I refuse to shop Autozone now...

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: chet2
AZ has been ok with me so far...put yourself in their shoes and having to deal some a$$hole customers all day


Customers aren't a@@holes. They're the ones who pay the business owner's bills. . .


I agree that customer service should be paramount in any retail/sales environment...

But there are people out there believing that paying for something gives them the right to treat people like doormats or it somehow gives them a ticket to beat-people-up.

I'm sorry, but if someone is belligerent, and often rude to other customers as well as the staff, I personally don't want their money, and no one can pay me enough to get shat on...

This is of course contingent on a salesperson taking their job seriously and attempting to give the best service they can under any difficult circumstances. But a lot of times people get blamed for circumstances beyond their control. I mean if you go into a store when it's jam-packed like you're cattle, then obviously it is going to take longer to get service. That's as much the customer's fault as it is the sales associate's fault.

Or some idiot decides that because he's [censored] off about some policy, that he should personally berate some high school kid earning $7 an hour as if he (or she, because certain jerks enjoy beating up on girls even more) were the CEO. I've personally dressed down idiots like that as well --as a customer!

 

[kingrob]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Quote:
Obviously you've never worked retail.


I think everybody should have mandated time dealing with the public until they're proficient at it. Then, after that mandated service, and some sensible attrition rate, the ONLY people that would be a problem would be the (fill in the blank's). They would be doing it on purpose.


I've seen it firsthand; you can have a store crew of the most proficient, outgoing people who go out of their way to make a customer feel special.. and there's always going to be one a-hole customer with a chip on his shoulder thinking he's God's gift to retail.

When I was a store manager the most outdated phrase in use was "The customer's always right". However, you never heard the staff say this, it was always the customer (who was always wrong.) I worked for a national chain that payed their workers dirt, so I was blessed to have an intelligent staff that despite their wage felt like going out of their way to do their job as best they could. I did not suffer customer abuse lightly, and my automatic response was to tell the customer that if he felt wronged he could contact the store hotline or start shopping mail order. (This was before online shopping was another option).

There's nothing more humiliating to an arrogant customer who feels the world owes him something for walking into that particular store, than to be laughed at by a bunch of semi-literate 16 year-olds when he says "I'm the customer! I pay your salary!" These are the same guys that expect the same level of dining quality from their local McDonald's as they do the $200.00 a meal French restaurant downtown.

There's a difference between genuinely poor employee performance and a$$hole customers. Notice the distinction: not all customers are a$$holes, but some a$$holes are customers. And if you don't believe that- then you need to go work retail for about two days.

 

[KW]

I worked at an Oreilly's for a short time and there are a few customers that go out of their way to be a pain. Most of the jerks had a cell phone attached to their head. Or appeared to be slightly drunk. Over all most customers were regular guys like me. The jerks are the ones that stand out the most though.

A few years ago some numb nut at Auto Zone (he worked at Advance just around the corner for a long time) was having a problem with his card scanner. He handed me my card back and announced for all to hear the I needed to come back when I had money in my account. That AZ there in Fort Walton Beach FL was fired on the spot with no second chance. And I got to have a hissy fit in front of a crowd of people. The guys at the counter can make or break a parts store.

 

[Mr Nice]

Problem with retail is that they have such a high turn over rate, that even if you hire decent hard working people, don't expect them to stay there a long time cause the pay sucks.

 

[Gary Allan]

Those jobs are gainful only to the career minded type. It's the same with any larger chains. Most do exit - stage left, before the attrition rate finds them a good slot in that store or another one.

 

[rangerdood]

I did my stint on the backside of the Autozone counter, as we all know.

Regarding the oil sales... once the sale was over, the only way we could adjust the price (if we missed one of the sale signs) was to only ring up half the oil or something to make the price right. There were no price overrides on oil that counter guys could access. I know some of you think it's impossible for the workers to miss taking down a sign at the end of a sale, but when management wants you to plaster them on the filters, the oil, and all over the rest of the store... yeah, it does happen.

Regarding the battery sales with felts and grease... the only time I would automatically ring up packets with batteries was when I was the one installing the battery in the parking lot. This was our policy, to do the job right. We would also go the extra mile to clean up terminals and wires with brushes and corrosion eater, free of extra charge. We always kept these things behind the counter. Our customers were always happy with the service. If you were purchasing the battery to install on your own, I would ask if you wanted the felts and grease. Usually people declined, after which I would pull them off the battery and throw them under the counter.

Keep in mind, you can be at the top of the weekly sales list at these places... but if you haven't sold a packet when you "could" have, you will get a good talking to from your manager, because his manager will have yelled at him during the weekly sales call. Sometimes it felt like the only thing I was supposed to be selling there was packets. Never mind that I could sell 5 of the Duralast Gold batteries in one day (a good haul) on my own, but if they didn't have those darn packets on them, I did NOTHING.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
Sometimes it felt like the only thing I was supposed to be selling there was packets. Never mind that I could sell 5 of the Duralast Gold batteries in one day (a good haul) on my own, but if they didn't have those darn packets on them, I did NOTHING.


All that he asked was that you kill Superman ..and you couldn't do that one simple task ...

 

[DaveL]

FWIW - the service at my local AZ is usually pretty good, especially when the day manager is around. I know the computer system limits what what the guy at the register can do, but they have recognized when they screwed up and done their best to make it right.

