Here in Elko we have NAPA,Carquest,Checker and Big A. Maybe I've just been lucky,but I've had really good experiences at all of them. the people actually take pride in their work,and work to give the right parts. As far as customer service,I think a lot of it comes down to "You get what you give." I've noticed that when somebody gets all jacked up about the questions the counterperson (there's several females here) asks,it doesn't encourage good service;they ask because the computers need the info,even if it doesn't relate to the part they're looking up. No answer,no next screen...Also,a good many of the customers here are ranchers,and they get REAL hostile if they drive 100 miles to get a part,drive 100 miles to whatever field their truck's broke down in,and find it's the wrong part. When I worked the parts counter I got along well with the ranchers,because I learned how to work more info out of them to be sure I got the right part;i.e. "Is it a heavy duty charging system?" "I dunno." "Well,does it have Air conditioning,power windows,that kinda stuff?" "Yeah,all of that." "Okay,it'll be a high amp alternator,then." A lot of times,they'll send their wives in to get stuff. That's sometimes enough to bring on the aforementioned lack of customer service. "Hi;I need that round thing on top of the engine,for a green Ford pick up." The other counter people always sent those to me-I was the only one who was willing to play detective to get the right part.
I have to agree though,on the average,customer service is getting worse. Seems these days working in a parts store is the gearhead equivalent to working fast food.Maybe part of the problem is the lack of accountability. Used to be when a parts person sold the wrong part,they'd probably looked it up (in actual books)wrong,it was (usually) their mistake,and thay'd try extra hard to make up for it;they didn't want to lose a customer,and they didn't want it known around town they screwed up. Reputation and skill meant something. That's why the old timers are so knowlegeable;they'd been looking up parts for so long some still remember the numbers for smallblock chevy points,or a Pontiac pushrod,or a Buick 300 top end gasket set.Now,if you get the wrong part,the kid behind the counter will probably just say"Huh-the computer's wrong."shrug and give you tour money back. No big deal. No accountability. And I'll bet a computer equipped parts person could work for 20 years and probably not remember a fraction of the part numbers they used every day.
Okay,I'm done now. Carry on.
Speed
