts guy is well worth it because people who come in and have experiences like you did will go somewhere else next time and they lose money cause of bad hiring practices in the long run.

 

It's because these are low paying jobs. Anyone thats not lazy, with a useful knowledge of car parts and stuff are either mechanics, or work at a ma pa type store.

 

The only thing these younger guys want to learn is"quiting time and payday"

 

You can find Adel clamps in several sizes at True Value hardware stores.

Check in the electrical dept.

 

The dealerships where I live aren't any better. They need to know the vin# of whatever you need parts for (to eliminate confusion) then order the wrong part. Whatever happened to the guy behind ANY parts counter being a car guy and knowing what you wanted and how to get it for you?

 

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Right! they don't want to be there anyway. But maybe he just has to ask the manager in certain caes to learn.

 

I'm installing a new motor in my '55 Chevy w/a 4spd. I went to Kragen Auto Parts yesterday to buy a thrust bearing, pilot bushing to install in the end of my crank for the 4spd to line up against. The guy behind the counter asked me if it had AIR CONDITIONING and POWER BRAKES, then if they were DISC. I could not believe it but I had to tell him or the computer would not go past this and he did not know any better. I expected him to say " would you like fries with that? ".

 

I feel your pain, brother. Been there done that. Luckily I've found a few good stores in my hood. One is actaully a Kragan and there happens to be one dude who knows what he's doing. So it's hit and miss. It's closer than the other shop, so I always drive by and check if he's there first. If not I'm off to Hap's, an independant. They will work with you IDing parts and don't pull that 'stare at the computer and ask you what year is your car etc etc." They're all real knowledgable and I highly recommend it for anyone in the LB area. Sadly, what you describe, is endemic in all of the service industry. They pay **** and frankly people just don't give a damn these days. Good luck.

 

Drives me bonkers. If it's not going on a 2007 Toyota, they have no freakin' clue what it is. If you want tribal flame stickers or a fart pipe exhaust, you're good to go. We all feel your pain, man. I think I'm going to start carrying pepper spray with me when I go to the parts store. If the counter guy gives me that look, PFFTHTTHPPPTTT!!! Right in the kisser! Then I'll ask if they have a REAL parts guy on duty.

 

It wasn't that long ago I went to NAPA and asked for motor mounts for a 71 Chevy 1 ton with a 402 BB. The response I got about floored me............We don't have any, cuz Chevy didn't put big blocks in trucks until 73..........wanna bet?

A few years back, the bearing in the axle under my garbage, run to the dump trailer let go...........I took it to my favorite mom n pop........and they didn't ask what it was out of, cuz I said I had no idea......they just went and got the part.........then pressed it on for me! They closed up about 4 years ago..........so the kid at NAPA could have a job, I guess.

It's getting tough out there!

 

I go to a private owner shop first, if closed then the chain.

There's a chain near me that just let's me go through the back and get what I need. I've been in there enough that they know they won't know what I need. Best to just get spraypaint and oil there anyway.

 

My example not auto parts but many things were used on cars I helped make. I have worked for 2 seperate ACE hardware stores for collectively 3 1/2 years. While at the first one I was in H.S. and there was 5 students working there part-time including myself. Many times I found only 1 or 2 really gave a damn about learning and helping the customers. I started as a sophmore and upon my quitting a week before graduation I was the only 1 left. The store had learned that young people were not valuable. I was the only one for close to a year. I trained full-time employees, made special orders, unloaded the trucks, made keys, cut gl***, did re-screens, made displays, brought new products into the store from venders, and locked up the store at night for the owners. I learned all of this because I wanted to. When I was given keys to the store I was amazed this was back in 2003. I doubt that would happen anymore. What was even stranger they let me pick a replacement for myself that was still in school. I vouched for a fellow member of the FFA who was a good worker and he worked there until his graduation. I went back recently and there are no H.S. students working there anymore. Good workers are far and few between and are getting rarer as the working population ages.

I went from working in the Hardware stores working a set 40 plus full load of college cl***es to the oilfields working 160-180hrs every 2 weeks. I frequently am asked how old I am because everyone is aged out in the patch and I am not. I have run across a few other hardworking younger people but they are a rarity. All the good autoparts stores here have 35+years olds working in them. The bad ones have fellas who live and die by the computer screen.-Weeks

 

sad thing is...alot of folks dont really wanna give a **** at 7 bucks an hour!

