Category Archive: BangShift Question Of The Day??, UPCG
Question Of The Day: What’s Your Best Method Of Messing With The People At The Parts Store?
Ok, it seems that our own Unknown Parts Counter Guy has become bored. That isn’t a good thing…when the guy with a bag on his head has grown weary of listening to the sounds of angry...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: Replace The Clerk With A Kiosk?!
I’ve often mentioned that the counter-clerk at a parts store has about as much sway in the everyday world as a burger flipper…and that usually, the burger joint guy is making more money...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: The Alternative Isn’t Always Better…
For years now, I’ve been griping, complaning and outright bitching about automotive parts stores, with a lot of my vitrol aimed at the big names: NAPA, Advanced, AutoZone, and...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: When The Good Idea Fairy Goes After The Computer System
One of my swiftest complaints to come flying out of my mouth involving the store, any store, is the computerized catalog. It’s the bane to older generations, the parts Bible to the incoming...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: Slacking By Example
It’s been two and a half years since I handed off the keys to my register and the doors. I threw most of the uniform shirts into the closet and forgot about them. One or two of the company...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: The Participation Ribbon Kids And Gold Stars
It’s amazing what kind of stories come flying out, late at night, with a car torn apart, hot pizza on the counter, and the smell of petroleum products hanging in the air. As the boxes of parts...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: Fuel Additives And Rear-End Lube, Now With New Grape Scent!
For every part and piece that is in the store that qualifies as “useful”, there are probably five items that are simply crap. Stickers, license plate frames, Tweety Bird floor mats, the...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: You Know What I Miss Most? The Humor.
Only in one aspect can I truly align working behind the counter at (STORE NAME HERE) and the military: the job itself kind of sucks, the leadership blows harder than a Funny Car engine most of the...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: Oh, No, He’s Testing Stores Out! Did An AutoZone Pass UPCG’s Test?
For a few years now, I’ve bitched, moaned, made fun of, and shared stories from my experiences as a parts counter guy, and honestly, I’m running on fumes at this point. I don’t work...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: Diagnosing Problems Over The Phone? How About I Just Shake The Magic 8-Ball?
Ever since I was a kid wearing the small paper sack that Uncle Benny got with his “breakfast in a can”, two things were apparent to everyone that knew me. One, I was going to have a...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: The Box Store Return Policy, Found Elsewhere.
Comedian Rodney Carrington once said of a very well-known “box store” that tends to be rather sue-happy, “…they’ll take anything back. You could go back one year later:...
Unknown Counter Parts Guy: Can We Get A Little Bleach For The Gene Pool, Please?!
I keep saying it, and I keep getting proven wrong, but I simply cannot believe the kind of stuff that goes on in the store that no customer ever knows about. I don’t mean the random pranks, or...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: Get In The Box, The Behavior Box!
Hooray, you got the job. You managed to sell yourself to a parts store manager as a knowledgeable, enthusiastic hard-worker with motivation and a desire to better yourself. We are pretty sure that...
Unknown Parts Counter Guy: Sorry, But Your Car Is A Health Hazard And Must Be Crushed
(Photos: Service Advisor Memes) For the sake of this piece, I’ll admit my faults: in one of my cars there are two empty water bottles and an empty Gatorade bottle in the backseat footwell and...