I will make this short---The lady behind the counter ended up yelling at me this morning because of her inabilities I told the other clerk to look up how much I have spent here in the last 20 years and look at my smiling face because you will never see it in here again--too many parts stores in Galesburg Illinois for her attitude. Customer service in nearly nonexistent.
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Autozone sucks!
- Thread starter Flysure1
- Start date
classicdoug
Member
I had one of those kind yesterday.
I buy Cast Blast spray paint regularly for painting misc. parts on restorations. I googled it yesterday and came up with a place that sells AMC restoration parts. I called them and wanted to buy 24 cans. The guy would not sell any to me saying that it's because of "people like you" that his customers don't have any when they need it. I said to him, aren't you happy that you are making money selling this no matter who buys it. He insisted that he sells to his AMC customers only and I need to go somewhere else to buy the paint. I told him that I restore cars for a living and I also restore AMC cars when I get one in the shop. He told me he was going to raise his price so he doesn't get any more calls for this stuff, and I was probably going to use it on a Chevy any way so he would not do business with me.
I thanked him for his time and told him that next time I get an AMC in the shop to restore, I'll remember who not buy parts from.
:wtf
I buy Cast Blast spray paint regularly for painting misc. parts on restorations. I googled it yesterday and came up with a place that sells AMC restoration parts. I called them and wanted to buy 24 cans. The guy would not sell any to me saying that it's because of "people like you" that his customers don't have any when they need it. I said to him, aren't you happy that you are making money selling this no matter who buys it. He insisted that he sells to his AMC customers only and I need to go somewhere else to buy the paint. I told him that I restore cars for a living and I also restore AMC cars when I get one in the shop. He told me he was going to raise his price so he doesn't get any more calls for this stuff, and I was probably going to use it on a Chevy any way so he would not do business with me.
I thanked him for his time and told him that next time I get an AMC in the shop to restore, I'll remember who not buy parts from.
:wtf
AzPete
Well-Known Member
I would call him, get a price on all the parts you need, then say no thanks....just wanted you to see the money you lost because of spray paint.
So many places have people that just put numbers into a computer and have no skills, people or otherwise.
So many places have people that just put numbers into a computer and have no skills, people or otherwise.
That is almost exactly what I told my buddy today--The gal was a auto parts expert because she could "look it up on a computer"--I am old enough to remember the parts guys who actually called on shops with a orderbook! As for the paint salesman--it would have gotten ugly."AzPete" said:
Gigantopithecus
Well-Known Member
I stopped going to the autozone close to my house. They seem to only have two types of employees.
Either a kid who can't find his own ass, much less a part, or a guy who knows maybe 3 English words.
Either a kid who can't find his own ass, much less a part, or a guy who knows maybe 3 English words.
O'Rileys is right behind Autozone. - barf!
blu67
Well-Known Member
Sorry, couldn't he just buy more Cast Blast paint...? Or stock a larger supply? I'm pretty sure spray paint has a decent shelf life...
Time to find a local parts place. The place I go to always has what I need even for the Mustang. The few times he hasn't had it in stock he has gotten it to me later that day or the following day. He's a Chevy guy and always likes to make fun of my Mustang but he always knows exactly what I need without further explanation and treats his customers right.
A
Anonymous
Guest
I would file a complaint up the ladder. As tight as competition is these days the last thing a regional manager needs is a smarta** counter person. I have seen the battle for business in this small town for the last few years and the employees are the deciding factor. One store, there is only the manager that has a clue of what's going on. The rest are ummmm......dumb sh*ts, and they are loosing. The other, the manager focuses on hiring young gearheads, and for the most part, they have a good knowledge of what you need.
apollard
Active Member
Unfortunately, in my area the two are autozone and advance. Both useless. The samll local that I used to use closed (retired).
Advance employees all think they know better than I do what I need. I've had them argue with me over parts. F them.
Except for a couple of folks, the Autozone folks don't know crap, but they are nice about just getting what I want. Autozone has thier parts catalog searchable on-line, so I find what I need, print it out, and have them pull it off the shelf.
There's a local NAPA that is much better from an employee standpoint, but they think their parts are made of gold (even the generic ones).
Advance employees all think they know better than I do what I need. I've had them argue with me over parts. F them.
Except for a couple of folks, the Autozone folks don't know crap, but they are nice about just getting what I want. Autozone has thier parts catalog searchable on-line, so I find what I need, print it out, and have them pull it off the shelf.
There's a local NAPA that is much better from an employee standpoint, but they think their parts are made of gold (even the generic ones).
