Advance Auto follies......

[mjeff87]

Couple years ago the battery died in the KJ while I was at work.  The closest/only place around here is an advance auto store, so I limped it over there and put in a mid-grade (silver label) battery in their parking lot.  Over the last couple weeks I've noticed a little hesitation when starting it, so I figured the battery was slowly heading south again.  Saturday morning it straight up died in my driveway *sigh*.  Put a meter on it, 11.6 volts and slowly dropping.  I threw the charger on it long enough to get it started and looked for my receipt from the original purchase, thinking I'd get a pro-rate of some sort from Advance since it wasn't THAT old.  Much to my surprise the receipt had "2 year free replacement" on it, and I was 5 days away from the 2 year mark.  Yay me.....I wasn't going to put another of the same battery in it, but since it was going to be "free" I wasn't gonna pass that up.

 

Got it started, drove down to the local AA store and told the manager I needed my "free 2 year replacement".  He says they have to test it first to confirm, which I figured was gonna happen.  AA girl takes her battery tool scanner thingy out, hooks it up and spins all kinds of dials and presses multiple buttons.  I ask her if I needed to start it for her to get a reading and she says no.  Ok, whatever.  We go back inside and she tells the mgr that it has low voltage, 12.3 volts, and she's gonna go get me a new battery.  Manager dick says no, our policy is to see if it will take and hold a charge before authorizing replacement, and that 12.6 volts is normal so obviously it just needs a charge.  I tell him it was 11.6V earlier and I put a quick charge on it to get it to start.  I also said it probably picked up a little more charge from me driving it down to the store from the alternator, but give it 5 minutes and try to start it and it'll be dead.  Like, clicking starter solenoid kind of dead.  He then proceeds to tell me that "alternators don't charge batteries, only a battery charger can charge a battery".  I looked at him in total bewilderment for a minute, then asked him how vehicle batteries maintained their charge if the alternator didn't charge them.  He did not like my smart azz question, at all.  The other 2 workers in the store had little smiles on their faces.....LOL.

 

Long story short, he begrudgingly gave me a new battery, saying "I'll work with you on this once, but it won't happen again".  Yer damn right it won't, buddy, 'cause I'm never stepping foot in your store again.  I politely declined their offer of putting the new battery in (not from the manager, but from the nice girl who first tried to help me.  I put it in myself, brought the old one back in and got my new receipt (which again says "2 year free replacement) and left.  What's the over/under on this new one making it as long as the last one?  I'm planning on putting a Deka in it anyway, and was going to until I saw the free replacement option.  I'll probably turn it in as a core on a new Deka come springtime.

 

 

 

 

[Pete M]

parts store people crack me up sometimes   

[WahooSteeler]

While Advance has always had above average turnover in my observation, it seems to be even higher the past year. The store I buy from 300yds from my office has had 3 managers and at least 2 "groups" of counter people in the past 18 months. The counter people definitely are less and less knowledgeable about parts. There's a lot to learn if you are new to the job but if you don't have even the most basic automotive knowledge then things like this happen. How that guy got to be a store manager is beyond me. 

[Minuit]

The auto parts stores around me have some of the highest turnover of any business I've ever been around regularly... except the Autozone in my town. The same group of old guys have been working there since I was 10 it seems like. Usually at the other places the managers stay around for a while, but it seems like there's always a new guy working the counter who just started. Shame too, because for a while pretty much everyone in one of the O'reillys here knew me by name, or at least as that one guy with the weird Jeep trucks.

[DirtyComanche]

1 hour ago, mjeff87 said:

He then proceeds to tell me that "alternators don't charge batteries, only a battery charger can charge a battery".  I looked at him in total bewilderment for a minute, then asked him how vehicle batteries maintained their charge if the alternator didn't charge them.  He did not like my smart azz question, at all.  The other 2 workers in the store had little smiles on their faces.....LOL.

 

The battery manufacturers push this in an effort to avoid warranty claims.

 

It is somewhat true with certain battery types, in that if they're right dead the charging voltage of the alternator is too low to 'wake' them back up so they take a charge, and you need to basically hit them with a constant current charge to bring them back.

 

Typical lead acid garbage, no, it's just a line.

[mjeff87]

I agree an alternator won't charge a stone cold dead battery.  On that, there's no question.

 

But to outright say that an alternator doesn't charge a vehicle battery (in front of witnesses, no less) is downright asinine.

 

I was headed to AA on Saturday anyway, before the battery made it a priority for me.  I was going to pick up some more Rain-X and some tire shine, 'cause I like to pimp out my ride like that.  Just out of spite, I replaced my battery and drove up the road to O'Riley's and bought the other stuff I needed.  Fuggum.  

[WahooSteeler]

NAPA seems to keep the same people around in my experience. 

[Keyav8r]

The reason these stores have a high turnover rate is that they promote anyone who can recognize a spark plug to manager (the “alternators don’t charge batteries” guy being an exception).  Then they work the crap out them doing opening and closing and all the shifts not otherwise staffed.

Friend of mine, who is a car guy, took a part time job at AA after retirement.  Was there a month or so and they asked him to be an assistant manager with a decent raise.  Then came the extra hours, weekends, holidays, etc.  He quit.  Others may not have that option.

[Jeep Driver]

I don't even use the chain stores anymore, they have little to offer me. 

 

And, I refuse, absolutely REFUSE to talk to a woman behind the counter. 

 

Not a sexist, just refuse to explain anything more than once. 

