Are Parts Store Employees Getting Worse?

[andyd]

Unless it is an impulse, I will go to th AZ catalog and get the part number and to see if it is in stock. Then I bring the info with me. I was in parts for a phone company. When the jobs were going hot and heavy, bosses would rob Peter to pay Paul. There is a difference between what it says you have and what you have. So my expectations are low and usually not critical.

 

[JustinH]

I do not ask a parts store employee for advise on servicing my car.

I usually order from rockauto or advance auto parts online pickup only.

My toyota dealer has been giving me good deals on filters and parts so I have been buying some stuff from them as well.

Walmart is still untouchable for the price of their 5 quart jugs of oil.

 

[MalfunctionProne]

They try to up-sell things you don't need. It gets annoying, and fast.

Customers want what they want.

 

[Spazdog]

It's not just you.

There was a time that being a Counterman was a legitimate career that required training and real automotive knowledge. Now they are just poo-flinging Countermonkeys.

I was one of the first people to be certified as an ASE Parts Specialist. The exam was more merchandising related than actual counterman knowledge.

My District Manager at what was then Hi-Lo Auto Supply asked me what I thought of the ASE exam. I told him the truth. It was not a Counterman Exam. It was a Merchandiser exam. That was a mistake. He was one of the authors of the exam. Last I heard, he was on an executive level for O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Let's just say that my career was not going anywhere after telling that little bit of truth. But I did learn a little bit about big auto parts discount chains. Merchandising is far more important than qualified personnel.

The Western Auto Master Parts Specialist exam was far more difficult and parts related than the ASE exam. We had good quality parts, Craftsman tools, and qualified personnel....and we went the way of the Dodo bird.

The dealership counterman used to be the ultimate counterman job. Higher wages, you only have to work with one or two makes, every part should be availiable within reason....but sadly, I have not been impressed with those guys as of late either.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: MalfunctionProne
They try to up-sell things you don't need. It gets annoying, and fast.

Customers want what they want.

Have you been to a bank lately?

No, I am not interested in a new credit card. No, I am not interested in a ultra low interest adjustable rate mortgage. I am not interested in a financial advisor appointment. I do not want another commercial account!...

 

[Nyogtha]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
The Western Auto Master Parts Specialist exam was far more difficult and parts related than the ASE exam. We had good quality parts, Craftsman tools, and qualified personnel....and we went the way of the Dodo bird.


I truly miss Western Auto. I never had a problem with a rebate submission, good prices, as you say professional counter staff, sometimes some real babes working the cash register too.

The building that housed the Western Auto I frequented where I grew up now houses an O'Reillys.

 

[aquariuscsm]

My favorite was Chief Auto Parts.

 

[robd]

Last fall we were pulling our camper to Virginia when we lost a wheel bearing on the camper. I pulled to the side of the road and disconnected the trailer from the truck. With old bearing in hand and all the Timkin info I headed to find an auto parts store for new bearings and a grease seal. Pulled into an Advance Auto and asked the kid behind the counter for two new bearings and a grease seal giving him all the bearing information. He said he couldn’t cross reference it and I asked could you measure them and do it that way? He looked at me as if I was from Mars. I left went to an Auto Zone and was told the same thing. I was running out of daylight and time to get back on the road and said can I go and look myself. Long story short we opened about 20 boxes until we found the correct bearings. I thanked him and got his name and called Auto Zone corporate to say what a great job he did. Went back to the camper and about an hour later was back on the road. 30 years ago I would have went to the counter of a NAPA in my hometown and a knowledgeable person would have looked it up in their books and had bearings for me in 5 minutes. Time change.

 

[partspro]

For me, Autozone has been getting better lately. In fact they've been really good to me - the stores are well-organized and the staff members seem to be getting better. O'Reilly however, has been going the other direction.

may be the staff are better but their parts suck

 

[partspro]

I buy my parts mostly at the "Advance Auto" around the corner from my house. There's one "old timer," working there who really knows his stuff. His name is Ben and no matter how long the line, I always wait for him rather than deal with anyone else for the very reasons you guys are mentioning.

i can tell you, deal with the commercial pros, i had 2 customers who each had spent $1,000,000 with Advance you had to know your stuff believe me. We had 2 master certified ASE in the store and experience of combined 100 years

 

[Dave Sherman]

I think the only particularly memorable bad experience with a parts store worker was buying a battery for my Honda. It took a 51R, he rang up a 51R, but grabbed a 51 off the rack. I didn't notice until I carried it out to swap it in the parking lot and realized the terminals were reversed. Walked back in, receipt in hand, and figured it should be an easy mistake to fix. Nope. He wanted to do a return of the 51, even though I showed him I just bought it just a couple minutes ago, and explained that he just grabbed the wrong one off the shelf. No no, we can't do that, we have to do a return or our inventory will be screwed up. I tried to explain that his inventory is already screwed up, but what should have been a 10 second swap ended up being about 5 minutes of giving my info, doing a return of the wrong battery, signing for the return, and then buying another of the exact same kind of battery! I think by the end of all that it finally started to sink in that he just made a simple mistake a whole lot more complicated.

 

[PandaBear]

Many of these jobs have been reduced to minimum wage jobs and there may be no future in staying long enough to learn the trade.

