i work at a parts store

The other day at Advanced the guy ahead on me needed a No.1 cylinder for a Camry. The pricks at Auto Zone told him it was misfiring then said they couldn't sell him a replacement, that he would have to find out why it was misfiring. He didn't have that kind of time and needed one of these idiots to get off there ass and get him a cylinder so he could get the damn thing fixed. Before the laughing stopped he realized he should have just gone to NAPA in the first place. THEY'LL know what he's talking about.

Maybe they can sell him a can of compression and a new johnson bar as well.

Trans_Maro wrote: Maybe they can sell him a can of compression and a new johnson bar as well.

The equivalents in the airplane biz was to have the new guy go fetch 2 gallons of prop wash and 100 feet of flight line. After that, he needed to get new brushes for the vortex generators.

in the Navy, my first underway watch was in Sonar … the Leading PO sent me after a tube of relative bearing grease …. he didn't know that I knew what he was doing (I was a gunners mate, so he thought I wouldn't have any idea what a relative bearing was )

I stayed gone for the entire 4 hr watch. he then tried to have me written up …the Division Officer laughed at him … and pointed out that he'd been had

Trans_Maro wrote: Maybe they can sell him a can of compression and a new johnson bar as well.

a mechanic friend called STP, "compression in a can"

asked where they kept it (compression in a can) at the local NAPA store … and they looked at him as though he'd lost his mind

I used to be an AME, I've heard the flight line and prop wash but never brushes for a vortex generator, that's awesome!

Karacticus wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: Maybe they can sell him a can of compression and a new johnson bar as well.

The equivalents in the airplane biz was to have the new guy go fetch 2 gallons of prop wash and 100 feet of flight line. After that, he needed to get new brushes for the vortex generators.

We sent the new guy up the mast on the ship to tune the radar when I was in the Coast Guard.

Had a huge jerk off this morning, all over $15 on a prorated battery that he bought 4 years ago on an account that's closed.

On the bright side, I got the largest bounty payment in NAPA history and three phone calls from corporate in Atlanta.

Just had a customer tell us that asking him to pre-pay for a special order part ($700+) was "unethical" and he would not be subjected to that poor of customer service. Uh-huh. Apparently you've never ordered anything in your entire life.

Trans_Maro wrote: Maybe they can sell him a can of compression and a new johnson bar as well.

send him out for a "long weight" for the wheels. See if the counter guy will play along.

Unfortunately, most auto parts stores are run like retail stores now. They believe that if they put systems in place, then they can hire just about anyone to push buttons and take your money. Marketing is number one, employee knowledge is way down the list. It makes little difference to them what they are selling, the business model is the same. Back when I worked at Autozone, I was hired on as a manager. I had no official auto industry expirience, I had years of restaraunt management expirience. The fact that I was an auto enthusiast with a lot of knowledge was a bonus, but pretty far down on their list of priorities. The top priorities were marketing and inventory/ loss prevention. I ran my store the way that I would want a store run as a customer. I hired good people who had a passion for a knowledge about cars. I hired from the local automotive trade school, semi-retired old school gurus, I even had a guy on weekends that was a tech at the Honda/Acura dealership. A lot of my employees were first customers. Good places with good employees attract good applicants, and it becomes self perpetuating. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true, and more typical. I also don't buy the "you can't get good employees if you don't pay enough" excuse. Most of the people in my current industry make a lot more money, but couldn't hold a candle to many of my former employees. It took me only a couple months to double sales. We had customers coming from towns over, passing our other stores to get to mine. I only stayed a year. I actually left because of my success. I was "new", yet was out performing the other managers that had been there for years. I didn't feel like I fit in, I shouldn't have been that good that quickly. I was just doing what I thought were the basics at the time. Keep the store stocked. Hire and train good people. Take care of the customers. I didn't feel that just doing those things should have warranted superstar status. After I doubled the sales, I was ready to take it to the next level. We were still staffed at the same level as were were with low sales. When I tried to hire more people to really grow, I was told that I was doing good enough. Instead of letting me increase staffing to a level appropriate to my increased sales, they wanted to give those hours to the other stores that were being run poorly. I decided that the company was not a good fit for me left, even though I really liked the job.

