Ok, I’ll admit: while lots of times the conflict at your friendly parts store is usually started by the customer, there are still plenty of times that the counterclerk is at least just as much to blame, sometimes even more so. Sandy from Nova Scotia, Canada sent us this story, which illustrates that not ever person in the uniform shirt knows what they are doing.
I won’t bore you with all of my personal info but I’m a well versed old car guy. I brought back to Nova Scotia, Canada from Australia two Australian 1972 VH Valiants, one a utility (ute) and the other a charger. They look nothing like a North American Valiant, but do share many parts as they are based on the A body platform. The VH charger needed little to get on the road so I went at it first buying parts from the local mom and pop parts store near my house. I never once told them what I was really working on just asked for things like spark plugs u-joint , brake shoes etc. for an North America 72 valiant to simplify things. Once I got the charger all sorted and legal for the road, I started driving it……………….. while working the same North American Valiant parts thing with the ute.
I pulled up right in front of the parts store with the Aussie charger one sunny afternoon, jumped out the Right side of the car ( RHD) and went in the front door of the store. The senior parts guys loses his mind and goes on a 10 Minute lecture………… of how there was no way I was going to get parts for thing in his store. ………………I was wasting my time……….. I should know better etc. This normally wouldn’t have bothered me but the store was full of customers and he was making ME out to be some kind of moron. I waited till he was finished and asked him if he was done…I think he wanted to toss me out? I then politely asked him if he had seen me in the store , every other day for the past couple of weeks?… All he could say was yes. Then I asked him where did he think the parts were going ?….. I then explained to him they were all on the car out front and I knew better than to ask for parts by the real application. I then left the place ..Dead silence as I walked out….
I got a phone call that night from the store owner asking what had happened. I explained myself as above. Funny thing is the parts guy got fired shortly after that because of his short temper. As young as 5 years old , I used to go to that parts store to pick up orders called in by the local service station …..I was in my 40’s when this incident happened and had been a customer well know to the family that owned the store … for say 35 years or more. I hate see someone lose their job but I do believe in Karma
Attached are pics of the two Valiants although you will note the ute is actually badged as a dodge, not the more common Valiant……………… they are Chrysler Valiants not Plymouths!
Ok, count me as very, very jealous. The only way I know how to get an Aussie Charger into the U.S. is to talk to a guy in Southern California, and I have to either bribe him with Tim Tams or threaten him with a spider. As far as screwing with the parts guy, I’ve been guilty of doing that a time or two. It’s a shame to see one think that he knows more than you and is unwilling to help, though. One pissed-off sales clerk can screw up a lot for a store, and by his firing, the store management seems to think so. I’m sure customers who witnessed everything called in on something like that and upper management got one hell of an earful.
Time for cake!
I have been in the same situation. In one trip, I went to the parts store to get a water pump, a flywheel, and brake pads for my ’65 Impala. I asked for a water pump for a ’73 Impala 350 (That’s what all the accessories on that came from), a flywheel for a ’72 Chevy C10 pickup 400 (Because I have a 383 and that’s a vehicle that had a 400 with a manual trans), and brake pads for a ’70 Chevelle (because my CPP disc brake kit uses ’68-’72 Chevelle calipers and rotors). The parts guy commented I was working on a lot of cars that weekend. I said no, just that ’65 Impala out front. He tried to tell me none of this stuff would work. I had to explain he would be right if that car had anything that was stock and he was arguing with the guy that built the car.
I wonder if the fired parts guy wearing an “I’m Lovin’ It” t-shirt asks how many headlights the customer’s car has before accepting an order for a Big Mac.
“Would you like spark plugs with that?”…
Like I said .. regardless of what business it is …. there are @$&hats on both sides of the counter . Always has been . Always will be … unfortunately
@C1BAD66 ….. “Would you like spark plugs with that?”…
Too funny .. I may have to borrow that one !
