Can I speak to a SMART person at the Autoparts Store??!

[NYC94GT]

Anyone enjoy a night like this??? :dunno:

Last night I finally got around to doing the brakes on my Daily Driver aka: 2002 Voks Jetta 1.8T. I tear the fronts tire, and brakes off, throw on the new rotors, pads, grease the damn slide pins and bolt everything up nice and tight. BUT, only to my dismay the rotors are the wrong thickness, causing them to rub on the Calipar mounting bracket!! Thus, from the words of Ron White, sending me into a level of pissed off...! I mean COME ON! How can you sit there behind the desk with your handy dandy computer inventory all for your convenience and STILL pick the wrong rotors?? It turns out there are two thicknesses for the Jetta: 22mm and 24mm. I'm assuming this guy sold me the 24mm when I needed the 22mm. Needless to say I will have to sneak out of work early to go to track down the right rotors so I have this two day brake job done by tonight.... :lame:

So, I say thank you "William B." who's hard at work at the Advance Autoparts in Hicksville L.I. Next time, READ AND WRITE DOWN the numbers before you run to the back and pull your parts. :aresehole:

 

[GREG@SN95]

go to napa

 

[trav_19]

avoid advanced auto zone...my parts stores are quality people we have tons of training and what not....auto value bumper to bumper and performances are all ours so deal with them if they are in your area O0

 

[Paul]

go to napa

+1 NAPA guys actually know what they're talking about.

 

[gt96stang]

go to napa

+1 NAPA guys actually know what they're talking about.

Not the guys that I spoke to the other day..

 

[95KBGT]

I GOT YA BEAT!


when my father and i were still restoring my 55 i wanted to get diamond headlights, so i can run hyperwhites in them (before HID craze) well i took the stock sealed beam up there, and all i wanted to know was what type of bulb this is.

The guy then began to tell me (after i told him what i wanted to do) was that i would have to buy pigtails to splice in and buy new headlights. along with all this other bullshit.
WTF

Then i told him why cant i just find out what type of bulb this is, and just get that type in hyperwhite and put those bulbs in my new headlight housings.

he said o you cant.

I then went to oriellys and got what i needed in 5 seconds.


heres another.

i call oriellys looking for specific tools to work on my trike. the guy was a complete ass hole to me being very short and said ya we have them and hung up on me.

so i shrugged it off went up there, and i spent 20 min in the tool section looking for these tools he promised he had,

well behold the same guy that was a dick to me on the phone came up to me and asked if he could help. i told him "ya you want to show me where these tools are you promised you knew you had?" he said o ya sure. he then kept handing me 7mm sockets all the same type of tool i needed but not 17mm.

I then got pissed off and said "you mean to tell me you were a complete dick to me on the phone and said yes we have these parts and now you dont..."

then we went to the battery section. i brought in the old trike battery...so he could compare. took him 15minutes to find a battery IT WAS THE WRONG DAMN SIZE AND CRANK POWER WTF" i then walked right over to the shelf and found the correct one.

i then talked to his manager and have yet to be back.

 

[19mustang95]

hey, my name is William B.

and my roomate works at autozone and he actually knows about cars. so there is atleast one knowledgeable person at an Autozone. :hammer:

 

[scarface]

i worked at advance for a a few months... not always the parts guys fault. Cheap parts dont always make it to the correct box.

 

[97vertstang]

while i do agree that some people that work at this stores dont know jack, theres always at least one guy who is very knowleadgeable. think about this, kids are 18 make mimimum wage, what do u expect???i work at a speed shop and when it comes to mustangs i get the part before the guy even finishes his sentence. but then i get a guy whos looking for parts for his 440 mopar, and then they think im stupid cause i go in the book and ask them questions. well what the hell do they think i am????i got a billion different parts and i dont want to sell em the wrong part!!!!!! i have to make sure that theyre getting the right part. or even better when the guy has a buddy who thinks hes 283 chevy needs a 750 double pumper, and a "3/4" cam. they think i dont know what theyre talking about, i do but last time i checked comp doesnt list a " 3/4 " cam. sorry for the rant but some people are stupid and think they know everything

 

[Mr. OAM]

KB, if you took a sealed beam headlight to a parts store and wanted to know what kind of bulb was in it, if I am understanding you correctly, the guy was right. The sealed beam is the bulb, the whole thing. You would need a different style pigtail to connect to whatever type of halogen headlight you were looking to put in your car.


