Parts Counter People: The Next Generation

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Just put the kids to bed and it's kinda quiet. I was reading Bill Anthony's article in the recent PWA and had to laugh out loud at his experience with UHaul. Everyone who has any experience with moving dead cars around the country knows that UHaul offers pretty good deals on their car haulers if you return them to the same location where you picked them up. (Wouldn't recommend their trucks, unless you like your cabs dirty enough to plant potatoes in.) But when they enter your info into their computer to find out if your rig is "safe," you always tell them that your tow vehicle is some sort of monster truck, and that the vehicle you are moving is a VW Rabbit, PT Cruiser, Hyundai Sonatina, or some other cute little thing.

Speaking of people behind counters these days, I recently had the opportunity to visit the glitzy auto parts chain store that came to town.

I told the kid behind the counter that I needed a rectangular sealed beam for a two headlight system.

The kid stared at me. "What kind of car is it?" he asked blankly.

Frustration began to ensue on my end. My vehicle was common enough, a 1997 Chevy pickup. But it is a "base" model, sporting the old sealed beams, and not the much more common "Silverado" or whatever, with composite lights. "Look," I told him, "I just need, you know, a regular square headlight."

Yet another blank stare. "I need to know what you have in order to help you," he said.

Me: "Chevy pickup"
Him: "What year?"
Me: "1997."
Him: "Is it a 1500?"
Me: "No, 2500."
Him: "What size engine?"
Me: "Sigh. A 350. That's a 5.7 to you."
Him: "Automatic?"
Me: "No, it is not. I don't like them."
Him: "Is it four wheel drive?"
Me: "Yes."

He started clicking and clacking on the computer, and staring into the screen. After a point, his eyes got big and he looked up at me like I was some kind of genius. "It says right here it could have a sealed beam," he announced. He jotted down the part number, then reached over to the shelf right behind him and picked out the right one.

To the company's credit, I suppose they like to have all this information so they know what their customers are driving and what parts they should stock for them. But, I don't know, it seems to me the parts guys used to be a lot sharper than they are today. And everyone seems to look at me like I'm really old, even though some of the cars I drive were manufactured as recently as GW Bush's first term.

So, what stories do you have? Anyone?

[W_A_Watson_II]

Lots of similar ones to that. It gripes me a lot when I have the part number, and they still want to go through the vehicle routine. I also have lost a lot of faith in Napa, they can't cross reference crap when it comes to part numbers anymore.

[Ron in Indiana]

I had something similar a few years ago at a box parts store. I was looking for the exhaust system for a 1974 W300 and this chain still had them listed. I told the 20 year old kid what I wanted and had to go through the whole engine -drivetrain-A/C thing with him. All the time he's looking at me with this "you mean they had trucks back THEN?" I wanted to say yeah they came right after the dinosaurs. So he looks up the parts I need and says they don't have the pipes, do I want to order them? Yes I do. He prints out a ticket with ONE part on it. I ask what about the rest of the system, tailpipe, muffler, hangers etc. OH what year was this? ARGGG I just told your stupid arse 5 minutes ago. I repeat the entire thing. Guess what he doesn't have the tail pipe do I want to order it? YES. Same deal he prints out the tailpipe on the ticket. OK what about the muffler? Uh what year was it again? Are you kidding me? I'm about to grab this punk and choke the crap out of him by now. Same routine and yes they have the muffler. Do I want to take it with me? Yes as I'm not going through this again. In the end I did get my parts and the truck is now overseas via eBay.

[Clint Dixon]

I very rarely shop at auto parts stores that require all of that information. The NAPA and CarQuest local to me are still great family owned stores. I walk in, exchange greetings (first name basis), give them the part number, and they get me the part or place an order for it. Sometimes if it is a real oddball they will ask, after the fact and out of curiosity, what I am using the part for.

When there is an emergency and I do have to go to one of the wannabe hangouts, I have two standard responses to the semi-automated list of questions: I either calmly answer all the non-relevant questions and then voluntarily add some critical life-altering information like; "It's green too." Or, I say that I have absolutely no idea what the part fits. I just want to set it up on a shelf and keep it ready in case I ever happen to need one. That one most recently happened at a large hardware store that also carries a complete line of chainsaws and lawn mowers. I wanted an inline fuel filter. The young guy ended up getting frustrated and angry with me. The older guy who was listening just grinned and told him to get part number XXXX from bay ****.

Sometimes the young guys are just too easy. I have many more years of experience than them in playing mind games and pushing buttons.

[74w300uteline]

Counter girls

Small independent auto parts store had two beautiful young Italian exchange student sisters behind the counter along with a few knowledgable oldtimers. The gals would peck away at the computer while interrogating the customer about his vehicle. The oldtimers were sitting nearby flipping through parts books actually finding the needed parts. I dont remember anybody getting agitated by long counter wait times. The language barrier was not infuriating because the gals were so polite and smiley. They were enjoying their American experience and so were we.

[DrPepper]

It's the computer doing the thinking....

unfortunately we have a generation of people that have been taught that the proper way to do anything is to plug info into a computer and it thinks for you. Go to any store and buy something for $11.50 and hand the cashier a $20, wait a moment and then right after they enter the $20 and it pops up the change... hand her $1.50. All of them panic, half of them will refuse the $1.50 because they can't figure out that all they need to give you is a $10 bill. Too many were never required in school to really count (or think) on the fly. The guy that keeps entering your info at the auto store is the same guy that died 50,000 times playing some war game over and over. The old guy with a catalog learned to go through the process of understanding what the part was, what other parts were related to it, and could think about more than a line of data.
I love the expression when I ask for a part for my truck and tell them it's an '87 engine in a '57 truck but I need an '83 part because that was before the emissions chnges in '86.
and, "I have a photo ID, will you take cash?"
DrPepper

[Desoto61]

Have to say I haven't had too much trouble that way. But then if I'm looking for something that's not actually from my truck I usually will find it on their web site first and take the printout with the part number on it to the store.

