It doesn’t matter what level you are at: If the words “parts guy” can be tacked on to your job description, life can suck at times. Aviation, diesel, remote-controlled cars…doesn’t matter. This story is brought to you by a guy stuck in the one spot that I couldn’t be paid enough money to occupy: the parts guy at a dealership.
“I work in a major Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler store that is open 7 days a week. My hours are noon until closing Wednesday through Saturday and 10 until 6 on Sundays (unheard of in dealerships!) Sunday,after a long day of cleanup and inventory along with a very few sales, I am patiently awaiting 6PM as by now it’s 5:30PM. The phone rings, answer right away and low and behold what sounds like a tweaker starts jabbering. Finally get the make and model and try to decipher what he has. So far not bad. I ask him what he is looking for and he doesn’t quite now. More questions and find out it is a transmission part. Still cant tell me what except that he broke something and bent something and needs this solenoid. That’s what AutoZone told him as he had spent the last several hours at different stores looking for this part. That irritates me to no end because he somehow found we were open. Anyway he hands the phone off to his “mechanic” who tells me he needs a solenoid. Got it. Told him the price and hoped it was the right part. He begs me to stay open and wait for him. I told him they lock the gates at 6PM and I have no choice. Anyway this goes on and I tell him to hurry. Shows up at 5:55PM. Dude is beyond comprehension. Shows me the part. Not even close. No stock, obscure part no one else is open now sorry. He didn’t get it. He argued and argued and I just stood and listened UNTIL he said “isn’t this a Dodge” store? That made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.(my thoughts were why you ignorant MF’er) but I sad nothing and let him go. I asked him what he wanted me to do and he rambled about Dodge and not stocking parts. (he unit in question is a 2012 model with over 300K on it with little to no service.) I tell him even if was 10AM I still couldn’t help him. He finally departs whining like a little bitch and now you have the story. Not that spectacular but you cant make this shit up thanks”
“That’s what AutoZone told him”…yeah, it’s phrases like this that make teeth grind. Sincerely, go have a beer…or three…and know that someone out there thanks you honestly for the work you put in.
wait on a tick….so this fellah got pissed at the guy because he went to another store first? then got pissed at him because he said isn’t this a Dodge store ( which it is..) – and then he’s irritated no end because he found out you’re open…on a slow day….I honestly don’t understand why you are so annoyed, other than him showing at 5 minutes to closing. Seriously, if I found a dealership open on a Sunday I’d probably be pissed they didn’t stock the part too. And even if he came in at 10:00 AM you still wouldn’t be able to help because the vehicle in question is 2 years old?? Might be time to start looking for another line of work…..
Well, yes, I think the 5 minutes to closing thing is the main annoyance. People NOT in our industry don’t realize all the nonsense and procedures we have to go through to close up shop, and if a guy shows up a few minutes before closing asking for something he’s not even sure about, wasting a ton of time, and THEN we have to do all the closing procedures, we might not get out of the place for a good 15-20 minutes after.
As for being irritated he went to a parts store first, well… yeah, that’s how all dealership parts guys feel about us, lol…
the ` need to lock up ‘ thing happens in many places – I work at a uni at a front counter, some of what we do is sales. We have to reconcile and bank AFTER the shift finishes at 6 so yeh I do understand the not finishing till 20 past deal. I also understand we cant get pissed at people coming in at 1 minute to 6, and also understand people who have no idea what they are actually after ( stupid is multidiscipline….) But when you get to the point that a pretty normal, par for the course last minute query freaks you out like the above story, then seriously it maybe is time too be looking for something else to do…. As for the guy who blew my comments out to stocking everything Chrysler ever made, I get that – but this guys car is 2 friggin years old…what DO you stock if you cant cover a 2 year old car?
It’s a 2 year old car with insanely high mileage and virtually no regular maintenance done to it. Parts stores stock the things that people use the most. 2 year old cars generally don’t break much. Cars with insanely high mileage and no maintenance break a LOT of parts. He could get the part the idiot was after, I’m sure, but it would take days if not a week to get it from wherever it currently is. The customer wanted the part NOW. It would be like going into a small town Dodge dealership wanting to buy a new Viper, then flipping out because they didn’t have one in stock but could get it shipped within the week. They are a Dodge dealership after all, shouldn’t they have Dodge cars in stock whenever you want them?
Until you have been in a position like that, you don’t really get it. Let me see if I can break it down some.
The guy gave him incorrect information, was looking for a part that probably no one but the main distribution hub kept in stock (meaning it could be anywhere from 1 to 3 days or more to get it in), and fully expected what he wanted NOW!!! After all that was a “Dodge store’, wasn’t it? They should have every single part for every single Chrysler product ever made in stock and available right then and there so he can “fix” what he thinks is wrong with the car at no inconvenience to himself. How DARE you not have whatever he needs right there, just waiting for him to come and get whenever he likes?! It’s an OUTRAGE!!! OUTRAGE I tell you!!! You stupid counter monkeys don’t know what the hell you’re talking about! You told me you had the part I needed so I race down here, almost getting in 3 wrecks just so I can be here before your PRECIOUS closing time! What kind of customer service does this place have? I want to speak to your manager right now!!!
And that’s just starting.
Jeez, Tedly.
