Clueless employees at parts stores

So i was driving around town the other day in my '96 Nissan 240sx(don't hate) that I just bought and it started raining. I then noticed that I didn't have any wiper blade inserts on my wipers so I stopped by a local AdvanceAutoParts. I told the guy at the counter my cars year, make, model, etc. and what I needed. He starts looking it up on the computer and asks me atleast 4 times what year, make , model my car is. So after about 10 minutes of stairng at the computer he finally finds the blades I want. Then I walk outside and wait for him to put them on. It was pouring down rain so I stood under the building while he got soaked. After watching him try to remove the first wiper blade for 3 minutes, I took it upon myself to show him how to do it. I ended up changing both of them and getting fu**ing drenched. Has anyone else encountered employees at parts stores who probably have no idea what a spark plug is? I mean this is probably my 5th or 6th time encountering a completely clueless employee at a parts store.

At my Advance they always knpw what they are doing.  Never had a problem, same with AutoZone

Wow they actually were going to put the blades on for you?  They never do that for me, but they do that stuff for my sister.  I noticed at the local auto zone they hire a lot of cute girls, well cute for auto parts places, and they don't know anything.  One of them didn't even know they could take transmission fluid....and she's been denying customers for over a year diposal of the fluid!  Luckily some guy was there and was like, what are you talking about?  Of course we can get rid of transmission fluid.  Kragen seems to be better when it comes to knowledge, but I prefer autozone due to location.

quote:

ORIGINAL: j_man_honda
................. Then I walk outside and wait for him to put them on. It was pouring down rain so I stood under the building while he got soaked. ..................................

Yeah, that would piss me off, too.
Next time, buy your parts at your local Nissan dealer.  They will be more than happy to install them for you.

19Accord97- Youre one of the lucky ones then. It seems like half of the employees at Autozone or Advance around here don't go through any training or anything. They are that clueless
 
ckebottle- Yes they do free wiper blade installation. And yes there is a cute blonde who works at the same Advance I was talking about. She can work a cash register and computer but she couldn't tell you anything about a car.

lol  That is really funny,  because at both places they have women working there as well and they know just as much as the men!  Seems like I am super lucky! haha
 
Oh, and as far as location, Advance Auto and AutoZone are about 20 feet apart from each other...and not in one spot, but two!  I think its hilarious because at either side of town you can walk next door into the other store!

They only time I get decent assistance is when the asian guy is working at check and he happens to own an Accord as well. Otherwise, the others workers all seem to be Chevy/Ford/Dodge people, it's horrible.

There is an asian guy at the local kragens who had a 6th gen accord.  I still don't go there because I don't like the location.  Hard to get in and out of so I just auto zone it and get poor cust svc (not really poor, confused cust svc) given by a somewhat cute latina.  lol  As long as I know what I need i'll generally auto zone it.  If I have questions about what I might need, i'll kragen it.  Generally I know what I need b/c of this great forum 

To quote george carlin:
 
"Think of how stupid the average person is.  Then, realize that half the people out there are stupider than that."

they do that too around here, they hire cute girls so you keep buying at that store... makes sense to me, great marketing

Well flip the coin here..Both my sister and i both worked at Auto Parts stores in the past...We both know our cars and trucks..We both like the ones coming in asking for this 'thingy under the hood thats making noise' cuz the person is clueless,Most ppl dont even know what they are driving..Ive had to go out in the snow to find out what kinda car they have..and hope im getting them the right part...so its not always the person behind the counter thats clueless

get that all the time. but luckly i used to work for them so i know the computer.most of them dont know what to do or ask unless the computer tells them. then u ask if its right and they stare at the screen than at the part and say the numbers match it must be. i know its really frustrating. i got guys at HONDA that dont know there own a -hole from a hole in the ground

quote:

ORIGINAL: 19Accord91EXlady

Well flip the coin here..Both my sister and i both worked at Auto Parts stores in the past...We both know our cars and trucks..We both like the ones coming in asking for this 'thingy under the hood thats making noise' cuz the person is clueless,Most ppl dont even know what they are driving..Ive had to go out in the snow to find out what kinda car they have..and hope im getting them the right part...so its not always the person behind the counter thats clueless

 
I'm not saying every parts store employee is completely clueless, just some. I know what you mean about the customers not helping the matter. I work at a car lot and people ask me all the time,
CUSTOMER: "How much is that white car out there?"
ME: "Which white car are you talking about? The Camry, the Accord, the Taurus, or another one?"(Theres about 20 different white cars)
CUSTOMER: (Points)" I don't know, it's the one by that red one"    
ME: (thinking to myself- "Oh well, another no-sale)          

I have been to some stores where they dont know squat especially pepboys. I usually go to autozone though. This guy that works there had the same car as me so we always would talk about it and now he gives me discounts on everythign i buy, only 10% but its still something :D But Pepboys emplyoees piss me off.

Yeah, I went to Advance the other day because my Accord pooped on me for the first time ever and there was a WRX (not even an STi, mind you) all riced out in the parking lot so I figured one of them must at least know something... wrong. I talked to the youngest guy there, the obvious owner of the Sub, and he couldn't tell me anything. I think they hire people to know what things are and not what they do.

jeez, Pepboys is the only store where they know barely anything out here at all! and they don't hire even cute girls at any of the stores at all! although I just got the expanded Checker down the road and have yet to check them out....keeps fingers crossed.....but I always go in armed with knowing what I need so when the guy/girl brings out the wrong one....I can, uh....no that aint it sherlock...try again

here's one for you though.....ex wife and I are about to have a baby, so the truck has to go, just won't work, Jeep Commanche/stick/standard cab and 2 adults and a baby.....so we pick out a gently used 1990 Nissan Stanza which was in excellent shape....well, the brake calipers needed a rebuild after awhile and since I do most of that myself, I go and order my parts without taking down the calipers first....I mean cmon, its a Nissan! well, get home, tear everything apart....and notice the dust boots aren't even close...not at all! WTF?? so head back to Nissan, guy claims and SHOWS me the parts....well they aren't fitting on my car I says, we go back and forth and eventually my Dad pops in on the whole thing (always let us boys try to handle it first) and he tells and shows the guy that there is a difference here....finally, ONE employee who happened to be walking by asked what my VIN was...show call Mom, she reads it off....guy, without even looking....says "you have a inter year car, so you have a mix of 89 and 90 parts." so I had to buy 2 separate rebuild kits because they didn't have it as one kit for my car....now that's just freaking retarded....car was put for sale the next day.

In dealing with parts stores cluelessness I feel your pain, but I think you have to consider what you get in return: convenience and low prices.  The stores need to staff many locations as cheap as possible, so there is usually 1 or 2 employees per store that knows what they are doing and the rest are just whoever they can get cheap.

When I started driving in the '80s, there were 2 parts stores in town and both were staffed by grumpy old mechanics.  The stores were barely open for 8 hours a day, forget weekends, and don't think for a second that they were going to put your wipers on for you.  The only other option was Pep Boys and it was about 40 minutes away.  Now I can throw a rock from my house in any direction and hit a parts store.

I've got plenty of stories, but I try to remind myself of how it used to be when there is a problem.

I only deal with the manager at Strauss ..... he knows me by name and his employees know that he always helps me, so they do what they can to not look like an @$$.  He's a gearhead too!!!  He rolls in a G35 coupe, show style on 19's and 20's.