Now for the older stuff the NAPA closest to me has an old guy that works there and he actually likes hunting down some of the harder items like the wheel studs and nuts for my PW. But then NAPA is about the only place you can find that anyway.

[rxinhed]

I went to Auto Zombie on my way home to get a headlamp adjuster screw for my Ramcharger. According to Rob the french fry boy, Ramchargers were only front wheel drive and the part was dealer only. While he looked this up on said computer, I pointed out that he'd entered 11 model year and my vehicle was 1987. I said 'thanks' and walked around the store for other things. In the meantime, I saw the plastic packaged piece I needed and picked it up. I returned to same Rob at the check out and was asked paper or plastic. My goodness.

One of my memorable auto parts store experiences, when I was 'the kid'...at the counter, I answered the phone and a little old lady was asking if we worked on cars and installed the parts we sold. She had a turn signal bulb that was out. For a small lamp, I said that I'd install it. About an hour later, she drove up in her red, stickshift '69 Mustang Boss 429. I walked out, met her with the bulb and a screwdriver, then determined that the wires had merely broken at the connection behind the bulb holder. I asked the grandma to come into the store and enjoy the AC while I gathered parts for the repair. After all was said and done, I rewired the bulb holder with pieces from a Grote lamp, removed the original plug by heating the solder and spliced in the new wire. The install looked good, and I only billed her for the Standard replacement pigtail to replace the one from the Grote piece. How often do you get to wrench on a Boss 429? She was awesome, original owner of the car and did not live much longer. Her son brought in a card of thanks for helping out his mother. Store closed down the following week, and I was no longer in the 'professional' parts business.

I still dream about Fel Pro gasket numbers and inventorying them....

[Ron in Indiana]

You didn't tell her you needed to "test drive" the Boss to see if it worked? LOL I come to know the manager at my local Auto Zone and he goes out of his way to get me what I need for my Power Giants. They will order parts that may or may not fit and send them back if they don't no questions asked. I normally deal with Napa but figure if I'm going to get chinese parts anyway I might as well pay a cheaper price.

[Desoto61]

You didn't tell her you needed to "test drive" the Boss to see if it worked? LOL I come to know the manager at my local Auto Zone and he goes out of his way to get me what I need for my Power Giants. They will order parts that may or may not fit and send them back if they don't no questions asked. I normally deal with Napa but figure if I'm going to get chinese parts anyway I might as well pay a cheaper price.

That's the way I am. A lot of times the NAPA number is the same as the chain store down the street so there's no point in going further and paying more from NAPA, and with 4 vehicles the local chain store is used to seeing my face and is willing to put up with my weird requests.

[BobbyMike]

I just go to the same NAPA store I worked at 22 years ago.
Same owner. Never an issue. They have the catalogs right next to the computers. They just use the computers to order parts.
I will be sad when he passes on.

[Bob Thompson]

I just go to the same NAPA store I worked at 22 years ago.
Same owner. Never an issue. They have the catalogs right next to the computers. They just use the computers to order parts.
I will be sad when he passes on.

Some years ago I found a NAPA store that had a traditional counter staff. Stan, the senior parts man knew how to find virtually anything.
One day when I was fussing with the brakes on an M37 I went looking for brake shoes. I had the NAPA number but the first guy told me it was obsolete and there were none on the inventory system.
Fortunately Stan passed by at that moment and said “Did you check with the remainder warehouse?” I didn’t know about a warehouse where obsolete parts went to die and neither did the counter guy. Stan edged out the counter guy and looked the part number up and then hit a few more keys and got a screen that let him enter the number again. The system showed twenty one sets of shoes on hand at $11.00 per set. I told Stan I’d take the lot. Stan made a phone call to the warehouse manager and verified that they were in fact there and wrote up my order.
Over the years I’ve sold them to other PW guys at cost (They never believe the price at first) and donated a couple sets as raffle prizes, But I think I’ve still got at least one set squirreled away just in case.
Guys like Stan are few and far between in this world. The modern counter person is a tremendous departure from the Stan’s on the past. For Stan the computer wasn’t a crutch it was a tool, the use of which was informed by his own knowledge. I think the reason we don’t get guys like Stan behind the parts counter is that anybody who could do the job really well has better prospects than standing behind a counter helping the cheap idiots that constitute the majority of his trade.
Sadly Stan had the good fortune to win a small lottery jackpot. I say sadly because it allowed him to retire a couple decades early. He said he would move to Idaho and invest in his brother’s parts store. I think he said it was in Ketchum but I’m not really sure. None the less, Stan took all his tribal knowledge and buggered off to Idaho, leaving the rest of us to cope with his inadequate protégés.
There seems to be a disconnect between being computer savvy and being able to reason out a problem. One of the comic strips in the paper is running the old brain teaser to wit " using a three gallon jug and a five gallon jug measure out four gallons of water." I've been testing some of the people I know and I have found that kids under twelve and adults over thirty seem to be able to solve it with little trouble. Those in between however, don't seem to possess the logic to ferret out the answer. It just seems to illustrate what appears to be wrong with a whole segment of the population.

Just an observation.