These kids, or a funny happend at the NAPA store today.

[clemsonfor]

When it came down to getting parts for my Yanmar I almost always ordered them online, very seldom did i get them locally. Now with my Deere skid steer, i just go down to my local dealer, tell them what I need, they look it up in the computer real quick, confirm with me that that is the right part, pay for it, and i am on my way in a few minutes. I must spend a lot of money there because everyone there knows me by name. :laughing:

Cause most of us order parts online period, there WAY cheaper. Not sure on Deere parts but everything else i buy is that way.

But they remember you cause your What like 16 now!! You have to be the ONLY 16 yr old that comes into that store that owns his own skid steer! Its not hard to remember something like that when you work at a parts place. Like i said i use to work in one, you remember all the stange or obscure customers or the ones with unique items or circumstances and you fit that bill.

 

[chopped]

My Tractor supply adventures werent too good.
First, I called them and was looking for a tube for the rear tire of my tractor. 24-12 something. They said they looked it up and didnt carry any. I asked when they would get them in and they said it was much to big a tractor, and I should go to the local dealers.HMM Tractor Supply and no tubes bigger than lwan mowers??I brushed this off to just the one person.
But then when i bought my wleder, they had a hard time with a coupon but the cashier got it right then she asked if I needed her to help load it as the manager just walked away.:confused2:
For soem reason they took the unit off the shelf for me to take. and it was missing the groub and also the electode holder, So the manager came out and he says ya know someone must have stole them..lol
I said well ill slpit the difference with you on some after market ones ont he shelf. he said cant do that. So then I suggested to take them from a slightly different welder and then replace those later whe they figured it out
He said Ho Go.
So i lugged the unit back in and said return. the clerk said she would but the manger again came by. asked if i could use the old ones from my burned out unit ..lol:confused2::confused2:
Then he opened the other box and gave me the holder, and some pliers and gloves that were in that box.So i guess it worked out ok for me but left another unit shorted parts..
The cahsier seemed more knowledgable

 

[Car Doc]

I am one of those people that firmly believes anyone who works at an auto parts store should have an automotive background rather than just a warm body taking up space at a counter. And I dont mean tuner punks either that think if its chrome it will go faster if you pull all the OEM stuff off those guys drive me nuts.

I am patient with them and help as much as I can I know not everyone knows everything but they can take up a lot of a persons time especially when we cant see whats on their screen as a choice or see a wrong entry when we call in.

The computer programs they all use make it so any dummy that can run a keyboard can get thru the menus but knowing a water pump from a radiator is a prerequisite. :laughing:

I have dealer lines I call in on at my parts houses and that is supposed to be a knowledgeable person only answering the phone but not always is the case new hires will pick up sometimes.

We have a bunch of smart women at the parts stores around here they pick stuff up real quick better than some men I am real happy with the female parts people here and some are not hard to look at either. fwtw

 

[bcp]

P.O. Ackley, one of the old time custom gunsmiths, preferred hiring women for his shop help. They didn't already have their own ideas how to do things, could be trained to do it his way, and didn't have personal projects stashed to work on when the boss was away.

Bruce

 

[scrappy isb67]

I'd like to know more about your machine, and see some pictures.

On topic, I have had very mixed results with parts clerks. The local Napa saleswoman was able to match the ignition points for my IH 284 by eye alone, without even being given a part number. Another shop has an extraordinarily sharp, but very young female manager, who has more part numbers memorized than the rest of the employees cumulatively, it seems.

For other employees, less a credit to their companies, I have had to explain how valve stem caps are not make and model specific, that a 1/2" bolt is not one which takes a 1/2" wrench on the head, and that a spark plug, so long as properly cross referenced, does not need to be purchased from a cycle shop in order to go into a motorcycle.

I get frustrated by the computerization of auto parts stores, because it enables hiring staff who don't know anything more than following flowcharts, but I really like the ease for me at home to check inventory at the stores myself, and to simply ask for specific items by part number.

If you want to have al little fun with them ask for a radiator cap for a 69 VW Beetle.

I was working on a project once and needed a radiator hose ( 1 1/2 inch inside diameter and 18 inches long) The counterman at the local AutoZone freaked out because he needed to enter a vehicle into the computer to look it up. I could see all the radiator hoses hanging on the rack behind him, but he just wasn't up to the task to actually look at the hoses and find what I needed. He just kept telling me " I've got to have a vehicle and year" Drove a few miles further to a parts store where the counterman simply walked back, grabbed what I needed and sold it to me.
Needless to say, I've never gone back to AutoZone

The parts professional is al lost art. but some still have it. As a second job(well at least BEFORE I deployed) I worked @ O'Reilly's. Late one Friday evening a gentleman came in looking for a distributor cap and rotor for a '60's model Minneapolis Moline. I tried the computer(some tractors are in there), and then went to the "book" I was able to find a suitable replacement in the book and got his tractor going again. he was happy as a pig in stuff, if I hadn't been able to find him the parts, he was going to be down all weekend! the "book" is where most people get lost!

 

[clemsonfor]

The problem is the pay. If your knowlegeable you will work at a dealer and make a few more $$/hour. Or if your like Car Doc and know or have a background in repair you will be working as a mecanic as there is more money as a mecanic. I know i use to work at a parts place. I did not know what the older guys made (i was a highschool grad and just started college). I knew what parts were what. could diagnose some problems and had a better idea than most that work there. Today i know 10x more than then just from teaching and watching and learning and most of all doing stuff on my own. But i have a bud that got me the job at the place i worked. He started there at 16 (were 30 now) he just left there about a year or more ago. He was asst mgr when he left. He went to a Dodge dealer, not sure his title but he was offered a few more $$/hr than where he was. He started at counter like i did. I left for school but he was local. He worked there all thru college. Was one of the longest employees they had at that location. Ended up moving to the back "dealer line" as CD mentions. He ran that and did well growing the biz. I think he then got asst mgr. But i think he went back to the dealer desk as he did not have to open store, work on weekends and got off earlier etc. Anyway my point is that time when he was a mgr he would work the counter but not always as his duties would not allow it all the time.

 

[Car Doc]

P.O. Ackley, one of the old time custom gunsmiths, preferred hiring women for his shop help. They didn't already have their own ideas how to do things, could be trained to do it his way, and didn't have personal projects stashed to work on when the boss was away.

Bruce

Yup I agree with his philosophy and besides that I am a big fan of sharp shouldered wildcat cartridges.

We used to have a huge Big A warehouse distribution center that served the greater Midwest area here and anyway I knew where most everything was in the warehouse. Me and another real good buddy of mine who is a great mechanic they allowed back there we spent a lot of time rummaging around back there while working on various projects.

If they couldn't find it in a book (back then it was all book) at the counter I would go back and go thru boxes or racks etc and find what I needed by what it looked like I really miss those days.

I would have a lot more cars done w/o special ordering parts by application like now. I personally got a lot of added knowledge of parts I didn't know they had in stock or even existed or what was what doing things that way too.