So I was at my local autozone picking up a quart of Mercon v for top off from my recent pan drop on my ranger and there was an older lady buying Castrol Edge 5w20 and an stp filter in line in front of me. The lady wasn't sure what oil went in her car and the guy behind the register told her that full synthetic was the way to go, but she "could not go back to conventional whatsoever once she started using the full synthetic". She asked him why and he didn't respond as it seemed that he was pretending to be involved in generating her order rather than giving an explanation which I too, was patiently awaiting his response on. Never came. I figure they are trying to push out some full syn inventory and that type of lady was the prime candidate.
Autozone misinformation?
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My guess is most of these store employees don't go through any kind of product training, or at least not in any great detail, so all they're doing is regurgitating what they've heard from others, and so the spreading of old wives' tales continues.
You should have talked to her and explained things. Even invite her to browse here to learn more. Then again, there are many folks here who say the same thing about switching between conventional, synthetic, and so on. Maybe the counter guy is a member here !
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
You should have talked to her and explained things. Even invite her to browse here to learn more. Then again, there are many folks here who say the same thing about switching between conventional, synthetic, and so on. Maybe the counter guy is a member here !
I know I should have caught her on the way out the door and gave her the real world information on it, but it passed me.
You should have talked to her and explained things. Even invite her to browse here to learn more. Then again, there are many folks here who say the same thing about switching between conventional, synthetic, and so on. Maybe the counter guy is a member here !
I know I should have caught her on the way out the door and gave her the real world information on it, but it passed me.
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
My guess is most of these store employees don't go through any kind of product training, or at least not in any great detail, so all they're doing is regurgitating what they've heard from others, and so the spreading of old wives' tales continues.
THIS ^^^^
They're not purposely being malicious.
My guess is most of these store employees don't go through any kind of product training, or at least not in any great detail, so all they're doing is regurgitating what they've heard from others, and so the spreading of old wives' tales continues.
THIS ^^^^
They're not purposely being malicious.
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
They're not purposely being malicious.
That's right.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Robert J. Hanlon
They're not purposely being malicious.
That's right.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Robert J. Hanlon
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
My guess is most of these store employees don't go through any kind of product training, or at least not in any great detail, so all they're doing is regurgitating what they've heard from others, and so the spreading of old wives' tales continues.
Could not agree more. Most of these individuals get a position at these stores because they have a genuine automotive interest and do want to assist people in their purchasing. The problem is that many locations/companies do not have a formal on-boarding process that includes product training and automotive basics. Especially franchise locations.
I was briefly in the quick lube industry and was dumbfounded at the lack of technical knowledge most of the guys had. Luckily, I was given the opportunity to train and hold sessions to educate the various stores in our region. I thought things were headed in the right direction, but as I spent more time in the shops I was quickly learning that while they were being taught accurate information, the sales pressure coming from the top down quickly made them "forget" and the sleazy tactics triumphed. I distinctly remember the CEO coming into the shop I was at and asking me, "How long do you plan on being here?" As bluntly as I could I responded, "As long as it takes for me to get another job." I was out of there in about 2-3 weeks. Felt so good.
My guess is most of these store employees don't go through any kind of product training, or at least not in any great detail, so all they're doing is regurgitating what they've heard from others, and so the spreading of old wives' tales continues.
Could not agree more. Most of these individuals get a position at these stores because they have a genuine automotive interest and do want to assist people in their purchasing. The problem is that many locations/companies do not have a formal on-boarding process that includes product training and automotive basics. Especially franchise locations.
I was briefly in the quick lube industry and was dumbfounded at the lack of technical knowledge most of the guys had. Luckily, I was given the opportunity to train and hold sessions to educate the various stores in our region. I thought things were headed in the right direction, but as I spent more time in the shops I was quickly learning that while they were being taught accurate information, the sales pressure coming from the top down quickly made them "forget" and the sleazy tactics triumphed. I distinctly remember the CEO coming into the shop I was at and asking me, "How long do you plan on being here?" As bluntly as I could I responded, "As long as it takes for me to get another job." I was out of there in about 2-3 weeks. Felt so good.
No real training and lousy wages = a high percentage of clueless help.
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
They're not purposely being malicious.
That's right.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Robert J. Hanlon
that's a good one!
I checked to see who this guy is ...
Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is famous for his submission to a book compilation of various jokes related to Murphy's law: Murphy's Law Book Two : More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! (1980) by Arthur Bloch.
I would like to have one of his books. It may come in handy at my work!
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
They're not purposely being malicious.
That's right.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Robert J. Hanlon
that's a good one!
I checked to see who this guy is ...
Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is famous for his submission to a book compilation of various jokes related to Murphy's law: Murphy's Law Book Two : More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! (1980) by Arthur Bloch.