I heard an employee of a big chain parts store tell a customer they he could mix any kind of antifreeze with any other kind of antifreeze and there would never be a problem. I told the customer to be safe and never mix types of antifreeze and to carefully follow the owner's manual. He had a Toyota with the pink antifreeze and I told him I had the same with my 4Runner and I use the Toyota brand purchased from the dealer. I told him I did not mind the extra expense and I was also playing it safe. The store employee went on to say that if in doubt just add the green coolant to any other coolant. I think this guy is going to create problems with some customers. I don't believe that he is an expert on the subject and his belief that he knows is a problem. I'd rather hear, I don't know, lets find the answer.

The employee is technically correct. Read the label at the back of the Prestone Long Life or anything else, they can all be mixed and they are all long life all make all model these days.

They don't look pretty being all sorts of color mixed up but they will be ok. Toyota's pink isn't good for lead solder but the aftermarket all make all model have liability all works out and you won't have problem like putting Toyota pink in the lead soldered radiator of other cars.

 

[PandaBear]

I'm an informed customer. I do my own research on something I need before I step in one of their stores.

What I hate is when I bring in a printout from their site of exactly what I want, its description and part number, and they insist on looking it up themselves 'just to check'.

It is corporate liability, they don't want 1 out of 100 people to sue the store when the customers were the one making mistakes.

 

[PandaBear]

For me, Autozone has been getting better lately. In fact they've been really good to me - the stores are well-organized and the staff members seem to be getting better. O'Reilly however, has been going the other direction.

I noticed the actual walkable area of AZ being a lot smaller than the behind counter shelf spaces for parts. Same for Napa. I think they are catering more to the corp account business to mechanics and DIYers than the casual oil change customers of O'Reilly.

 

[bunnspecial]

I often find on my MG that if they do have the part, they spec something different in their system than what the factory said or different from what I prefer to use.

A good one is on spark plugs. I still use(thanks to a big stockpile) the now-discontinued NGK BP6ES plug. The book says Champion N9Y(or N9Y-c by a newer number) but their system says NGK BPR6ES.

I've gone in before and asked for spark plugs by the NGK part number, either BP6ES or the stock number, 7333. I often get a deer in the headlights look when asking for that, and they want Y/M/M rather than even look it up. I've done the same thing with a certain model Bosch alternator that, again, is a drop in but not listed in their system. Often times it takes a manager to get something by part number rather than Y/M/M. I've even been asked for that before when I wanted to buy a timing light(pointing to one behind the counter on a rack) and they wanted to "make sure it fit" my car.

BTW, all of this happens at the the big three "consumer oriented" Autozone/Advance/O'Reilly's. I find NAPA generally has pretty good employees, and the one Carquest store tucked in the corner of an industrial park is AWESOME.

Around here, O'Reilly's will turn disks and drums. All the MG drums I've seen have "10.06 in. MAX" cast rather boldly into the inside of them. I took them to one store and they absolutely refused to touch them because the specs weren't in their system. Apparently their computer knows more than the place that made the drum. At another location, the manger was at least willing to try, although with them in hand he wouldn't because he measured them at 10.05. I should say that he was still WILLING to turn them, but said that I thought a .01 cut wouldn't accomplish anything on them and he thought I'd be wasting my money doing so. I at least appreciated him being willing to look at the drum and actually give me an intelligent answer on turning them, even though he didn't end up doing it.

 

[bunnspecial]

I noticed the actual walkable area of AZ being a lot smaller than the behind counter shelf spaces for parts. Same for Napa. I think they are catering more to the corp account business to mechanics and DIYers than the casual oil change customers of O'Reilly.

Every NAPA I've been in was definitely geared toward accounts and had almost nothing on the floor. Carquest is the same way, but maybe even less out than NAPA.

AZs here tend to at least have a decent walkable area, but nothing like O'Reilly's.

I think Pep Boys, the few times I was in one, seemed to have the most on the floor and the least in the back.

 

[PandaBear]

Parts made in China and minimum wage for their employees...next I suppose customers will have to learn Spanish in order to converse with these employees?

Unlikely. The pay is too low in the part stores. Now if you want to hire cheap construction worker or janitors then yes you need to know spanish.

 

[Warstud]

Most are part number pullers

 

[Gimpy1]

Many of these jobs have been reduced to minimum wage jobs and there may be no future in staying long enough to learn the trade.

I heard an employee of a big chain parts store tell a customer they he could mix any kind of antifreeze with any other kind of antifreeze and there would never be a problem. I told the customer to be safe and never mix types of antifreeze and to carefully follow the owner's manual. He had a Toyota with the pink antifreeze and I told him I had the same with my 4Runner and I use the Toyota brand purchased from the dealer. I told him I did not mind the extra expense and I was also playing it safe. The store employee went on to say that if in doubt just add the green coolant to any other coolant. I think this guy is going to create problems with some customers. I don't believe that he is an expert on the subject and his belief that he knows is a problem. I'd rather hear, I don't know, lets find the answer.

Yup, what do you expect from a guy making 10 bucks an hour a certified master tech?

 

[xgmad]

No you're not, its not just you, but in my experiences over here, I can hardly find any german parts that are in stock at any auto parts store, some prices are just outrageous, a MANN vw filter for a 2.0/2.5 mk6 is SEVENTY DOLLARS, while on amazon its 20 something dollars, I rarely go into auto part stores simply because anything that is German is somehow more expensive.