Around here, we have multiple O'Reillys, AutoZone, Advanced, Car Quest. Only one Napa in town right now. There's another being built soon. The only ones I go to are O'Reillys and Napa. I get discounts at both for the car club I'm in. :thu
O'Reillys is usually my first stop though. It's closer and there's a younger guy there who knows all about mustangs, classics to late model and 99% of the time he can get me the correct part if they have it and not question my ability to work on my own car. Which reminds me, I'm suppose to drive Gert up there so he can finally see her. Anyway, I've tried other stores but they all look at me like I've lost my mind when I go in asking for a part or they try to tell me what I need which is the wrong part. :no
If I want a specific part...and I have the part number already.... go get the damn thing off the shelf and :stfu
O'Reillys is usually my first stop though. It's closer and there's a younger guy there who knows all about mustangs, classics to late model and 99% of the time he can get me the correct part if they have it and not question my ability to work on my own car. Which reminds me, I'm suppose to drive Gert up there so he can finally see her. Anyway, I've tried other stores but they all look at me like I've lost my mind when I go in asking for a part or they try to tell me what I need which is the wrong part. :no
If I want a specific part...and I have the part number already.... go get the damn thing off the shelf and :stfu
Had a 94 Berretta that we brought new. When the wife got a new car I took the Berretta. About a year later the driver side ball joint gave up,broke,and ripped the CV joint out. Happened at work so I had the car towed there. Autozone in walking distance so off I go. First CV assembly was wrong. Take it back and they give me the same joint. Wrong again. Kid starts an argument with me about how the engine and trans was swapped out and is not original. Kid got pissed when I said unless somebody took the car when I wasn't looking everythings the same when we drove it off the lot. I looked at him,took the assembly off the counter, told him to look up the part for a replacement customer.I asked for the manager and was told he wasn't in. Ok, went and used the company truck and went to the old Mom and Pop(which has since been swollowed by Carquest),in stock and out the door for $10 cheaper. Put everything back together and drove the car back to autozone. What do you know,the manager was there. Explained what happened got my cash back and haven't been back since. The Advance around here was pretty good. The 2 guy who run the place won't hire someone who doesn't know autoparts. They had a girl there who was working her way through college who knew what the parts looked like from memory. Turns out her father was a mechanic from the old school. She was good. I haven't set foot in Autozone since. And never will again.
RyanG85
Well-Known Member
Owning an auto repair business, I have to deal with parts places many times a day..... I wont bother with autozone. I've been in there a few times and I was not impressed...
Most of these places have a commercial desk to take care of the businesses in the area. The kids they put out front are totally useless but the commercial guys usually know their stuff. I know some guys in the area that aren't a registered business but still are able to buy through the commercial program since they buy offen enough.
My top place to do business with is a family owned Parts Plus store. You cant beat the service and know how of an owned and operated small parts outfit. Buying at chain stores is like buying a burger at McDonalds, the person on the other side of the counter could care less. The only problem with the local parts store is hours of operation (I usually work evenings and weekends to keep up) and they might not have everything in stock if youre in a hurry.
When I need to go elsewhere I use Advance and sometimes Napa. They both have pretty good website that you could order through. I'm pretty sure can can place an order from advance through their website and pick it up at the local store eliminating the need of the uneducated moron at the desk.
Hope this helps.
Most of these places have a commercial desk to take care of the businesses in the area. The kids they put out front are totally useless but the commercial guys usually know their stuff. I know some guys in the area that aren't a registered business but still are able to buy through the commercial program since they buy offen enough.
My top place to do business with is a family owned Parts Plus store. You cant beat the service and know how of an owned and operated small parts outfit. Buying at chain stores is like buying a burger at McDonalds, the person on the other side of the counter could care less. The only problem with the local parts store is hours of operation (I usually work evenings and weekends to keep up) and they might not have everything in stock if youre in a hurry.
When I need to go elsewhere I use Advance and sometimes Napa. They both have pretty good website that you could order through. I'm pretty sure can can place an order from advance through their website and pick it up at the local store eliminating the need of the uneducated moron at the desk.
Hope this helps.
"RyanG85" said:
I find myself going to NAPA more and more. Just seems if they don't have it in stock,They get it by the afternoon if you get in early enough. My Magnum needed an EGR valve last year. Advance didn't stock it but could get it in 3 days. NAPA had it in stock. Rear brake line had just started to leak. Not in stock,Order placed,Call recieved about an hour after I was tightening up the upper intake on the EGR job. I used the CarQuest once for a couple of Cherry Bomb mufflers for a friends pick-up. At the time they were the only ones who stocked them.
