Today's adventure....

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FASTBACK340

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Why is it that when ever I need a damn part for one of MY cars I get the royal %$#@#$% run-around! Here's today's exchange with a local parts store that goes by the sub-title "The Parts Authority"....

John: Good morning! This is John from Star Nissan. I have a `74 Dodge Dart that needs a few things. Can you help?

Parts Counterman: Of course we can! What do you need?

John: <feeling confident because the parts guy speaks English...> I have a `74 Dodge Dart with a 225 / auto. I need pads & shoes. I have 10" drums in the rear, single piston calipers in the front. While your in the books, let me get a pair of universal joints and a left side engine mount.

Parts Counterman: <after a few moments while checking his inventory> No good on the mount, everything else is a go. I have 1 joint & the rear shoes, my other store has the front pads & the other joint.

John: Send `em....

<<TWO hours later....which leaves me 1 1/2 hours before my shop closes to bang all this out>>

Parts Driver: Here you shoe....

John: Huh?

Parts driver: <whom barely speaks...never mind he has no grasp of the English laungage> Here shoe... and he's holding an oxygen sensor.

Annoyed John: I think you made a mistake. I ordered brakes and universal joints.

Parts Driver < a.k.a. Plant Life...> Here shoe....

MORE annoyed John: Let me see the ticket. It reads universal joint & brake shoes. I point this out to him and suggest he looks in his truck for the right parts.

Plant Life: No shoe?

I finally find someone in the shop that was born on the same lump of sand as the Plant Life and we establish commincation. He grabbed the wrong parts off the truck. Fast forward to the end of the day, after being visited by the Plant Life's cousin...Stupid Mother ^%$#@#$, my other joint arrives and the front pads. I get the car on the lift & pull it apart. WRONG brake pads....WRONG brake shoes..... I don't DARE pull apart the driveshaft.

I call the parts store again. I get the person whom helped me this morning.

John: Hi, I ordered brakes & universal joints for a `74 Dodge. Everything is wrong! I read him part numbers off the boxes and he assures me these are the correct numbers. I suggest maybe they were returns that were mis-boxed or whatever. Now he's giving me the " are you SURE it's a `74 Dodge, not a Plymouth <like it would make a difference....>

Long story short, I have $110 tied up in incorrect parts, I lost 2 hours of MY time on a beautiful day, and now I have to crank out these jobs after work during the week, which I hate doing because by the end of the day I'm shot to hell. And I'm STILL at the mercy of the counterman and his mutant drivers. Needless to say, now I have to deal with getting my money back and going to Auto Zone or Pep Boys where I can hold the parts in my hands before turing my dead presidents loose.

I swear... I'm selling everything and I'm gonna buy a Mule. If the friggen Mule gives me trouble, I can shoot it and eat it. Now THERE'S satisfaction!
 
LOL, Sorry to hear your troubles John. It does seem like if you didnt have bad luck you wouldnt have any.
 
But man, you sure tell it good! I rarely enter the parts places without old part/core in hand anymore. Just too risky, as you so painfully tell. Dang mutants...
 
AdamR said:
It does seem like if you didnt have bad luck you wouldnt have any.
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Wanna know the REAL kick in the ***? When I work on someone ELSE'S car at work, I do the best I can honestly do. I NEVER up-sell un-needed repairs or replace parts just to get some extra warranty pay from Nissan. I always use a fender cover and clean up if anything get's soiled while doing repairs. I even spray air freshener in the interiors during major services. I make sure the customer feels good about dropping major dollars for servicing. I really do my best when it comes to performing my job, and I make a good living doing so. I also get requested often by our regulars and the service advisors love me....


But when it come to MY cars and I'M the consumer......I have to deal with every imaginable genetic mutation the good Lord allows to breath life. :angry4:

Why me?
 
After the 2nd time he said "here shoe" you should have shown him yours and kicked him in the *** with it a few times!
angr0006.gif
 
EvilScamp said:
After the 2nd time he said "here shoe" you should have shown him yours and kicked him in the *** with it a few times!
angr0006.gif
Click to expand...

