That's kind of counter productive. And a lot of the warehouses and distribution centers don't operate like that anymore. And having to sit and call 3 or 4 different places to find a part when if they had a computer they could go, got one here and then move onto the next part. If you use technology to your advantage it's not bad. Sucks that you have a fuckin phone, must smell like shit.
Standard dumb ass customer just looking to start shit. I like it when they ask me for a cap for HEI and I ask them whats it off of and they get smart and say there all the same .So of coarse I give them one off a 4 cyl citation.
Naw I really dought im what your talkin about. Im more in to old stuff then new stuff and when I started in parts we didnt have a computer and we used the books all the time and I sold 10 sets a points a day and now 1 a week . But what im trying to say is if you like to fuck with counter help be prepared to get fucked with right back .
my dads NAPA pays pretty well.. and thats why we have SEVERAL "white beard" guys there... i was there for seven years and was still green, but everytime NOSURF would come in i would hop up and try to help him try to find something for the coupe knowledge is unbeatable. I wish i still worked there... threads like this make me want to know more about cars so i could help people like you find the stuff you want.. oh.. and by the way... we had a computer available.. but sometimes i knew what i was grabbing without looking...
One person`s perception of what a "good wage" is can be much different than that of someone from a different part of the country. In this area, the average counter guy with a year or 2 experience might make $8 hour. The "gray beards" that have been in the biz for 25 +years make about $15 hour. So is that what you call "good wages" ?
Although I hate the "walmart" philosophy of summit, it's really really really nice to live within a quick drive from it! Talk about going nuts in the clearance corner! I'm also lucky that they started carrying "regular" parts for daily drivers and now are affiliated with a hardware company for general fasteners!
Shit, I had to convince THE NEW MANAGER of my local store that the slimy tank in the back was for customers that dumped their oil. Had to show him where the log book was and match my id to the lines of dumping oil since I've lived here!
An even better way to get rid of it, is to find somebody with a waste oil shop heater. If your lucky youll get free heated shop space on the coldest day of the winter when your junk breaks down. On the unwritten rule that you helped him heat his shop all winter *just make sure that its CLEAN oil, water and antifreeze will F up the nozzel real quick.
Third, the new workforce has a crappy work ethic. Very few of the new employees believe in giving service, This is a huge pet peeve of mine. One night I had to make a mad dash to get some rattle can black so I drove for the GhettoZone. As I walk in there's a counterdude standing outside the door having a smoke. He kindly opens the door for me and asks me what I need. I say, "I need the paint cage open." (here in AZ they have to lock up all the huffables). He says, "Be right there." so I assume he's gonna snuff out the ciggy and follow me in. I get all the way across the store to the cage before I realize he's still outside smoking. I decide to cruise the place for another employee but there was no one else on the floor. By now it's been 2-3 minutes and still no doorman. As I leave he opens the door again and says, "Couldn't find what you need?" and I said "Yeah, but remember, it's locked up!" He then tells me he would have been there in a minute, he was on his break.....Did I wake up in France fer Christ's sake? After calling him a dumbass I get in my truck and watched the confused expression on his face as I drove off to the Checker down the street.
Wow , I feel really luckey, we have a great NAPA in our town, they can't seem to help you enough, two young guys and a gal all of them motor heads. I enjoy just sitting on the stool at the counter and shooting the shit with them.
I don't understand how you can be a cool-ass hot rod guy, smart enough to bring back engines from the dead, build your own frames, fabricate panels, etc., and not be able to work around this parts problem.
Not grey beards, grey SHIRTS. They are the different managers at auto zone. The guy that was heading my department was a good bud of mine and he was at $24/hr. which isn't a bad wage, and he had only been there for few years, you arn't going to make the cover of Forbes magazine on that salary but you can afford to live in So. Cal. so yes that is a "good wage" in my book. Besides you should know being a "territory manager" for a parts store. Not everybody chases the mighty green backs like others do.
What it used to be the guy behind the counter ALSO built cars, or at least understood how they were built..Not today guys...if they CAN'T type it in, they can't find it!....
My god...I wish I could have heard those words when I worked for "the Zone". I was with that company for almost a year, and had to deal with an awful boss. Not to mention that I was the only one that went out of my way for customers, including (but not limited to) changing batteries in the rain. Because the other lazy employees didnt want to do it. It was terrible. I would do whatever I could (within my job guidelines) to make our customers happy, but it seemed like the people that did nothing, and knew nothing, were promoted. It was heart breaking. I soon quit to my managers face and reported her to h.r, and i began to work for a body shop. I was GREAT. ahah Actually, I met Dreadman when I worked there! (see how all this starts!?) lol But I agree, most people that work for auto parts stores, do not know what they're doing, and when you ask for the actual books, they wont even bother to look before saying "Our books dont go back that far".UGH! ...i'll do it my damn self. lol xoxo Niki
Im one of those "grey shirts" at the Autozone, I dont even make $10 and hour, I only know of one other person in the same possition that makes more, and he makes $12 and hour, so the $24\hr guy is an exception to that rule, at least here on the east coast,
yeah...my girlfriend is also a "great shirt" parts sales manager at Autozone, she's in the same boat as you, garbage pay..makes it hard for a college student to pay for car, insurance, phone, gas, food, college fees and still have time to study...this past semester she was working 30-40 hour weeks and going to college as a full time student... having my girlfriend working at autozone makes it easy for me, i know the people that work there so i can basically just go on the computer and find the part i need and get the part.
