Advance auto parts sucks.
- Thread starter Bagger_Matt
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Say What!?...
I have three AAP's in the south hills of Pittsburgh and all the employees I have dealt with have been quite helpful at all times.
Only 7 trips for me to get a complete exhaust system for an '87 Caprice. Guy handed me a pipe I had no idea what it was for, brought it home and of course, it didn't "go anywhere". Went back to the store and he saw where he made the mistake, ordered the new pipe and when i went back to pick it up, I handed the old pipe and he handed me a new one, the exact same p/n of the one I just handed him.....
JHZR2
Staff member
There are good ones, usually in the managerial staff. Even them, for the most part, have their share of wife's tales when asked serious questions, but they can get the job done.
Problem is that these sorts of people, who populate these stores like AAP, PB, AZ, HD, Lowes, even stores like Best Buy, etc. at a rate of, Id say 0.9-1.1 person per store are usually the ones that are being talked to and who are super busy because they care and are interested...
So youre stuck with the others who really arent good for much other than running the checkout.
JMH
Sounds like they have a bad manager at that store. Managers set the tone. They can't be responsible for everything, but if you have employees ignoring customers, you know the boss man doesn't care about much. Not to mention low pay, low hours, and no benefits.
Like the old saying goes "you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". While some stores have a lot of helpful staff and good management, so many of them are filled with low paid part time staff that couldn't care less about their jobs and management that are at their wits end trying to find staff that will do a decent job for the pay the company offers.
Stores that are staffed with more full-time, better paid employees that NEED to keep their jobs, ones where you see the same faces day in and day out are always the ones that run properly and give good service.
I've worked in retail for years, and struggle with this daily, depending too heavily on high school kids is tough, you get some that really give their all and tons that just do as little as possible while you're watching and nothing when you're not.
Stores that are staffed with more full-time, better paid employees that NEED to keep their jobs, ones where you see the same faces day in and day out are always the ones that run properly and give good service.
I've worked in retail for years, and struggle with this daily, depending too heavily on high school kids is tough, you get some that really give their all and tons that just do as little as possible while you're watching and nothing when you're not.
When I was a young man (and, yes, that was a long time ago) I was an in-home carpet-cleaner. Please desist from your snickering now.
Occasionally I would get asked who was the best company to call to get good service.
My answer was always the same.
Your level of service was dependent on the man who walked through the door of your home. Period. Not the company. Not even mine.
Any company could/can provide you with good or lousy service, depending on who the individual who walks through your door.
Or you, the auto parts customer, can choose to walk through their door.
Who delivers the best service?
The answer is the same.
Always has been. Always will be.
*
Occasionally I would get asked who was the best company to call to get good service.
My answer was always the same.
Your level of service was dependent on the man who walked through the door of your home. Period. Not the company. Not even mine.
Any company could/can provide you with good or lousy service, depending on who the individual who walks through your door.
Or you, the auto parts customer, can choose to walk through their door.
Who delivers the best service?
The answer is the same.
Always has been. Always will be.
*
The staff turnover at these stores is fairly quick and thorough. It's lucky to see the same employee working for a year, let alone a whole 'team' of three or four. You never know if that friendly, knowledgeable guy still works at AwfulVance Boys or if he changed stores (or careers) to be replaced by some joker. Considering the spotty and unreliable presence of good help, I maintain that the three mentioned stores are there only for single-minded cheap-outs.
Kragen here is the same as Advance. Same service too!
On May Ave.'s Kragen we have the attractive girl, always on her cell phone, never actually working.
In Capitola, there's the clerks who grunt when you say words like please and thank you, and forget to give you a receipt for all the stuff you just spent 45 minutes looking for.
The local dealers aren't much better.
On a recent trip to a combo Dodge/Nissan/Volkswagen to get ATF to top off my PS reservoir, I sent the parts counter guy back to look for "either PS fluid or ATF for a 1990 Nissan, it's probably the same and in a quart container. I think it's just Dexron." (NAPA is a whole block further, I was lazy!)
Parts guy comes back 10 minutes later.
"Yeah, we're all out of stock, but it's just ordinary DOT-3, DOT-3 fluid will work just fine."
Without commenting on what DOT-3 is or what it would do to my PS system, I promptly thanked the guy and left. Probably just as well I didn't buy anything. I'm hoping he meant DexronIII and not brake fluid.
On May Ave.'s Kragen we have the attractive girl, always on her cell phone, never actually working.
In Capitola, there's the clerks who grunt when you say words like please and thank you, and forget to give you a receipt for all the stuff you just spent 45 minutes looking for.
The local dealers aren't much better.
On a recent trip to a combo Dodge/Nissan/Volkswagen to get ATF to top off my PS reservoir, I sent the parts counter guy back to look for "either PS fluid or ATF for a 1990 Nissan, it's probably the same and in a quart container. I think it's just Dexron." (NAPA is a whole block further, I was lazy!)
Parts guy comes back 10 minutes later.
"Yeah, we're all out of stock, but it's just ordinary DOT-3, DOT-3 fluid will work just fine."
Without commenting on what DOT-3 is or what it would do to my PS system, I promptly thanked the guy and left. Probably just as well I didn't buy anything. I'm hoping he meant DexronIII and not brake fluid.
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