Morals and working with the public

There is no loyalty when it comes down to the lowest price. People will vote with their wallets in today's world and with inflation and high prices most people are just trying to survive and have good morals as well.
 
None of what you described seems immoral to me. I needed a tie rod end last Saturday. Rockauto sells a Moog one for $18Cdn. I wanted to repair the car that day and went to NAPA to buy the NAPA (rebranded Moog here) and spent $48 for the same part. I paid for the convenience of getting the part right away. It sounds like your boss is going out of his way to get people what they want. The markup is reasonable. It is absolutely normal to mark up the parts we get in for someone by 20% for doing the work.
 
I will say if you think that kind of stuff is immoral, don't watch streaming shows like Tokyo Vice, they have dudes............dudes

I mean nothing you listed is illegal, nor really unethical. If the customer specified a certain part from a specific manufacturer and your boss foisted a known knock off for the higher price, then not OK. A contract was broken.

A lot more unethical immoral nasty junk surrounds our daily world. I'm sick of it too.
 
Your store is acting like any middleman would. Nothing unethical, illegal or immoral going on. If people are too lazy to shop around that's on them. No one is putting a gun to their head and your providing convenience.

I don't shop at Napa but have no issues with anything described.

It's like paying $15 for a beer at the ball game.
 
I buy things based on convenience when I need item.
I don’t mind spending more if I need it today.

It really doesn’t matter as long as I get exactly what I want and NOT a substitute item.
 
While I appreciate what the OP is saying, I can't see a moral or ethical problem with offering something to a retail customer at any given price. It is up to them to agree to it or not.
That customer also has internet access and can decide for themselves whether a markup is worth it to them. Let the retailer deal with the Walmart shopping experience or the hazards of fleabay or scamazon.
 
I don't work for free and don't expect others to do so.
Plus, there is no fair, never was and never will be.
Information is expensive; information is power.

I also worked a lot harder doing tree work vs computer programming. Guess which one pays waaaaaaaay more?
 
You have to do what feels right to you. That's important.

I won't go into the details but I have a little guy in my head that tells me at appropriate times "you cannot lie about that" or "you cannot cheat the store on that return".

Ordering a starter from Amazon is more likely to be a fake than one that comes from a NAPS warehouse. Not saying they are fake from Amazon just that I would trust a NAPA warehouse more.

People say (unknown however) that Amazon often mixes stock between stock they own and ship and stock another company supplied to Amazon warehouse to have them ship it for them.
 
benjamming said:
You not wanting it done to you so you don't want it done to anyone else is good but misapplied here. There are too many variables that you can't account for. You seem to be assuming that lowest price is king but to many (most?) people you encounter it isn't. They want to have a one stop shop it seems. That's convenience they're paying for & a service is being tendered to meet the demand. Note also that your manager is taking on risk providing items so markup covers more than just "pure profit" and other tangibles like building rent, utilities, etc.
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I have to agree with this. I think most people are way lazy and want everything as easy as possible, cost be ****ed. Just look at the huge success of food delivery apps.
 
Cheetah-kins said:
Just look at the huge success of food delivery apps.
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God, don't get me started on that.

I've seen my 20yo doordash Subway, which is literally less than 3 miles from the house. And she's not crippled or can't drive, or doesn't have a car. She does it just because she's lazy.

Drives me up a tree.
 
vavavroom said:
Should not conflate morals with ethics. What's morally questionable to a person may well be ethically acceptable. It's up to the individual to decide whether or not to compromise their morals if they clash with the prevalent ethics.
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It’s a business, before all else, not a charity. I don’t blame the local convenience store for selling chips or whatever for “sticker” price instead of WM’s discounted price. If a customer isn’t smart enough to shop around, or even use Google Shopping on their smartphone, it’s their money!
 
There’s markup on everything.

Them not being able to get engine oil or a starter without Amazon or the local Ford dealer is interesting. Opens up a can of worms in the event of a warranty too, but those are the only issues I see.

I always thought 30% markup was fair. The markup on the oil seems like the owner lost money just to keep a customer happy.
 
mobilnissan1991 said:
I was raised with morals, treat people right, dont screw people over, etc and lately working at Napa has tested this. I work at a Napa that is owned by a local family, they have 5 stores. We have more than just auto parts and the local people go into an uproar if we dont carry what they need. A guy came in recently for a raincoat which I thought was ridiculous, I wouldnt even think of going to a Napa for that but lo and behold we have them. Ill just give a few examples of my experience there the past few weeks.

Guy comes in for a starter, my manager says his famous line, “no we dont have it but we can get it”. He then goes on Amazon, orders it and marks it up 30%. He says its business, I say its wrong. I cant with a good conscience do that to someone

Guy comes in says he wants motorcraft 15W40. Again “we dont have it but we can get it” this oil is $25 per jug at Walmart. Manager sends me to the local ford dealer to get 3 jugs at $35 each, and sells it to the guy for $38 each. This is a case of the customer being misinformed that it can be had elsewhere for cheaper and also getting screwed in my opinion. Again I couldnt sell the guy this oil without feeling bad.

And lastly, a guy called today he said “can you get a starter for a briggs and stratton lawnmower?” Didnt say what kind, what model etc I said well bring the starter Ill match the numbers. He said cant you tell by the number of teeth? I said no he said nevermind got mad and hung up. I told my manager, he sided with me and said what they think were magicians? The public thinks we can solve the worlds problems and if we dont carry a part they need, god forbid.

I hope Im not wrong here, what Im saying is dont drink the koolaid. There are better and less expensive ways to get parts. Napa is way overpriced. While I do like to shop local when I can, I quote one of my best friends when we were talking about living in this expensive world.

“Before I support local, Im gonna shop online and support my wallet” I cant blame him for that, I try to save where I can when I can. Just a lil rant for today.
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This isn't hosing anyone. If you walk into a hotel and say "I need a room" you're paying full price. The hotel isn't going to hunt around for a discount for you. If someone walks in and says " i need a,b,c" then get it for them.
 
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