OT - Auto Parts Salesman Comment - Whoa

[Johnny S]

A sad little tale of a visit to Auto Zone on Saturday. I needed to replace a headlight on my 1994 Pontiac Firebird. Normal stuff....bad light. I went to Auto Zone, the closest parts store to me here in town. Went up to the counter guy who asked......"May I help you?".........everything is still good up to this point. I ask "I need a headlight for a 1994 Firebird". And then it happens.....he responds...."That's a Ford isn't it?"............. Ugh!

[greg g]

Ain't that a bit like one of them Pontiac Thunnerburds??? they only made them for a coupla years an no body bought em.

[Norm's Coupe]

Johnny,

I think at that point I would have said, "Yes, they only made one and I own it.":) Or..........."yes it is". Then let him search for it under Ford. When he couldn't find it, he'd eventually ask his manager. Then his manager would know that he failed to properly train his clerks. If he ask me why I let the guy waste all that time searching for something that didn't exist, I'd reply. "Hey, it's not my job to train your people!"

[62rebelP23]

i used to "tend bar" at AutoZone; part of the problem is indeed hiring folks with SALES ability but no CAR knowledge. i dreaded working with half my crew; they were dead ignorant car-wise. they could quote you chapter and verse on almost any trendy topic but if it wasn't clearly delineated in the computer it did NOT exist as far as they were concerned. this chap MAY have simply hit the search key from the center point of the main screen which HAPPENS to be Ford on their system. my answer to his question? "gee, son, i don't know; does it matter?" watch his expression after THAT one...

[PatS....]

The problem we have up here right now is a labor shortage. The oilpatch is screaming for people for jobs paying $25-35 an hour to start with all the overtime you want, so nobody is interested in a $15 hour job on a parts counter. Wendy's and McDonalds are paying around $15 hour and can't get people.

The result is that the parts guy is too stupid or lazy to make the big bucks and you have no choice but to work with them. Or he's 17 and still in school and only knows Hondas!!...dude.

[BobT-47P15]

Things like that are why I normally patronize an O'Reilly Auto, or NAPA store here in town. Most of their guys know cars.....they can look for items in an older book kept behind the counter. Or they know what to enter in the computer to find certain parts of yesteryear they actually have in the warehouse.

[eric wissing]

You can also get some stoners behind the counter. When I bought my calipers for the disc conversion. The guy was really out of it. I only had one caliper and had repeated to him that I really needed two of everything. Well I get home and of course I had two Rt. side caliper units. But I was only charged for one. I took it back and explained to a different worker what had happened and that I hadn't been charged enough. He was dumbfounded that I brought the freebie back. What would I do with it? It would only mess up more their already messed up inventory system. Nothing against stoners but work is not a good place to imbide but he atleast had an excuse!! Eric

[Fireball]

I own an 2000 Oldsmobile Alero. In Europe it was sold as an Chevrolet Alero, since Olds has no sales organisation, type approvals etc. here. Well guess what an hassle it's every time in the parts store trying to convince them that this Chevy is an Olds actually, and in your catalogs...

[Don Coatney]

A new auto parts store opened a few years back that is close to where I live. I know they hired qualified people as they hired the girl who used to work at the corner gas station/convenience store and I know she had a vast amount of technical automotive experience. I learned just how knowledgeable she was one day when I told her I needed a new petcock.

[Plymouthy Adams]

got that deer in the headlight stare added with a sneer of disgust from the young lady at the hardware store when I ased if she could help me with my ball cock..

[wills 51]

I was told over and over that they never made a coronet in 1951

[Plymouthy Adams]

dang, I am guilty of selling one..did I commit fraud???????

[splat1955]

Okay.........guess I can share a story or two from just the last couple weeks.

