The Customer is Always Wrong

"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave) 08/03/2016 at 11:07 • Filed to: None

2

30

Guy asks me for a hood spring for a 2003 Blazer. I show him a parts illustration of all the hood sheet metal parts. We determine he doesn’t need the main popup spring but one on the safety latch or the main hood catch has rusted away. He points at what he wants and I order it. He gets this.

He comes in and says when picking up the part “thats not what I wanted”. I explain thats what he pointed out.

We now ordered the main catch . The part he needs.

Why I ask did he point out the safety latch? I want to pull my hair out about now! Why oh why can you show a person a picture, point out all the items and they still can’t pick out what they need? I guess Walmart and Auto Zone couldn’t help them so they came to me. Sometimes I can tell from the persons look and manners that this will happen before they even tell me what they are working on and I’m lucky if they give me the correct year, make and model.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 11:13

1

I’m a math teacher and I know firsthand that people cannot connect pictures with concrete things. The same holds true when it comes to reading a map. Your customer probably had zero idea what he was looking at, either on your screen or under his hood.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/03/2016 at 11:23

0

I think the next generation will do much better with interpreting maps, at least basic road maps. Thank Pokemon Go for that.

Topo maps will always be voodoo to everyone except foresters, cartographers, Scouts, and military personnel. Even engineers and surveyors seem to have trouble with topos.

Dave the car guy , still here > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/03/2016 at 11:24

0

Sometime I’d like to tell one of them what a moron they are. I just might some day.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/03/2016 at 11:30

0

I’ve never seen Pokemon Go in action. If it gets kids reading maps, then I’m a fan.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 11:32

2

Meh. Stay employed.

Ash78, voting early and often > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/03/2016 at 11:33

0

I love me some topo maps. It takes work, but you can eventually start to see them in 3d if you train your brain enough. There is actually a local cartography shop near me who is working on true 3d topos that you read using glasses. It’s kind of a gimmick, but pretty cool.

Ike > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/03/2016 at 11:35

0

Agreed the best revenge is a life well lived

jariten1781 > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 11:37

1

I have regularly had the opposite issue. Example from a few years ago...tell parts guy I need a coolant reservoir cap, he orders the oil cap ...aaaaahhhhhhhhhh. I started asking for the exploded parts diagram even for simple shit like that so I can point directly at it. Normally works ok, except occasionally the guy working the desk doesn’t know what an exploded diagram is or has no clue how to call it up...luckily the internet has like 90% of them now so I can just pull the number myself...but even then if I try to order by part number it’s a 5 minute conversation about what car it’s for and why I need it....gah, just provide part.

Frankly, I've stopped going to the parts counter the vast majority of the time now and just order stuff online.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/03/2016 at 11:43

0

The problem is, though, that the current generation of drivers, and Pokemon Go players, will be learning their maps through a GPS driving perspective, not a “North is always up” perspective. A right turn is always a right turn on the GPS, while reading a traditional map forces you to change your perspective to understand that turn to the west is a right, even though you are going “left” on the map.

Speaking of maps, I’m reading a book called A History of the World in 12 Maps , and it’s interesting to learn how the choice of North at the top of a map is entirely arbitrary, and mostly likely reflects the social and political importance the early map makers placed on Europe. It was the best, so naturally, it had to be on the top.

functionoverfashion > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 11:44

1

When I worked at a marina we used to get a lot of business from a boat rental place just down the road. Their repair guy would come in and say, “Yeah, I need a widget for a 25 Honda...” and I’d say, every time, “Serial Number?” He’d say, “geez, I don’t know, it’s maybe a 2009?” “No, SERIAL number, please.” Because they made basically the same engine for 25 years but it had numerous small changes. The parts catalog was all based on serial number. And this guy almost never came in with one. I would send him away every time because I refused to order the wrong part and have him blame me. I’m not going to make uneducated guesses because you’re lazy.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Ike 08/03/2016 at 11:47

0

That’s a great line. Who said that?

just-a-scratch > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/03/2016 at 11:49

0

am engineer, not civil, can read topo, no can write good

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 08/03/2016 at 11:50

0

As I would have expected.

I always assumed North had to do with the magnetic pole and was therefore a fairly obvious choice.

Ike > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/03/2016 at 11:50

0

No idea, I feel like most things the Internet is gonna say Abe Lincoln. I just remember hearing it from a coworker years ago

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/03/2016 at 11:51

0

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/…

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 08/03/2016 at 11:58

0

I suppose that is true, but not in our house. I always maximize the nav system in my wife’s Explorer when we go on trips so the kids can see where we are. Oh, and I always set it in the standard north is up orientation.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Ash78, voting early and often 08/03/2016 at 11:58

0

This map of the Grand Canyon cemented my love for cartography.

I bought one when we visited the south rim and it graced my wall for years.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 08/03/2016 at 12:06

0

But it’s Al Jazeera...

