I'm losing interest...

[aasltmike]

Re: I'm losing interest...

I only go to the Autozone in this town if it's something out on the aisles I'm looking for. I don't get anything from behind the counter that the clerks have to look up and get off the shelves. There was a female manager awhile back running the store and the customer service was crap. Haven't seen her in a long while, so I can only guess she moved on, got fired, whatever...the customer service is still crap. I go to the Advance Auto across the street because one of the more knowledgeable guys in there goes ga-ga every time I bring my Typhoon around. LOL

 

[Goche4]

Re: I'm losing interest...

I agree napa is great they go out of there way to find your parts. YOU GUYS NEED TO WATCH THE MOVIE ON NETFLIX DEATH BY CHINA then you will really think were screw

 

[92TyLA]

Re: I'm losing interest...

I blame the messicans and the asians!!:rant: not the guy who hired them...

 

[green73]

Re: I'm losing interest...

Unfortunately the only "local in town" partshouse for me is Vatozone. Since I have been there about eleventy billion times they don't question what part I ask for. Half the time it isn't for the car it's going on. I truly hate going there, but sometimes they have what I need. Hell they had intake pushrods for a 1963 Ford 390FE on the shelf! and Melling to boot. Sometimes I have to help the counter guy though. Stumbled in for some polish one day and a friend was looking for n axle seal for a Ford 9" axle. Neither he nor the counter jockey had a clue. According to counter guy, they weren't even in the system. :rant: Gimme your keyboard. I forget what year or model I put in, but within a minute I found the part numbers (big and small bearing). No they weren't in stock, bit were in the system. Seems that they were searching under the wrong name... I really wish they would have paper catalogs for situations like that!

 

[Snoman002]

Re: I'm losing interest...

I hear ya, but we do get what we pay for I guess.

Ask that of the old jag guys who bought the $800 ignition box just to find out it was a box with a GM HEI module inside it, LOL.

 

[gkrcr882]

Re: I'm losing interest...

Being in the biz does help, I try to deal with the commercial acct managers whenever possible, for a few reasons:

1. I can usually get things cheaper, if not at shop cost

2. They are on the ball and do what it takes to make sure things are right. We stopped using Advance for two weeks since their delivery times were outrageous and they kept sending the wrong parts. Their district manager ended up coming in and apologizing for the screwups at the store level. Guess what? Deliveries have been faster and things have been (sorta) correct more often.

3. I can typically bypass the general public trying to figure out what they need at the counter. Express lane service if you will.

4. If I'm at work I can call in what I need, and pay with my CC over the phone, and they'll deliver it to the shop.

5. Allows me to get to know the people working there. I help em out from time to time (they supply parts, I put em on and charge less than for a regular cust) and in return they'll help me out with pricing, hard to get stuff, etc.



If I walk into a parts store I can generally tell within 30 seconds what kind of customer service I'm going to get. If the person behind the counter acknowledges me, is actually doing their job, and is on top of things I can usually bet on it being pretty good. If they're leaning against the shelves talking to other employees, messing with their phones, and in general doing as little as possible to not get fired, then I know it's going to be rough.

 

[Jimmy]

Re: I'm losing interest...

yeah the problem from a shop owners persepective is yes id love to sell ac delco, moog, bosch, motorcraft, ect... parts all day long- but if I price out a moog ball joint to a customer for 80$- he calls around and the crackhead shop up the street tells him the ball joint is only 20$... the customer doesn't want to hear that there is 60$ in difference between the moog part and the noname- he just wants his car fixed for as little as possible

I had one guy say "well your warranty is the same whether I buy the cheap part or the expensive part so I may as well buy the cheap part"

but with a moog part ill warranty it past my 12 month/12000 mile warranty- the off brand stuff the second its out of warranty I wont do a thing about it.

and yeah its a shame what parts places have come to in our current world. Years ago stores were dingy and full of cigar smoke but the guy behind the counter was knowledgeable. Now the stores are nice bright and clean- but its a 18 year old kid who doesn't know a crank sensor from a throttle body. They know how to put the make model and year in- and search for the part you ask for. God forbid if you go there and tell him you need an alternator for a 400 small block swapped into a 92 Camaro

If you only use the best parts and do good work,word gets around.

**** them if they don't want good shit.They can pay a little bit more to get it fixed right,or they can pay you to refix the same problem they already paid to fix once after it breaks,later.

 

[SY2932]

Re: I'm losing interest...

Until recently, I could count all the times I had to use AutoZones' Limited Lifetime Warranty on one hand. And I do a decent amount of shopping at AutoZone doing side work or cars. Of course, there are a few oil changes in there...

