Dumbest thing you have been told at a parts store

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: car51
So you got taken


I'm still not sure what happened. I had the tires rotated so I know he did that. As for alignments they contract out a guy to come in on appointments X days a year so the contracted out guy is the one who did the alignment. Maybe the tech had a brain [censored] and was in a hurry and just assumed I meant the tires were rotated?

If I had the patience to align my front end I would but I like better precision machines.

Needless to say I was a little weary on my drive home.
 
Honestly did you expect anything different?
Im not knocking them all because some are pretty good but some of them are unbelievable at best.
 
My family was in the repair business for the vast majority of my life and I wrenched on cars for a long time...I've seen and heard a lot of crazy stuff. Most mechanics... like counter monkeys know surprisingly little about cars...and half are a quarter step from rehab.

My two favorites....

1- went to trade my car in...a caprice classic with the 4.3l V8. Dealership buyer comes out and says they can't take my car because someones swapped the motor and put a v8 in it. It took me 20 minutes with the gd Manager to explain that Chevrolet offered bot a 4.3 v6 and a 4.3 v8. He literally called me ignorant...and when he was proven wrong I made him apologize and admit that he in fact was ignorant.

2- had a idiot uaw worker tell me that new cars don't always have the engine shown in the vin number. When I asked how this was possible he claimed that when ford would run out of a particular engine ford would just stick a bigger engine in the car as a surprise free upgrade. I asked where he went to college...;)
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: tsmay51
Bought an air filter one time and took the filter I was replacing with me. The guy at counter had a fit saying he didn't know how the car was even running with that filter in use. Wish I had a pictures of the filter. It had maybe 15k miles and minimal dirt and debris. The car is driven in town in north Texas. Not a harsh environment by no means. It was in good enough shape I almost just put it back in for the time being.

He obviously hasn't seen a filter like this! I pulled this little gem out of a customer's truck last week, what a mess! See stuff like this on ranch trucks all the time. Sad thing is, I've seen worse before.



The dumbest thing I've heard at the parts store was the O'Reilly's guy trying to tell me that O'Reilly house brand oil was Mobil 1 in disguise. I about fell off my stool laughing at that one!
 
Went to a parts store with a dead battery as a core. Told the counter guy the make & model of my plow truck. He looked up batteries and mentioned the prices. I told him which one I wanted and the said to me "This one costs a lot of money, are you sure you can afford it?" The other counter jockey started to laugh. I asked for the manager, who came out from the back, and I told him what his counter guy told me and he looked at the employee and the employee said "He (meaning me) looks like he does not have any money, I didn't do nothing wrong." I looked back at the manager and told him that I was ending my commercial account with his business.

Nuff said,

xtell
 
Like when a brand/type of oil was not on the shelf - so asked if they had any in the back. Nope - due in next week.
Went and got the same stuff from company B. (Just as good). Said he really did not want to sell me that oil and I should wait so the engine gets "what it is used to" -
Told him to ring up the oil - my engine is not emotional.
 
went into a local napa store where they had a super deal on golf cart batteries.brought in 4 bad #27 i took out of my motorhome.
kid told me i would blow up the electrical system in the motorhome if i installed them.would cause a fire.cant sell you those.told him to call fire department as i showed his boss how to use these in his and its in the lot.should burst into flames any time now.
he went and got him and explained that some idiot is here to buy golf cart batteries for a motorhome.and called me an expletives deleted moron.
he fired the kid on the spot and gave me the batts free.and thanked me for the tip as they were working better than the 4 #27 it came with.open mouth insert foot!bet he wont do that at his next job!
 
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
went into a local napa store where they had a super deal on golf cart batteries.brought in 4 bad #27 i took out of my motorhome.
kid told me i would blow up the electrical system in the motorhome if i installed them.would cause a fire.cant sell you those.told him to call fire department as i showed his boss how to use these in his and its in the lot.should burst into flames any time now.
he went and got him and explained that some idiot is here to buy golf cart batteries for a motorhome.and called me an expletives deleted moron.
he fired the kid on the spot and gave me the batts free.and thanked me for the tip as they were working better than the 4 #27 it came with.open mouth insert foot!bet he wont do that at his next job!


Thats interesting. 6V batteries? Do you use two for each #27?

Originally Posted By: Doublehaul

2- had a idiot uaw worker tell me that new cars don't always have the engine shown in the vin number. When I asked how this was possible he claimed that when ford would run out of a particular engine ford would just stick a bigger engine in the car as a surprise free upgrade. I asked where he went to college...;)


Yeah, there is no way thats happening. If the F150 line ran out of 2.7 Ecoboosts Im sure their inventory control is hooked into production scheduling and all the 2.7EB trucks get dropped from the cookiecutter until they come back in.
 
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
went into a local napa store where they had a super deal on golf cart batteries.brought in 4 bad #27 i took out of my motorhome.
kid told me i would blow up the electrical system in the motorhome if i installed them.would cause a fire.cant sell you those.told him to call fire department as i showed his boss how to use these in his and its in the lot.should burst into flames any time now.
he went and got him and explained that some idiot is here to buy golf cart batteries for a motorhome.and called me an expletives deleted moron.
he fired the kid on the spot and gave me the batts free.and thanked me for the tip as they were working better than the 4 #27 it came with.open mouth insert foot!bet he wont do that at his next job!


These "dumb" people are not paid enough money to subsist and are at least trying to earn an honest living. I wonder how smart you are because your post indicates you barely know how to read and write.
 
Originally Posted By: JeepWJ19
Originally Posted By: car51
So you got taken


I'm still not sure what happened. I had the tires rotated so I know he did that. As for alignments they contract out a guy to come in on appointments X days a year so the contracted out guy is the one who did the alignment. Maybe the tech had a brain [censored] and was in a hurry and just assumed I meant the tires were rotated?