 

Well I guess being a parts guy, this thread hits home a little bit. I work at a Ford dealership, not an independent shop though. I fully understand the frustration, I still get blank stares when I go to the parts store. Have you ever gone to a parts store and asked for parts for a Ford 292? One guy told me that a 292 was "a chevy 6-cylinder, not a Ford". There are a lot of stupid questions that the computer system makes you ask to get the right part. Its a pain in everybody's ***.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Being on both sides of the counter from a parts dude fresh out of highschool (years ago) and being a customer (now)... I can feel the pain from both sides. I will guarantee you though... if you thought parts guys can be dumb as a box of rocks, you should try 99% of the damn customers. Yeah, you guys are a bunch of hot shots around here, but being around so many of the other dumb*** customers can literally make you lose brain cells.

My parents raised me with a strong work ethic. Even though I had just turned 18, I was taught to always do my best no matter what I was getting paid. But at $7 bucks an hour working an odd shift, no days off put together, and dealing with brain dead customers all day etc... it was pretty damn hard at times. I still did the customer right and still cross referenced wierd **** from the 30's and 40's for the old farts that came in though. I actually enjoyed a challenge from a real "car guy", and it was cool to see an old guy come to life when he realized he was talking to a kid, but atleast a kid that knew some stuff about old cars. Hell I had a '53 F100 when I was workin' at Autozone...

Now for the flip side... I hate the tattooed up wannabe tough boys at the autoparts stores that think racing and hotrodding is bolting or screwing and gluing **** to their mom's hand me down Civic. Then I think about what that cheap-*** company is starting them out by the hour and am forced to think "ya get what ya pay for". It's like a cheap tool... some are great and last forever with no *****in' and moanin'... but let's face it. Most of 'em don't.

I feel the pain from both sides.

Better luck next time.

 

i worked at a ace hardware for 5 years during and after high school. I ended up working a plumbing counter and thats where i still am today. When my son grows up (hes 4 months today) i hope he can find a similar opportunity because it gives a great general knowledge background to Alot of things. Its amazing how many guys cant eyball a bolt size or tell the difference between drill bit types or the difference between torx and a hex drive........

 

After working for parts counters for the last 30 years i can tell you it is bad.I work at a Saturn dealer now.No excitement there.It is even worse if you have worked parts and go into one of those discount places .You want to tell the kid to turn the puter around and you will find it yourself.I worked for a major aftermarket auto company for 3 years doing R & D on new products and identifying what parts we sold that would cross over to other brands. I left because i was not making enough money.They hired two people to do the one job i was doing.I stopped back later and one of the guys who replaced me ask how i knew so much and he was having trouble trying to do my old job.I didn't have the heart to tell him you have to live that life and really care about what you do.It was more than just a 9 to 5.

 

My parts guy is now my insurance guy! I miss being able to walk into NAPA and, for example, asking for a starter and flexplate for a small block Chevy...and hearing Doug ask, without even looking "153 tooth or 168?". It's a move up for him though.

I hate being asked if it has air conditioning and such when I'm buying valve cover gaskets. The local Autozone has a "hotshot" working there. "That's not what you need". Uh, no, that is exactly what I need!

I had a hell of a time getting a trans mount for one of my cars. '85 Monte Carlo trans mount. I took the original out of the car.....and have no damn idea what the parts stores were trying to sell me! Even NAPA had some huge conglomeration of **** listed as an '85 Monte trans mount. Doug actually took the time to find something that would actually work, probably because he was confused by what was in the box. '77 Monte Carlo worked just fine. Yep, plain old Chevy trans mount.


The local Autozone lets a friend and I use the computers to find what we need. Less h***le for them considering the weird collection of pieced together stuff we have. I've gotten to where I just look everything up online and go in with part numbers......unless I need to see it first. Kinda freaks the new kids out when I say "Just give me a ####, I don't care what it's supposed to fit". Most of them have no clue what I'm talking about anyway.

Tim D.

 

I totally agree with most of you that idiot parts guys are worse than fingernails on chalkboards. Especially when you're given a lame-*** answer to a fairly simple question. But consider this, if you will...

I've been a parts girl for almost 10 years in the motorcycle industry. I know a lot, but I certainly don't know it all. Not by a long shot. I'm referred to as the "European Expert" because of my experience on the Italian and British side of the counter. There are guys that I work with who are the "Dirt Guys", the "Cruiser Guys" and the "ATV Guys". We all have our specialty, but none of us are afraid to learn about the other aspects of our sport. And NONE of us has too much of an ego to ask questions or for help when we don't know the answer.

