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

I work for NAPA at their DC in Fontana. We have a retail store attached to the DC so it is one of the better stocked stores around. I don't work the counter. But all the guys on the counter are experienced and very knowledgeable. None of them are hot rodders so its a bit unfair when you come in looking for a part for you '29A and expect them to know. I also feel sorry for them as they have to deal with dipshits thathave no clue as to why they are on this earth. "May I help you sir?". "I need a radiator hose". "Yes sir, What sort of car do you have?". "A red Honda."

Always remember if you pay peanuts all you'll get is an elephant. And thy don't know much about cars.

 

Damn Gimpy, truer words were never spoken.

I am one of thos guys that really trys to support the local independant even if it cost me a little extra. I bought a case of AFT from my NAPA the other day instead of O'Reilys or even Walmart. Unless there is a huge price difference I go to my local independant Car Quest next to the machine shop instead of the O'Reilys just because he needs my business more than the chain.

We are creating our own monster.

I called MSD in El Paso Texas recently looking for a particular part and asked the kid on the phone where the closest dealer was. He told me to order from Jegs or Summit. I expained to the little prick that I wanted to hold it in my hands before I bought it. After some searching he recomended a dealer in Houston. So I asked if he knew were Amarillo was (Remember this guy is in Texas) and then explained to him that I was closer to Denver than Houston!!! Found a local stocking dealer on the MSD website and told the owner that MSD was not doing him any favors.

 

When I worked retail counter in the '70's there were an awful lot of "professional" mechanics that thought I was a dumbass if I couldn't send them the right part the first time even though they refuse to give me the right info on what they were working on.
them-" send me wheel cylinder kits for a Chevy school bus"
me- " what year, series, diameter"
them- "THEY'RE ALL THE F**ING SAME JUST SEND THEM!!" - slam phone in ear.
I've worked at the warehouse wd level since then-it's a little better than retail most of the time.

 

The chain muffler shop up the road has about 4 rotors hung up - some are worn into the fins, one's worn just about into them but with a ridge around the outside edge.. it's more common than you think. One of my beaters had one worn down into the fins, too.


To be fair, sometimes the customers are so fucking dumb themselves. I picked up a wierd little diesel motor a while back and have it on eBay. Says right in the title it's a Mazda engine used in Ford Escort and Tempo. A guy emails me up and asks what kind of car it came out of. Gee, I don't know, an Escort or a Tempo maybe? I had another guy who couldn't understand what "turns over" means - he emails back and asks if it turns 360 degrees. Didn't I say that? If it doesn't go all the way around, it doesn't turn over, does it?

But I could probably write a book about the drooling imbeciles who have managed to bang out a question and send it to me on eBay. The title would have to be something like, "People Who Should Never Touch A Computer. Or Breed."

The only thing that's pleasant about it is unlike the guy working behind the counter at Autozone, I don't have to put up with them, so some of the really dumb ones get told right where to go and what to do in no uncertain terms.

 

i work part time at a auto parts store..trust me when i say that there a lot of stupid customers. so it goes both ways.

 

Totally agree, I work part time at ZOne and to see some of the guys there looking up stuff it maes ya wonder how they hold a job. Same as someone sai on here they look it up and say oops don't have it, me, I go in back to look for an altenator without totally relying on the computer. Those computers are only as smart as the person who loads em up.
All you see now are high school kids looking to find a job to keep mom and dad off there asss so when hey get there they don't want to work and bitch aboutbing there, then they want to text there 'girlfriend' all night and don't get anything done......

 

RIXREX...i've been taking my old parts in stores for 50 years, so what's new. and if you can't find parst for that HEMROID, hell it serves you right. just by something you CAN work on...POP.

 

No shit I started in 1982 and learned from old guys most had been fucked out of their shops by big oil companies. I cannot say how important the oldster were to setting me up to succeed. Customers got coffee from us and we cared about their kids and their cars that got them to work to feed them because they in turn fed us.
I can open a catalog I can open a buyers guide I can take a coathangar and match a hose I can still give a shit. I can hand write an invoice answer three phones and turn drums BUT I won't do it for less $ than I get on un employment.
It's funny how lucky I am ... Oh I can use a computer and know when not to
this forum is where I can hang out with people that gat all this ! Thanks for it
I'm having a beer and a toast to all the oldsters !

 

autozone is the worst where i live the people they hire are to young to find me the old parts i need,i find my self having to explain to them what i need,and they still cant help ..so now usaully when i go in there i use the computor myself and than go and grab my own parts..im in there so much they all know me on a 1st name basis..so its cool they let me do what i want i also get a discount like i work there ...

 

The old adage you get what you pay for definitely rings true with the new chain parts stores. I think Advance starts out at 8 bucks an hour. That doesn't get much these days in the way of help.