If I had the patience to align my front end I would but I like better precision machines.

Needless to say I was a little weary on my drive home.


I wonder if he put it up and checked the alignment on the rear. Might be nothing to adjust, but he still checked it just the same. Did you get a printout on what the starting and final measurements were?
 
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Your car model doesn't exist - Clueless 20 some year old Ford tech at a dealership when i was trying to get fuel line clips, sad that not even Ford techs know about the history of the company


Well, to be fair, 20 years was a long time ago. Some models are around for a short time; some are best forgotten.

As long as the guy punched the model into the computer and then ate crow I don't see the issue. If he refused to look it up, well shame on him.
 
Originally Posted By: Doublehaul
My family was in the repair business for the vast majority of my life and I wrenched on cars for a long time...I've seen and heard a lot of crazy stuff. Most mechanics... like counter monkeys know surprisingly little about cars...and half are a quarter step from rehab.

My two favorites....

1- went to trade my car in...a caprice classic with the 4.3l V8. Dealership buyer comes out and says they can't take my car because someones swapped the motor and put a v8 in it. It took me 20 minutes with the gd Manager to explain that Chevrolet offered bot a 4.3 v6 and a 4.3 v8. He literally called me ignorant...and when he was proven wrong I made him apologize and admit that he in fact was ignorant.

2- had a idiot uaw worker tell me that new cars don't always have the engine shown in the vin number. When I asked how this was possible he claimed that when ford would run out of a particular engine ford would just stick a bigger engine in the car as a surprise free upgrade. I asked where he went to college...;)


Some manufacturers don't show anything but the brand, model and serial number in the VIN... or what would you make about this actual VIN: ZAR16700000024040 ?

And I know of 1 instance where production of a van with a particular (ford) engine was cancelled and if someone insisted on the order they were suggested the next size up, with no extra charge. Not as a surprise though...
 
When I was buying a new battery ($200) at a local auto store the counter gal told me if I didn't buy and use new battery post washers (those green and red felt washers) that my warranty would be 0 (zero - no return) once I carry the battery out the door. No returns. She even grabbed a pack of the washers off the counter stand and placed em on the battery.
She looked and said it like she meant it - you know, like how the wife sometimes says something.
I walked half way across the store and brought the manager over to have a talk with her.
 
Originally Posted By: xtell
Went to a parts store with a dead battery as a core. Told the counter guy the make & model of my plow truck. He looked up batteries and mentioned the prices. I told him which one I wanted and the said to me "This one costs a lot of money, are you sure you can afford it?" The other counter jockey started to laugh. I asked for the manager, who came out from the back, and I told him what his counter guy told me and he looked at the employee and the employee said "He (meaning me) looks like he does not have any money, I didn't do nothing wrong." I looked back at the manager and told him that I was ending my commercial account with his business.

Nuff said,

xtell


Wow. Millennial? They have no idea what manual labor entails. The dirtiest mechanics often have the most money, because they do the toughest work! I grew up in a working class family, and if you didn’t get dirty, you wouldn’t get paid, or eat.

My uncle had a small engine shop that was covered top to bottom in grease and dirt. He looked like an oilfield worker when he got home every day. He was the first person I knew with a satellite dish. Keep in mind, this was back when they cost as much as a car! He also had a nice brick house, and one of the first VCRs. I’m dating myself here...
grin.gif
 
Last edited:
I asked for 2 feet of 3/16 vacuum line.

Counter guy asked if this was for a car! He thought i wanted vacuum cleaner hose!
 
Last edited:
I went to AA to get a battery test. Guy asks me to pull the car up to the fire lane since they're in a shopping strip. Car is parked in the nearest space so only a few feet closer. The guy hooks up the machine and tells me the tester's reading says "all cells dead, you need a new battery". I ask how many cca's and volts does it state? Ummmm, it doesn't give us that. Then I ask to see the screen of the tester where it states what he just said. Oh I'm past that screen already. Older guy with bad attitude. Another guy is installing a battery that's right in the middle of the parking lot. Then I asked him for some of the .05/qt Idemitsu oil that's on clearance. Have him get it from the back, pulls it off a top shelf. Rings up at .05, says he has to check with manager who's installing the battery in the parking lot. Comes back and says it's $5/qt. I ask him how much is the jug and he says $25 eventhough there's only 4 qts in a gallon.

I say never mind. He goes, I'm just trying to help you sir. Now there's people looking at us going back and forth. In a very nice area. Whew!

I drive straight to another AA and get it tested. Battery test is good.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
I asked for 2 feet of 3/16 vacuum line.

Counter guy asked if this was for a car! He thought i wanted vacuum cleaner hose!


We needed to get some bulk fuel injection hose in the shop. The other bacj counter guy called Autozone where he works at night and explained exactly what he wanted. Delivery person shows up and it wasn't for high pressure. Two more times they show up with the exact same wrong part. By now he is giving them the part number off of the webpage and they still send the wrong part. He leaves early and goes there, clocks in, sells us the right part, clocks out, and brings it back. The tech was laughing so hard at the whole thing since it was a off brand car he didn't care about.
 
For me I have two - GL-5 gear lube is the same as GL-4.

Needed a wheel stud for a trailer which ended up being a 9/16" diameter. Found what I thought online was the right size but it wasn't. We measured the knurl diameter in the store and the dude couldn't look up 9/16" studs to see if they had one that matched!

Parts monkey: What year model car is this?
Me: It's a trailer so it's not in your system.
Parts monkey: I can't help you.

I ended up looking it up on my phone and just gave the dude the part number.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top