Unbelievable frustraion at "No Auto Parts Available"

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Sorry, we don't have those for green cars!
 
On a very sad note.... I will tell you all.... back in the 90's, I owned a small (3 store) chain of independent Auto Parts Stores (Auto Parts Center). my countermen made anywhere from 35k to 48k a year to serve the public. They could give you the connecting rod clearance on a 49 Plymouth !!
 
lol........i just had to chuckle reading the posts in this thread del, parts house's just are not what they used to be........every time i need a small part, ie, fitting etc. for the valiant, it will turn into a comedy show, lol........"what year and make is it"? i reply with "you don't understand" you have to laugh about it.....otherwise the purple head starts.......
higgs
 
hollywood hig said:
lol........i just had to chuckle reading the posts in this thread del, parts house's just are not what they used to be........every time i need a small part, ie, fitting etc. for the valiant, it will turn into a comedy show, lol........"what year and make is it"? i reply with "you don't understand" you have to laugh about it.....otherwise the purple head starts.......
higgs
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For those little parts and fittings, i go to my local nut and bolt supplier. Those guys have all the fittings and gizmo's you need.
 
my recent attempt to find a Mopar torsion bar removal tool was interesting.. let me think.. 1st store I got a "a what?".... "nope", 2nd store forgetting to say Mopar I got "for a Ford or Chevy?" - explained myself - 10min. on hold.. "I found it online but we can't get that", 3rd store, I got typity typity type type type - "nope, nothing like that". Turned out, in the long run, I didn't need it, but I was surprised that no one knew what I was talking about. To be fair - neither did my buddy who is "in the business" - ASE certified, and neither did the supervisor at a local garage who I have called when I need to borrow a tool I don't feel like buying.
 
Car parts stores now consist of car seat covers, polishes and stick on chrome. My pet hate is you ask for something like for eg 1/2 NPT brass tee and the kid says whats it for. Doesnt matter what its for you wouldnt know what the car is anyway!.
 
The "real parts store" you guys long for have gone underground. Meaning they don't sell retail anymore, only commercial to the professional mechanics. That's where the professional countermen have gone also. They don't want to work for the chain stores and have to install wiper blades and batteries while trying to advise the stoner kid which neon shift knob will fit his Honda. I have spent the last 10 of my 35 years in auto parts sitting on my *** making gobs of money taking calls from the shops who for the most part know what they're doing. I do miss the early days when cars and parts were a whole lot easier to work on and the customers, both commercial and retail would thank you for your efforts.
 
I work at oreilly's as a retail service specialist. i try to train my workers on how to find the parts in the catalogs if the computer can't find it. i have had a few people come in and want a part but they don't know what it goes in or the name of the part. like the hanger bearing for the drive shaft. so most of the time i go out and look at their car to find out what they are looking for. over the years i have figured out most of the p0171 & p0174 codes on a ford are caused by a vacuum leak or a loose intake hose after the maf sensor.
 
Mike - you would be an exception to what seems to be a rule...

Thanks for climbing under stuff and making the effort. The combination of ignorance and lack of motivation in the retail model your industry is stunning. And it's driving the guys who do this work regularly and spend the money on it out of retail-based stores. Feel free to escalate this to your management.
 
On the torsion bar tool, that one's so specialized, it's hardly a fair test. I had borrowed one from a friend, and left it sitting on my counter at the parts store where I work for almost two weeks. Nobody figured out what it was for. None of the employees, not a single mechanic, or any of the crowd of mopar guys who come in on a regular basis.
 
Thank you Moper.

i think most of the problem is with most of the kids these days is just a pay check and the customer doesn't matter. my way of thinking is the customer is our employer and the company is just there to write the checks. i may not know everything but i try my best to make sure the customer gets what they need the first time around. last week i had a customer come in with a brake caliper for a trailer i couldn't find it in the catalogs or in the system using the casting numbers so i did a google search and found the correct part he needed and got it for him the next day. i also try to test those under me from time to time to find an odd ball part or see if they know where to look without me telling them. or using the search function on the electric catalog.
 
Two of my kids are in management for service businesses and over the years it has gotten real obvious that a lot of the young people that they hire think that now that they have a job that they don't actually have to do anything to get paid.
Some of them even get highly offended if their direct supervisor tells them to do their job.
They like to stand around playing with their phones, or texting friends instead of working.

One example was when my youngest son (manager) saw one of the female employees eating the condiments with her bare hands.
He told her that not only was she not going to eat them, but that she will NEVER put her hands in the containers without food service gloves on.
She promptly looked right at him and stuck her entire bare hand in and stirred the contents, and then dumped a handful into her pocket.

He sent her home right then and there, but per company rules all he could do was to write up a complaint about her and submit it.
It took them almost 3 months to finally get rid of her, and the last month she would come to work but sit in the restroom on her phone the entire shift. (and the company paid her for that time)


Boy if we did something like that on the job when I was a kid you would not only get fired immediately but probably got a boot in your *** on the way out.
And you could forget getting paid at all.
 
TrailBeast said:
Two of my kids are in management for service businesses and over the years it has gotten real obvious that a lot of the young people that they hire think that now that they have a job that they don't actually have to do anything to get paid.
Some of them even get highly offended if their direct supervisor tells them to do their job.
They like to stand around playing with their phones, or texting friends instead of working.

One example was when my youngest son (manager) saw one of the female employees eating the condiments with her bare hands.
He told her that not only was she not going to eat them, but that she will NEVER put her hands in the containers without food service gloves on.
She promptly looked right at him and stuck her entire bare hand in and stirred the contents, and then dumped a handful into her pocket.

He sent her home right then and there, but per company rules all he could do was to write up a complaint about her and submit it.
It took them almost 3 months to finally get rid of her, and the last month she would come to work but sit in the restroom on her phone the entire shift. (and the company paid her for that time)


Boy if we did something like that on the job when I was a kid you would not only get fired immediately but probably got a boot in your *** on the way out.
And you could forget getting paid at all.
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I used to work management before I got into parts. I was night manager at the busiest wendy's in canada, the second busiest in north america. And if anyone pulled something like that they would be out the door before they could wash their hands. Any deliberate health code violation is grounds for an immediate dismissal. And a "cause for fire". Up here if you are fired for a "cause" and you try to fight it you have to prove the cause wasn't real just as much as the company has to prove it was. It puts onus on both sides. And I doubt some judge hearing about a kid stuffing mayo in their pockets is gunna put up with that **** for long. But for small infractions it sure is difficult to fire someone. Verbal warnings, written warnings, final write ups. Even then they can dispute it and the company has to have a paper trail of all these warnings they gave, as well as prove that the employee knew they were violating company codes. It can be a pain in the *** for sure.
 
I only go to parts stores when I don't need parts. Hand cleaner, air fresheners and some solvents. I already know the folks there are useless and will have to order it. So I by pass them, order it myself and it's usually cheaper and i know it was ordered correctly. Getting the part you ordered, that's another issue.....
 
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