O'Reilly dropped the ball twice.

[aquariuscsm]

Went to O'Reilly with a friend of mine who's a Pennzoil guy,to order two quarts of Pennzoil Gear Plus 80W90 GL5. Store manager places the order for us,saying it will be in the following Tues and we leave. Tues afternoon my friend calls me and asks me to swing by there and pick it up for him and meet him at his house after work. The clerk can't find the oil,looks on the computer and says "It looks like he got to this screen and didn't know what to do next,so he never finished your order". I'm thinking,what the [censored]?? The store manager is really that irresponsible? Anyway,the clerk re-orders it and says to come by the next day and it will be in.

The next day we drive over there and they can't find his oil. That same manager walks up and says,"Yeah,it takes more than one day,it won't be in till next Tues". I told him,"Yeah,you actually ordered this for me last week. I came Tues to pick it up and was told you didn't order it,so it was ordered for me again,and I was told it would be here today". They all looked up and said,"Um,duhh,sorry".

Anyway,we went across the street and picked up two quarts of Castrol.

 

[Kuato]

I hate special ordering things at auto parts stores. The knowledge and ability of many employees is questionable.

Don't have that problem with Amsoil....

 

[AdRock]

Amazon.com.

Future moron avoided.

 

[splinter]

Well that sucks but mistakes and omissions happen in everybody's life. At least be a man about it and own up!

We’ve seven O’Reilly stores within eight miles (Costa Mesa-1739 Superior Avenue being closest).
I’ve always had good luck since on my first ever visit there a counterman and I struck up a conversation regarding our respective HPDEs participation.
Guessing they figured out I’m an incorrigible car nut.

They’ve special ordered many esoteric pieces on my behalf with nary a hitch or undue delay.
There’s a regional warehouse not far and they’ll often say, “we’ll have ‘em throw it on the truck; it’ll be here tomorrow.”

Nevertheless when pulling out of their parking lot I realize how fortunate I’ve been not to have to earn a living peddling retail wares.

 

[BHopkins]

There is a new O'Reilly auto parts store in my town. It was kind of exciting to see it come to town, as the only choices for auto parts before, in our small farming town, were a NAPA and a CarQuest.

Unfortunately, I have been disappointed with the staff at the O'Reilly. They really do seem to be very short on understanding auto parts. They know how to look up parts on the computer. And they are really good at being able to tell me that they can have it here the next day. But they really don't understand what they are looking up.

So, I suppose I will stay with NAPA and CarQuest, where the people understand what part they are looking up.

 

[bowlofturtle]

Originally Posted By: AdRock
Amazon.com.

Future moron avoided.


While they have better odds of getting it right... They are not moron proof either. Ive been sent wrong parts and items.

It takes a longer time to correct this problem but it doesn't cost gas.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: BHopkins

So, I suppose I will stay with NAPA and CarQuest, where the people understand what part they are looking up.


Napas are getting bad too. Usually there are one or two people who have a clue about cars, and the rest can barely peck away at the keyboard, and have little to no knowledge about anything automotive. It's really getting sad.

I had to get a battery for a 2014 Highlander last week. Nothing crazy, not a hybrid model or anything. Just a run of the mill Highlander. When I called Napa, someone who I didn't want to answer the phone, answered the phone. I would normally ask for someone else, but I figured "it's just a battery, how hard could this be?" After several minutes of "uuhhh, uhhhh, uhhhh, hang on, uhhhh" he told me that "they don't list a battery for these." I said okay, then went on their website, searched for a battery for a 2014 Highlander...they had multiple ones in stock at the store I called. This same person had previously told me that Napa didn't carry tire tubes, I guess because he didn't know what a tire tube was. That I can almost understand, though when I got a hold of someone competent, it turned out the tubes I needed for our car pusher were again in stock at that store. How do you screw up looking up a battery for a Highlander though, at an auto parts store? I can't figure that out.

You don't need to be a mechanic to sell auto parts, but some basic automotive knowledge should be there just for the purpose of looking things up competently. At least if you're going to answer the phone for a commercial customer. I hate to be the guy who just immediately asks for a certain person and doesn't give the other people in the store a chance, but it has gotten to the point where I have to do that. Or I look up part numbers on my own, and just ask for the part numbers I need. I don't have time for someone to tell me there are no batteries for a Highlander, or to just pull any fuse off the shelf when I ask for a specific amperage and type.

So many people just have no mechanical knowledge anymore. Why they choose to work in automotive parts is beyond me. OP's situation seems like more of a computer competency issue, so sorry to go off topic, but it's frustrating to not even be able to count on Napa to look up very basic things with complete information. I'm not a retail customer going in there saying "uuhhhh, I need batree fo muh cah."