I had a similar incedent in a small mom and pop parts tore myself. My dad worked on the bulk fuel delivery side of the business and I was well known to the owners and their family since I was probably 10 years old. I’m now in my mid-40’s. A few years ago, I stopped in there to grab some header gaskets for my ’72 Olds 350. They usually kept them out in the sales isles, but for some reason decided to move them behind the counter.
I walked up the counter and actually told the new kid bhind the counter what the part number was for the Mr. Gasket Ultra Seal gaskets. Of course, he had to go throguh the whole computer thing “Year, model, interior color, etc…” Goes to the back walks back with a set of AMC header gaskets. I told them they weren’t right and what they actually were and he proceeded to give me the “That’s what the computer says!”. Eventually, as the conversation began to escalate, one of the guys I know well in there walks over ans asks what’s going on. I told him what I needed and the number. He goes to the back and brings them out. they were right and I avoided the new kid for his short term working there.
I’m glad to see that the North American A body parts work with the Aussie Valiant / Utes. Since my ’93 deployment with a stop in Perth I have always wanted a Aussie Valiant with a Six Pack Hemi.
Deja vu. A week or 2 ago, I decided to try and find cork gaskets for my newly Ebay acquired vintage BBC Edelbrock finned aluminum valve covers. Late Saturday afternoon. NAPA closed. Would not even attempt to score them at O’Rielly’s Advanced Autozone, so I went to the local Mom & Pop. Open until 4:30 on Saturday! I didn’t expect the same drill as the chain stores, but I answered the questions anyway. Year? 1970. Make? Chevrolet. Model? Chevelle. Engine? 402. Why cork? Cuz’ that’s what I want. Got um? Sure. Long story short, I got small block in neoprene. Counter guy tells me, “computer says 1970 Chevelle only comes with 5.7 litre”. Huh?
Guess I’m just an old fart, but I can remember the day when you could walk in and say, “I need a set of big block Chevy valve cover gaskets, cork please”.
I never had any problems at a parts store, but I had a buddy of mine that had an 85-86ish Monte Carlo, that for whatever reason, had an Olds 350 or 403(can’t remember, it was an oldsmobile specific motor, though) in it. He didn’t know what the engine came out of, so it was always try this model, try that model kind of deal until it looked like the part he took off. The counter guys would ask what it is going in, and my buddy would always make the mistake of telling them it was a Monte Carlo. He would tell them specifically that it had an olds motor, but the guys behind the counter would always give him chevrolet parts. I guess they assumed he was a moron and just gave him what they thought would fit and wouldn’t tell him, and just say “Yeah, that is for an Oldsmobile” when it wasn’t, all the while they prolly made fun of him after he left. And of course, he’d always have to bring the parts back, as they were not for an Oldsmobile.
Everyone on the crew was so happy when he got rid of that car, we didn’t have to hear anymore of those parts store stories, hehe. They did get rather old.. “I went in for a starter for the olds motor, and guess what?” “*mumbles*, they gave you a chevy starter…?” “They GAVE ME a damn CHEVY starter!!” …*sigh*…
I’ve managed to stump even the best spare parts counter guys with my ’91 Subaru Leone wagon. It didn’t exist on parts lists anywhere, even more confounding when we found it had the alternator off a Legacy, with a different pulley. Even the dealer couldn’t figure it out.
Try getting parts for British cars, every time I go I end up explaining my triumph spitfire is not a motorcycle , that triumph isn’t the model and I always have to point out the front window to the small British convertible sitting outside and say , “no it is not an MG miget “
Had the same problem getting parts for a small block Chevy in a boat.
Ha you guys are such weenies! try getting Studebaker parts at your Friendly Local Auto Parts Store . You just have to know your cross references and what other cars used the same parts.
Purchased a cheap set of headers for my Big Block 69 el Camino. I was surprised the auto parts store had em. Didn’t pay much attention to the box. Put the headers on which went fairly well… pulled the car off the ramps…the new Headers were about 2 inches off the ground. Looked at the box…Headers were for a 69 Big Block…TRUCK aye yi yi. I remembered then why I normally said 69 Chevelle