Parts store stupid customers

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Sep 8, 2005
Messages
16,020
Location
Canada
This is a reply thread to 'Auto parts store idiots' thread. I work as a parts-counter person at a Canadian Tire store, and have for five years now.

To start with, you are somewhat right; there are a lot of people hired by stores like ours that shouldn't be there. Low-bidder thinking does get you people who are just there as a body, and don't know or care. But there are people, such as myself (if I may brag a bit) who do care about the job, know a thing or two, and do learn as we go.

One big problem is that there is a divide - 'retail' parts places, like ours, are married to a system that is 'year, make, model' to look up parts...you don't go by knowing parts, cross references or stuff like that. It is a system that is designed for speed, to people in and out as quick as possible. Smaller 'garage' parts places go by old-school guys who KNOW parts from working with them. They take their time looking up cross-references or diagrams to find parts...they are in no hurry. Some retail systems have no functionality to look up by parts numbers..just year, make, model.

As my title suggests, there is also a problem with customers who have no clue! You would no believe how many times a day I have someone come in and ask for parts, and they have no idea what year their car is, or what engine it has! Sometimes it does not matter, but a lot of times, it does! The real kicker is these people often get mad at me because 'all parts are the same, just go get it'. I try to help people, and say 'when you bought it, what engine did you get'? I usually get an incredulous laugh, and 'I bought the blue one!'

Another one we get is people who want to fix something on their car because they are too cheap to have a shop do it, but they don't know how to do it, and just expect we will tell them exactly how to do it. Yes, a lot of ex-mechanics can do it, but as said above, most of us in a retail setting aren't techs. If you are coming to buy parts at a parts desk, and are doing it yourself, you should know what you are doing. But no, these customers come in and want you to walk them through exactly how to do some complex repair, and get mad when you don't know all the steps, specs, and tools they need!

The other one that really fries me is the number of lazy jerks who send their wife in to pick up parts, when they know even less about cars. Sure, some women do know a lot and are fine, but honestly most don't. To top it off, they think if you can't help them, if they 'threaten' you, it will work - 'If my husband has to come in because you gave me the wrong part, he will be very upset'

So there is a flip side to this!
 
Sounds like those customers would make great employees for most part store chains
smile.gif


Good people are hard to find, somewhere near 50% of the population is below average... its just that they consume, reproduce and vote.
 
Been there ... done that

"I need a fuel pump for a Buick Grand Marquis"


(lady buys 4 qts oil)
Ma'am would you like an oil filter?
"what's that? I just dump in 4 quarts of new oil every 3000 miles"

(Man sets a RUSTED SOLID Quadrajet on the counter)
"I bought this carb 2 months ago, now it's flooding out"
(I drain water out of it.... yeah, right - looks like he found it in someone's backyard)


I could go on forever.
 
i work at a major auto parts chain in the us, thing is, i'm not a professional mechanic. sure, i fix my own stuff once in a while, but i'm not an ase certified master mechanic who is here to fix your car for free. i am not here to diagnose your issues. i am simply here to sell you the correct PART for your YEAR MAKE MODEL with ENGINE SIZE and yes, I can look up fluid specs and stuff. i'd say at least half of the people who work at this company have never even changed their own oil...
 
Last edited:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT4oWFUsfBw

At the dealer we usually want the VIN, last 8 works most of the time. I have no problem telling people if we sell a lot of a certain part, I do that here a lot, but don't ask me if a specific part will fix your problem. Also when people come in and say they have a code P1XXX what is causing it, don't be surprised when I refer them to service or ask if they followed the flow chart. Pulling a code is just a step in doing proper diagnosis.
 
Good post addyguy. I appreciate the good people who work in any form of retail. Like I mentioned in my previous the O Reilly's people are really very good. Tomorrow I am going by there with a hand written letter to their district manager giving the staff there a lot of credit for being so great.
 
Originally Posted By: dogememe
... i am simply here to sell you the correct PART for your YEAR MAKE MODEL with ENGINE SIZE ...
I'm sure there are bad examples on both sides of the counter.

That said, it irritates me when a knucklehead who only knows what he sees on a computer screen asks the engine size---on a year and model that never had but one engine size. Why waste everybody's time with irrelevant questions? That's as much the fault of sloppy computer programming as of the clerk. In one case, an Advance store asked that nonsense question, but neglected to ask whether it's for the sedan, hatchback, or wagon, and I forgot to volunteer that information. They ordered the rarest (wagon) version, which wasn't what I needed.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
To top it off, they think if you can't help them, if they 'threaten' you, it will work - 'If my husband has to come in because you gave me the wrong part, he will be very upset'


That's when you laugh in there face and tell them to go bring his pansy self in there,because you know he's a total puss if this grown man is sending his wife to go run his errands.
 
Yep, and have a friend who is a manager at an auto parts stores who has many great stories to tell...

Working in retail (and trying to escape it again), today's consumer makes it hard to be a professional person....the lack of respect is scary! I pride myself in being good at what I do-but in the past few weeks I have had my life threaten for something that was not in stock.

Lots of angry people....
 
Here in NZ we used to tell them make, model, year, chassis no and engine no - eg, N14, SR18. These days we have a national data base, and just give the rego number. We have a Repco store just up the road, I don't bother to ring these day, I just open Repco Navigator, enter the rego number and look up parts I need, it tells me what parts, if they are in stock, and which nearest branch has them...and my price and RRP.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
As my title suggests, there is also a problem with customers who have no clue! You would no believe how many times a day I have someone come in and ask for parts, and they have no idea what year their car is, or what engine it has! Sometimes it does not matter, but a lot of times, it does! The real kicker is these people often get mad at me because 'all parts are the same, just go get it'. I try to help people, and say 'when you bought it, what engine did you get'? I usually get an incredulous laugh, and 'I bought the blue one!'

There definitely is a flip side. The number of people who don't know what they own is phenomenal. And, if they wonder why you ask about certain vehicle features for differentiation, perhaps they should peruse a few online retailers, and see for themselves that parts can be very different between certain very similar vehicles.

As bdcardinal notes, a VIN is even better, when the system can utilize that.
 
I agree with everything.Then there are the guys that have their squeeze call on the phone for price quotes,and when she is asked a question,you can hear them turn their head and ask the guy who is standing right there or sitting on the couch.Why cant they call? They think the female will get a better price? I don't think so.....
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy

The other one that really fries me is the number of lazy jerks who send their wife in to pick up parts, when they know even less about cars.

So there is a flip side to this!



I guess I fit into that category, as I've sent my wife in to pick up parts. However, I always call ahead of time, have them get the parts lined up and all she has to do is pay for it and take them home.
I feel for you and I know customers can be jerks and complete idiots. I've seen them get mad and stomp out of the store yelling at the clerks as they leave. Consider yourself lucky that they did leave. So it works both ways.
However, I was in a national chain store just yesterday (won't mention name because it's the person here,not the chain) and I was picking up a part that came to about $10. As I was handing him a $10 bill, the phone rang. Somebody was calling in for a price check and he thought he had to answer it. It took him at least two minutes to take care of the phone customer, telling me several times "just a second" each time I would look at him. There were three other people behind the counter not doing a thing while he was talking on the phone. I didn't say anything, but I should have walked, not that he would have cared.
 
Originally Posted By: pkunk
Originally Posted By: JHZR2

somewhere near 50% of the population is below average...
lol.gif
lol.gif
lol.gif



And 50% of doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class; now pick one to work on your problem.

Smoky
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top