I would like to have one of his books. It may come in handy at my work!
Three of my co-workers, 2 in parts and 1 tech, moonlight at Autozone. They actually do receive training from Autozone but at least the tech said that a lot of what Autozone teaches is in direct conflict with what not only Ford teaches, but what he learned at school learning automotive.
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Three of my co-workers, 2 in parts and 1 tech, moonlight at Autozone. They actually do receive training from Autozone but at least the tech said that a lot of what Autozone teaches is in direct conflict with what not only Ford teaches, but what he learned at school learning automotive.
My guess would be Autozone "teaches" in whatever way will push more of their product.
Three of my co-workers, 2 in parts and 1 tech, moonlight at Autozone. They actually do receive training from Autozone but at least the tech said that a lot of what Autozone teaches is in direct conflict with what not only Ford teaches, but what he learned at school learning automotive.
My guess would be Autozone "teaches" in whatever way will push more of their product.
Many, many years ago I worked at an electrical parts supply house (we sold conduit, breaker boxes and breakers, outlet/switch/junction boxes, outlets and switches, and so on - commercial and industrial grade stuff, not residential stuff). I occasionally helped at the counter but we were trained to be very cautious in any "advice" we gave. First, no one there was a licensed electrician (well, one of the sales reps was....) so we weren't qualified to tell people. On the other hand, we didn't cater to homeowners or DIY types although we would sell to them.
I always considered the counter folks at auto parts stores to not be auto mechanics and I was fine with that. Same with the guy in the plumbing section at Lowes - I don't presume he's a plumber by day and works evenings at Lowes.
I always considered the counter folks at auto parts stores to not be auto mechanics and I was fine with that. Same with the guy in the plumbing section at Lowes - I don't presume he's a plumber by day and works evenings at Lowes.
The store employees are trained how to look up stuff and find it in the store. They know how to plug in the scanner and get a readout and ho to print that on the store computer. How to keep the store from getting sued, stuff like that. If they have a clue further, you are lucky.
Rod
Rod
I visited AutoZone here shortly after they came to town. No one there knew squat about automobiles, repair, parts. They are the waiting for quitting time and payday types ALL.
Well if she keeps on using synthetic oil for her car it will be beneficial for the engine.
Maybe it was Scotty Kilmer behind the counter?
Maybe it was Scotty Kilmer behind the counter?
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
I always considered the counter folks at auto parts stores to not be auto mechanics and I was fine with that. Same with the guy in the plumbing section at Lowes - I don't presume he's a plumber by day and works evenings at Lowes.
Actually at Home Depot they do sometimes tend to have plumbers that work in the plumbing section. Not too often. Great for advice and for getting the right part. They're basically retired as plumbing is also a manual job and it's easier being in a warehouse all day. He's only there once in a while though and the rest of the guys there are just restocking parts.
I always considered the counter folks at auto parts stores to not be auto mechanics and I was fine with that. Same with the guy in the plumbing section at Lowes - I don't presume he's a plumber by day and works evenings at Lowes.
Actually at Home Depot they do sometimes tend to have plumbers that work in the plumbing section. Not too often. Great for advice and for getting the right part. They're basically retired as plumbing is also a manual job and it's easier being in a warehouse all day. He's only there once in a while though and the rest of the guys there are just restocking parts.
I was in there to get correct battery for Kia and he looked at group on battery (not original) and stated 180 then turned around and kept talking to associate. I match battery to group 26 that had 50 less cold cranking apps for 66.00. They couldn't even look up oil and filter just said what was on sales paper. I got manager and he stated the employee was having a bad day. I try to avoid if at all possible.
Several years ago when I inquired about regular vs. synthetic oil for my ride the dealership salesman that sold it to me went down that AutoZone path. Said if I went with synthetic I couldn't ever go back to conventional. I asked for an explanation, as nice as I could, and he just said that's what the tech guys at Nissan claim. Also asked him if I could extend the OCI a bit with full synthetic or would that count against the warranty and he said the mileage interval had to stay the same. I can't complain too much as they do great work for a reasonable amount and fairly quick in the process.
Learned a long time ago to just look up my own part numbers on AZs (or whoever's) website and just come in with part numbers-there's a lot fewer screwups that way, unless I do it!
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Learned a long time ago to just look up my own part numbers on AZs (or whoever's) website and just come in with part numbers-there's a lot fewer screwups that way, unless I do it!
I do the same thing, or order online. To me it's all about price, CS sucks at all the auto parts chains around here.
Learned a long time ago to just look up my own part numbers on AZs (or whoever's) website and just come in with part numbers-there's a lot fewer screwups that way, unless I do it!
I do the same thing, or order online. To me it's all about price, CS sucks at all the auto parts chains around here.
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