Most of the time I figure out what make and model car what ever random part I need is from and go from there. My friend had a 73 Jag with a 350, usually he told the parts person he had an 80 Chevy pickup.

I have had only a couple of bad experiences, mostly due to bad attitude. Once I wanted headers for an AMC 258. Went down to a place that dealt with more speed type parts. The guy insisted that Jeeps never came with AMC motors, they all had Chevy v-8s in them. He was incredibly rude. Another time I went in to a Car Quest and asked for some brake line. Guy asked me make and model and tried to look it up in the computer. I said I just needed some line, finally I gave up and walked over and got the line from behind the counter. This guy was in his mid 40s.

 

Car dealer parts counterman here, 40 years GM. No picnic here either. Between back orders with no promise dates, parts catalogs with inconsistent data, indifference in the corporation in resolving problems with getting parts ya gotta wonder. Outsourcing of the call center to a foreign country when people here are out of work....makes you say huh?

Then with customers. Biggest PITA is lost keys and making replacements. GM requires us to enter in the system the owner's name, VIN number, license plate number/state, and to electronically sign on under our name that we have checked and verified ID and registration papers. We require the person who's name is on the title/registration to be physically be at our dealership with a picture driver's license/state i.d. card.

I can bet that at least over half of the people that call us or call in will argue or say "Well, I have a problem" when we tell them this. Yep, I've never heard this line before.
And every excuse, beg, plead, threat, M/F us known to mankind. Yeah,we have been told by GM that we are liable if we make the keys, and I'm too damn old to do time.

Or with the new security systems in place if you lose all your keys and have to get new ones it takes a half hour to reset the system, but if you had lost one key and still had one key it only takes about thirty seconds to program the new key. That pisses off a lot of people too, not to mention 25 to 50 bucks for a key. Yep, it's my fault too that you lost your last key because you were to cheap to buy one a month ago when you still had one!

And the hours are no picnic either, usually 10 or more hours daily and if you are lucky Saturday hours too. No wonder you don't see a lot of young people in dealerships today.

 

Coming from a parts guy with well over 20 years experience :

"There are a helluva lot more stupid ass customers out there than stupid ass parts guys" Believe me . . .

 

i agree

 

A DECLINE? When was the up climb? LOL, dipshits from the start, NOT ALL, But most. Thank god for the few that know what there talking about and looking for.

 

See, that place i work as a driver, "Mazza auto parts", is a local company, we only have four stores, all in michigan within 10-15 miles from each other. We are down the street from an O'rileys, and we are doing just fine. our prices are good, our selection very large. AND, our counter help are over the age of 25! they always get people exactly what they want and know a shitload about what they need to know.
Gotta love it.

 

I'm lucky, there are 3 guys at my Auto Zone that know their shit. The other two stores on the other side of town.... well let's just say I don't go in them. I feel very fortunate because they also know where to send me when they don't have the part. Their website is also very helpful, I can check out the parts I want, send it to the store, and they pull up the list that I sent and have it ready... Cool!!!

 

I've noticed that..............
I haven't worked the counter but have been the customer for half a century. Is it just me, or does God send in an idiot to be the customer in front of me as some sort of a test?
Yesterday at Checker.
Counter guy, talking to the guy in line in front of me; "Next, how may I help you"
Customer guy don't hear him, is talking on on cellphone.
Counter guy, again; "Sir, are you in line"
Customer guy; "Hold on a sec, I have to take this call"....................................

 

Having the right attitude helps. I get along real well with the local NAPA guys. I even get the old parts books when they get new ones. That way I can look up my own parts numbers and order them over the phone. I usually have the parts in my hand the next day if they don't have it in the store. There's always a way around a tough situation if you look hard enough. Or you can just bitch about it.

 

Ha ha we had a few rotors like that too!

 

yep. I was at an independant in 'tha hood in the mid 80's, when all the full size GM's with whatever 350 started to trickle down. People used to come in all the time wanting valve cover gaskets for their "350" We's ask 'em, which 350, and the usual response was just that ,"they're all the same" The one gal we had behind the counter would hear that & get a set of chevy gaskets. When the customer would come back & start to bitch she'd pop off..."if they're all the same, you must be a shit mechanic if you cant get these to fit." Watched her take the wind out of a lot of guys sails with that.....


I got out of retail in 2005..and don't miss a minute of it.

 

Went to Auto Groan the other week to replace an old fenderwell mounted electric fuel pump and asked the kid for a "universal" electric pump to replace it. He actually asked what make a universal car was. I had to ask him if he actually knew what the word meant. I knew they had them as I bought one there before. I had to go home and buy it online, faster, cheaper and no hassle. I just go there for oil now as no one working there knows anything.