Originally Posted By: expat
Some of them don't have a brain, they just punch in part numbers.
I once went to the parts counter with a pretty generic Fuel Filter and asked
Me; "Do you have anything like this"
Him; "What year and model"
Me; "It's not the standard part, I just need a filter about this size"
Him; "I can't help unless I have a year and model, I have 500 filters back there"
Me; "I actually need it for a 53 Allard, but something this size will fit"
Him; Punching in '53 Allard' on his computer "We don't have one"
Me; "I know you won't have a listing, it never came with a Fuel filter, I just NEED something this size"
Him;"Well if it didn't come fitted with a filter, How in [censored] do you expect ME to find one"
Me; Giving up "I'll go see what Canadian Tire have"
Him; "well THEY won't have one"
That is a function of everything becoming computerized. Part's people don't know how to look anything up in a book anymore and god help you if the computers go down. They( aftermarket anyway )have things set up so they can hire morons and fools for minimum wage as long as they can use a computer. It is a shame really. I took a lot of pride in being a good parts guy when I was doing it.
Actually, many stores don't even have books anymore. Been that way now for a while. I actually went to AutoZone for some rotors and pads a few years back when I was helping a friend do his brakes on a Sunday( only places like AZ open ). Just so happened there was a power outage. The girl behind the counter told me she couldn't look the parts up because the computer was down. The weekend Manager no less was actually turning customers away and telling them to come back Monday.
I asked why couldn't they just look them up in the catalog then. They looked at me like HUH? They did have the book but I had to look it up for them. Don't even ask about what happened when I went to pay and the computer was still dead as was the register and calculator.
The last place I worked parts was at a local Napa. I had been out of it for a while and then went back briefly on a temp job to grab some extra $$$. At that point they had gone over to everything being computerized but they did still have books. The asst manager was a tool! Had a very good customer call her and ask about a muffler and some standard pieces of pipes( elbows and such ). Like the fuel filter story above the customer told her by application wouldn't work as he wanted a muffler to the dimensions he gave and then some standard pieces of pipe for a project he was doing.
The "ASST MANAGER" told one of the best customers the store had if there was no application there was no way for her to get him the muffler. The guy knew me from another parts store in the area from years back so he called me( conveniently forgetting to tell me he got the run around earlier from my boss = THANKS LOADS! ). Took me all of 3 minutes to open the exhaust catalog, go to the back where they showed the dimensions for all of them and find the muffler he needed, and order it in for later that AM. We had the pipes in store.
When my boss found out "I" got reamed out. I didn't get it then and don't get it now? I go to parts stores, and even dealerships, these days and usually leave shaking my head thinking these guys wouldn't cut it when I was doing parts.