My attempt to buy Penzoil Ultra at Autozone

[ryan604]

I thought some of you might get a kick out of this story......
I went to Autozone last week to buy some Penzoil Ultra and a Bosch filter that was on sale. When I got to the store they didn't have any Ultra. The sign for the deal with the filter was there but the shelf was stocked entirely with Penzoil Platinum. So, I double checked the sign to be sure it said "Ultra" and checked the bottles on the shelf and all of them were Platinum. Not a big deal, I would use Platinum but this time I wanted to use Ultra. So I went up front and asked an employee if they had any Ultra at this store. He said no. But, then another employee walked up and said that the Platinum and Ultra are now the same product. He said that "Penzoil had changed the bottle and now the Ultra and the Platinum are the same." So, of course I left without purchasing any oil. I then called another Autozone a few miles away and they checked their stock. No ultra, only platinum. The employee over the phone told me "That's weird, we have a sign for Ultra but only have Platinum." Now, after striking out at the 2 closest Autozone stores I decided to call the 1-800 number to see if any other local Autozones have the Ultra in stock. After speaking with someone thru the 1-800 hotline I was placed on hold while he checked for me. 12 minutes later, he came back and said "Your local Autozone stores carry the product you are looking for. From what I am being told, the Penzoil Ultra is now bottled as Platinum." I told him he is wrong but he did not believe me and said he had no further options.

In the end, I did not purchase any Penzoil from Autozone.

 

[Lead Shoes]

Lol, this is why I don't ask the counter jockeys for anything at parts stores.

But I have also met quite a few parts store counter jockeys that actually know something, but seems to be that only the stories about them knowing nothing surface.

 

[edwardh1]

ask for a metric hammer

 

[aquariuscsm]

Sounds like one of the MANY reasons I hope Walmart runs them out of town. I went into an AZ looking to buy the Syntec deal. After getting unacceptable customer service,I drove to Walmart and bought 2 oil changes worth of Syntec 10W40,where I recieved excellent customer service,and where I will continue to spend my hard earned money.

 

[electrolover]

Yeah just like my local napa says qs and pyb are the same. They pointed out the sopus on the bottle for me. You cant talk to parts people

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Sounds like one of the MANY reasons I hope Walmart runs them out of town. After getting unacceptable customer service,I drove to Walmart and bought 2 oil changes worth of Syntec 10W40,where I recieved excellent customer service,and where I will continue to spend my hard earned money.


The problem is my walmart does not have NGK plugs or hose (pcv and such)
Wal Mart will not let me use a torque wrench as Autozone did to let me put in my NGK plugs
Don't get me wrong..I shop at Walmart too but I don't expect either 8 dollar an hour employee to know more than I do

Also while the CEO of Walmart makes 17 million a year, their employees seem to be the biggest user of the state supplied foodstamps and low income health insurance that has ever existed as they pay them so little and seem to work to keep their hours below 35 a week.
It cuts both ways

 

[aquariuscsm]

My problem with the autoparts chains is EVERY time I go in there,the clerks are chillin with their friends,who are not employed by said store,but only loitering and hanging around. I try to ask for assistance and either get ignored so they can continue to chill,or get that look as if I'm impeding on their fun/socializing on the job.

I'm not too particularly fond of my job,but that's not the customers' fault. I clock in,give the best customer service possible,and give them the service they came for/are paying for.

 

[SubyRoo]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
My problem with the autoparts chains is EVERY time I go in there,the clerks are chillin with their friends,who are not employed by said store,but only loitering and hanging around. I try to ask for assistance and either get ignored so they can continue to chill,or get that look as if I'm impeding on their fun/socializing on the job.

I'm not too particularly fond of my job,but that's not the customers' fault. I clock in,give the best customer service possible,and give them the service they came for/are paying for.


+1 to this. You have an expectation that the employees of any auto parts store have the basic knowledge needed to answer questions not just stock inventory and use a register. I feel sorry for the people that dont have much mechanical knowledge or know how and ask for advice from the ones that dont need to be giving advice.

 

[tinmanSC]

Impressive. Ultra = Platinum. I never knew! Pennzoil better change their site..... and their formula.

 

[-SyN-]

I agree with aquariuscsm: I have a AZ and Oreillys-->Both 4 blocks from my house.

I have gone into both places and witnessed employees texting on their phones while customers waiting! Eating at the counter! Using out loud swear words with talking with another employee!

I never go into AZ anymore---> In my town AZ has the employees even the quick stops would not hire. No knowledge of anything!

Oreillys-->I buy all my parts from-but never oil.

WM gets all my business for Oil. I only wish they had a better selection of ATF. Thus the reason I use Amsoil!

 

[NHGUY]

They dont call them "Zoners" for nothing...

 

[Lead Shoes]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
They dont call them "Zoners" for nothing...


LOL.

 

[OB4x4]

In a recent market study of national parts houses, AZ came in at 49% satisfied customers, they just edged out Pep boys which came in last place(41%). When less than half of yours customers are satisfied with your service your doing something very wrong.

I just wonder why some people keep on going to there. Is it just price?

 

[ryan604]

Originally Posted By: Brenden
Lol, this is why I don't ask the counter jockeys for anything at parts stores.

But I have also met quite a few parts store counter jockeys that actually know something, but seems to be that only the stories about them knowing nothing surface.


Yep, same here. There are some good, knowledgeable people at these stores. But they are scarce. That is why I do a lot of research on sites like these before I go to the store.

 

[ryan604]

Originally Posted By: OB4x4
I just wonder why some people keep on going to there. Is it just price?


Boredom.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: OB4x4
I just wonder why some people keep on going to there. Is it just price?


It is one of the places (along with O'Reily and PepBoys) that are local so you don't need to buy online for small items.

and they have deals once in a while with rebates.

 

[JohnnyZ52]

The O Reilly's near me had poorly trained employees but AZ is actually decent. Pep Boys is really bad. Most people into cars seem to have a lot of misinformation about things like oil and fluids because they accept what they've been told as fact.

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: OB4x4
I just wonder why some people keep on going to there. Is it just price?


It is one of the places (along with O'Reily and PepBoys) that are local so you don't need to buy online for small items.

and they have deals once in a while with rebates.


Yep. I try and avoid them as much as possible. If I know I need something, its rockauto or amazon for best parts prices. Oil is wherever the rebate deals are the best, though.

If I do need a part from a local store, I'll look it up online first, choose the part quality I want, then give them the part no. to get. No upselling or that's listed for a different engine or anything like that.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: OB4x4
In a recent market study of national parts houses, AZ came in at 49% satisfied customers, they just edged out Pep boys which came in last place(41%). When less than half of yours customers are satisfied with your service your doing something very wrong.

I just wonder why some people keep on going to there. Is it just price?

Because most people have the same experiences that the OP described. But most of us know that even a 'tard can look on a computer, get a number, go back to the rack and pull the same numbered item, and sell it to you. Anything else, such as a question, we already know that they cannot answer it correctly. And because they pay so little, they are not going to get any rocket scientists (Yes, I know there are some exceptions, but generally...). So keepin the running costs cheap offsets the poor customer satisfaction.

 

[steve20]

I bet if they did the customer sat study and compared that number to employee turnover rate--might give some insight as to the low numbers