A week and a half ago I went into Napa...it's a new store, only about a year old. There used to be an old napa on the old side of town....great folks, new thier stuff. Well, they closed down...don't know why, and the new napa opened. I've been in there 3 times since they opened and a problem every time. This last time, the 4th time I've been in the store is the very last time I will go there. The first time I went into the store...I bought something, can't remember, but for about $9.95. Got home, and happened to go online and check my bank transactions for that day....and they'd charged me $9.95...and also $99.50. I was livid! This last time, I went in for 2 types of 6 Volt bulbs and some naval jelly. They only had one of the types of bulbs I needed so I bought those. The other type and the naval jelly they were out of. They put in a PO for them and I paid for them. Said they would be in by 1 PM that same day. Didn't get back until the next day in the afternoon. The bulbs were there..not the naval jelly. So, they marked the bulbs off of my reciept and thier receipt. So, that left only the naval jelly. The next day my wife was going to town...asked her to stop by and pick up the naval jelly. That's all I told her....naval jelly. She gets home and you guys probably all know those little red boxes that you can buy in the " Help " section....you can get anything in those boxes...except naval jelly. Well, she hands me a little red " help " box with those cheap plastic plug wire looms in it...and taped to the box is the copy of the receipt that naturally says " naval jelly". I figure typical napa. I go in the next day to return them..and I get the same guy that helped my wife. He trys to tell me that she came in and told him that I was there to pick up a little box of parts...I told her nothing of the sort...and told him the same thing. The guy was straighy lying. Plus, I pointed it out on the reciept that was stuck to the box...it didn't say anything about wire looms...it said NAVAL JELLY. That told me 2 things...they guy that helped my wife didn't have the common sense to read the receipt before giving the parts to my wife and also that whoever stuck that PO receipt to the parts wasn't any brighter. My relationship with that Napa store is over.

Oh, one more story..the same day my wife was in town, I asked her to stop by Sears and get me a 1 1/8 Socket for the drain plug on my Dodge. How tough can that be. Our sears store is about the size of a good sized closet...and the one guy I deal with there on a regular basis knows his stuff...unfortunately, he wasn't working this day. My wife calls me at home, and the guy is telling her that he is out of that socket...but has a 5 pc set for $30.....like I need every other size in the set! I tell my wife to put him on the phone. I say, what? you don't have the socket I need, but you do have a 5 pc set. He tells me yeah.....but he does have a 1 1/16.....then he proceeds to tell me that he has a metric size real close to the size I need. I told him....if I need a 1 1/8...why the heck would I buy a 1 1/16? And what the heck is he even talkin' about metric for??? ( I'm sure I wasn't that nice when I spoke to him)...anyway, I couldn't talk to him anymore...but I can't wait to get back into sears and see the fool they hired and talk to him face to face. Okay, I'm though venting for now.

[Normspeed]

First time I visited my local NAPA after buying my 53, after the obligatory "can I help you?" from the manager guy, I said, "I'm working on a 53 Plymouth...." at which time he interrupted, "too bad." It got worse from there. I seldom go there, it's decent quality stuff but oh that help...

[Johnny S]

I once visited a used car dealership in Loveland that sold older model cars (mostly 50's and 60'). I asked him if he ever got any 1949 Plymouth's in or knew where I could find one. His answer "Why would anyone waste their money on one of those things?" Needless to say that guy never saw me in there again.

[curtiswyant]

I don't know where you guys are all living, but here in small town USA we still have parts stores and engine shops that have been around for 50+ years, family owned, etc. I took a late-model head in for a valve job last week and I drove my '49 Coronet. Dude in the engine machine shop quickly recognized it as a '49 and told me about his '50 Dodge that he had years ago...said he has been working at the shop for 40 years!

[splat1955]

I forgot to mention...after the ordeal with Napa that I outlined above, I went back to a store I'd gone to a few times before....also here in " Small Town, USA".....they have been around for many years....they are small and actually have 2 stores in town under different names. Anyway, I bet that the 2 stores alone have over 50% of the commercial business in town. Anyway, after pricing my front bearings, races & seals at Napa using my AAA membership, the " little guy " stores were still about 20% cheaper than Napa. And the 2guys at the " little guy " are real knowledgeable! One guys about my age, 52, and the other guy is probably 65. Anyway, when I told the older guy what bearings I needed, he reached for his book, but it didn't go to '48....but he rattled off the part #'s for the bearings and races from memory....went back, got them and they are in! Let's here it for the " little guy " stores that are still hangin' tough even with the Kragens, autozones and Napa stores trying to get all the business.