I don’t claim to be the brightest bulb on the marquee, but I hope your post was tongue-in-cheek.
Kinda, but mostly just a generalization of the far end of the spectrum. It’s not common, but it’s far from uncommon. Sundays near closing time were bad for this. That’s the time that people in way over their head knowledge and skill-wise realize that the project they started on the only family car on Friday night is nowhere near done, but they have to be at work in the morning plus drop off the kids to school, etc… They’re pissed and freaked already, grasping at straws to get their ride moving by morning, and chances are if you work in a parts store open later than most on a Sunday, it’s the only around for a long way. Plus when the customer gets there, the place is almost sure to be empty of other customers, which encourages the flipping out/blaming the help thing immensely.
That’s the reason for the “That irritates me to no end because he somehow found we were open” line. It’s not because someone had the nerve to come to an open store near closing on a Sunday night, it’s that this particular idiot has managed to find his way to you. It doesn’t take long to be able to spot the ones that are going to give you trouble, this guy recognized it right off the bat.
There D/As on both sides of the counter. I sent my 17 year old son to a chain store for a transmission mount for a 69 Camaro with a power glide. The counter guy told my son “Chevy didn’t have power glides, but fords had two speed trannys back in the early 60s”. Son comes back home empty handed and said counter guy says “next time, know what you need before you come in”, in a smart ass tone while several others were standing close by. I go to the store with my son, wait for the same salesman and tell him what I want, he starts laughing and said “your the second to ask for that today, it doesn’t exist”, also in that tone I mentioned before. I tell him to pull up 69 Camaro (he is still laughing) he pulls it up but won’t go any further, so I turned the monitor so we both could see and borrowed his key board and brought up the mount I was looking for. He said “wow i didn’t know that was a Chevy tranny.” I didn’t mind he was wrong, but his attitude was ridiculous. All I said when I left was – “next time I send my son here – know what your talking about before you open your mouth.
I have also been in line when people didn’t know what year, engine or the name of the part they were sent to purchase. I also have ran into great counter guys who have helped me in my times of need. Like when I was rebuilding the calipers on a old race car I was working on. All I could say was it is off a Dana 60. it took about 20 minutes and when I left the rebuild kit and pads were on the way.
Been wrenching 30+ years i promise you I can stand in front of a parts counter any day and make a parts guy search for a part that don’t even exist. As stated above there are dumba**es on both sides.
Not me. But feel free to try.
I’ve been a counter man for 30+ years and can not count the times I’ve had to go in the shop and show a “tech” how to install a part. Now, if you tell me you’ve been everywhere looking for a part before coming to my store you will get the “sf”‘ (stupid fee) added to the price. I don’t have a problem with the guy that doesn’t know what he needs, that’s my job to help him get he right part, and if I can teach him or her a thing or two that’s great. A satisfied customer is a repeat customer!!!
I’ve been a parts counter guy in a couple stores, and YES dealerships are the worst to work in usually, cause not only do you have to answer the same sh*tbrain clients as the other places, but you also have to answer all the idiot mechanics that think they are funny, especially if you are the “new guy” in the department… So they try to screw you up by asking for stuff like a distributor for a 1995 dodge neon… unlucky for them i was well versed in mechanics and always keeping up to date with cars way before i was even of legal age, so i told him to shove his distributor up his a*s and tell me if he needed a coil pack instead.
There are the DAs on both sides of the counter. I really hate being in line behind the dumbass (usually high on something) that wants to be funny and ask for a kanuten valve or a radistat. But did the dumbass parts guy have to spend 20 minutes trying to find them?
The only real reason I see UDPCG getting pissed is because his boss stops paying him at 6pm and it takes 20 minutes to lock the place up.
90%+ of counter guys have my respect, the remainder are better off elsewhere. I deal mainly with the local NAPA store, where the guys have made a career of it. Less luck with the big chains (the local Autozone is a teen training ground). Last time I was there, tried to sell me vacuum line for fuel line. And I DO mean the last time.
I gave up on Auto Zone the third time I had to take the same part back because it was defective.
I worked at a Big A parts store pretty much by myself on Sundays. It was slow for the most part. This was the time when meth was really getting popular and NorCal was the capital for cooking it. More than once I have some tweaker come in, drop a greasy part and say he needs on of these. OK, it’s a starter. What kind of car is it for? They get mad because I can’t tell one Nippendenso starter from another under ten pounds of grease. It’s a Toyota Maxima. You mean a Nissan Maxima. No! It’s a Toyota. A Toyota Maxima. Then I make the mistake of asking what year. They don’t know and it’s my fault. I tell them I don’t own the car, don’t work on the car, and haven’t seen the car; so how would I know. They get pissed, pick up greasy part and storm out of the show. One guy came back with the car on a trailer to show me what he was working on. The look I got when I said all he really needed to bring was the registration to see what he was working on.
Been on both sides. What really ticks me off is when someone drops the ball.
Made an appointment to have a Honda looked at a nearby dealer. They did not have the part, but could get it nearby. Came in the following morning and no part. Wasted an entire day waiting for someone to get it. Service guys discounted the labor to make up for my trouble.
Guess what? After that you could not give me another Honda. The first one was a gift and I will not have another. One bad experience can sour a customer for life.