 

[CTownIntegra]

At O'Reilly they cannot order oil using the computer. They have to call the warehouse and provide the part number and the line code to have the warehouse manually add it to the replenishment order. It will arrive the next day.

I worked there for 6 years. I no longer do and the local one here is full of morons.

 

[oldhp]

When I worked NAPA we kept all the books that really had good info, only trashed them if the new ones had same/better info/specs. We also gave a lot of books to the mechanics and parts guys. Today I have never seen any parts guy/gal use a book. If they can't find it in the Kom-pu-tor....it don't exist. Most of the time I already have the part number I need. Really helps the "uhmmm, er, can you hang on a second" stuff. A good parts counter guy/gal is priceless!!!

 

[The_Eric]

We've got three parts houses at our disposal and all three have at least one complete, blithering idiot there. At one store, it was so bad that when the idiot would answer (before I gave up on him) I gave him the exact description of a brass part- can't quite remember, maybe a fuel system or brake line part and I could hear him over the phone giving a different description to someone else of what I wanted. I don't expect him to know what it is, but I do expect him to properly relay the message.

At another store the guy can be so bad that even if you give a part number and quantity, he'll still screw it up! Once, I called and asked him for an Edelmann brass fitting- the answer was no, we don't have them. Well I knew they did, so I crawled the web and came up with the number then looked it up on their parts website- they had it on hand. So I called him up and said you that part that you don't have? Well you do... I did the same thing with some 10w-30 diesel oil.

This is why I use their online ordering for 95% of the parts I need. For the rest of the little fittings and misc stuff that I can't find or know the numbers, I still have to call in unfortunately.

 

[Silver]

Originally Posted By: Kuato
I hate special ordering things at auto parts stores. The knowledge and ability of many employees is questionable.

Don't have that problem with Amsoil....


I had that problem with Amsoil. Asked a question about their psf, got a stupid, uneducated answer. It cured my curiosity about their other products.

 

[Silver]

Originally Posted By: AdRock
Amazon.com.

Future moron avoided.


Also incorrect. I ordered a trans filter for my truck. Got the wrong part.

No one, no where with any population of humans, under any circumstances will avoid the morons.

 

[Nyogtha]

Originally Posted By: Silver
No one, no where with any population of humans, under any circumstances will avoid the morons.


Agreed, and this fuels the ever-present presence of attorneys

 

[gogozy]

got lucky once at dealer mistake. the guy answer the phone thought I am a commercial account and quote the price like 40% off retail, I show up and paid, pick up a few case of oil and atf. too bad i have little use of that dealer

back to the subject, I think the computer display at these counters are not the same one we use on the web... I often heard employee asking another one for code, what to key in, and maybe a search with result in 10 or more, and all have same description. sometimes a book would be easier.

there was a time i tried, or still trying, teaching my parents how to use computer.. it's not easy, it's looks funny but not funny. life is crude sometimes and I am glade their company didn't force them to adapt it.

 

[paulo57509]

I ordered online and picked up a water pump at the local O'Reilys the day before Thanksgiving.

Took two guys ten minutes to figure out why no invoice would print. This lasted until one of them just happened to walk past the shelf where they keep the parts already pulled. The invoice was already with my part.

No, DIY places will never elevate anyone's confidence level. Unfortunately, the local NAPA is the same way.

 

[FowVay]

I don't really care for the quality of the product sold at the box stores but sometimes I have no other option than to use them.

That being said, I have Advance, AutoZone, and O'Reilly's all at the same intersection near my house. When I need something I always look it up on the computer to compare prices and verify inventory. This way I have a part number and know if they have it in stock before I ever leave the house. It eliminates confusion at the counter and if the number/part is wrong I blame nobody but myself.

 

[artbuc]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Went to O'Reilly with a friend of mine who's a Pennzoil guy,to order two quarts of Pennzoil Gear Plus 80W90 GL5. Store manager places the order for us,saying it will be in the following Tues and we leave. Tues afternoon my friend calls me and asks me to swing by there and pick it up for him and meet him at his house after work. The clerk can't find the oil,looks on the computer and says "It looks like he got to this screen and didn't know what to do next,so he never finished your order". I'm thinking,what the [censored]?? The store manager is really that irresponsible? Anyway,the clerk re-orders it and says to come by the next day and it will be in.

The next day we drive over there and they can't find his oil. That same manager walks up and says,"Yeah,it takes more than one day,it won't be in till next Tues". I told him,"Yeah,you actually ordered this for me last week. I came Tues to pick it up and was told you didn't order it,so it was ordered for me again,and I was told it would be here today". They all looked up and said,"Um,duhh,sorry".

Anyway,we went across the street and picked up two quarts of Castrol.


How much more money are you willing to pay so the clerks can be trained and/or come to the job with higher skills? How much to you think these folks are paid in salary and benefits?