Ever had this happen?

[D2Cat]

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Heater hose #fyp #farmlife #farmtok

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[jimh406]

It didn't want to play. What was it?

 

[bird dogger]

It happened to me not too long ago when I was looking to buy a cheap generic 12vdc starter relay at the local auto parts store. I didn't have to walk with him to pick it off the back room shelf......but I did have to locate it on his parts computer for him. He had no clue. Sheesh!!!

 

[Caden]

Yes.
Needed a couple V belts for my 80s Ford.
Dude didn't know how to measure them nor had he ever sold a V belt.
We had to go look together.
I guess serpentine belts are the norm now but I was surprised nonetheless.

 

[007kubotaguy]

I recently went to our local Napa store. Told the countermen I need an amp meter that reads 0 to 80. Fits a two inch hole after all kinds of dumb looks I told him you have a book under the counter and we can look it up. He couldn't find the book and I finally gave up and said thank you and walked out. Pulled over under the shade tree in the parking lot and ordered one off of amazon. Had it the next morning. I called the owner of the store and told him what had taken place. His response was you have to train my guys help him out a little bit. Told them that wasn't my job but I was happy to help. I told them in the future I'll save the damn looks and just park under his shade tree and order my parts from Amazon. It's a sad thing because I would like to support my local store. With the internet the only thing they have to sell me is customer service. It's just not there anymore.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Sadly this happens to me all the time.

As a “Tinker’er” I am constantly looking for pieces/parts for a “special” project…... However going to the hardware/auto stores has become a lesson in futility.

I now avoid going, and only go when it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that I have the part today/now and I am willing to put up with stupid questions and quizzical looks.

I suppose that I was that dumb/stupid/ignorant????

And as a final rant, I am tired of being told “I can order that for you and have it here in a day or so.”……………..No shit Sherlock,…..so can I, and as a bonus, I wont have to drive back here and look at your stupid f’ing face!!!!!!

Rant off………….I'm going back under my rock…...

 

[D2Cat]

Don't know how many times I've told a parts guy when he ask, "What year and model?" It doesn't matter. It's either a generic part or something they can't find in a book.

Auto parts stores are too reliant on computers for answers, and new hires have little practical knowledge of mechanical things. They are running themselves out of business. It is simpler to find the item on the internet and have it delivered.

 

[GeoHorn]

I refuse to do “FaceBook” (and most other Captured-Audience schemes)

 

[NCL4701]

Between that scenario and a parts store being out of stock for something available at another store 1/2 mile away, I’ve stopped blindly driving to parts stores for parts unless it’s something like a common motor oil anyone would have in stock.

If I need it now or can’t find it at one of the sites where we pay a blanket annual membership for “free” shipping, I find it at the store’s website, confirm which local store has it in stock, and have a part number when I walk in the door. That also facilitates shopping price and supplier without driving all over town. Having a screen shot of the store website’s part number has been helpful when dealing with dummies who allege they can’t find anything without a year, make, model.

Yeah, that’s more work than I probably should have to do to get a part, particularly when I go to the NAPA regional distribution warehouse where I pretty much know they have dang near everything imaginable if they could just put their hands on it. But it’s less work and less frustrating than cold visiting a store that may or may not have the part and may or may not be able to find it. I do remember the days when that worked, but at least for me, those days are over.

 

[Caden]

I have had the best luck at NAPA over the years. Most of the guys in my local one have been working there for 20+ years, and generally use a paper catalogue rather than a computer.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I have had the best luck at NAPA over the years. Most of the guys in my local one have been working there for 20+ years, and generally use a paper catalogue rather than a computer.

My local store had a guy like that, but he retired.

Now I’m left with…..Dumb and Dumber………..

Here they are, on their way to work at my local Orielly’s apparently….

 

[GeoHorn]

I miss the days when I lived in Houston and bought my auto parts at a 24-hour 7-days-a-week “Hi-Lo”.

I could walk-in, ask for a part for Mom’s Cadillac….and they’d hand me the Delco-Remy part for a Chevrolet which was otherwise Identical…but cost half as much…because the Grown Man behind the counter KNEW his products.