I just replaced a lower balljoint on a Honda Civic for the THIRD time before the holidays :roll:. The first time was less than a year, the second was about 8 months and this most recent one was less than 6 months. Even though it didn't have a zerk fitting, I still slid the boot back and injected it with grease all three times. I guess that have been fortunate on everything else. Or my clients simply sell the car before something I replaced gets to go bad...

I never rely on the counterman to find the correct parts for me. 99% of the time I research the part(s) online to make sure they are correct. Then I use the parts stores' websites to place an order using 35% or 40% off coupons. The counterman is simply there to clerk my order when I show up to pick it up.

X4. It's comical how often the guy behind the counter asks me to give another customer my :2cents: about their problem. I shop at about half a dozen stores regularly and everyone in the store knows who I am. Which has it's perks in so far as keeping the store open a little later until I can get there. Special ordering items that need to be paid for in full in advance with no money down. And being able to return items that otherwise wouldn't be returnable. However even my main store that I do business with has one associate that I don't care to deal with. My buddy worked with him at Monro Muffler/Brake once upon a time. Guy worked there for 32 YEARS and all he could do was change and top off fluids...

 

[gkrcr882]

Re: I'm losing interest...

My buddy worked with him at Monro Muffler/Brake once upon a time. Guy worked there for 32 YEARS and all he could do was change and top off fluids...

There's a whole 'nother thread topic right there. I've got first hand experience regarding the "quality" employees MMB hires.

(hint: technicians are started at $9/hr, no matter how much experience, certs, etc they have!)

 

[midnightbluS10]

Re: I'm losing interest...

yeah the problem from a shop owners persepective is yes id love to sell ac delco, moog, bosch, motorcraft, ect... parts all day long- but if I price out a moog ball joint to a customer for 80$- he calls around and the crackhead shop up the street tells him the ball joint is only 20$... the customer doesn't want to hear that there is 60$ in difference between the moog part and the noname- he just wants his car fixed for as little as possible

I had one guy say "well your warranty is the same whether I buy the cheap part or the expensive part so I may as well buy the cheap part"

but with a moog part ill warranty it past my 12 month/12000 mile warranty- the off brand stuff the second its out of warranty I wont do a thing about it.

and yeah its a shame what parts places have come to in our current world. Years ago stores were dingy and full of cigar smoke but the guy behind the counter was knowledgeable. Now the stores are nice bright and clean- but its a 18 year old kid who doesn't know a crank sensor from a throttle body. They know how to put the make model and year in- and search for the part you ask for. God forbid if you go there and tell him you need an alternator for a 400 small block swapped into a 92 Camaro

IMO, we, as enthusiasts, should be prepared by knowing what that 400 small block came out of or could have come from. I'd much rather know I can depend on me to know what It came from than hope this week's counter guy can figure it out.

:dunno:

 

[atkonkler]

Re: I'm losing interest...

It all comes back to what I've said time and time again....you have your great group of guys at any AutoZone, O'Reillys and Napa then you get your warm body filled stores that could fuc$ up a cup of coffee if given the chance. Oh and by the way some duralast parts at AutoZone are moog parts in the duralast box every once in a while.... I've seen it first hand with my own eyes.

 

[nickerz]

Re: I'm losing interest...

I can explain this very simply.

The people who sold quality parts were not able to stay in business because people flocked to cheap parts. And I don't want to give the impression it was like 50\50. It's like 99\1.

The "price elasticity" of auto parts is so high, that even at a couple cents, the bulk of orders go to the absolute cheapest.

So you can blame "corporate greed" but the real blame lies with the consumer. If everyone stopped buying cheap parts, the availability and allure or selling them would dry up immediately. Production would shift back to high quality parts and the problem would be solved.

But the truth of the matter is people would rather buy the part that lasts 6 months for $40, than the part that lasts 20 years for $200. So this isn't going to change. People are not forward thinking as you.

I have experience in the economics of this industry.

 

[Don W.]

Re: I'm losing interest...

I don't do much heavy mech work on big trucks anymore. But last june I did a rebuild of 4 brake cams and 8 bushings on a trailer. All parts were OEM/made in the USA. Good quality. Total parts were $230.00 I was quite surprised. I would have expected closer to 400.00 or above.

On the other hand the brake&wheel shop that I have gone to for years (and the one my cousin uses for custom work on old trucks) can't seem to find a good pitman arm/idler arm/ball joint anywhere. Regardless of brand. Quality control is apparently a huge issue. One will work and the next is kaput in 3000 miles.