You can't give the store away on a silver platter

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harrisonm

harrisonm

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I read a post today by a guy who mentioned pressing in some Mopar A Body upper ball joints. He was, of course, advised not to do that, since they have threads. It reminded me of a good story. When I got out of the Air Force in 93, I worked as an assistant manager at a Western Auto (chain of car parts, service and tire stores in the Midwest) for 5 years while I went back to school to get an MBA. One day a guy came in cussing and yelling about how the cheap upper ball joints we sold him for his Dart both popped out and almost caused a wreck. He said he knew they were installed properly because he pressed them in himself. The manager was ready to give him all new parts and agree to paying all labor when I stepped in. I explained to both of them that the ball joints had threads and pressing them in would have ruined both the ball joint and the control arm and that they would certainly have popped out. Then I got a new one off the shelf to show them. I saved us probably at least $500. That company was crazy. Their official policy was to do ANYTHING to make the customer happy including giving the store away on a silver platter. I saw people get new Pioneer stereos when they said, "You put tires on my car and now my radio doesn't work." We put a water pump in a BMW, and two days later he is complaining that improper installation ruined his transmission. So we paid for a BMW tranny. Another guy got new tires on his Miata and insisted we stack up the old ones behind the seats. It started raining on the way home, and he forced the top up over the tires. The manager gave him a new top. I could go on and on. Western Auto was bought out by Advance Auto just about the time I left to work in a bank. The moral of the story is that giving the store away on a silver platter is not keeping good customers, it is encouraging bad customers to do it more often and tell all their buddies.
 
Interesting. Only Western Auto I'm familiar with seemed to be more of a hardware/ misc store in my small NW small town. They sold bicycles, and "a few" auto parts and hardware as I remember. I may have asked my Dad one time "why are they called "XXXX auto?" because I remember him saying something like "they may have plugs and some tune up parts." He worked at the local NAPA store then, this would have been ?? around 19 57--1962
 
I remember Western Auto in Macon pretty well. They had a full auto service department. They were across the street from Sears in downtown Macon.
 
harrisonm said:
I read a post today by a guy who mentioned pressing in some Mopar A Body upper ball joints. He was, of course, advised not to do that, since they have threads. It reminded me of a good story. When I got out of the Air Force in 93, I worked as an assistant manager at a Western Auto (chain of car parts, service and tire stores in the Midwest) for 5 years while I went back to school to get an MBA. One day a guy came in cussing and yelling about how the cheap upper ball joints we sold him for his Dart both popped out and almost caused a wreck. He said he knew they were installed properly because he pressed them in himself. The manager was ready to give him all new parts and agree to paying all labor when I stepped in. I explained to both of them that the ball joints had threads and pressing them in would have ruined both the ball joint and the control arm and that they would certainly have popped out. Then I got a new one off the shelf to show them. I saved us probably at least $500. That company was crazy. Their official policy was to do ANYTHING to make the customer happy including giving the store away on a silver platter. I saw people get new Pioneer stereos when they said, "You put tires on my car and now my radio doesn't work." We put a water pump in a BMW, and two days later he is complaining that improper installation ruined his transmission. So we paid for a BMW tranny. Another guy got new tires on his Miata and insisted we stack up the old ones behind the seats. It started raining on the way home, and he forced the top up over the tires. The manager gave him a new top. I could go on and on. Western Auto was bought out by Advance Auto just about the time I left to work in a bank. The moral of the story is that giving the store away on a silver platter is not keeping good customers, it is encouraging bad customers to do it more often and tell all their buddies.
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And that's one of the reasons they sold.

Trust me, as former management at Advance I took care my customers, but I also took care of my store.

Oh, you're installing a Cummins in your Wrangler? Cool build. But I am not giving you your money back after you already installed this alternator when I explained to you on the phone that you needed a voltage regulator. I don't do loaner parts for diagnostics.

I am sorry ma'am, but my computer shows that you bought your front pads from my store, so without a receipt or the name of the store you bought your rear bads from I can't warranty them for you (sight unseen). I'm sorry. Did you just say that one side is worn completely out and the other side is brand new, still? In that case, I won't warranty them for you anyway. You see we warranty against defects, not wear our. No, ma'am, two of the pads being metal to metal and the others two pads being new isn't a defect with the pads, it's a defect with the car. You have a caliper hanging up or the pads were installed wrong. Yes ma'am, I'd be pissed, too, but I'm not going to give you a free set of pads.

And the more irate the customer would become, the less inclined I'd be to help them out.

The two guys with the alternator started making threats and yelling and cussing and I calmly told them that if they didn't leave my store I'd be happy to physically escort them out the door.

Each of the times above, the customer called corporate on me. Each time, after finding out the real story, my district manager called the customer and told them they weren't welcome in any of his stores.
 
We had a western Auto where I lived in N.C. Bought a lot of tires and parts there. Was a little disappointed when they closed.
 
