Bob, it makes me sick what Siemens has done to your industry. It seems like every day they are buying up something new, not just controls but water treatment and other stuff.

Dan, I've long suspected that is exactly the case. How else can they make the payments on their new BMW?

 

I'm with councilman!

 

Doc shame on you for wrecking the American dream because you want to do some sand blasting.............LOL!

In my small town of 15K, we have an AZ and an Advanced. There quality of service depends on where the good guys are working. Seems they float back and forth or wander over to a dealer once in a while.

I have my best success doing the parts search at home using their website, they have gotten pretty good and you can usually check inventory also.

I have not called in a long time, but I do notice these guys still answer the phones when I am there, so I guess the calls are still answered locally.

I work for a European International company. We had an IT help line set up in India, if failed miserably. So we opened a new one, it is in Cincinnati, Ohio. I wonder how our employees in India (we have about 1000 there) feel about calling the USA for their IT technical assistance. This is not BS, actual truth.

 

As a regular customer I don't give a flying flip about wholesale accounts. I've been interrupted in my transactions at the parts counter by telephone calls, but unless the counter guy tells them, "hold on", I walk out and take my business elsewhere. It's a matter of courtesy. If you're standing there transacting business you're number one...not some unknown person on the phone! The guy on the phone may be the one who is clueless...

 

My front loading washer threw a belt... still under warranty. Called the local Sears where I got it from. They forwarded me to a number in India, who forwarded me to another number, who forwarded me to another number who was the repair service for Sears in the same town I bought it from (Duluth, MN) All I needed was the local repair guy's number from the salesman I talked to at the Sears store. I guess that's global marketing, or how to create jobs? Who knows. I wasn't thrilled to say the least. And that was Sears!

As to auto parts, here's where I go, and they do wholesale accounts: APH :: Automotive Parts Headquarters, Inc. :: Home to Auto Value Parts Stores

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I'm considered a wholesale account, sorta, lol.

 

Havi,

That reminds me of a dealing I had with the US Government. I called the postal service, the first person gave me a number to call. I called that number and that person gave me another number. I must have had to call at least six different numbers and finally I got a woman who when I told her my problem started reciting a formulated reply. I informed her I already tried what she was telling me to do and she preceded to recite the same information. I interrupted her and told her, again, I did exactly what she was telling me to and it didn't work. She again started reciting the exact thing, talking over me. At that point I literally told her to "Shut up for a minute and listen to what I am saying". She was a little put off and told me not to be so "rude". I then told her she was the rude one for talking to one of her bosses the way she did and that if she closed her yap for a minute and opened her ears she might be able to figure out what I was looking for. She started to open her mouth again and I asked for her supervisor. I finally got the answer I was looking for.

Another time I called 411 information for the number for the state revenue department. The 411 operator told me since I was calling from one area code and looking for a number in another area code I'd have to call that area code's 411 service. "OK", I said, hung up and dialed the other area code's 411. The same guy answered. I asked, "Didn't I just talk to you?". He said, "Ahhh, yeah. Name and city of party you're looking for."

 

Ii went to autozone yesterday and I asked for an aftermarket filter,youngsters didnt know the part number so they got 3 catalogs,
Youngster looks real fast at it,pics up another one looks at it,barely! and walks away saying he was gonna look in the back.
I pick up the first catalog flip 3 pages and tell him the part number!!!!!
This is a younger kid that copied all my school work in school.
In that autozone there used to be a guy that went out of his way to help you but they fired him for that reason??????
Now there is a punk *** kid who looks like he doesnt want to be there and he grunts when you ask him a question,then there is that younger kid i went to school with.and 2 older guys.

 

That's the problem with corporate America, everything is numbers. They don't care about service just about how many cattle they can get through the gate. My wife worked at a call center for a major mortgage company 20 years ago. She one of the few that just didn't come in to punch the clock and pick up a check. She'd get calls from frustrated customers who had called 3-4 times and never got an answer to their problem. My wife would take the time to research their problem and either find an answer or take their number and call them back. She did this for about two years and every time she had a review she'd get bad marks because her call numbers weren't high enough. Meanwhile the people who would give bad information or transfer callers to empty desks would have high numbers and would get good reviews.

My son also found himself in the same situation last year at his first job at a large local farm supply store. While the woman he worked with would only point and grunt when a customer asked about a product my son would take the extra time to take the customer to the spot in the store, point out the product and give as much help to the customer as possible. He got fired after being on the job for six months because he was told he spent too much time talking to customers. He couldn't have been too bad because one customer offered him a job but he couldn't accept because he wasn't 18 years old.

 

There's iron in them words, Bob. Even where I work, we've gone from a customer first mentality that weighed heavily on quality, to a corporate first that weighs heavily on quantity... all for the profits...greed.

 

I don't use any of the "fast-food" ,so-called "parts houses".There are two of the real deal nearby,and I've been surprised to find their prices very close to,or below those of the chain stores.

I remember dealing with a barely-past-adolescence boy, who informed me I did not drive what I insisted I did,because his computer said it didn't exist.After offering to hold his hand and walk him to the parking lot where my truck sat,he relented.You see,the computer came around to my way of thinking,and the very next screen brought my truck into existence.I was glad to know I've not been delusional about owning my 59 these last 15 or so years.It's NAPA or Winchester Auto for me.Better yet,NumberDummy can usually find anything I need NOS.

 

I love your still pic man!

 

LOL. The ironic thing about that is that I ended up buying the part the next day at my usual mom and pop auto parts store.

 

I'm pretty much over it with AutoZone too. I used to spend a lot of money in the three stores that we have locally and I even worked in one for awhile. They've gotten worse and worse as time has gone on. They used to carry a good selection of parts and had name brand stuff too all at pretty good prices. Now the only thing they are any good for is 6" chrome muffler tips for Hondas and overpriced air fresheners. Their prices have gone up considerably (4 bucks for a quart of oil?!? REALLY?!?), they never have anything I need in stock, everything they carry is that cheap-azz chinese made Duralast house brand, and the counter help gets dumber every day. On the rare occasion that I do need something in a hurry and have to shop there, I always look it up on their website first, print it, and then just hand them the sheet when I go in. Sometimes they still don't know what shelf to look on even when you've already done half the job for them.

These days, I buy everything I can from rockauto.com. Their prices are very low, they carry lots of name brands, and they ship quickly for low money. Most of the time, Rockauto can sell me the namebrand part I need AND ship it right to my door for less than Autozone wants. I figure if I'm going to have to look the part up myself to make sure I get the right one and wait a day or two for it to be delivered at Autozone, then I might as well cut out the middleman and save myself time, money, and aggravation by just ordering online. At least that way I can pick it up right on my own front porch.

 

this is what happens when the masses go for cheap prices only and forget how much your local mom/pop auto parts store really helps out (questions, books, knowledge). As far as my personal store goes, I do get a discount, I don't have to pay first to order parts (ALL chains make you do that around here), he has a spot to drop parts off at for "after hours" pick-up, he'll work with me on custom fit parts (like hoses, belts...) and if I order in the morning 9 out of 10 times it's there by 3pm.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL AUTO PARTS STORE

 

Blair Auto Parts, a long time Whittier establishment on Hadley St. was forced to close due to competition from chain autoparts stores...plus the store was small, so space was limited.

But, the store is still there, as is most of the inventory (a coupla guys bought some of the chebbie parts) and there's usually a coupla people there, hangin' out in the back fiddlin' with a boat or motor home.

If you access Hadley St. off Whittier Blvd., you'll find Blair real soon, cuz there a huge Deuce Hi-Boy painted on the side of the building.