It’s another afternoon behind the counter. The birds are chirping, the brake lathe is humming, and I’m trying to mitigate a headache. Part of this is because of allergies (yeah, that’s it…”allergies”) and part of it is because of another round of Joe Q. Public’s absolute unending stupidity.
I’ve just gotten done with a customer call. They were in here earlier, and they are repeat customers…I see them from time to time. The second I hit the counter, haven’t even clocked in yet, and this woman hands me a puppy to hold while she deals with Store Manager. Now, I’m pissed. I have nothing against the puppy…hell, it’s a cute little thing that licks my hand then curls up for a nap…but to just hand me a dog and go, “Here, you take this. This is why you work here, to hold my shit” just makes my blood boil. But whatever…Store Manager is hobbling around like crazy due to a back injury that he won’t see the doctor for, he deals with her, I hand the puppy off to the two female workers who squeal with delight, and I move on.
Fast forward three hours. During a quiet period of the day, the phone rings and I get it. It’s the same woman. Her Silverado popped a code (EVAP canister purge valve) and she’s freaking out. I pull up our list of code translations and explain what she should look for. She asks where the purge valve is.
The truth is, I don’t know. It’s on the EVAP canister, but that’s all I know, and since I don’t have a similar 5.3 Silverado to go look at, I can’t say with certainty. I explain this and she starts reading me the Riot Act, the War and Peace Extended Edition. “How can you work at (the parts store) and not know these things? Are you f***ing stupid? You know what?…I’ll call (Store Manager) in the morning and tell him how unhelpful you were today. Maybe once you ain’t earning a paycheck, that’ll teach you to learn your damn job.”
Ohh, honey. You done f***ed up now.
- I have said it before and I’ll say it again: Counter clerks should have knowledge of vehicles and maintenance in general. We will not be able to tell you where every nut and bolt of the vehicle is, where every sensor is, and what you must do to make the bad code magically go away. There is a name for people who do that job: MECHANICS. And if you try to pull that shit on them, expect the same level of anger I’m venting.
- Stupid? No. I’m many things, but stupid isn’t one of them.
- You know what, sugar? Call my manager! I promise he will side with me! Because I’ve brought things like this up before, and I’ve warned him that I’d use the next one like you as an example. So call. Do your worst.
- With the money I make here, I might actually better off without the job. Would save me from spending the gas money to drive out here.
Essentially, I’ve got nothing to lose. Good luck with that purge valve, you twit.
I’ve worked in GM dealer parts for many years, so I feel your pain.
Most likely the Dog Lady is dealing with you because her “significant
other” can’t/wont do it himself. Isn’t is amazing that they are next to
the vehicle, and don’t know where that item is located. But are indignat
that the parts guy is, MILES away, inside a concrete building, and can’t be
sure !
It is an advantage , working at a dealer, that those “DIagnose my car for
me over the phone” requests are forwared to the Service Department.
At $100/hour.
BTW,giving the puppy to the female employees was a nice touch! You
should have sent it to the parking lot/street so it could fend for itself.
Dogs are great, but not in the Parts store!
(Hey Fido! Look out for that anti-freeze!)
And it’s always a treat when they speak a differnt language, and have
no mecanical knowledge.
It goes on, and on, and on ! Thanks for the vent!
We all love our dogs but need to understand not to cross the line into thinking other people love our dogs too. I’ve seen people bring their dogs into manufacturing plants, a couple of times… Hey if you want 80% of the people you encounter in a building to think you’re some kind of idiot (and then discuss that with each other afterward when you’ve left), go for it.
At the auto parts store I use to work at I had to deal with that type of mentality all the time. I eventually just started calling them “affluent assholes”.
Hahaha That was awesome!
Love the part about the purge valve. Can soooo relate. I work on cars for a living. My favorite is friend/relative calls, Conversation goes something like this. My car wont start, Did you check this, Yes its good, did you check that? Yep no problem there, How about this, Yep its good. Hmmm well I dont know why your car wont start, Can you come look at it. I suppose. Drive all the way to where ever car is at. Check and find the first thing I asked them about was the problem and they could have fixed it themselves. GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRaaaaaaRRRR!!!!!!
The EVAP system is a pain in the ass to get parts for at the best of times, because what the manufacturer calls the part, what we in the parts business call the part, and what Mitchell-on-Demand/the mechanic calls the part are always ten different things. Canister purge valve becomes canister purge solenoid becomes EVAP shut valve becomes Canister Vent Valve because Canister Vent Solenoid.
And when you get into Japanese cars, they add another ten names for it.
But the customer (including the mechanic) hasn’t actually SEEN the part or gotten at it yet, they’re just going by what the trouble code says. And we’re supposed to just magically guess. I hate finding EVAP parts.
so what did Store Manager say? You left us hanging here.
You should’ve asked her why she doesn’t know what the purge valve is and where it is at? Tell her she is the owner of the car and the driver of the car, it’s her responsibility to know how to operate her car safely, not the guy at the parts store. Ask her how she got a driver’s license not knowing how to operate the purge valve on her car, then threaten to report her to the authorities.
feel your pain,bro—i just love it when folks call and ask a million questions on the phone about whatever their particular problem is—sometimes,they aren’t even in my state!!—i especially love it when they start with,”well according to the forum i’ve looked at online,the problem is this”–i got a great idea,let the forum fix your dang car!!!
Last week we had a shirtless guy come in. Now I’m in Canada and while it’s hot in the summer shirt less guys is not something we see on the street, much less in a store. I was alone in the front when I saw lard ass shirtless guy getting out of his car.
I bolted to the back and called one of the other guys saying someone in front was there for him. When he got there he was alone so had no choice but to serve that old, fat, shirtless and sweaty guy.
I called our dispatch and we stood on the side line laughing at the face the other counter guy was making. He promise to get revenge and I have no fear I’ll pay the price for that but it will be worth it.