Parts store stoopidity

and btw, you can get many parts via Amazon Prime. Done this many times, order in the afternoon, had it in my hands the next morning. Helps to live close to the distributor :D
 
Caution Thread derail coming:

toyota231 said:
It's actually just as much the consumers fault as the employee because the consumer doesn't care how the company is to employees, yet complains that service wasn't right. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have a good and easy experience I'm just letting you know the simple reason why the parts stores are like this.
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This is a horrible, horrible logic fail.
Consumers set price by what they are willing to pay, sure. Employees set wages by what they are willing to work for however.

Lets think this through.

If I have a widget. And I want to sell it I can only charge what the market will pay. Lets say the widget costs me $10.
If I charge $100 for it the market wont buy, they will find an alternate source. So I have to get it somewhere are $40 to be competitive in the market. Now as a business owner when it starts out I ell that widget myself and make $30. Eventually I build up a nest egg and I want more free time. So I hire you to sell my widget. I can try and pay you $10 and raise my price to $50 but the market has already set the price at $40 so then I wouldn't sell any widgets. Instead I have to make a trade off as the owner. I used to make $30/widget but I worked all the time. Now I will make $20/widget and work less and we should sell more widgets together so total income is flat or increases slightly. Life is good.

Now your neighbor knows widgets better than you and needs money. He comes in and says "I will sell those widgets for $8/ea and guarantee I sell more than toyota231." I'm hiring him and firing you. Now guess what, if he values himself that poorly he cant sell more than you and soon I am sad because I am working harder to manage your idiot neighbor, I'm making less money because he cant sell widgets as well and life sucks. So I call you back. You coming back for $8? How about $9. The right answer is you better not come back for less than $11.

The way I see it a company can only pay what someone will accept. Believe it or not capitalism works, it just isn't instant gratification. If no one qualified will work for $8/hr eventually the company will have to raise wages and either:|
A) reduce profits
or
B) Increase sales price

Then the consumer gets to decide again. But unfortunately we have raised an entire generation that thinks a job they can be trained to do in 1 week is a career and they should be paid well enough to live on for doing that menial job.


When people refuse to work for a certain amount of money the market will set the wage scale. So the way I see it. It isnt the consumer's fault that parts store employees are underpaid, it is the employees' fault and (even more so someone like you who doesn't "need" the job) for accepting the lower wage.
 
Ron said:
Caution Thread derail coming:




This is a horrible, horrible logic fail.
Consumers set price by what they are willing to pay, sure. Employees set wages by what they are willing to work for however.

Lets think this through.

If I have a widget. And I want to sell it I can only charge what the market will pay. Lets say the widget costs me $10.
If I charge $100 for it the market wont buy, they will find an alternate source. So I have to get it somewhere are $40 to be competitive in the market. Now as a business owner when it starts out I ell that widget myself and make $30. Eventually I build up a nest egg and I want more free time. So I hire you to sell my widget. I can try and pay you $10 and raise my price to $50 but the market has already set the price at $40 so then I wouldn't sell any widgets. Instead I have to make a trade off as the owner. I used to make $30/widget but I worked all the time. Now I will make $20/widget and work less and we should sell more widgets together so total income is flat or increases slightly. Life is good.

Now your neighbor knows widgets better than you and needs money. He comes in and says "I will sell those widgets for $8/ea and guarantee I sell more than toyota231." I'm hiring him and firing you. Now guess what, if he values himself that poorly he cant sell more than you and soon I am sad because I am working harder to manage your idiot neighbor, I'm making less money because he cant sell widgets as well and life sucks. So I call you back. You coming back for $8? How about $9. The right answer is you better not come back for less than $11.

The way I see it a company can only pay what someone will accept. Believe it or not capitalism works, it just isn't instant gratification. If no one qualified will work for $8/hr eventually the company will have to raise wages and either:|
A) reduce profits
or
B) Increase sales price

Then the consumer gets to decide again. But unfortunately we have raised an entire generation that thinks a job they can be trained to do in 1 week is a career and they should be paid well enough to live on for doing that menial job.


