Customer service for us "old" folks

[2935ford]

I do CARQUEST also. They know me by name......the lady there behind the counter does an excellent job of taking the time to try and source my old parts. NAPA didn't want to spend to much time with me so, I no longer visit them.

[malpais]

Didn't mean to make this so much about old and young, but guess my title did. It was more about current state of affairs.

More about not listening (or me not explaing well)?

Many companies I deal with dont even have service reps.
If you can a hold of a person, they say I should of looked
at thier forum - often no employees there.

Ya run into the same stuff at home stores.

We might blame our generation too. We want old style service
at low wages and low prices, dont we?

I was thinking about our recent complaints about Ford vendors.
Im sure glad they are there.

[wex65]

Went into the local Autozone a couple of months back for some oil to do a change on the wife's 55 Thunderbird. Went to check out and they had a bunch of little bottles of injector cleaner on the counter. Young guy serving me held one up and asked if I wanted one to help keep the engine clean. Told him no as the engine doesnt have injectors and he looked at me funny and said...and I quote "what do you mean, all engines have injectors?!". Asked me what engine it was and said "a '55 322 in a Thunderbird", silence was the response as he resumed checking me out.

Another time I went in there and asked for a coil to distributor cable. Showed him the one I pulled off the car. He asked the usual "what vehicle/year" to which I replied it was for a 1937 flathead in a 1930 coupe so the year wouldnt help. He insisted he couldnt help without knowing the year. Once again I showed him the cable and said it is a fairly standard cable, ANY length will do (just for a test fire). He hit the SPACEBAR twice, pretended to look at the monitor and said (we just sold out of them).

Totally depressing how most (NOT all) behind the counter that are less than say 40 years of age haven't a clue. No clue...

[JSeery]

I always determine the part numbers I need before I head to a parts store. This is for several reasons, one being that even on new car I have had them pull the wrong part! A lot of parts are used on several years and makes of cars (interchangeable) so it also helps to know what years and makes will work. Also, there can be large price differences for the same part from different sources. Even at the Ford dealership it helps if you know the parts numbers.

[flatford8]

There are a number of posts giving advice to do your "research on-line" before going to the auto parts store....good advice.....yet it seems some of the same people want the counter person to "look it up in the book". I agree some of the younger generation isn't as motivated to do a good job as we are. Using the computer to look up parts is faster, easier and how they are taught. As I said, you aren't born with knowledge and experience but how about patience???....If you like doing things the old way....Next time you post......mail it with a stamp.....MARK

[4tford]

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Once again I am fortunate. I not only have two great machine shops in town I also have a NAPA with a 22 year old counterman who really knows his flatheads and can reference parts for me.

[wex65]

Originally Posted by 4tford

Once again I am fortunate. I not only have two great machine shops in town I also have a NAPA with a 22 year old counterman who really knows his flatheads and can reference parts for me.

I guess thinking about it for a moment, the bottom line is that the main street stores service main street cars. This is probably 98% of their audience. I guess it is about accepting the fact that asking for a gasket for a 54 nailhead or a 38 flathead is similar to going into Best Buy and asking for a 5 1/4" floppy disk drive for a 286 computer...it just isn't going to happen.

Wow, if I am this grumpy now in my 40s I will be a truly grumpy old git in 20 years.

[WestCoast]

LOL, it seems Mark doesn't like the tone or the way this post is going, if I have to do the work and look up all the parts for the c/p, why don't I get his pay check? are they parts guys, or just part fetchers?

[hardtimes]

Hey malpais,
Funny stuff to read, kind of like a comic strip reads. But, unfortunately not funny at all , but sad. Not a 'country for old car guys', eh !

[ford38v8]

Not enough has been said of how it was in the old days. When I was a kid working on my then 10-20 year old cars, my education came from parts men at dealerships, and junk yard men. Take a part in to a dealership and a parts man would take one look at it and go to the back and retrieve your new part, then proceed to advise you on gaskets and additional parts needed to do the job, and he'll walk you through the procedure. The junk dealer would just automatically test your generator on his growler before selling you his generator, and his Hollander Interchange was used on a daily basis. Go to an Oldsmobile dealership, the parts guy would show you his Hollander to show you the Chevy part that was cheaper! Back then, it was known as Customer Service.

[Bruce Lancaster]

I once frequently ordered various minor Corvette engine parts to finish off a late Chevy small block I was messing with. I had all necessary parts books and assumed I would do fine by telling the man "order me a part number 123498xxx" or such...
No, no. I was a civilian, so he needed to look the damn things up himself...and I couldn't specify what he should look up, because there was no actual corvette involved and so my details were inadequate.
Eventually, I came up with a work-around in this field of asymmetrical warfare: I looked up all the codes in the corvette parts books and brochures, then went back with spiels like "I need a wire bracket for a 1986 Corvette with X-99 blivet package, r 37 transmission, power steering, and deluxe vanity mirror". If I had been careful enough, he would find the part number I had already given him and at last accept my money.

