Incompetent Auto Parts Store Employees

Grumpy

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
About 4 days ago,I was asked to help rebuild, the brakes on my brother in laws 1974 corvette
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he had not driven it in over 5 months
,and when he tried too drive it,
he found the rear brake calipers were locked up.
I helped him diagnose the issue and the rear calipers were locked up solidly.
he called ADVANCE AUTO near his home,
he prefers to deal with a store close to his house!
and
the guy answering the phone assured him,
he had both the calipers and rear disc pads and replacement rotors in stock,
we drive over and we find he has NO calipers and only the pads in stock,
but he looks in his computer that shows a sister chain store about 20 miles north,
has the extra components we want,
so we get the STORES address and drive over....
only to find that store has only the pads in stock,
yes they show the rest of the parts but can,t find them.
but they assure us they will have everything in stock by the following day at noon!
the next day.... you guessed it.....the parts are still on order.
but we are assured once again the parts should arrive the next day....
so we call and they say the parts were sent to the store 20 miles north,
we drive over there again, to be told theres been a mistake,
the parts went to the store near his home....
several phone calls... no one knows where or when the parts will arrive!
now Ive suggested several times we deal with NAPA or some other store ,
but my B.I.L gets a 15% discount at ADVANCE AUTO,
just for grins I call napa and they say they have the required parts .
were still waiting! (so he can get his discount and save $20 on the deal.)
 
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I’ll bet the parts are hard to get because they ordered them for a RED Corvette so they won’t fit his anyway! Lol
 
I think is more likely that the quality , MENTAL attitude and experience level of the average minimum wage ,
OR A BIT MORE , employees,
is getting lower and lower as many old geezers just retire or say
"SCREW THIS THE AGGRAVATION FAR... FAR... EXCEEDS THE PAYCHECKS VALUE"
.
.
.
I've ALWAYS SAID IF I RAN AN AUTO PARTS STORE,
ID SET ASIDE ABOUT 5% OF EACH SALES PROFIT,
AND HAVE A COMPUTER PRINT-OUT
available, to show everyone on instant access,
LINKED TO THE PERSON MAKING THE SALE
Id find some way to have that 5% OF EACH SALES PROFIT,
based on individual sales and added to the basic paycheck, of each counter guy,
with a 60 day delay, so your sales guys don,t get paid extra until you know the customer was happy,
as an incentive for the top 60% of the sales guys based on the individual sales and apply it,
to the pay checks of the top 60% of the sales guys sales as a commission or incentive.
guys,with at least a 90% LACK OF COMPLAINTS/COME BACKS
(no one can make every jerk customer happy,
theres ALWAYS A FEW guys that will complain just because they are morons)
Im sure some sharp computer spread sheet guy would be able to do that,
and over time it would make better service pay dividends,
as sales guys and customers learned better service increased the counter guys pay checks,
think about that, lets say your auto parts store turns a
$500-$600 profit per day
something Id suspect is rather easy to do,
that would easily result in about a 5% =$800-$900 cash accumulation per month
if you had a couple of counter, guys, a couple hundred dollars bonus ,
for giving a crap about happy customers,
once a month to the top 60% of the sales guys would get noticed

 
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I can believe that story about Advance Auto, I work at one. I make as much as the guy that's been
there for two years, I got the same 25 cent/hr raise that he did. They won't let but one person in
our store besides the manager have a full time job with benefits.

Our district manager Rose came from Walmart. Every Monday morning if her managers don't hit
certain numbers, they have to attend a conference call where she berates them in front of the
others. She makes our manager work 60-70 hours a week since he is salary.

A manager at another store quit and went to work at another auto supply so Rose the DM had to
cover at this store. She immediately chased off two more employees, one had been there 10 years.
Now our manager has to work his days off at the other store for free.

You tell me where the incentive is to provide good service???
 
I don’t know if all Advanced Auto stores operate the same, but the stores around here pay $8.25 to start and generally they are just 0.50 cents/hr richer a year later. A manager makes a couple bucks more per hour.

I alleviate the problem of calling and going to the store only to find the parts aren’t there by simply buying on line and picking up in store. Sometimes if I don’t need the parts immediately, I have the order shipped to me.

That’s how you avoid problems.
 
I wondering why anyone stays at a job that treats you that bad? Are jobs that scarce? My 16 year old twins make $14.50 /hr at the neighborhood grocery stores as a starting wage. Rite Aid pays $9.50/hr. with benefits like full time workers get.
 
Question for Indycars, I have a tax ID number, but only a few items are non taxable and I can’t get the tax knocked off anything when I order over the Internet. Why is that?
 
If you are tax exempt when you walk into our store that won't help you. You have to setup an
account with us before you can keep from paying taxes.

Also, if you buy a part and want to return it for any reason at another store in town you better
have your receipt. Our computers can't see your purchase at another store.
 
I have a tax ID through Advance Auto‘s corporate office. My phone can scan/copy receipts the moment I’m handed a receipt, So I’m never without proof of purchase.
I claim the vehicles I sell on my tax returns, so I don’t need to pay tax twice. Can you tell me why Advanced Auto doesn’t exempt all items like all other stores?
 
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