In 1984 I was flying a VIP around in my boss’s jet and had arrived at HOU 8PM with an 8AM departure next morning…. The maintenance facility was supposed to put new tires all-around during the midnight shift…. having guaranteed me they had every part imaginable for that model aircraft to assure I’d not miss the 8AM departure.
At 3 AM they called to awaken me at the hotel and said the nose-gear had failed wheel bearings on this British jet I was flying…and although their computer said they had the parts…..those parts wrere unfortunately in their WILMINGTON DELAWARE facility…!! …not Houston.

I was going to be responsible for having work done on an airplane in the middle of a trip that had national-importance …but would be interrupted by my decision to have tires installed mid-trip.

I got on the phone at 3AM and called my buddy at Hi-Lo and gave him the British Aerospace Part Number for the dual-bearings on that nose-gear Live-Axle …..He put me on “hold”…. and in a couple minutes came back and asked “Which Ford Tractor exact model do you have..?” …and he rattled-off a couple models.
I told him “DOESN”T MATTER! Do you have Two of them, the interchangeable part for that PN?”

”Yes….but they’re not cheap! They’re $18 bucks EACH!”

I sent for them in a taxi-cab and had them installed by 6AM. (The aircraft inspector demanded to know where I had obtained them and I told him “DOESN’T MATTER! They are Genuine TIMKEN and the SAME PART NUMBER! INSTALL THEM!”

We made the departure on-time.

Those were the days.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I miss the days when I lived in Houston and bought my auto parts at a 24-hour 7-days-a-week “Hi-Lo”.

I could walk-in, ask for a part for Mom’s Cadillac….and they’d hand me the Delco-Remy part for a Chevrolet which was otherwise Identical…but cost half as much…because the Grown Man behind the counter KNEW his products.

In 1984 I was flying a VIP around in my boss’s jet and had arrived at HOU 8PM with an 8AM departure next morning…. The maintenance facility was supposed to put new tires all-around during the midnight shift…. having guaranteed me they had every part imaginable for that model aircraft to assure I’d not miss the 8AM departure.
At 3 AM they called to awaken me at the hotel and said the nose-gear had failed wheel bearings on this British jet I was flying…and although their computer said they had the parts…..those parts wrere unfortunately in their WILMINGTON DELAWARE facility…!! …not Houston.

I was going to be responsible for having work done on an airplane in the middle of a trip that had national-importance …but would be interrupted by my decision to have tires installed mid-trip.

I got on the phone at 3AM and called my buddy at Hi-Lo and gave him the British Aerospace Part Number for the dual-bearings on that nose-gear Live-Axle …..He put me on “hold”…. and in a couple minutes came back and asked “Which Ford Tractor exact model do you have..?” …and he rattled-off a couple models.
I told him “DOESN”T MATTER! Do you have Two of them, the interchangeable part for that PN?”

”Yes….but they’re not cheap! They’re $18 bucks EACH!”

I sent for them in a taxi-cab and had them installed by 6AM. (The aircraft inspector demanded to know where I had obtained them and I told him “DOESN’T MATTER! They are Genuine TIMKEN and the SAME PART NUMBER! INSTALL THEM!”

We made the departure on-time.

Those were the days.

We used to call that “counter to counter”.

When I was an A&P working at the Gulstream repair facility in Pontiac, Michigan…... occasionally “shit happened” and if the part we needed was in CA (or Mexico/Zimbobwe/Argentina….didn’t matter) They would physically call a guy, have them go pick up the part within an hour(s), then rent a plane to fly the part to us!!!!!….No one else on the plane…………..Just the part.

They would taxi up to the hanger, jump out of the plane, run the part to the “parts counter” and take back off…..

That must have been a ridiculous bill………..

But if I asked for $ .25 cent raise, wellllllllllll………..you know….money is tight…..

Some people have the money I guess…………...