I had just opened a brand new computer service store and a woman comes in with a printer in pieces in a box and say's "I bought this a few weeks ago and it didn't work and I want my money back".
I told her that I had just opened the store 2 days before so it was impossible that she had bought the printer from me, and I wouldn't refund for a printer someone took all apart even if she had.
She said "WE TOOK IT APART BECAUSE IT DIDN"T WORK!!!
Again I told her I didn't know what to tell her because I had only had the store open for 2 days.
She threw it down on the floor of my store lobby and said she was never going to shop at my store again.

Um, thank you? :D

Some people will trash their last ounce of integrity for a few bucks.
 
One time a guy comes in with a fuel pump says he wants a refund. I took it, held it over the trash can, put my hand on the inlet and gave it a pump. Fuel all over, most in the trash can.

"What's the matter with it?"

"Nothing, I just don't need it."

So I asked him, "This is dirty and greasy, it's all scarred up from mounting (lock washers), would YOU buy this pump as 'new'?"

"Sure!!!"

"No you wouldn't you have yourself a spare pump."

And of course the ranting began in earnest
 
we had a western auto when i was growing up in arkansas back in the early 60s. also had an otasco ( oklahoma tire and supply) which was about the same thing. could find just about anything if you looked long enough. miss them days along with the ben franklin five and dime and woolworths. ahh, cant forget about tg&y stores.
 
We had Western Autos here in KC for a long time. They were a full service auto repair facility that sold sporting goods and such on the side. I bought my first 60 series tires there. They've been gone for twenty years now but this sign remains a fixture on the KC skyline.
western-auto-sign-dusk-kansas-city-1.jpg
 
Man, got my first two wheel bike at our western auto store in the late 60's. Bought a lot of things there over the years. I still remember the smell and the sound of the wood floor creaking.
 
I sure do miss those Western Auto stores. They even sold guns. Car parts and guns. How do you go wrong with that?

IIRC, it was J.C. Penney who said "the customer is always right". That may be true if you are selling bras, panties and underwear but it's not even close in the real world. Most customers don't know jack about 90% of what they buy.
 
The Advance computer system still has SKU numbers left over from the Western Auto days, like tires, cigarettes, bicycle parts.
 
Western Auto was one of my Dad's go to places for many things back in the 60's in Colorado. I can still picture the Store Front in my feeble mind.
 
yellow rose said:
I sure do miss those Western Auto stores. They even sold guns. Car parts and guns. How do you go wrong with that?

IIRC, it was J.C. Penney who said "the customer is always right". That may be true if you are selling bras, panties and underwear but it's not even close in the real world. Most customers don't know jack about 90% of what they buy.
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My Brother has an old Western Auto catalogue he found in an old house that has an ad in it for a 44 cal Colt 6 shooter for $4.50 or something like that.
I remember we were laughing about it only being a few bucks.
 
im more of a semi-auto guy myself, but for that price, ill let you put a .44 in every single one of my vehicles
 
I was about to open my own garage when the economy tanked about ten years ago. Well, that's one of the reasons I didn't do it, but another was dealing with the customers. I do believe that bad customers can be weeded out and good clientele established. I may still open up a place, I think about it all the time. A recent story: this is within the last month at a Wal-mart tire and lube. I was waiting in line to get some tires mounted and balanced, the couple in front of me was complaining that their "oil change " light was still on, and that the car has poor gas mileage after the oil change. The counter worker was trying to explain and also keep the peace, I believe he reset the "change oil" light once again. I remember thinking "what do these people want? this isn't a tune up shop, and this isn't a dealership, also, how are they computing their gas mileage, it is a mathematical equation with variables, do these people know their math?" This is how I would think if I were dealing with them. End result, I stand there waiting my turn while these people complain and walk away with nothing but their "change oil" light reset. It was clear they wanted money, or something free. And that folks is what you get more often than not in the auto service business.
 
Western Auto wad a cool place but upper management ruined that company.I worked for then and was going to be a asst.Manager and the regional manager and the store manager qiut.The replacements brought them down in Ft worth.I was gone a few weeks after.
 
some times people believe the instructions are for wiping with , and even when told instructions face to face , most can't follow them . our shop had loaner cars for customers having repairs done , their was a guy in a hurry . instructed him to his face , don't pump the gas peddle at all before you start the car . next thing i hear is the door slam shut and him pumping like a crazy on the gas peddle . well he comes back in the shop screaming about the car not starting and ect.... so i gave him back his keys to his car , and he did the same thing to get it to start , pumping like crazy on the gas peddle . don't real want to fit his ride anyway .
 
I had in laws that worked for Western Auto and lots of the stores used to be pretty decent.

When I worked for GoodYear they would give away BS to a loud customer. I remember a dip **** came in with a new Turbo GNX claiming the HR Eagles on his car were junk. Put it on the lift and nothing but rubber dripping off the rear wells, he bitched like heck and damn if management didn't give him a new set! Absolute BS!!!! The Eagle HR survived many a police car! Wish they had a tell tale tach in them so anyone could see how heavy his foot was. Buy a car like that and you have to know when you abuse the hell out of it it's on you right?
 
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