Part store strike out

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The town I work in has a population of 10k. They already had Napa, AutoZone, and Auto Value parts stores. One day an Orileys rep showed up at the shop to tell us they were building a store and giving promo rates if you "start a commercial account now". We asked why they were moving into an already oversaturated market for our area and he told us "if there is an AutoZone then Oriley will move in as close as possible even if the stores lose money because it's the main goal of the investors to simply put AutoZone out of business". For the first year I didn't believe him but I've noticed that every AutoZone around here does in fact have an Orileys near by.

lol , burger king did the same thing around here , moving in close to mcdonalds , guess which one has all but gone out of business here !
 
Theres good and bad. I wonder how many make minimum wage?
Also on the flip side, I wonder what kind of stories parts counter staff have about customers?

the one that comes to mind is this one by @RustyRatRod

"I caint STAND people like that. One day at the store, a prick customer came in and told one of the younger guys "I want valve cover gaskets for a small block Chevy". My guy asked year make and model and the guy got really nasty and said "they're all the $#$%!! same, you dumbass". So, I walked over and looked up some for a 78 Malibu with a 305, crossing my fingers the whole time. We HAD THEM! I told my employee to grab those. About an hour later the customer came back saying the gaskets were made wrong that two of the holes on each gasket were "in the wrong place". I told him "no, for about three years Chevy made heads with offset bolt holes on the heads on the intake side". "Now you wanna at least give us a DECADE so we might can find you the right parts?" I just love messin with people like that. LOL"
 
Theres good and bad. I wonder how many make minimum wage?
Also on the flip side, I wonder what kind of stories parts counter staff have about customers?
A lot of funny stories. I shoulsd have written them down. There are facebook groups about service department stories. I bet there are parts store groups as well. "just give me one. They are all the same" was a common customer request.
 
I love B.K. but they've all shut down around me.

Out of the 3 that are left that I know about , only one has the good taste of yesteryear , and they dont add the kick *** sauce they used too .
A little farther away to drive for me for fast food , but we do it occasionally.
 
My local NAPA sucks. They are nearly as bad as WalMart. Nobody knows a thing about anything, anymore

And nobody anywhere seems to know how to look something up by "other than" application, and OhReally's numerical/ pictorial guide, example, gives no info on stuff like "Ford like" starter solenoids. I wanted an insulated base for an old outboard, but not the bracketless "saddle" type it came with, and they could not come up with anything. He showed me right in the listing........just says "12V starter relay" or some such.

Don't the corporate idiots understand they are throwing out customers?
Sorry to hear about your local NAPA, the ones around here are awsome, one lady owns all of them and the NAPA warehouse, only hires older experienced people to work behind the counter, and they still have paper books.
What really impressed me one time in needed a set of points and condenser for a 1948 Willys, the guy behind the counter did not look at the computer or a book, just walked to the back of the store and grabbed the correct parts.

Local Advance Auto burnt down over the Christmas holiday, they were really good.
All the old guys that knew their parts left, guess where they are now working?
They rebuilt the store, but now its just a bunch of kids, that do not know crap.
 
Parts stores are a joke these days. I remember when they broke out the books and looked stuff up. When the computer systems first started coming around it was a nightmare. I gave the clerk the exact part number I needed and they insisted they needed a make and model to look it up. I don't buy anything from parts stores anymore other than standard stuff like oil.
I have a good story from when my brother worked at pep boys in the late 80's. Guy walked in wanting a part for his engine. Brother asks what size engine, customer replys asking for a tape measure. My brother smiled and handed him a tape measure and watched him go out an measure his engine. Yeah sometimes you just have to mess with people.
Parts availability has not gotten any worse as far as I have seen. Back in the early 90's I recall not being able to buy a lot of the brake drums, they just were not available. So next time you complain about the china made brake drums just be glad you can get something.
 
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