As much as he deserved it, I was afraid he might enjoy it and followed me home....:twisted:
 
Thats why I only deal with the good old parts stores. I really
hate the new chain stores. Nothing but flunkys working there.
I'll spend a little extra and go to the name brand stores.
NAPA, Car Quest and the like. I have known the guys working
the counter for years. If they are under 25 years old they know
nothing about the old cars. Don't know how to look the parts up
in the book. they just look at the computer and say sorry, no
listing. Stick with the good old part stores. Good luck. Brian
 
briankaplan said:
Thats why I only deal with the good old parts stores. Stick with the good old part stores. Good luck. Brian
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I agree, but the store I deal with has been in bussiness in the same location for 30 yrs. and they now have a chain with 7 other stores ( Clearway Auto Parts for those of you familar with the Queens/Nassau area of Long Island) The counter guy wasn't a kid, and I can't blame the Plant Life that handed me an oxygen sensor, he just delivers boxes with numbers on the side.

Tomorrow morning I'm headed out to Pep Boys where maybe I'll have better luck. I'm also ordering a complete PST polygraphite kit w/ ball joints & tie rods. I'm spoiled with my Barracuda as it rides as tight as a new Maxima...this Dart handles like a shopping cart with 3 bad wheels.... on dirt.

<sigh....> brakes....engine mounts....u-joints....front end. How far away can a big block and Centerlines be? :|
 
That's about par for the course.. in my area they keep hiring cute little girls to work the counters in the chain stores. You explain it to them 4 times while they look at you with a blank, bovine stare and eventually start clicking on the keyboard. They've never been under the hood of a car in their life and have no clue, they're just earning minimum wage and looking decorative. I used to sell parts in the 80's when I was in college and we were actually expected to KNOW something about cars. We sold parts, gave advice, diagnosed problems over the phone, and on and on. Today you walk in knowing exactly what you need and still have to send them back to the shelves 3 times to get the right part. I don't dare walk in anymore without the old part, and that's even on my "modern" cars. On the other hand, you can throw them any old greasy leftover part for a core, and they don't know the difference.. lol.
 
I used the above mentioned parts house out of conveinence since they deliver to my shop, on a Saturday afternoon no less. I got jammed up. What can ya do.... I'm just annoyed I have over $100 tied up in parts I'm returning.


In about 15 minutes I'm off to the good Pep Boys near me where the guy just spins the monitor around and hands me the keyboard. It's just that I have to go there, and they're not even close to my shop so it's a bad idea for a lunch break "road test" :yawinkle:

I'll get back on this later. Who knows, I might spot Plant Life selling bottled water at the parkway exit ramp......
 
onehellofadart said:
I've missed your stories John!
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That's my relief mechanism.... if I don't use my powers to be entertaining at times, you'll see me handcuffed on CNN some night.:ncool:
 
I went to my favorite Pep Boys (Hempstead Tpk. in Elmont for you locals...if any) and dealt with Charlie. Charlie is waaaaay cool. We tied up that damn computer terminal and cash register to the point where some impatient tool threw down a $10 bill saying "this costs $5.99... keep the change" and walked out! I got my wheel cylinders and u-joints today, the pads & shoes come Wed. and the engine mount by the weekend. Even if the parts are wrong, this gentleman learned our laungage and was competent & thorough. I have a good feeling.

I'll know next weekend when I bolt in all the crap I'm buying this week.
 
Sometimes even the old parts stores are run by idiots!
I used to deal with one since i bought my first car 15 years ago and gave them alot of business over the years.
When i bought my 72 Duster i needed a left caliper and brake hose and a few other things so i ordered what i needed paid for evrything and was told everything will be here in 2 days so after 2 days i went in half my stuff was there was told the rest will be here tomorrow,next day everything but the caliper again it will be here tomorrow.
Well for almost a week after that everytime i stopped it will be here tomorrow,finally i was tired of being told tomorrow and told them i wanted to know what the problem was it wasn't in,the owner of the store said i'll call and find out.
After he called he said "it should be in by Fri. if not then Mon."
I said give me my F%#$*@#G money back i had enough of this ****!
Went to NAPA and they had it the next day,been doing all my business with them ever since.
 
I hate to say it but even NAPA here has taken a turn for the worse. They have alot of kids that know absolutely nothing about cars working for them just cause they can work a computer and they'll work cheap. The NAPA closest to me (3 miles away) is the worst. I usually drive to the one 7 miles south of me even though it's twice as far because they have guys that actually know a Barracuda is also a car not just a brand of motherboards.
 