Unless he's being a total know-it-all, jack ***, maybe give the kid a break. Chances are, he's still learning about it all. I knew very little going in (except how to ride), but have learned from some of the best people in the industry. Those guys who took the time and had the patience to teach me. If the kid is interested, maybe you can teach him/her a thing or two, and p*** on some of your hard-won knowledge. The only way he/she will be a better parts person is if he/she has the opportunity to learn without being discouraged.

If the kid is a true idiot, mouth-breather, forget him and move on. There's usually at least one guy at any counter who knows his sh*t. Find him, and get your parts from him everytime.

Just my $.02 from the other side of the counter.

 

I went to Autozone today and asked if they listed "freeze plugs, by the size". He says: We used to carry 2 kits for SBC and SBF, but now we don't even list those.

So I go to Napa...do you have them by the size?... the guy could not find a book to look them up that way, so he was opening boxes for at least 5 minutes. Five minutes looking for the book too.

I did finally get one, a little too big, but I was making a horn ****on out of it anyways and I did make the ****on, and it works.

 

electric fuel pump dies in my wifes Jeep, the fuel pump, sending unit, and pick up tube are all one unit bolted together and mounted inside the tank, no problem, I take it apart and take just the pump to the Jeep dealer ( no one else sells one ) and I ask for a new pump.
counter man starts laughing and brings over a mechanic, now they're both laughing at me.
"you can't take those apart, you replace the whole unit"

WTF?
its a 3 part unit, it comes apart, but if one piece breaks you gotta replace the whole thing?

 

it not any different than the person who give you your change until the computer goes down and then they call for help because they CAN NOT COUNT BACK CHANGE............ I just dont get it....and your right I have got the STUPID look at the parts store......

 

I think it should be mandatory for counter help to train on catalogs long before they are allowed anywhere near a computer.

Yesterday- went to Pep Boys (it's close) to get an air filter, ****** filter & pan gasket for my work truck.
Oh, I'm sorry, our computers are down. Can you look it up in a catalog? I don't know where they are. Can you come back when the manager is off lunch break?


Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....NO!

Serves me right for not having the part number before I walked in.
I can use a computer. Fire the incompetent help & turn it into a self serve store. Look it up & get your part. Then head to the register.

 

Hey guys, I just wanted to say that there are alot of parts stores that have some uneducated workers! I am a manager at an advance auto here in iowa and we have fired people because the lack of knowledge. I am the "go to guy" for hotrod parts here in our town because my first question isn't " what kind of car is it goin on and run for the computer" ! I am only 23 but I still get the usual ***le of don't know what im talking about until you talk to me! It really is my generation that has screwed the parts experience up!

 

I've told this on myself a couple of times, but here goes again. Walked into my local NAPA several years ago and asked the kid for a set of valve cover gaskets for a SBC. He began the usual, what color? Is it a station wagon? does it have A/C etc. etc. In my usual wise*** tone I told him it didn't make a rat's *** it's just a set of valve cover gaskets. He went back to the aisles, picked them up, sacked them up and after paying I headed for home. Opened the bag that evening and discovered that SBC's now had center bolt valve covers. Sometimes being old can be a handicap.

 

How many time have you asked for a set of autolite 26 spark plugs or any plug you know the # for and they ask you what their for. I tell them it's for a 1913 huckster with a SBC. Then they tell me we are computer don't go back that far. I want to Slap the piss out of them but you can't . I tell them just get my plugs I'll worrie if they fit or not. BUT THEN AGAIN LIKE IT'S BEEN SAID YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!!

 

Advance Auto has them by size. Being a cheap *******, I've used them to fix my factory catalytic converter on the beater twice now where the original plug rotted out (probably should tack one in with a welder so I don't blow another one out, but heck they're only 59 cents)... but the last time I needed them they started the same "year, make, model" routine - they're probably trained that way. After I told the girl it didn't matter she let me go back and get what I needed myself.

I've applied at those places a few times, the Autozones here my one friend tells me are practically begging for help that knows their **** from a hole in the ground, but I never saw such a crazy way to hire people - you go online and fill out some survey that asks things that have nothing whatsoever to do with auto parts, then they'll call you. That's it, the way it's set up you can't even bug them on the phone because the local store isn't even involved in it.

What it boils down to is it's just another retail chain and retail chains are about playing the game, not doing the job - you can do the ****tiest possible job as long as you kiss the boss's *** and look like you're working when he's there and get along just fine. Worry about the job and not social hour, they find excuses to get rid of you - you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, because working too hard makes everyone else look bad, and not working hard enough gives them the excuse to can you any time.

 

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