[tubman]

Wex65,

At first I thought your reference to a "'55 322 in a Thunderbird" was a typo; After your second post referring to a Buick nailhead, I'm no longer sure. Since Buick used a 322" nailhead in 1955, and the Ford 312 Y-block didn't appear until 1956, do you really have a nailhead in your wife's T'bird?

[wex65]

Originally Posted by tubman

Wex65,

At first I thought your reference to a "'55 322 in a Thunderbird" was a typo; After your second post referring to a Buick nailhead, I'm no longer sure. Since Buick used a 322" nailhead in 1955, and the Ford 312 Y-block didn't appear until 1956, do you really have a nailhead in your wife's T'bird?

sigh...been one of those days.

It was in my '55 Special. I am in the middle of redoing the dash in my wife's 55 Thunderbird. the dash, gauges and wiring are all over the pool table. I guess I have Thunderbirds on my mind today.

[BILL WZOREK]

Not car related but CP related ~

We had a TD 24 International dozer it Had a bad injector took it out and went to the dealer where the parts guy told me it was not a International part. I told him I just took it out of a T D 24 I even showed him the grease under my figure nails.
He insisted it couldn't be Internationals were red in color and the part I brought down was Blue.
He should have known our company color was Blue & if it was in our yard for more then 24hr's it turned Blue ~~~ no mater what it was ~~~

[Shu47]

You know what you have experience with so I don't expect the parts store to know it all with these old vehicles. They just don't have the experience. I expect to do a bunch of hand holding and hopefully when I leave the person helping me is a little smarter about old cars/trucks. The show stopper for me is if the person is an a$$h@!e like at the NAPA closest to me. Then I don't go back.

[Barry-ct]

Yes, the parts business has changed a lot in the past 20 years. When I got into the parts business, it was enjoyable for work. Now, it's a rat race of the worst kind! The wholesale end is terrible and the customers are nasty. Retail is almost as bad. Today, people come in and I've had some not even know what model Ford they drive! Or don't have a VIn for the car parked at home, yet want the correct part. I always went out of my way to help the customer, no matter how big of a jerk they were. That's why I got out of it and "retired" at age 59. THe young today will never have to know or understand automobiles or have the knowledge stored in their heads because of the computer.
So, there's 2 sides of that coin.

[37fordtruckguy]

Originally Posted by Barry-ct

Yes, the parts business has changed a lot in the past 20 years. When I got into the parts business, it was enjoyable for work. Now, it's a rat race of the worst kind! The wholesale end is terrible and the customers are nasty. Retail is almost as bad. Today, people come in and I've had some not even know what model Ford they drive! Or don't have a VIn for the car parked at home, yet want the correct part. I always went out of my way to help the customer, no matter how big of a jerk they were. That's why I got out of it and "retired" at age 59. THe young today will never have to know or understand automobiles or have the knowledge stored in their heads because of the computer.
So, there's 2 sides of that coin.

I have to disagree with you on the younger generation not having to know older cars. Im 19 now, but I have restored two vehicles from the ground up, a 1937 ford pickup and a 54 Packard caribbean. Computers just help as a aid to find what I can't, other wise I am digging through my motor manuals to find what I need.

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by WestCoast

LOL, it seems Mark doesn't like the tone or the way this post is going, if I have to do the work and look up all the parts for the c/p, why don't I get his pay check? are they parts guys, or just part fetchers?

Well, guess it's just me, but I'm that way about everything. I need to understand it first so that I know what is going on, I don't just blindly trust someone else to take care of things for me. It's the same for machine shop work, mechanical work, parts whatever. I normally get the machine shop to let me do most of the work! I want to know what is going on and be able to do it myself. I have turned over welding to my grandson, he's a certified welder. But still I understand and know what is going on and supervise! Just me, but if I can figure out how to do it myself it's not going to get done.

[Barry-ct]

37pickup guy- No doubt, you are an exception to the rule. I spent 30+ years in the dealership end and I've seen a lot of young kids come and go. Most were into rice rockets and could care less about old cars. When I first started in 1974, most were into older cars and were mechanically inclined. Schools today have eliminated shop classes and have the emphasis on computers. So, you have to work with what you get from the high schools. I am not saying they're stupid, just not into old cars like I was. Times are a changin' as they say.

[cmbrucew]

Originally Posted by BILL WZOREK

Not car related but CP related ~

We had a TD 24 International dozer it Had a bad injector took it out and went to the dealer where the parts guy told me it was not a International part. I told him I just took it out of a T D 24 I even showed him the grease under my figure nails.
He insisted it couldn't be Internationals were red in color and the part I brought down was Blue.
He should have known our company color was Blue & if it was in our yard for more then 24hr's it turned Blue ~~~ no mater what it was ~~~

Bill
We had a TD 24 for a while. Seems like it used a 671 Detroit Diesel for power.
Might be wrong, memory is not perfect anymore.
Bruce