When people refuse to work for a certain amount of money the market will set the wage scale. So the way I see it. It isnt the consumer's fault that parts store employees are underpaid, it is the employees' fault and (even more so someone like you who doesn't "need" the job) for accepting the lower wage.
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That sounds more like a corporate decision about what level of employee they choose to accept (intertwined with the difficultly of getting rid of crappy employees and finding good employees) and the market pressure to be the cheapest store (consumer driven) and have the most profit.
 
RobMcBee said:
Doesn't help when your car is on the side of the road..... But if you got the time...
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I've done the same w/ a phone while riding to the store...
 
I managed a O'Reillys for about 5 months, couple of things I notice is as a car guy knowing howhat to fix a car IS totally different from slinging part.
Most employees there have no clue besides what is on the screen in front of them says, higher management is worst they if parts work or fix just as long as it's out the door. If you have a shop that uses any of them MAKE sure you look up prices before you order. They will get you..
 
My Advance used to be pretty good. The manager was smart and helpful and there was a female there who was great too.
Now there are just guys there who really know next to nothing but think they are knowledgeable.
They don't "listen" to what the customer needs they try to tell the customer what the computer says.
I buy from them some because if I pay online I can save 20-35% and pick up in store.

When Oreilly came here they were great for the first couple of months. They must have brought in ringers from other stores.
All those folks are gone now and all that is left is the most inept and unprofessional folks I have ever attempted to deal with.

Autozone also used to be pretty good. But now, same story. The discount auto parts business has had to cut quality to compete with the online sellers.

That said, the online stores have never sent me a wrong part or questioned what I was ordering.

Times and methods change. Each time this happens there are good and bad side effects.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I've done the same w/ a phone while riding to the store...
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Guess that's the luxury of living near a distribution center lol

If I got the time to wait on a part, I like RockAuto. They've only ever sent me the wrong part once, when I called them, they told me to keep it and sent me a new one. I've still got a nice new water pump for a 4.2 sitting on the shelf.....
 
RobMcBee said:
Guess that's the luxury of living near a distribution center lol

If I got the time to wait on a part, I like RockAuto. They've only ever sent me the wrong part once, when I called them, they told me to keep it and sent me a new one. I've still got a nice new water pump for a 4.2 sitting on the shelf.....
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Amazon Prime is 2 days guaranteed anywhere. Never been able to get something from RockAuto that fast.
My phone comment was regarding Advance or Napa. Look it up on the way to the store, walk in and pick it up.
Hell I've even ordered stuff from their site while waiting IN THE STORE.
 
Interesting related note - I've never seen a part on Amazon that required a core return, but the prices are often similar.
Last month I bought an alternator that was $10 less on amazon than via RockAuto. Same brand etc as the local places, RA, etc. But no core charge. So that saved me even more since I could salvage the old one.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Amazon Prime is 2 days guaranteed anywhere. Never been able to get something from RockAuto that fast.
My phone comment was regarding Advance or Napa. Look it up on the way to the store, walk in and pick it up.
Hell I've even ordered stuff from their site while waiting IN THE STORE.
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I've ordered on the iphone, IN THE STORE too, just so I could use the coupon. Apparently I can click a button while in front of the cashier and use my 30% coupon but they can't honor it otherwise. OK, we do it the hard way.
 
Ron said:
The take the part number and enter into advance or autozones website.
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Why would I pay *extra* to buy it from Autozone at that point?

The only car parts I buy locally anymore is the dealer-only stuff and brake rotors/calipers (because shipping kills the deal).
 