I now sell whole cars & not the parts, but this is my thread so...

Yesterday a mid-20's something year old human male who was not noticeably brain damaged, asked me from the driver's seat of a 2005 Aveo if the vehicle had an automatic transmission.

We'll?....... Don't leave us hanging did it?

He also asked what I knew about the car's history. I told him we bought it with a bad engine, & installed a used one from a salvage yard. Can you guess what his follow up question was?

"How many miles were on the engine you took out?"

'I also don't buy the "you can't get good employees if you don't pay enough" excuse. Most of the people in my current industry make a lot more money, but couldn't hold a candle to many of my former employees.'

Boost_Crazy, I am going to come across as a real jerk. Oh well, it won't be the first time and it won't be the last.

At some point everyone who is underpaid (as you admit that you are now) realize that no they are NOT going to shortchange their families for a corporate bottom line and they will leave. Does not matter what the industry is. it may be a lateral move, maybe Auto Zone --> dealership, or maybe out of the industry altogether.

Auto Zone, Advance, O'Reilley's etc are counting on this; it's the whole reason for the computerized catalogs. When underpaid Drone 1 leaves they just hire underpaid Drone 2, then underpaid Drone 3, etc. As long as it benefits their bottom line it will stay that way.

It is also the #1 reason it's difficult to get things right at the brick and mortar stores, which is why Rock Auto is doing so well. It's also why the REAL pro shops avoid AZ etc like the plague in favor of NAPA.

The reasonably intelligent DIYer can look up his own parts then buy them from RA and have it shipped to their house, thereby bypassing Drone 1 and Drone 2. That leaves AZ etc to make their money off of oil filters etc, it's why the Bosch 3312 filter I use on my rotary costs $3.58 from Rock Auto but is $6.99 from the AZ three miles from my house. Sure there's freight which is $6.64 for 1 filter, I get around that by buying them four at a time from RA when I order something else, it still costs me a lot less.

And either way I still have to look up my own part to get it right.

NAPA has a deal called a "bounty". Basically if our online system is wrong on a part (for 79 and newer) you (an employee) can submit an electronic discrepancy with the details. If you are the first one to report it, and right, they send you a check for $10.

Yesterday's check was $980.

The owner of our chain of 11 stores personally signed mine and I got 3 calls from corporate cataloging in Atlanta about it. (I should mention month 1 was $170 before I knew I got paid for them and month 2 was $320.)

SWMBO is a happy camper right now!

Huh... when I submit catalog errors to Hondar I am met with the sound of crickets.... and the next update still has the errors.

Needless to say I've stopped bothering to submit them if they're going to just ignore it.

that must be new. I used to make a habit of sending one of those reports in every single day, just to amuse myself.

Last couple of years it's gotten worse.

Just now---

Customer points to Pontiac Fiero & says to wife; "Remember Back to the Future? This is the same kind of car they used in the movie."

Our "discrepancy tracker" is horse E36 M3 too. I stopped sending them in years ago.

belteshazzar wrote: Just now--- Customer points to Pontiac Fiero & says to wife; "Remember Back to the Future? This is the same kind of car they used in the movie."

Can you imagine being an OEM and knowing that your highly engeneered products were being sold to this kind of a buying public?

I only shop at oriellys when possible since a good friend of mine works there part time. Autozone was the only place in town that could get me my brake pads inside of 2 days so i said ok. go the next morning and there wrong, counter guy says they have to be right its what the computer calls for. I go home and grab an old pad and bring it back and show him that the bolt does not pass through my pad. Then he tells me my stock calipers are wrong and i need to order new ones. i went to oriellys and waited 4 days for new pads after that.

Have you ever wondered how some people breathe with their head shoved that far up their a$$? Serious question, gills in their armpits? Osmosis? how

Javelin wrote: We sent the new guy up the mast on the ship to tune the radar when I was in the Coast Guard.

I was always a fan of making the break ins stand "mail buoy watch"

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Customer calls today and asks for LCD headlamps for his car. Not LED, LCD...