AzPete
Well-Known Member
I find that by brand name, no one company store is good or bad. Used the heck out of Checkers in Az. before O'Rielly bought them out. The local O'Rielly's have people who know....but pissy attitudes, plus limited access (or know how) to any warranty info from taking over Checkers. The Auto Zone in Az. I used was a crap shoot at best. The local one here is pretty good if I can get the right few people. Advance has never impressed me anywhere, but the local one here does have a couple car guys that will help if there is a problem. NAPA has always thought their parts were gold plated but do have things where others don't for the most part. Several locally owned stores I have been to buy their parts from the box stores anyway so........ And every store I have been in has had stupid working the counter at one time or another so it can become a real game.
Best bet.....find one you can deal with...get to know the good people.... I always ask for any discount too....military, old people, because my car is broke.....something to help me....and most of the time I get 10% off even if they don't offer one.
Best bet.....find one you can deal with...get to know the good people.... I always ask for any discount too....military, old people, because my car is broke.....something to help me....and most of the time I get 10% off even if they don't offer one.
"AzPete" said:
+1 I use to go a different O'Reillys to get my parts, still go there sometimes, but I mainly stick to the one closer to my house where the mustang guy works. I've been in there so many times, the other employees know me as well. Of course, I'm unforgettable!
art How many ladies with a '66 mustang do they have coming in getting parts. LOLHey Craig...SUCK IT!"cmayna" said:
I'm the commercial manager at an O'Reilly's in West Sacramento, and I've also worked for an independent Napa in the past, AND I did service writing at Sears, so I've been on the other side of the phone as well.
AutoZone and Pep Boys are jokes in the parts business. They are 70-95% retail-focused, which means hiring cheap labor, stocking cheap parts, and trying to get you to buy every POS doo-dad on the sales floor. Service is usually nonexistant, and even the experienced employees couldn't tell you who makes the parts in most of their "Duralast" boxes. They specialize in selling parts as cheap as possible to get business. That's it. They spend so much money on their computer interface because their employees are idgits and need every bit of help they can get. Go ahead, ask one to pull out a book to look up a heater valve or a part for a '54 Bel Air, see what kind of look you get.
O'Reilly's is a pretty well established company in the midwest. They do 50/50 commercial/retail and generally have experienced people behind the counter. The exception is the west coast, where everything has been converted from CSK (Checker/Schuck's/Kragen), and unfortunately a lot of the CSK employees are still around. CSK was about inline with Autozone, selling cheap parts cheap with poor service while trying to make as much money possible, except they went out of business because they couldn't do it properly. The first thing O'Reilly's did when they took over was to strategically hire people for commercial business, like me. That ensures that at least one person at almost every store knows their way around. The retail counter staff will depend on the individual store, but eventually (and it may take years) the quality of the staff should improve dramatically across the board. In the meantime, if anyone has a complaint about an O'Reilly's encounter, I encourage you to send a complaint email in on the website. A lot of those emails go right up to the top echelon and then get bounced back down with dire consequences.
As far as CSK warranty goes....well, keep your receipt. We have some access, but it's dependent upon what phone number you left when you bought the part, when you bought it, and if the person at the counter punched the number in at all. It's always the customer's responsibility to keep track of warranty information and proof of purchase. That goes for any market, not just auto parts.
Independent parts stores (Napa, Parts Plus, CarQuest, etc) are a crap shoot, simply because they're independent. Some offer great service, some don't. Prices will fluctuate wildly, but it will be hard to beat corporate store pricing when you don't have the same resources. Don't believe them, however, when they tell you that their parts are always better than the guys across the street. A lot of the time it's the same part in a different box, you're just paying for that Napa logo on it.
RyanG85
Well-Known Member
Thats what pisses me off the most about napa... They have to have their name on everything. Gates belts with the napa logo, walker exhaust parts with the napa logo...... They think that makes it better than the walker exhaust I can get across the street."Starfury" said:
RyanG85
Well-Known Member
Also its always a good idea to know what you want before you go to the store, as in brand, part number and price. Use the internet to your advantage. I usually use Rockauto.com to look up stuff, easy to use, lots of brands and usually good pricing. With that info in hand, go to the parts store and ask for the parts. I actually ordered from Rockauto once and it was a nightmare. I use them simply as a parts look up.
Some of the local stores dont know what they have or what they can get. With the part number in hand, you'll know if they have it within seconds..
Some of the local stores dont know what they have or what they can get. With the part number in hand, you'll know if they have it within seconds..