 

[skeets]

Whats funny is the kid behind the counter, when rings it up asking what kind of car is this for,, and you tell him the oil and filter is for a Kubota, and he says I dont have a listing for that make,, who makes it ?????Kubota,, is it an import? All we can do is roll our eyes and smile

 

[Lil Foot]

I posted this a year ago:

We had a local mom & pop hardware store that employed a fat ornery, middle-aged woman with virtually no people skills at all. (and no hardware skills or knowledge to boot)
I would ask for something like an 8mm x 1.25 bolt 50mm long, and she would ask "What is it for?"
I would tell her "It doesn't matter what it is for, just show me where I can find it".
She would argue long, loud, & doggedly that she HAD to know what it was for in order to help me.
When I would finally relent and tell her "It's for my Kubota tractor" she would tell me "We don't carry Kubota parts."
I could probably give dozens of examples related to most things a hardware store carries- "We don't carry AC parts, Ford parts, RV parts, motorcycle parts, etc., etc., etc..
I finally met with the owner and complained, and he said lots of people had complained like me and she had been reprimanded several times, but she had a history of suing employers for false termination.
So they were scared to get rid of her.
I told him I wouldn't be coming back.
Maybe 6 months later, a neighbor told me she had finally been fired. YEAH!
I began shopping there again.

But guess what happened the next time I went to the local O'Riellys?
Yup, she was working there, with the same lack of skills, intelligence, and personality.
I immediately went to the manager and complained, and said I would not be back as long as she was there.
Took 6 months, but they finally got rid of her, and I shop there again.

I worry a little bit about where she might show up next.

 

[Killer Bee]

 

[GeoHorn]

We used to call that “counter to counter”.

When I was an A@P working at the Gulstream repair facility in Pontiac, Michigan…... occasionally “shit happened” and if the part we needed was in CA (or Mexico/Zimbobwe/Argentina….didn’t matter) They would physically call a guy, have them go pick up the part within an hour(s), then rent a plane to fly the part to us!!!!!….No one else on the plane…………..Just the part.

They would taxi up to the hanger, jump out of the plane, run the part to the “parts counter” and take back off…..

That must have been a ridiculous bill………..

But if I asked for $ .25 cent raise, wellllllllllll………..you know….money is tight…..

Some people have the money I guess…………...

That reminded me of KC Aviation facility at Love Field in the mid-80’s …and the amazing talent some of your counterparts possessed.
I don’t recall his job-title….but the “Boss” was Mr. Connell, and elderly gentleman whom I did not personally know but observed him “managing by walking-around” the facility. No one would appear “idle” if he was in-view.

There were two guys in the fabrication-shop next to avionics who were goofing-off…. having a bragging-contest between them over which was the better welder.
One of them had butt/edge-welded an 11-ga piece of aluminum sheet to a heavy-wall flange…demonstrating his skill level…and handed it to his co-worker challenging Him to admire the perfect seam he’d created between the two dissimilar thicknesses.

I happened to be passing-by as that shop-division was fabricating some interior-structure for our company-airplane. I wanted to check on the progress of the job and found them fooling-around with teasing each other.

Later that afternoon, the co-worker handed the ”work-piece” BACK to the first guy…. He had taken the wrapper from a single stick of chewing-gum ….consisting of an aluminum-foil lined paper-wrapper … and with a wooden tongue-depressor… had rubbed it, separating the thin aluminum-foil from the paper… and edge-welded THAT FOIL….to the 11-ga aluminum the previous fellow had presented to him earlier !

Now THAT…was an Amazing piece-of-work! That weld-seam was a work-of-art!…. and not a single hole blown thru that thinner-than-paper aluminum-foil!
The result was SO IMPRESSIVE…the object was being passed-around the shop with everybody “Ooohing and Ahhing” as they observed it.

Completely Unobserved by them…. Mr. Connell had appeared out-of-nowhere and was watching this braggadocio being passed back-and-forth…. He having walked up from behind the group,… completely unnoticed, …and peering over their shoulders at the object.
As a customer, I had no exposure… but THOSE GUYS….suddenly split-up like a nest of bunnies surprised by a coyote…. each rushing-off to whatever job they were supposed to be working-at.