Dave the car guy , still here > jariten1781 08/03/2016 at 12:07

0

I know what you’r saying. I work in GM parts but regularly use online catalog for other makes to get parts. Certain dealerships are worse than others . Locally I have issues getting correct VW or BMW parts, good with most other makes. I seldom let parts stores look up my parts. I have online access for various different Advance, Federated, CPW etc and just order the parts myself. I’ve been doing this 30+ yrs, few errors. I hate when I do have to call the local parts places and know I’m talking to someone who might have been flipping burgers last week.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/03/2016 at 12:13

0

It was written by a Murican, though.

jariten1781 > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 12:18

0

Speaking of VW, have you run into this BS? The local counter would charge full list and wouldn’t come down off of it yet their online price was majorly lower. Example, I went in to pick up a fan relay that they had on their site for 5$s and the guy ringing me up goes 37$s. I’m like ‘Huh, your site says 5?’. He states he can go down to 32 but that’s it...I stand there and order it on my phone and he hands me the part for 5. How on earth is that a good idea? One of many reasons I ditched the brand and put it on the shit list for the next decade.

Dave the car guy , still here > functionoverfashion 08/03/2016 at 12:21

1

Oh yeah, I know outboards somewhat. After High School in NC I was in a shop where we had a wooden military crate full of old Johnson , Merc and Evinrude pieces from 50s to 70s vintage. A friend and I decided on a slow week to McGyver a 25-35hp engine from spare parts. It was about 4 different colors on the housing. We went to the marine store blocks away in Wilmington for new ignition, bearings and rings which we pretty much had to just match up. It ran well, shop foreman put it on a small 14' aluminum skiff. I pity whoever worked on it next because going by a serial number wouldn’t have worked.

Dave the car guy , still here > jariten1781 08/03/2016 at 12:24

0

Yes, but I get wholesale and some still try to put the screws to you. Fortunately I can order from 3 VW places and 1 Audi so I just price shop.

functionoverfashion > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 12:31

0

haha, nice! With older stuff it’s less important... and with the Hondas some stuff was exactly the same year to year, but other things had 4-5 iterations in as many years.

My boat has a Ford 351 block and a lot of the basic parts are the same as automotive. So I call up NAPA and say I’ve got a 1997 F-250 with a 351.

Dave the car guy , still here > functionoverfashion 08/03/2016 at 12:44

0

I’ve had guys around here with GM marine engines who sometimes got parts from me. I always enjoyed getting parts for the OMC GM 2.5 engines which varied little from the Celebrity and S10 engines.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 12:53

1

When I worked at Partsource, I had a manager who did that once. We had someone come from the liquidation store across the street asking for help with their car. We offered to call a tow truck, he said no, he had CAA but he left his lights on and thought his battery was dead. So the manager (cause he’s generally a nice guy) went over there with his personal vehicle just to give him a boost, but got there, the guy’s lights were still on, and even after they hooked up the booster cables, absolutely nothing happened when they turned the key. The car’s a Corolla that’s only a couple years old, so my manager then tells him he should call CAA and have a shop look at it, but he can wait in the store until the tow truck gets there, cause it was around 0°F. The guy insists it’s the battery (even though his lights are now back on), doesn’t call a tow truck, and starts arguing with my manager who is refusing to sell him a new battery because he knows it’s not the problem, and that the guy will just try to bring it back when he hooks it up and it doesn’t work, and because it’s an electrical part, once it’s hooked up it’s not returnable. After about ten minutes of back and forth, my manager backs down and sells him the battery, just to make him go away. Twenty minutes later, the guy comes back in carrying the brand new battery, saying it didn’t work and he wants another. We put it in the battery tester, and what do you know, works a treat. The guy tries to return it. My manager comes back out and explains how it’s not returnable, as he explained many times before he sold it to him. After about five minutes of the guy’s protests he actually used the sentence “Just because you’re a moron and didn’t listen to me doesn’t mean I can violate company policy for you. The best I can do is return it as a core for $20.” The guy walks out dejected carrying his new battery. The whole process has taken over an hour at this point. He gets in his car and sits down.

Ten minutes later, a tow truck shows up. The driver gets out, words are exchanged, pop the hood, battery tester, booster cables, old battery goes out, new one goes in, battery tester, more booster cables, tow truck driver pokes around under the hood a bunch, hops in and out of the car, very heated looking discussion for ten minutes, then the tow truck leaves. The guy gets back in the Corolla. A half hour later another tow truck shows up. Process starts all over, after about 20 minutes the second tow truck drives away. Guy sits back down in his car. About an hour later as we’re closing down for the night, a beat-up 80's F150 shows up and a guy who looks like he could be 90 gets out. They go through the whole booster cables, batteries in and out process again, and eventually hook up a strap and drag the car out of there.

Sometimes people deserve to be called morons.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 08/03/2016 at 13:00

0

His citizenship should be revoked. /S

RallyWrench > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 13:08

0

Oh, come on, give the customer some credit! Mine always come right in when their battery light is on.

Meatcoma > Dave the car guy , still here 08/03/2016 at 13:11

1

The customer is never right except when I’m the customer, get it right. Get it?

Dave the car guy , still here > Meatcoma 08/03/2016 at 13:39

1

My favorite wrong customer was our own company’s Ford dealership. They insisted on me ordering them 4 cam sensors for a Pontiac G8 and I sent them a set. Another Ford parts guy ordered the same items from another guy here and they got 4 more of the same sensors. They finally listened to me when they called pissed that they had the wrong parts twice. I then sent them the cam variable timing actuator solenoids that I had tried to tell them about on the first call. They insisted they needed sensors back then. I’ve had a saying “ Do you want what you asked for, or do you want what you need?”.