Ok So I just got my new ( to me ) truck just over a week ago and everything has been cool til the slave cylinder on the clutch failed today. It was fine when I bought it- just quit on me now.....


Well no big deal they are pretty easy to replace. I called the parts store- They have one in stock. She even goes and lays her hands on it....

Great- I'll have my brother pick it up and bring it to my house (what a nice guy he is) so I can fix it tonight. Now I said 2 wheel drive and SLAVE cylinder  multiple times to her.  My brother arrives and I can feel by the bag that it's the wrong part. She gave him the master cylinder for a 4 wheel drive.  The part numbers are two separate numbers off.........

RRRRRRRRRRRATZLFRATZL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How FU***NG hard is it to read a damn number and remember it long enough to make it to the bin it's in and pick it up?!!?!?!??!?!!?!?!!?

So my brother wastes a trip -after he worked 11+ hours and was cool enought to help me out.... Wastes my time and screws me for tommorrow (I don't take my bike to work for various reasons..)...

I know people make mistakes....I make them often enough myself but when I do -  it almost always only affects me....  

Think I'm gonna get me some compensation.... And start shopping at a different parts store.  

Vent over....(almost...)

I asked a salesperson at a parts store that I need a manual transaxle 80 weight gear oil. What do you think he gave me? Mercon ATF.
In another store I was buying driveaxles. I told the guy that I need MTX-specific, no ABS one. He gave me ATX one with ABS. I did not notice that and I had to assemble everything and drive back to the store to change it :x
Sorry about your problem. Such things happen...

but wait it gets better......

After speaking with another idiot  on the phone.....yeah thats the wrong part the right one is such and such....

I ask if they have it...Yes we do....

Ok so I still have time at this point to get there and back and finish the job.. I fire the 11 up and run up there...(annoyed still and angrier than I thought I was..) .
I get Condescending prick # 3 to wait on me..... His attitude was almost enough to earn him a trip to the emergency room....

Oh and guess what....they didn't have the part  (so he said anyway...).....

I have him refund it and I leave.

They just  lost a customer for life.

Quote from: JaredI get Condescending prick # 3 to wait on me..... His attitude was almost enough to earn him a trip to the emergency room....

That would be what I like to call "Parts guy syndrome"

Not to rain on your parade, as I certainly have seen my fair share of moron parts guys, but I worked at a certain store here in town for about a year, and it's not hard to imagine how most parts guys give such a low effort...Customers that call in and give you the wrong info (not saying you did), are already pissed off cuz their car broke down in the first place, they didn't know what was wrong, and their girlfriend was ragging on them for buying such a piece of crap car in the first place.  It goes on and on.  I had a guy come in one time and ask for a set of USED (as in straight off another car) front brake pads for a 1988 Mitsubishi Cavalier.  I told him we only sold new/remanufactured pads.  He got mad, left, apparently got sent back in by his dad/girlfriend/whoever was waiting in the car, now pissed off and asking for the same thing, except whatever was the cheapest option available to him.  After going out to look at the car/what was actually wrong with it, I ended up selling him a belt for a 93 Ford Taurus (remember what he told me it was for!!!!!!?)  Deal with idiots like that all day, and you'd get frustrated easily too, wouldn't you?

That being said, yes, most parts guys are dicks, and shouldn't be allowed to work in parts stores or dealerships!!!!!

it goes both ways....most people think they know all about cars because they saw "the fast and the furious...nossss....) which only makes it easier for them to get ripped off....as for guys working in parts stores, ever wonder why if they know so much they're not working as mechanics?  I'm not saying I'm any mr. goodwrench but jesus the other day I had some guy ask me if I could "grease his belt because it's squeaking".  I can't really laugh in his face, and wasn't sure if maybe he was just messing with me, so I asked what belt.  sure enough, he points at the serpentine belt, dead serious.  I'll be the first to admit the limits of my knowledge but if i don't know something I don't pretend to.....

Well, my opinion on the knowledge=mechanic idea is that some people have a real mechanical knowledge of things and how they work, and some have an interest in the technical theory side of things.  I'm on the technical side, you (gryhound) probably fall on the mechanical side of the fence, eh?

I've been under the hoods of vehicles since before I could drive ( dad's influences). I'm no stranger to working on cars and bikes. I even worked for Toyota as a tech years  ago  (T-Ten apprenticeship....anyway..). I do know what I'm doing under the hood etc and know what parts and info they need.....in Fact I'm usually rattling it all off before they ask (Year make model engine,trans,ac or not etc..).

Yeah I know that they just sell parts....Prick # 3 wasn't the one that gave the wrong part (it was the Girl working there) . Prick # 3 was the one that chose the wrong way to deal with me when I came in.  If he had just done the refund and checked on the part and maybe apologized for the error instead of giving me his sarcastic and condescending attitude .....
Damn my impulse control.....

Anyway....waiting for my damn ride to work.... ( I wont take the bike because it's a gravel parking area that's off the road and out of the way-don't want anyone messing with the bike or damaging it..).

ARRGGHHH....

Have a nice day.

Ahh, I always thought I was the only victim of "parts guys".  Mine really had trouble with calculations. I always had to check if he said the correct price and if not, had to correct HIM  :x  Most of the time he got the right parts, but for a GS500E that quite easy cuz most parts are the same through the various model years.  My dad has an old Honda nighthawk 650 and already a couple of times the guy gave us the wrong parts. Just because he doesn't look closely at the part numbers. He didn't look to smart and had the "always dreaming" look. Sometimes I was lucky, when he wasn't in the shop one of the mechanics had to take over. And they knew what they were talking about and always gave the right parts along with some nice tips for wrenching.

I found another shop now, one without parts guy syndrome.  When I needed a throttle cable, the guy said I had to wait a couple of weeks because it had to be backordered. But if I came to the shop with my old throttle cable he'd see if he had a fitting replacement in stock. He thought a GSXR throttle cable would probably fit.  IT DID!! The guy has very good knowledge of various bike models and its parts. So... that kind of parts guys also exist  

Yeah I know exactly what you guys are talking about, I work (part-time) at a parts shop in my hometown. You guys have to understand that most of the people I work with have not even graduated from High School. They usuall are pretty dumb, and I have to go and fix there mistakes often. It is unfortante that Jared had a bad deal with them. I think customer service is one of the things auto parts stores have the hardest time with.

All parts stores brag that they can get almost any part, and that is true, but half the time the idiots behind the counters can get the part numbers for them.

Jared, and everyone else, also must remember that as a parts guy, you cant and will not know everything about every car, I general stuff, some specific stuff I have worked on, but dont by a long shot know everything.

The best advice that I can give you, is look that parts up online before you go to the store, on their website if they have one. Then you know the part number before the counterman looks it up.

The reason that you rarely find a mechanic working as a parts person is cause the pay is shitty. I goto to the U of M for Mechanical Engineering and is a great weekend job, but that is really it. Anyone who works full time barly makes enough to live.

Anyways just my two cents.

Well they made one mistake.... compounded by another "mistake" (guy sad he had it ..probably never looked at all). Pile the third guys attitude  etc on top of that....

yeah they don't know every part for every car but it was spelled out for them... I worked retail for over 5 years... I've done the job and know (and was) how to be professional with customers.... They didn't come very close...


ANYWAY... The other parts store had what I needed. Both people I spoke to were competent and cool to deal with....

I got the slave cylinder on and Bled --by myself no less!-- Sometimes I'm so smart it hurts.....HEHEHEHEHEHE -- so the truck is now back on the road....