[Norm's Coupe]

I agree, I also go to a small auto parts store. It's owned by two brothers and they are the ones behind the counter whenever the store is open. They have all the old books to look up old parts. They rarely will have the old parts in stock, but if I order it, I can usually have that item within 24 hours. And, if I order it, they don't require a deposit. If I decide I don't want it, they'll just send the part back from where they got it. A few years ago they had a 60's Mopar gas tank standing up in front of the counter. That tank sat there for about a year. When I ask them about it there reply was. "Oh we ordered it for a guy and he's not ready for it yet, so we're hanging onto it for him." You won't see NAPA or the other chains doing something like that.

[62rebelP23]

that sounds like the first auto parts store i worked for, in Lynchburg Va run by Charlie Crisp (RIP) who had encyclopedic knowledge of auto/truck/tractor parts. i came to him by way of a closing-down Ford Tractor dealership where i'd worked the parts counter, after my stretch in the Navy. Charlie knew everybody and everybody knew Charlie. problem was, he was old and had no reliable folk to keep running the place after he died. his daughter was the accountant and bookkeeper and she had her own CPA business to run. Charlie had one real rule; never say NO to a customer! NEVER say you can't get something; until you've tried every possible route. i've worked for dealerships, salvage yards, retail parts stores, restoration shops, what have you; the surest way to lose a customer is to say NO when you haven't tried everything. and i, too, have run into some smartass folk when asking for oddball parts; i usually don't run into the same one TWICE. (Charlie had a full rebuild kit for a 218 under the stairs to the storeroom he'd ordered in 1982 when he closed the place down; wish i'd snagged it!)

[james curl]

I used to live in a small town, 6500 people, we had three independently owned and run auto parts stores. Same town, same house and same pick up but thirty years later, Car Quest, Auto Zone, Advantage, O'Riellys and Parts4 own all of the parts stores in town which is now 45000 people. No Pep Boys yet, but give them time. If you find a good place to live just give it time and every one else will find out and move in.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Pep boys seems rather selective in placing their outlets..it is definitely a population thing...closest one to me is about 45 miles and that is in Macon, GA..we have a host of the other guys...Car Quests left this area couple years back...

[JerseyHarold]

I worked parts for Pep Boys for a couple of years. The biggest difference between Pep and the other chains is that each store has its own repair shop with it. Sort of a captive market for parts sales. One good thing Pep Boys did (or may still do, but I doubt it) is to require all the parts people to complete in-store training modules. I've always been a car guy, and I learned an awful lot of useful new information from the modules.

[62rebelP23]

Autozone had in-store training when i worked there but it didn't amount to much. it was more in keeping with retail management than with auto parts. when i went to work for VW the dealership sent me to school all the time, and had live video training. it was VERY parts-specific and well worth the time off the counter. other parts stores i worked for gave out SAE workbooks to fill out and send in for certification. i don't even know if they still do that. i learned both ADP and Hollander salvage systems a long time ago and STILL use it today. one thing i have learned from working the counter is this: never ever assume you have all the information. techs can be lazy, customers can be stubborn, and some folks are just plain dumb, so ALWAYS get every scrap of info you can from them. i have been 20-30 minutes into a parts order to have a tech say "aw man, that's not the right car, it's THIS one..." or a customer stare blankly at me when i ask what YEAR there car is.

but it's all fun... that's what i keep telling myself between whacks with a 12oz ball pein hammer.

[Plymouthy Adams]

use the right size ball pein and there would not be need for repetition...

Keep in mind the younger generation that is behind the counter does not know what an American iron looks like...

[62rebelP23]

it's tough to get decent counter staff. there's no money in it, like there is for techs, but techs are no good at doing parts. the GM who took over our dealership was of the opinion that parts guys were dime-a-dozen and he could replace all of us in a day. of course, his golden boy didn't know his elbow from his..... and couldn't do an inventory to save his life. keeping up with new product while retaining knowledge of existing product is tough. after 6 years with VW i'm going back to salvage management.

the techs from VW school couldn't be bothered to learn how VW numbers it's parts (a logical and straightforward system) and were impossible to deal with. yet they p and moan that you're killing their timeclock if you take too long to find out what it is they need. yeeesh. had my fill of it.