Mr. Connell said, “Let me have that!” ,,,and then proceeded to roll it over between his hands…. looking at it…then glancing at the two goof-offs who’d created the object.
“Who did this?”, he asked.
The guy I knew as “Tim” said nervously …. “I did.”

“You did this just now?“, Mr Connell continued as he flipped it over to see the other-side.

“yessir”, Tim replied sheepishly.

“with Company-Equipment?”, Mr. Connell furthered.

Tim looks at his co-worker…then takes responsibility upon himself…. “yessir…. I was just goofing off…

“Just now? On company time?”

Tim nods.

Long pause….. and Mr. Connell hands it back saying….
“Well, ….. You‘re getting a Two-Dollar-an-hour-Raise. We can’t afford to lose a guy who can Weld Like That. Get Back to Work!.”….. and he turned and walked-away.

You could have pushed any of us over with a feather as we All breathed a Sigh-of-Relief.

 

[Henro]

Long pause….. and Mr. Connell hands it back saying….
“Well, ….. You‘re getting a Two-Dollar-an-hour-Raise. We can’t afford to lose a guy who can Weld Like That. Get Back to Work!.”….. and he turned and walked-away.

….and as the welder hurried back to his job, he thought: “ That tube of superglue was the best investment I’ll ever make in my life…”

That reminded me of KC Aviation facility at Love Field in the mid-80’s …and the amazing talent some of your counterparts possessed.
I don’t recall his job-title….but the “Boss” was Mr. Connell, and elderly gentleman whom I did not personally know but observed him “managing by walking-around” the facility. No one would appear “idle” if he was in-view.

There were two guys in the fabrication-shop next to avionics who were goofing-off…. having a bragging-contest between them over which was the better welder.
One of them had butt/edge-welded an 11-ga piece of aluminum sheet to a heavy-wall flange…demonstrating his skill level…and handed it to his co-worker challenging Him to admire the perfect seam he’d created between the two dissimilar thicknesses.

I happened to be passing-by as that shop-division was fabricating some interior-structure for our company-airplane. I wanted to check on the progress of the job and found them fooling-around with teasing each other.

Later that afternoon, the co-worker handed the ”work-piece” BACK to the first guy…. He had taken the wrapper from a single stick of chewing-gum ….consisting of an aluminum-foil lined paper-wrapper … and with a wooden tongue-depressor… had rubbed it, separating the thin aluminum-foil from the paper… and edge-welded THAT FOIL….to the 11-ga aluminum the previous fellow had presented to him earlier !

Now THAT…was an Amazing piece-of-work! That weld-seam was a work-of-art!…. and not a single hole blown thru that thinner-than-paper aluminum-foil!
The result was SO IMPRESSIVE…the object was being passed-around the shop with everybody “Ooohing and Ahhing” as they observed it.

Completely Unobserved by them…. Mr. Connell had appeared out-of-nowhere and was watching this braggadocio being passed back-and-forth…. He having walked up from behind the group,… completely unnoticed, …and peering over their shoulders at the object.
As a customer, I had no exposure… but THOSE GUYS….suddenly split-up like a nest of bunnies surprised by a coyote…. each rushing-off to whatever job they were supposed to be working-at.

Mr. Connell said, “Let me have that!” ,,,and then proceeded to roll it over between his hands…. looking at it…then glancing at the two goof-offs who’d created the object.
“Who did this?”, he asked.
The guy I knew as “Tim” said nervously …. “I did.”

“You did this just now?“, Mr Connell continued as he flipped it over to see the other-side.

“yessir”, Tim replied sheepishly.

“with Company-Equipment?”, Mr. Connell furthered.

Tim looks at his co-worker…then takes responsibility upon himself…. “yessir…. I was just goofing off…

“Just now? On company time?”

Tim nods.

Long pause….. and Mr. Connell hands it back saying….
“Well, ….. You‘re getting a Two-Dollar-an-hour-Raise. We can’t afford to lose a guy who can Weld Like That. Get Back to Work!.”….. and he turned and walked-away.

You could have pushed any of us over with a feather as we All breathed a Sigh-of-Relief.