[dvitha]

My men in the shop and I do all our research before we even talk to some one about a part. Time frame dictates price. Our computer system is setup to auto order either from Napa, o'reilly, a1 auto, local dealers and newly added Rock auto. We get delivery from O'reilly and Napa with in 20 minutes to 3 hours , others with in same day. I have not talked to anyone for ordering parts in at least 2 years. We only use OEM, or parts we can certify oem replacement. On a 25% case our customers bring in parts. We do a lot of rebuilding in the shop too, so most of the time we don't need to order full parts, like starters, alternators, pistons, wheel cylinders, and ect. We bend cut, and do all our own brake, hydraulic , and air condition lines. 

[HOrnbrod]

Unless it's an absolute emergency and I need a part NOW, I never go into any of the chain stores. And when I do (once or twice a year) I call ahead, give them their p/n of what I need beforehand so it's waiting for me, whether it's in stock or they have to order it with next day delivery.

 

We do have an independent non-chain auto parts store in town who has somehow survived in business for about forty years, and I do frequent them the most. Mainly because they carry quality parts, are all longtime mostly family employees, and really know their stuff, including the family ladies. Plus I want to support them for the community and as a better alternative to the chain guys.

[mjeff87]

8 hours ago, HOrnbrod said:

 

We do have an independent non-chain auto parts store in town who has somehow survived in business for about forty years, and I do frequent them the most. Mainly because they carry quality parts, are all longtime mostly family employees, and really know their stuff, including the family ladies. Plus I want to support them for the community and as a better alternative to the chain guys.

 

^^^^That's my go-to place up here where I live....a little place called Gray Line Auto Parts.  Half of my MJ build came from there (the other half came from the junkyard LOL).  They give me jobber rates since I've bought so much stuff from them over the years.  They have a computer system, but still have the old school huge rack of parts books for lookup, and know how to use them.  They have a website, of sorts.....  https://greylineautoparts.wixsite.com/website  The whole place reeks of cigarette smoke, and you do to when you walk out....that's the only thing I don't like about them.

[Longview]

Problem with parts store now is pay. They excpect to pay someone minimum wage, and get someone with a brain between their shoulders.

Instead they get someone with a pulse, who doesnt know a spark plug from a glow plug.

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[gogmorgo]

^^^ Came in to say basically this. 

I spent about six months in the back end of a chain parts store a few years ago. I never worked the counter, just did inventory, deliveries, etc. 

The counter staff were all part-time employees. Under labour codes, the benefits required to be allocated to full-time employees meant they wouldn't pay anyone full time. Everyone was staffed on 25-hour weeks. You can't retain employees when you do that. Because I was more useful than most of their highschool student/dropout staff they scheduled me for the max hours they could and then "called me in" to fill out my hours to full-time, which they did for a couple other employees, but there was constant pressure coming down the chain to quit that. Plus the barely-above-minimum wage they paid their few legit full-time staff members meant they weren't exactly hiring rockstars. But the turnover wasn't terrible. I quit about three years ago, and when I popped in there last summer they still had about 50% of the same faces. 

 

As far as having knowledgeable staff behind the counter, I don't mind having people who know diddly. They usually realize pretty quick that I know more than they do about what I need. The really good guys aren't awful either, cause they understand what I'm trying to do. It's the people somewhere in the middle who know enough to build some sort of mental picture of what I want but not enough to realize that I actually know what I'm doing and what I need, and they're the ones who cause problems. 

 

In defense of the counter person, and you won't necessarily realize it until you've spent some time in a parts store, but the typical customer who comes in doesn't really know what they need. Frequently you'll get people who'll say something like "my car needs a battery" and when prompted for year/make/model, respond with "um... it's blue?". People who come in like that generally go away with what they're looking for, and are happy with the service they got, although we definitely had employees with zero patience for that, but generally they didn't last too long. Roughly 50% of the people who act like they know more than the counter person and refuse to acknowledge what the counter person had to say will get upset and eventually go off with whatever they think they need, and then we'll see them back several times in worse and worse moods later in the shift, or the next day, because we sold them the wrong thing which was somehow our fault. And probably 80% of all the customers who got irritable or impolite with any of the staff fell into that demographic. The rest of the irritable customers generally were of the type who didn't really seem to know what they needed, and then couldn't or wouldn't give any info to help us figure it out, so it was pretty tough to sell them something. 

 

Basically what it comes down to is that parts stores don't fix cars, they sell parts. If you come in and identify what part you need, you're golden. If you're polite to the staff, generally you'll get good service. If you know what you need but don't have part numbers, the store has a system to find them, but as with any computer system it'll only bring you results for what you tell it to look for, and sometimes it'll ask for info that seems ridiculous, and while frequently it doesn't matter, often enough it will be a meaningful difference, whether it seems like it should have a bearing on abything or not. The counter person isn't going to be a trained mechanic, they're just going to be trained in operating that system.

With experience a person will learn from customers more about various nuances by seeing what parts come back if they sell someone a part off the "wrong" option when the customer claims it won't matter, etc. But they also learn that when the customer gets impatient with them and insists the computer system is wrong, more often than not you don't actually know what you're doing and will bring back whatever you leave with, more often than not in a condition where it clearly can't be returned. If you behave in a way that sticks you in that demographic of customer, which could be anything from being in a poor mood to refusing to talk to certain members of staff, to insisting one of the most knowledgeable staff members is wrong, and I'll point out that you don't necessarily know who that person is.

 

I frequently will go to the less experienced seeming person behind the counter. Treat them with respect, and you'll usually get treated the same way. All the store asks of their employees is to be competent in looking up parts for OEM applications, so that's all you can expect from them.