Not a rant - but I did leave shaking my head

Why did you need help to find that.

 

plain jane 194 bulb?

.... its called the bulb aisle.....

 

Call ahead. Verify part and number.

 

You don't have to read'em......

 

I think he does....

 

Amen........... If you had the number it should have been easier and less aggravating for you to find it yourself. We have all been the route of the current generation of auto parts stores, but it's not 1950, 60, or even 70 anymore. When I was younger major auto parts stores only carried parts for American made cars. You might find a few common parts, IE tuneup for a beetle and that was it. Now they carry parts for every make. Thats why, as much as I hate it, they may not stock a fuel pump for a (antique) small block Chevy anymore...............

 

I woulda just said i need an 1157 or 1156, and the 2 places i frequent woulda knew what i needed. I kinda miss the local store that closed, 3 years ago a friend needed a foot starter switch for his model T, they had it on the shelf!!!

 

Damn you guys would have laughed at me in 1962 also. I can't remember who taught me about the numbers on the bulbs but I was not born with it ingrained into my grey matter. Give the kid a break.

Were you always so smart or was there some smart guy that helped you along the way when you were young? I remember those guys. I think about them all the time. I can't remember their names but I remember the lessons that I learned. I don't have a selective memory. I can still remember how uninformed I once was.

I once wired up a battery operated model car motor to a 110 plug and blew a fuse in the house. My dad was more mad at me for not knowing than he was at missing some TV time while he changed the fuse. I was a kid! Yeah I was once dumber than I am today. I know that's hard to believe.

One of the reasons I'm on the HAMB is to try and repay those guys. They never made fun of me...they helped me. I hope I can help some others.

 

I agree you gotta start some where. I have learned to say I am not in a hurry as there are 6 saterdays ond one sunday in my week.

 

You think dealing with that type is bad? Try working with one! It was in the motorcycle end of the biz, but nonetheless a pain!

 

I may be wrong, but seems back in the day (70's,,lol ) folks looked for a job at a place that had stuff in common with them. In time they learned and you came in said ,,I need this,,and they knew,,some even said " we don't have that but this will work as well", also you have the guy who is only interested in one area of cars maybe say the fast furious stuff..he has no reason to care about that old slow stuff,,so won't take the time to learn..

So could just be someone who got a job ( same as they would McDonald's ) who could care less about the job,,or someone who could care less about older stuff...either way, no one really takes pride in there work anymore,,so some have to suffer for this.

 

Do the guys at parts stores really make so little? Some of the older local parts guys have some very nice old cars and other toys.

Maybe they should pay parts guys comission? Then the good ones will make money and the idiots will be eliminated.

 

the oreilly auto i use has bulbs on one of the isles. i just grab what i need myself.

-danny

 

I used to get some of the above problems from my local AutoZone, they go thru a lot of new guys pretty often.
If I need something that I know is out on the shelf I go to AutoZone, if I need something looked up I drive the extra miles to the small NAPA shop in the next town, the owner is the counter guy and he works the place by his self. He is usually watching whatever is on the Speed channel when I come in and he has a scanner tuned to the local Barney patrol (really small town)
If he does not have what I need in stock he can always have it for me when he opens the next morning. The only problem I have with him is he closes at 5pm during the week, Noon on Wednesday and Saturdays and all day Sunday then, its off to Autozone with the new guys and my fingers crossed!

 

run the counters in parts stores on and off for 25yrs.loved the private owned stores. only worked for one corp. store autoshit. hated it.didnt last long either.man they had after store meetings and had a autozone cheer. and they wanted me to do it too. not gonna happen.and didnt.lol most of the kids i worked with didnt own any type of hot car.let alone know anything about cars. they all either came from mickey d or were still in high school.and the pay sucked but i needed a job since i moved from another state and that was all i could find at the moment.left there and went to napa. pay still wasnt great but my wife worked and thats how most countermen made it. back in the day. corp. stores only stock items that move fast. its all about the buck. gone are the days when the stores catered to the farmers and hotrodders.oh and by the way our oreillys stocks loose bulbs behind the counter and they are about 1/2 the price of the blister packs on the racks.

 

^^^ 2x on what Outlaw said!

Today virtually all parts stores are corporate stores and nobody is working there as a "career" for low pay and no benefits---if they do, then they aren't too bright to begin with, Strike One.
The revolving door of employees doesn't lend itself to accumulation of knowledge, Strike Two.
Kids today aren't "car guys", they're just looking for a job, Strike Three.

Now stop not-ranting and go help yourself, cause they are going to get worse.

 

I really think you should know what you need before you walk into a parts store. Getting all bent because the 19 year old behind the counter is just doing their job is pathetic. The best bet is to go online and research what you need for your ride then go in and ask by part number. I just did this with a alternator and was in and out of the store quickly.

 

I have been in the parts business for 44 years.i have seen it all.right now the common thought is anybody can look up parts.nobody and i do mean nobody gives a hoot if you get the right parts the first time.the best advice i can give is you find a good parts guy get his name.buy him lunch,get on a first name bases and follow him till he dies..

 

ok so the kid did not know how to go to the bulb section, it appears that you were in the same boat................sorry

 

Randy,
If you go behind the scenes in any occupation you are going to find out that the majority of the people are meocre and there are a few that carry the rest of the crew. That is just the way it is.