You people keep talking about Autozone. What the hell is that !?! OH, ! ................................................................................... You mean Ghettozone.
ha ha ah...nice. Ghettozone...Im just glad im no longer there. Im hoping to be part of the Jackson, TN police force if all goes well. hee!
1Bad57, I went by the Ford dealership and ask the kid for a blue oval Ford emblem off any Ford about three inches. He says: what year is the car, what model. I said you can stop there and I walked away. The sad thing is our local junkyard won't sell emblems because it pisses off the auto body guys when emblems are missing. Now, I buy off of ebay and get mostly what I'm looking for. At times old counter guys do rule..................I never ask anyone in Home Depot for information unless he's an old timer. I asked one young guy were the rubber o-rings were and he had no idea what I was talking about. CRUISER .
I don't use the notebook anymore. A leaky windshield ruined mine once. Now I just write the make and model of the part directly on the part (somewhere inconspicuous) in paint marker. Once the part is removed for replacement I can read and say 'Oh yeah, that's what I used there'. I never tell the parts guy what car I have. Just what car I need parts for. Different answer if you need a distributor for a 1956 y-block, than a distributor for a 41 Ford pickup, even though it's all in the same truck. It just saves time to order parts for the car the stuff originally came out of.
Bottom line... the kids nowadays are more interested in how fast their computer is rather than their cars. Times are changing boys. The few younger guys who know this stuff are the ones who had an automotive upbringing.
Since when did Auto Zone quit carrying rebuild kits for Holleys? I wne tinto one last saturday and they said they dont carry them anymore? Then the manager pipes up saying the intranet is killing the parts stores and everyone buys everything online. So I told him well now I have to go buy a Holley rebuild kit online because you dont carry them anymore. I have decided that several times a year I am going to do a huge net order and buy everything I need down to oil filters. Screw the auto parts places nowdays.
Being an ASE certified parts counter specialist didn't earn me any extra money when I worked behind the counter. Sure, all of the car guys and grey beards used to look for me to help them instead of the younger guys in my store, but I was making $10 an hour...and you can't live on that even when you live at home. My next job was siting at a desk typing into a computer and I made 50% more money. As you all have experienced, you get what you pay for. Even the store managers of these chain auto parts stores make next to no money and the companies like to work them like slaves. That's not meant as an excuse for bad service, but these kids aren't going to know there was a song called Volare let alone a car so take it for what it's worth. Many places have online catalogs that let you look parts up yourself, like Rock Auto and to a lesser extent Kragen. Do yourself a favor and have a part number ready when you walk in the door of the chain stores or be prepared to suffer the "Year, make, model, motor" third degree. Oh, and if you get the wrong part, don't forget you looked it up, alright? If I could make a living being a parts guy, I'd go back to it in a minute.
Maybe this has been covered before but things are getting sad for the future. Work ethic on the job training, merit raises, loyalty just gone. My wife retired from teaching after 35 years, seeing deterioting schools, administrators trained to keep their heads down and for god sakes stay out of the newspapers, kids with no skills being promoted to higer grades based on their age, teaching for standardized tests instead of educating. Just a down hillslide all over. Any way after about 6 months she got bored and said she was going to get a part time job. I said where, she said the local Subway was hiring. I told her no way, you want a job with no responsibility, she said Making sandwiches??? I said you show up for three consecutive shifts, don't break anything and have a balanced cash drawer, and they will make you and assistant manager. So inspite of my warning, with she started work, and two weeks later was being asked to open and close carry keys, eview the schedules, do the bank deposits, and the inventory. She said thanks but no thanks and left. She know volunteers at the library as is a happy camper. By the way go to your local bubble pack store and ask for a points file. I did this at a car quest nobody in sight was under 35 and it took about 10 minutes before they admitted the tool existed.
Counterstaff and checkout people provide me with daily amusement. Office Depot Guy: "Zip Code?" Me: "I'm taking it with me, you're not mailing it." ODG: "I need your Zip Code for our records." Me: "So I can't buy the ink cartridge unless I give my Zip Code?" ODG: "I'll just put our Zip Code in." Me: "You're the professional." ODG: "Will this be for office, home, or personal use?" Me: "What's the difference between home and personal use? ODG: "I'm not sure." Me: "I don't know how to answer the question." ODG: "Just say one of the choices, and I'll put it in." Me: "I'm not comfortable giving information that I am not sure is correct." Guy Behind Me: "Oh, fuck me!" ODG: "It doesn't matter. We don't use the information anyway." Me: "Then why the hell are you asking me for it?" ODG: "That will be $23.45."
Was sitting in NAPA store just shooting the shit when a young kid maybe 17 or 18 years old comes in with a tiny piece of what is left of a wheel bearing race maybe 3/4" long with like 2 numbers still visible on it and says I need one of these. Ernie an old timer who has most of the part numbers in his head, says "What is it from?" , the kid says "a 73 chevy,I think" . Ernie says," You want an I think bearing". I laughed my ass off as the kid left.
OK; let's see if us old Coots can come up with old words and phrases that will totally stump and confuse all the new young people. How about...generators? Brushes have already been used. Breaker points? Car-bu-rators? Grease zerts? Tire irons? Split rims? Tire tubes? Tire tube patch kits? Repackable bearings? He he he, I love a good plan. Some help from old folks here please.
The Jalopy Journal
