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AutoZone adventure

In my past life I was a store manager for AutoZone. I had a hard time hiring and keeping good people. Most people were hired on customer service skills vs automotive knowledge. I couldn't pay enough to keep smart, knowledgeable employees and got very little money to pass out for raises every year. It was a challenge getting (and keeping) good employees. I use to keep a cheat sheet of part numbers for common SBC parts, relays, internals, etc but that was not the norm. Most employees did not have very much car knowledge but I tried to schedule at least one knowledgeable employees per shift. I left right when they were switching from the old DOS based system to the new one. Also I had performance standards for high profit items we upsell. Obviously we were suppose to ask if they needed antifreeze for a thermostat or anti seize for spark plugs; but fuel injector cleaner, etc.

I order almost all my parts on RockAuto. Cheaper, no waiting in line, poor customer service, etc. Most times AZ is understaffed and customer service is poor. They price match but are not price competitive.
 


I only walk into an auto parts store AZ, Advance, NAPA, etc when I NEED something that day. Otherwise I order online typically Rockauto. But if I do go to an auto parts store its after I have ordered online. You can usually get 15% or more off with the web coupons and pick it up same day.
 
Try being a good parts person dealing with stupid people on a daily basis, AND getting to deal with the stupid people in your industry. Yay! :th_shakinghead2:
 
Currently working for Advance...pretty sure some of the other employees are illiterate. Also good one on the manager for putting the one dyslexic employee in charge of backstock.

When confronted with that "its all the same" I just make a choice, then run it by them, and move on.
 
Damn all this bashing on Auto Zone. Y'all almost make me feel like a degenerate working for them. So forgive me and all these other people who you guys think are dumb fuks who work for AZ.
We have to question you on what year make and model your car is only for the warranties regardless if you have part numbers.
Yes we tend to hire people based on customer service rather than knowledge on vehicles.
There tend to be long lines since the DM's tend to cut hours across the board and only a few people get hours, hence only a few people working.
Yes we tend to hire dumb sacks of **** because they are good salesmen.
No one forces you to go to Auto Zone and give the employees a hard time, take that **** to O'reilly's.
Just noticed how old this is. Oh well [h=1] ¯\_(ツ)_/¯[/h]
 
So why is it Advance doesn't need year, make, and model for warranty? All they need is your phone number to put it in your history.

Hiring dumb sacks of sh!t because they are "good salesman" is about the stupidest thing I have heard someone say. Not only is it poor business practice, it's just downright asinine. People that go to parts stores are either knowledgeable and know exactly what they want, or are clueless and need a little help from the person behind the counter. If that person behind the counter is more clueless than the customer then their sales "skills" won't amount to jack sh!t.
 


stealthee said:
The point remains the same. If a clueless idiot is behind the counter then they are going to do the clueless idiot in front of the counter no good.
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I know. I'm just having fun. I've been a parts guy for almost 30 years now, and it is damn hard to find people with minimal automotive talent. As an employer, sometimes having a body in place is your only option. I'm in that spot right now. No good talent out there!
 


I understand what you mean. I had to find someone for a production job a few times and just having people smart enough to read the location was difficult enough.

Long story short, I put an ad on Craigslist. I put the location as Mount Braddock. I had people from Braddock (which is about 90 minutes away) apply. I didn't even give them a courtesy email or call because they were too stupid to pay attention to where the job was. After about 3 days of getting emails from 90 minutes away I edited the location to the two nearest bigger towns and the emails from further away stopped, but it didn't make finding a candidate any easier.

I know you technically aren't supposed to discriminate age, or sex in hiring, but the kind of job it was I wasn't going to call a woman (or even a younger 19 year old girl), or an older guy in for a job I knew they weren't going to be able to keep up with. We only had three older guys on the crew and one ended up starting a lot of sh!t with some guys young enough to be his kids, and another guy who almost passed out a few times, and the last was always working out and stuff so he was in shape and the only one who actually was good at the job.
 
At an AutoBarn the idiot behind the counter kept telling me that the engine in my 1992 Park Avenue Ultra was a 5.7 Liter V8 and it was Rear Wheel Drive when I kept telling him he must have made a mistake because that is a Buick Roadmaster. Nope, I was wrong according to him because the computer said so. Monkeys!!
 
I really limit myself at the parts stores... I have an AutoZone and 2 O'Reillys in my town. The employees at O'Reillys are hands down more knowledgeable than AutoZone. If I want to got to Carquest or Napa, they are 30 miles away in opposite directions. Advance Auto parts is over 2 hours away, not gonna happen. What kills me the most is their pricing. These guys will dam near double what Rock Auto sells for. O'Reillys will not price match them either. So I buy very little from the parts stores... F 'em... for the ridiculous mark up on parts, there is no excuse to pay their employees decent wages and teach them some basic automotive knowledge. I order almost everything between Rock Auto, Summit and Jegs. Until the parts stores start matching the online prices, I will order everything and only go to the stores for oil, filters and stupid stuff like that. Hell, Walmart usually is cheaper for oil and filters. If I do side jobs for people, then I usually get parts locally for simplicity's sake.
 


So this wasn't AutoZone, but Advance, and it wasn't an idiot behind the counter, but an idiot in front of the counter.

I went to Advance yesterday to get stuff for an oil change for the Lancer. My cousin was working and I was BSing with him as he rang the sale up. The other guy working, Dave, was helping another customer. After the other customer walked out he walked over laughing and asked "Did you guys hear that?"

We told him no, and he says the guy told him that another idiot gave him the wrong thermostat. So he says, "Okay, what car." The guys says "Pontiac G6" Dave asked him "4 or 6 cylinder" and the guy responds "Its a 6 cylinder, they wouldn't call a car a G6 and put a 4 cylinder in it." LOLOLOL

Dave apparently argued with him for another minute and finally just gave him the 4 cylinder thermostat since the 6 cylinder thermostat that "another idiot gave him" wasn't the right one.

I really wish I would have overheard the conversation so I could have told the guy how much of an idiot he was.
 
What is crazy to me, is Autozone entered the market years ago as a discount auto parts supplier and now they are one of the highest priced auto parts supplier peddling their own branded parts mainly.

Has anybody looked at Autozone Stock? In the past several years it has gone up several hundred dollars per share. Insane increase for a single Stock.
 
Autozone use to be really decent. I could go in there and when i asked for something, theyd know what i was talking about.

Last time I changed my front pads in the Fall of 2016, i took the old ones in for warranty exchange (as i always do; Duralast Golds) and the kid must have been newer because instead of doing an exchange, he gave me my money back. Now remind you, i originally bought these pads in 2013. When he gave me my receipt and said the money would be back on my card, i told him again that i wanted to exchange and he just gave me the most dumbest look ever lol. Another guy had to come over and help him.

Going into Autozone or even Advance, it seems just younger kids, boys and girls, that dont have a clue about anything automotive related. I think your 'Jiffy-lubes' and all of those quick service places are becoming that way too. Hiring whoever they can recruit.
 
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