I worked at parts stores years ago, back when you had to know about cars to get the job. Now you only have to know how to work a computer to get the job. This does not help out the customers at all. No good sales person is clueless on what they sell......but today this is acceptable in the name of higher profits, but it costs the store in the end when customers don't come back. No customer loyalty is formed.

I had it with customers that shouldn't even be working on their cars. A guy came in and wanted a water pump for a 400..........a standard 400 engine in his words. I brought him 3, one for a Ford, one for a Pontiac, and one for a Chysler. I asked which he had and if he didn't see his I could bring up some more. He asked which one was for a 400.......I told him they all are, depending on who made the engine.

Step away from the vehicle........


Steve

 

[bigjohnson4.6gt]

when i had my blazer, i saw those tornado intake devices (you just put it in the intake pipe before the manifold and it feeds more air), well my truck was throttle body injected, when i ordered it i told him this, he calls me when it comes and its for a carburated truck (which is about 5x bigger than the one i needed), it took them 2 more tries to get it for me, and it wasnt the store they bought it from because the guy at the store told me it was punched into the computer for a carburated truck

 

[95KBGT]

KB, if you took a sealed beam headlight to a parts store and wanted to know what kind of bulb was in it, if I am understanding you correctly, the guy was right. The sealed beam is the bulb, the whole thing. You would need a different style pigtail to connect to whatever type of halogen headlight you were looking to put in your car.


I worked at parts stores years ago, back when you had to know about cars to get the job. Now you only have to know how to work a computer to get the job. This does not help out the customers at all. No good sales person is clueless on what they sell......but today this is acceptable in the name of higher profits, but it costs the store in the end when customers don't come back. No customer loyalty is formed.

I had it with customers that shouldn't even be working on their cars. A guy came in and wanted a water pump for a 400..........a standard 400 engine in his words. I brought him 3, one for a Ford, one for a Pontiac, and one for a Chysler. I asked which he had and if he didn't see his I could bring up some more. He asked which one was for a 400.......I told him they all are, depending on who made the engine.

Step away from the vehicle........


Steve

the whole thing was, is i allready had the diamond lamp housings, i just needed to know what type of bulb it was so the exsisting wiring harness would plug in correctly

 

[DropTopPony]

Maybe if they paid their people better they would pay more attention and care about the job...BUT like most big companies those parts distributors are making billions but pay the normal staff peanuts.

 

[Mr. OAM]

[/quote] the whole thing was, is i allready had the diamond lamp housings, i just needed to know what type of bulb it was so the exsisting wiring harness would plug in correctly
[/quote]


Ah, I thought I might be misunderstanding.


Unfortunately the American buisness model now is "How can I make a dollar today?", and they don't worry about tomorrow. Good sense and morality has really disappeared from our culture.

Steve

 

[97vertstang]

KB, if you took a sealed beam headlight to a parts store and wanted to know what kind of bulb was in it, if I am understanding you correctly, the guy was right. The sealed beam is the bulb, the whole thing. You would need a different style pigtail to connect to whatever type of halogen headlight you were looking to put in your car.


I worked at parts stores years ago, back when you had to know about cars to get the job. Now you only have to know how to work a computer to get the job. This does not help out the customers at all. No good sales person is clueless on what they sell......but today this is acceptable in the name of higher profits, but it costs the store in the end when customers don't come back. No customer loyalty is formed.

I had it with customers that shouldn't even be working on their cars. A guy came in and wanted a water pump for a 400..........a standard 400 engine in his words. I brought him 3, one for a Ford, one for a Pontiac, and one for a Chysler. I asked which he had and if he didn't see his I could bring up some more. He asked which one was for a 400.......I told him they all are, depending on who made the engine.