Amazon Prime isn't all it's cracked up to be, no you're not paying ALL the shipping, but you're paying a slightly inflated price compared to other online sellers ON TOP of having to pay a yearly membership and thats covering your shipping. and few of the things I have bought Prime have actually showed up in 2 days. Never has anything showed up next day. have an order outstanding now, ordered mid-day Sunday, supposed to be here Wed before 8pm. thats not 2 days

Does Amazon sell damn near everything under the feck'n sun ? it sure as hell seems that way, few things I have looked for have I not been able to find. suspension for your washing machine, yep, they've got it, and it's cheaper than Appliance Depot. Ice tray for your Samsung ice maker ? $4 add on order.

though, I need a governor spring for the carburetor on my Lawn Boy, 98 cents $7 shipping, no prime offered, local mower place pretty much the same.sigh
 
Blkvoodoo said:
Amazon Prime isn't all it's cracked up to be, no you're not paying ALL the shipping, but you're paying a slightly inflated price compared to other online sellers ON TOP of having to pay a yearly membership and thats covering your shipping. and few of the things I have bought Prime have actually showed up in 2 days. Never has anything showed up next day. have an order outstanding now, ordered mid-day Sunday, supposed to be here Wed before 8pm. thats not 2 days

Does Amazon sell damn near everything under the feck'n sun ? it sure as hell seems that way, few things I have looked for have I not been able to find. suspension for your washing machine, yep, they've got it, and it's cheaper than Appliance Depot. Ice tray for your Samsung ice maker ? $4 add on order.

though, I need a governor spring for the carburetor on my Lawn Boy, 98 cents $7 shipping, no prime offered, local mower place pretty much the same.sigh
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Interesting, I'm sure its just difference in what we're looking for - but I've rarely found that Amazon is a higher price than other online sources, and almost never once you account for the shipping cost.
Must be proximity to the distro centers. Even before the one in Baltimore opened, we'd always get everything in 2 days max and often the next day. coming from PA down, I think. Heck now I can order stuff on Saturday and have it show up on sunday.

The biggest thing is that if you actually need customer service - not just returning something, but something from a human - well don't count on it.
 
RatLabGuy said:
The biggest thing is that if you actually need customer service - not just returning something, but something from a human - well don't count on it.
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Thats the cool part, I've had a few issues with ordered stuff, set of struts for my Runner, ordered, and shipped.... to Florida, their shipping monkey entered wrong shipping info. an email, took an extra day, and got $20 off. was asked to leave positive review and did.

ordered an electronics kit for the kid, didn't ship when promised, one comment and it was here next day AND dude called AND sent a "sorry package" that exceeded the cost of the original order.

only one that wasn't really a big deal, Otter case for wifes phone, she wanted purple, order said purple, got black, no biggie, but wrote in review about it. basically was told that if we wanted the right case we had to change the review, heh, nope, you screwed the pooch when you started extorting the deal. black works, and your "it's ok" review just went negative

The review system does seem to help things along.
 
Sounds like @Blkvoodoo is buying third party through AMZN.

Prime and Subscribe and Save are how we do most of our shopping anymore. Big ass box showed up today. Probably full of toilet paper or something. Refrigerator defroster element came on Saturday. Last week was a couple of light switches. Week before that was a replacement frosted lamp globe. That one actually shipped from a 3rd party dealer over off Lake Wheeler.

And yes, we get Sunday delivery. Usually somebody in an unmarked car full of boxes.
 
I just got my FIL a brand new, not reman, GM HEI dist for one of the wood splitters for $37 on ebay. This was with cap, coil and even a freaking gasket.
Shipping was $10. Came in 2 days.

Cheapest local on a rebuilt was multiple times that.

We are changing the 283 over from points :cool:
 
shawn said:
Sounds like @Blkvoodoo is buying third party through AMZN.

Prime and Subscribe and Save are how we do most of our shopping anymore. Big ass box showed up today. Probably full of toilet paper or something. Refrigerator defroster element came on Saturday. Last week was a couple of light switches. Week before that was a replacement frosted lamp globe. That one actually shipped from a 3rd party dealer over off Lake Wheeler.