 

[calvin1]

Originally Posted By: rangerdood

Keep in mind, you can be at the top of the weekly sales list at these places... but if you haven't sold a packet when you "could" have, you will get a good talking to from your manager, because his manager will have yelled at him during the weekly sales call. Sometimes it felt like the only thing I was supposed to be selling there was packets. Never mind that I could sell 5 of the Duralast Gold batteries in one day (a good haul) on my own, but if they didn't have those darn packets on them, I did NOTHING.


FWIW, I don't begrudge the counter guys trying to upsell me on the packets. I understand that it's them just doing their jobs. It would be nice though if they didn't try to upsell me on stuff I don't actually need. Last time I did the water pump on my truck the guy gave me the whole spiel about needing to replace the studs which I already knew. That would have been great except he just grabbed whatever HELP package off the rack and threw it in the box. I had to go back - to AAP this time - and get the one that actually said Ford 5.0 on it.

Calvin

 

[greenaccord02]

When I go shopping I prefer not to be 'advised' unless I ask for it. To me, that's an insult to my intelligence. I know what I came for and unless I ask, I don't want to be told about anything else. If I didn't know how to do it myself, the car would be in the shop.

I have worked retail both as a clerk and a manager, so this isn't an issue I'm unfamiliar with. If people need to know, they ask. If they already know, they appreciate you not forcing them to listen to the pontifications and admonishments of a child (or someone with the mind of a child).

Anyway, that rant is why I shop O'Reilly and NAPA. YMMV, But for me those stores are under management who knows how to treat their customers.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: greenaccord02
When I go shopping I prefer not to be 'advised' unless I ask for it. To me, that's an insult to my intelligence. I know what I came for and unless I ask, I don't want to be told about anything else. If I didn't know how to do it myself, the car would be in the shop.

... If people need to know, they ask. If they already know, they appreciate you not forcing them to listen to the pontifications and admonishments of a child (or someone with the mind of a child).

Anyway, that rant is why I shop O'Reilly and NAPA. YMMV, But for me those stores are under management who knows how to treat their customers.


I couldn't have said it better!

 

[defeated]

Originally Posted By: AzFireGuy79
I rarely run into anyone in AutoZone that is friendly. A few but not many. Don't get me wrong there are alot of adult parts guys that are very knowledgable and friendly.


That's funny, because the last time AZ p*ssed me off (just last weekend!) an older gentleman is the one who yanked my chain. The kids are usually friendly and helpful. I hate to say this, because I sound like my mother and she's usually just being paranoid from what I've seen, but it seems like the older men working in auto parts stores are the ones more likely to throw attitude at me, and I suspect it's because they think I should be in the kitchen. Not always, or even often, but sometimes it happens, and that's the feeling I usually get.

 

[RTexasF]

While I was out of town my gal's car gave her a problem starting. From her phone call it sounded like the battery was a possibility (4 years old) so I sent her to The Zone. Problem handled.....so I thought.

I returned home a week later to hear the car was still "not right". Upon opening the hood it was blatantly obvious the wrong battery had been put in. As if a Corolla battery isn't small enough this one looked like it was from a Ray O Vac lantern....TINY TINY TINY! It was in danger of tipping over since the hold down was now missing and wouldn't have held this minuscule thing down anyway.

Using some pieces of 2X4 I wedged the mini battery in place so it couldn't topple. As time allowed I took the car back to the store with the receipt and invited the manager out to see this "installation" his employee did with the wrong battery. I explained why the pieces of wood were there mentioning what a catastrophe it would have been had the battery fallen over & short circuited. He brought the guilty party out to view this abortion and let him have it with both barrels.

Not only did he get the correct battery for me, replace the hold down his employee lost, and come install it.....he refunded me 100% of the wrong one and would not let me pay for the new one! THAT folks was above and beyond the call of duty. When I need parts guess who I go to now? That manager of course.

 

[BrianWC]

Now that it heartening....Well, minus the incompetence...

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: chet2
AZ has been ok with me so far...put yourself in their shoes and having to deal some a$$hole customers all day


Customers aren't a@@holes. They're the ones who pay the business owner's bills. . .



Paying the bills doesn't eliminate the possibility that one is a rectal opening. They are customers for sure. But some may be too demanding for what you are selling.

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: chet2
AZ has been ok with me so far...put yourself in their shoes and having to deal some a$$hole customers all day


Customers aren't a@@holes. They're the ones who pay the business owner's bills. . .


Yes, but I'm not an a**hole. I am nice and patient and don't need grief because someone else was an a**.

John

 

[greenaccord02]

Something I used to tell my employees is that retail is the business of dealing with asholes. If you can't stomach it, go flip burgers.

Workers are entitled to a paycheck only. Customers don't have to treat them with respect unless they feel like doing so out of the goodness of their own heart. It's business, not personal. Only a fool would take anything personally in business.

 

[PandaBear]

I like AutoZone much better than the alternatives (Kragen, Walmart, etc) because they have free tool rental (well, return within 30 days) and their DuraLast Gold are pretty good stuff for a decent price.

Remember, these stores are out there to make a buck, and as much as you are willing to pay for good service, 99% of the customers out there couldn't care less about services as long as they get what they want for a good price. If every store treats customers like king and hires top notch people that would have gone to college and graduate with honor, the store would either be out of business or have to charge 2-3x as much as the competitors.

 

[chet2]

only complaint i have about az is wal mart has lower oil prices than them

 

[chet2]

lets face it some people are a$$es...on both sides of counter...me included on occasion