Step away from the vehicle........


Steve

we get people like that all the time. or when i ask em questions theyre first answer " does it matter???" yes it matters!!! i had a old guy come in looking for a shifter cable. just by looking at it i knew it was a hurst cable.i asked him for what tranny was it, and what type of shifter was it, just to make sure. his answer " its a chevy, thats all u need to know". what a dueche bag :rant: i wanted to tell him to f**k off!!!!!thers a bunch of stupid people who think they know what theyre doing, so dont blame all the parts stores, customers are retarded too and dont know what they want.

 

[Lightning Struck]

there are a few smart guys up at our local advance .......but not many

 

[wnracing]

Well, I can say from experience that there are SEVERAL factors that determine the kind of experience you will have in any respective Discount Auto parts store.

1. You have to be respectful and courteous.. Do you even realize half of the shit that most of us who work in parts stores have to deal with? MOSTLY lower class scum that have no respect, aren't polite in any sense of the word and treat you like complete dog shit.

2. Most of us aren't making jack.. I have about 4 years of retail experience and basic automotive knowledge.. Do you want to guess what I make as a SALES MANAGER?! $10/hr. I don't know about you guys, but that's not very motivating..

Also, those of you who go into any parts store for any kind of advice (other than simple everyday situations) are out of your minds.. You must realize that the people working there ARE NOT mechanics. The job doesn't require much, if any automotive knowledge. The employees there are not there to help you fix your car, they are there to get you the part that you are asking for, if you need a mechanic... Go to a mechanic.

Some of you have mentioned that it is a sales job. It is not. You ask for a part, we look it up, you buy it. The employees of various auto parts stores do not pressure you to buy their parts, therefore there is no 'sales' involved. Now, Im sure that many of you will argue that money changes hands, blah blah blah.. That isn't sales, I don't care how you look at it. If that were considered sales, then I guess Wal*Mart cashiers are allstars by now.

OK, well Im done venting.. For now... I get to hear enough bitching every day.... :comando:

 

[97vertstang]

if you need a mechanic... Go to a mechanic







well said :thumb: most people think that were mechanics, in my job i will guide to what u need but i dont know what the fuck is wrong with ur car.
also older people 50+ piss me off cause they dont like it when u know more then them and dont want to give u much if any info.

 

[Hybridbird]

I realize that not all parts store people are idiots,but the biggest ones I have found are at the parts stores.The one that I will NEVER forget was @ a local twilight zone back home.This chick was waiting on us I told her the vehicle info and she asked what I needed.I told her BRAKE pads,BRAKE rotors and two of these...and set the calipers on the counter in front of her.She said....and I quote..."UM WHAT EEEEIS DAT?" I said well it's caliper.She said "OH WELL I DONT BE KNOWIN ALL DAT,I JUST WORK HERE!" OMG we laughed SO hard we had tears in our eyes before we left.She got mad and made someone else help us.Was it wrong for me to ASSUME that working at a parts counter she would have had to ATLEAST SEEN a caliper before??I guess so.... :hammer: :hammer: :hammer: :hammer:

 

[NYC94GT]

while i do agree that some people that work at this stores dont know jack, theres always at least one guy who is very knowleadgeable. think about this, kids are 18 make mimimum wage, what do u expect???i work at a speed shop and when it comes to mustangs i get the part before the guy even finishes his sentence. but then i get a guy whos looking for parts for his 440 mopar, and then they think im stupid cause i go in the book and ask them questions. well what the hell do they think i am????i got a billion different parts and i dont want to sell em the wrong part!!!!!! i have to make sure that theyre getting the right part. or even better when the guy has a buddy who thinks hes 283 chevy needs a 750 double pumper, and a "3/4" cam. they think i dont know what theyre talking about, i do but last time i checked comp doesnt list a " 3/4 " cam. sorry for the rant but some people are stupid and think they know everything

Dude, I hear you, but who says this dude was 18?? He LOOKED like he was in his 20's and I assuming not a career minded gentleman. But for God's sake, they spec two different rotors and never bothered to check?