If it makes you feel any better I went to the local O'Reilly's a year ago and started going to the Zone. I needed something simple like a Ford Starter soloniod or the like. The guy couldn't find it in the computer, I helped him find it in a book. The manager came over and quietlyt thanked me for helping his employee. Turns out the fella can't read and can just barley sign his name. Grown man, high school graduate.

 

Sounds like the east side Norman store. I have nothing to do with them anymore.

 

Times have changed, jobs are few and if someone works at a place like this, Mackers etc etc fair play to them. They are getting of their asses and doing their best to get on in life. If folks want to bash them for being in a low paid job with little prospects obviously they do not understand the current employment situation. We are not living in the 70/80's anymore and folks do what they have to.

How someone can call them "not too bright to begin with" or they just want a job, they're not car guys is laughable. If that was your son, doing his best to get on i'm sure you wouldn't be saying the same thing.

 

glad i saw this post,
this kind of thing happened to me a couple weeks ago. last spring i replaced 2 rusted freeze plugs in my dads car a 70 chrysler, i went down the nearset auto zone and the guy took the old one to a box in back and matched it up fine.
then a couple weeks ago another one started leaking so i went back and the new guy said he had never seen one before, i explained he had them in a box in the back and i got one previous the guy just matched the size. he said he had to look it up and then he did come out with it and again told me he had never heard of a freeze plug, the first one he had ever seen.
I wonder about him i doubt he could change oil.

 

at different times, my son-in-law and one of my sons worked at a parts house. both are car guys. good times gone

 

Why do people keep making these threads? Do you expect a 19 y/o kid (or hell, a 35 y/o man) working at AUTO ZONE or the like to know a bunch about cars, especially old cars? They make squat an hour, if they knew a ton about cars they wouldn't be working at the equivalent of Wal Mart for cars.

And then it always is the same story, complaining about them having to go through their system of what engine etc... that's what they are trained to do. If you don't like it, order your part online. The world has changed, get over it.

As far as this story, why couldn't you go to the bulb section yourself and find a bulb?

 

Don't have a son but incompetence is incompetence doesn't matter if it is a family member or not to me.

Yoy are right about the employment situation but you are not here. it is an amployer's market and they can find better help just by opening the door. The problem here at least locally is that they would rather hire a 20 something and bitch about us older fellas being a burdon on society that hire a 40 something up with experience. This is not a bitch just being honest; it makes good business sense, they got 5-10 years to train a 20 something to do a whatever job and still have 30 years of employability. Where as if they hire a 50 something that can hit the floor running they think that they have 12-15 years of employability.

 

With all due respect, horseshit.

Auto parts carry some of the highest profit margins of any retail business, anwhere from 30-70%.

It's not a matter of needing to pay more, it's a matter of hiring the cheapest labour in order to maximize profit. As the number of parts stores shrinks to leaving us with the megastores, it becomes a matter of the owners knowing that they're the only show in town and customers will have to put up with crappy service or drive xxx miles to the next store. Period.

Cheers

 

See its funny, its not always the kid at the counter. I use to work in a motorcycle shop, independant Harley shop. They did both parts and shop work. I was hired to work the counter. I build bikes but I use stuff I have or for different reasons, so pulling parts for stock bikes was new to me. I caught on for the simple fact I was around it so much before but still new. I got in jams and lucky for me my co-worker was and still is a damn genius when it comes to all this and would help me out. My point is there were plenty time the customer came in and had no idea what he wanted, whether it was he has a custom bike and now sure what parts were used or he was just asking for the wrong thing but since he "knew so much more than the kid behind the counter" it wasnt his fault. So as it was posted above, do your research and go in witht he part number, it makes life a lot easier for both sides. And I leave you with this example, Ihad been at the shop for a few years, actually pretty decent behind the counter at that time, customer comes in and says he needs a bolt, I ask for what, he tells me he is a custom bike builder and fabricator so its not a stock bolt, he needs a 1/2" by 2" bolt, I ask him course or fine, he thinks and say "uh corse I think, let me see both". So I pull a 1/2" by 2" and hand it to him. He takes it and hands it back and says "I said a half inch" I told him thats what he's holding. He says, "you work behind the counter you should know a half inch bolt from this" as he waved the bolt in the air. I again said thats a half inch, I am not sure what you are getting at. He tells me the bolt I handed him is too big, so I asked what size he thought he needed which he answered me "Half inch, who else is working here", to that one of the owners came up front and asked him what he needed, he tells him a half inch bolt, the owner says "that looks half inch". Now the guy gets upset and said "this will not fit in a half inch wrench". I heard that and pulled a 5/16 x 2 bolt and handed it to him and he looks and says "thanks finally you woke up" I told him he needs to learn his hardware, you dont size bolts off the wrenchs you use and drop on him what he dropped on me, "You are a custom bike builder and fabricator, you should know that". he humbled and when I asked what thread size he just said Give me both, Im not sure. Lesson learned, and by no means am I trying to say I know it all, I dont, I just try to research before hand, bring my list and sometimes listen to the gys behind the counter.

 

my Spiderman reflexes and cat like prowess can show you to the light bulb aisle!!

 

Same thing happened to me at the local O'Reillys...went in and told the guy I needed 6 e3 spark plugs and gave him the part number. First thing he did was go to the computer. I looked down the aisle behind him and saw the spark plugs on the shelf...I said to him why don't you just go back to the shelf and get what I asked for? He looked at me like I was asking him to so something illegal. We are growing to be a society of non-thinkers...