Same problem here in Oz
The classic is that a relativley good auto parts store was bought out by a national chain that goes by the name
of

SUPERCHEAP :angry4: Auto Parts

It's like a $1 shop for car parts and the pinhead people who shop there.

GRRRRRR!!!


Cheers

Benton
 
I tend to go to O'reilly's a lot. They have pretty young staff, but they are not afraid to drag out a book, break open a box, and a few of them have "old" cars (Ok, I don't consider the 1980 Chevy as an "old" car, but hey, it's got a V8, and the kid is building it himself.)
 
LOL, An '80 car isn't old to some, but it may be older than the kid at the counter. Think a second. It might be true. The car is 26 years old and the kid counter persone could be 18. Ha ha ha ha.
 
superdart said:
I tend to go to O'reilly's a lot. They have pretty young staff, but they are not afraid to drag out a book, break open a box, and a few of them have "old" cars (Ok, I don't consider the 1980 Chevy as an "old" car, but hey, it's got a V8, and the kid is building it himself.)
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Same here. Of all the chain auto suppliy stores around here O'Reiley's is the best too and like you said they're not affraid to drag out the book. I even met one kid there probably no more that 20 that when I told him I had a 68 Cuda he knew exactly what it was and even started telling me statistics about them. Like that was the only year for the Hemi S/S car, etc... He's a true die hard Mopar fan. I just wish they weren't so far away. 30 mile drive to them vs. 7 miles to NAPA.
 
FASTBACK340 said:

I swear... I'm selling everything and I'm gonna buy a Mule. If the friggen Mule gives me trouble, I can shoot it and eat it. Now THERE'S satisfaction!
Click to expand...

I hear Mule tastes like chicken.... lol... funny story...
 
man i know how frustrating it is to get a part go home and its wrong, i had this happen when i got a thermostate at the local checkers auto, i wont go there again, one person with 20 or so people waiting to get stuff, he have me a thermostat that was way to small, dad said maybe a chevvy one :angry4: man that is annoying, and when i went back i brought the old one with me he couldnt find one and the computer told him that one was it, wrong, man some people need to stop relying on these stupid computers and bust out a book but he was pretty backed up :-| very annoying
 
Guys it's our fault the consumer for this problem. We, as the general public have demanded more inexpensive products, and because of this we have also gotten cheap products. The manufacturers have gone overseas for their product in an effort to compete with the wally world type companies, this worked for awhile. Know in an effort to stay profitable the companies hire unexperianced help because they are cheaper than hiring qualified help. We are the only ones that can stop this by not patronizing the low cost wally world type businesses and go back to spending a little more at the mom & pop type high service orientated businesses.
I know there are exceptions to every rule but for the most part this is true on the two business types. After you find a company that is treating you right let them know that they are doing a good job and to keep it up. We are all quick to hammer on someone when they do something wrong but never give credit were credit is due. This is the only way it will turn around. Other than blowing up china.

Chuck
 
OK....everything was settled with the first parts store ( The one whom employs Plant Life and Stupid Mother$#@#$R....) After sending Slick-Rick down to pick up the parts and leave me a "Credit Slip" I get on the phone with the manager. I ask what this "Credit Slip" is about. He tells me to bring it into the store and they'll issue me a cash refund. I remind him that because they humped me on the parts needed to make my car road worthy I could not drive to them for my money. After all, they CAME TO ME to get it, they can COME TO ME and return it. I'm assured that I'll have cash before the end of the day, so I send Slick-Rick on his way...after photo copying every reciept.

3 hours later Mongo the Ape Man arrives with my money....less sales tax. I figure Mongo is here to intimidate, but throws me a curve: He pays me the difference out of his pocket and tells me he'll take it up with his manager!

And after all this I'm still without a car. I was rushed out of the shop so quickly Saturday afternoon (due to the parts store jerking I got...) that I totally F`ed up and didn't fully seat the wheel cylinder tab into the brake shoe. Thank God I was slowly backing into a parking space IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE last night when it blew out and the pedal hit the floor. Now I'm waiting for Pep Boys to come through Wed. with my (hopefully....) correct pieces.

I swear...I can't make this **** up. :eye:
 
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