Quote:
Originally Posted by BLACK AND BLUE 67-72
Well I for one can understand your frustration, but when parts stores do not want to pay experienced help, then that only leaves the High School kids or just out of High School kids with little to no knowledge of older cars. But I on the other hand am one of those guys behind the counter, and get really tired of smart a$$ed customers that don't have a clue as to what Year, Size Engine, or even What Kind of car the Moron is even driving!!! Then you have some who ask for that intake gasket for a 350, then I ask what year and get the response it doesn't matter their all the same, or ask for a spark plug for a lawn mower and say it doesn't matter they are all the same,ok whatever but I hate to tell you they are not all the same if they were then why do they have so many different ones!!!  I agree some of the questions that the computer ask are really stupid like if you are looking up a sensor of some sort it will ask you if the bed is a stepside or fleetside what in the he!! does that matter? Or if you are looking for a Transfer Case motor it will ask if the truck is 4 wheel drive or 2 wheel drive, I haven't seen many 2wd's with a Transfer Case!! And another one is when it asks what size engine you tell it 454 then it will if it's gas or diesel!!! So as a parts guy that has been doing this for years you learn what to ask and what not to, unlike the fresh out of High School help, trust me I know because I have to work with these guys everyday because management has ran off all of the old and experienced help and this is all they can find for what they want to pay!!! |
I agree 100%!
Step around to the other side of the counter, your comments will probably change quickly after you have dealt with the stupid computer software most stores have. Its pretty obvious that it wasnt designed by a car friendly person.
Here's something to remember on your next trip to get parts.
Most systems first want to know what sort of part you need, not you blurting out all the vehicle info you can remember at 100mph. Then, it needs to know...year, make, model & a few other stupid details before it even gives you a list of parts that are sometimes in a different area of the e-book & you get to start all over again. Its a LIST of numbers, not pretty pictures that everyone thinks it is. We might not know exactly what it even looks like, remember its your car not ours. The customer is usaully talking the whole time about things that have nothing to do with what they are even after & can get very distracting, especially to a young kid that hasnt worked on many cars.
I got through to one of my customers the other day. He called wanting to know price & availability of a couple parts. I answer the phone & get this guy rattling off as much info, just as fast as he can (probably so he doesnt forget what he is working on) & hasnt even told me who he is yet. I need to know this to get an invoice started so I can get "his" price. I can hear him groan when I dont have the prices instantly(remember, he is better than me because Im a stupid parts guy). When I get to the info I need, I read it off to him at the same speed he did to me... He says "Geez, slow down, I can only write so fast"! I laughed & told him that I would say the same thing the next time he gives out vehicle info. He's no problem anymore. See, us stupid parts guys can rant with the best of them...