And yes, we get Sunday delivery. Usually somebody in an unmarked car full of boxes.
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Third party is probably likely though I try to get "shipped from Amazon" sometimes it's not labeled.
Maxx Air vent cover for the camper coming today, appears to be coming from Texas, $40 cheaper than Camping World up the road
Maybe we just get oddball shit that doesn't stock in Burlington ?
 
RatLabGuy said:
The biggest thing is that if you actually need customer service - not just returning something, but something from a human - well don't count on it.
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I have to disagree with ya here.
I've had 3 instances with Amazon in the last year that have been the opposite experience.

1) Had a bluetooth speaker I bought from there that would run on batteries or AC. Kids dropped the thing in the pool Imagine that it killed it. Took it apart and the only thing actually damaged was the transformer. Emailed manufacturer asked if they sold parts for the thing or who I could contact to buy parts. (Why? it was a $40 speaker, Im cheap) they sent me to my point of purchase because it was less than 2 years old (warranty) forwarded the email to Amazon. They sent me a free replacement. I replied NO you dont owe me a new free speaker, we dropped this one in the pool. It is our fault. They sent me a $10 credit after that email

2) Bought a monitor riser. Description said "solid wood" Showed up it was particle board. Not what I wanted for $50. Filed a return. They refunded my money within a day and sent me an email asking me to donate it to charity.

3) My son bought some RC lipo batteries that were shipped by amazon. Didnt show up in 2 days. Email to Customer service, Amazon no longer carries those because of hazard shipping. Full credit issued immediately. Batteries will arrive in 2-3 more days. They came the next morning. $150 worth of batteries.

We laugh frequently that they are either going out of business soon or putting merchants out one.
 
Blkvoodoo said:
Third party is probably likely though I try to get "shipped from Amazon" sometimes it's not labeled.
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If it doesn't ship Prime, I'm probably not going to buy it. Unless it's something weird and one-off that I can't get anywhere else (or is cheaper than elsewhere).
 
Ron said:
I have to disagree with ya here.
I've had 3 instances with Amazon in the last year that have been the opposite experience.

1) Had a bluetooth speaker I bought from there that would run on batteries or AC. Kids dropped the thing in the pool Imagine that it killed it. Took it apart and the only thing actually damaged was the transformer. Emailed manufacturer asked if they sold parts for the thing or who I could contact to buy parts. (Why? it was a $40 speaker, Im cheap) they sent me to my point of purchase because it was less than 2 years old (warranty) forwarded the email to Amazon. They sent me a free replacement. I replied NO you dont owe me a new free speaker, we dropped this one in the pool. It is our fault. They sent me a $10 credit after that email

2) Bought a monitor riser. Description said "solid wood" Showed up it was particle board. Not what I wanted for $50. Filed a return. They refunded my money within a day and sent me an email asking me to donate it to charity.

3) My son bought some RC lipo batteries that were shipped by amazon. Didnt show up in 2 days. Email to Customer service, Amazon no longer carries those because of hazard shipping. Full credit issued immediately. Batteries will arrive in 2-3 more days. They came the next morning. $150 worth of batteries.

We laugh frequently that they are either going out of business soon or putting merchants out one.
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I think I was not clear. I have had very similar experiences, via email and such.
I meant actually talking to a person. I have had the occasional instance where time was of the essence and I needed to talk to somebody then. Yes some vendors are very fast w/ the responses on email, but not all are and you cannot predict.
Unfortunately the call center is somewhat disconnected form the vendors and the products. Not complaining or surprised - it's the nature of how how their business operates. But it's not likely you're going to get ahold of somebody that actually knows anything about the product or how to deal w/ it not working - they default just to returning it, but often they want to contact the seller first. Who is not a guy they can just get on the phone.

I do find it interesting that in so many cases they just send replacements and don't even bother w/ a return, and seem to do so in a manner that seems like it would be costing a fortune to ship too. Makes you really think about how much built-in profit margin there must be on things, or that the competition is just so cutthroat that they quickly take the hit just to avoid the bad review.

And wtf is up w/ sending a box that is 3' long and 6"x6" for a bag of screws? Hahaha
 
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