# I need to vent a little



## FSR (Mar 24, 2015)

What ever happened to customer service? :evil: I went to buy a new fuel pump for my 1966 Evinrude since it still had the original and was leaking.My first stop was my local outboard dealer. "You can't get parts for that old thing anymore, We will give you fifty bucks trade in on a new outboard." Yeah right I thought as I saw the same motor setting in the used outboard section. My next stop was NAPA and the clerk said "Duh, we don't sell boat stuff stupid." I went home and did a web search and found no less than ten shops with the needed part ranging from 50 dollars for the sierra and 109 dollars for original equipment parts. I like to buy local when I can can but with service like I got I can see why online shopping is so popular.


----------



## lovedr79 (Mar 24, 2015)

i hear you there. same here. no customer service anywhere anymore. i went into a ace hardware store that repairs and sells lawnmowers etc.... went to the parts counter. i needed the elbow for the crank vacuum hose for a briggs and straton 5 hp motor. the guy said yes we have them, he knew exactly what it was. then asked me for my model number, serial number. i said briggs and straton 5 hp horizontal shaft. "no sir, you dont understand i have to have that to find the part" then proceeded to tell me he couldnt help me as i did not have the proper information. this is also the same store that when i wanted to look at a pistol, i had cash in my pocket. the guy said, i am not getting it out for you just to look at it. if you arent buying it i am not getting it out. so i no longer visit that store. i miss the days of the parts guy helping you, willing to go dig through parts to make sure you got what you needed. or offer other ideas if you were building something custom. and i love when you need lets say windshield wipers, "is that an automatic or manual transmission"


----------



## KMixson (Mar 24, 2015)

NAPA didn't help? My local NAPA is a big supplier of boat motor parts. They have stuff that you wouldn't normally think they would have.


----------



## lugoismad (Mar 24, 2015)

KMixson said:


> NAPA didn't help? My local NAPA is a big supplier of boat motor parts. They have stuff that you wouldn't normally think they would have.



Exactly. Napa might have to special order it, but they can get Sierra parts in.


----------



## Abraham (Mar 24, 2015)

FSR said:


> What ever happened to customer service? :evil: I went to buy a new fuel pump for my 1966 Evinrude since it still had the original and was leaking.My first stop was my local outboard dealer. "You can't get parts for that old thing anymore, We will give you fifty bucks trade in on a new outboard." Yeah right I thought as I saw the same motor setting in the used outboard section. My next stop was NAPA and the clerk said "Duh, we don't sell boat stuff stupid." I went home and did a web search and found no less than ten shops with the needed part ranging from 50 dollars for the sierra and 109 dollars for original equipment parts. I like to buy local when I can can but with service like I got I can see why *online shopping is so popular*.



Online shopping is popular because people are lazy, cheap, and greedy. Too bad about your experience with the parts help though. Must have got a couple crappy ones having bad days. The first guy was probably telling the truth tbh. If he can't order it from the factory at his cost and sell it to you for retail price he doesn't stand to make money. If he orders it off the internet and marks up the price he is a crook.

That napa guy must be a dumbass if he talked to you like that. 

Good parts counter people will go out of their way to help you or will find someone else that can.


----------



## FSR (Mar 24, 2015)

Abraham said:


> FSR said:
> 
> 
> > What ever happened to customer service? :evil: I went to buy a new fuel pump for my 1966 Evinrude since it still had the original and was leaking.My first stop was my local outboard dealer. "You can't get parts for that old thing anymore, We will give you fifty bucks trade in on a new outboard." Yeah right I thought as I saw the same motor setting in the used outboard section. My next stop was NAPA and the clerk said "Duh, we don't sell boat stuff stupid." I went home and did a web search and found no less than ten shops with the needed part ranging from 50 dollars for the sierra and 109 dollars for original equipment parts. I like to buy local when I can can but with service like I got I can see why *online shopping is so popular*.
> ...



I think the NAPA guy, a college age person was ignorant. I worked in retail hardware and we did everything we could to serve the customer. Good news is I found a small family run parts store that ordered my parts. Now if it will just warm up so I can work outside.


----------



## TexasLoneStar56 (Mar 25, 2015)

i love when you need lets say windshield wipers, "is that an automatic or manual transmission"

:LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2: 

Our daughter entered an O'Reillys several months ago in search of a bulb for her brake light. The 20ish year old young man asked her very politely and with enthusiasm, "What can I help you with today?" She stated she needed to change the bulb in her brake light. He said, "What kind of oil do you use?" :LOL2: Stunned from his remark, she asked him to repeat it. Now, she is 28 years old, a blonde and I'm certain she was dressed for work, in office attire. Nevertheless, she busted out laughing and just told the guy, never mind! It is now a family joke! "Have you changed the oil in your brake lights lately?"

ONLINE SHOPPING: Well, it's not that I'm lazy by any means. Cheap? No, but I will shop compare. Greedy? Never. I'd rather give it away. I sure aint taking it with me. It's just easier for me to order parts (or whatever) online and have them shipped straight to my home, rather than drive to the store where they have to order it and then I drive back to pick them up. It saves time, gas and money. Just sayin.....
It took me some getting use to, but now, I like it. I like it so much I opened an bay store, just so I could perhaps help and share with others.


----------



## lovedr79 (Mar 26, 2015)

he would have been a good one to ask about "blinker fluid" or "exhaust bearings"


----------



## TexasLoneStar56 (Mar 26, 2015)

lovedr79 said:


> he would have been a good one to ask about "blinker fluid" or "exhaust bearings"



:LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2: 

Our daughter is here, so I just _had_ to share! Good grief!!!!! (still laughing..........) Wonder if it hurt him when he fell off that turnip wagon? Must have bumped his head.


----------



## bigben (Mar 27, 2015)

Well I've got a good story my CMC tilt and trim started leaking around the shaft seal carry it to boat motor mechanic he fills it up with oil and shaft seal starts leaking tells me that I've got a shaft seal leaking (I told him that when I pulled in) goes into his office comes back tells me no parts available and hands me a bill for 40.00. I come home call CMC they tell me its not rebuildable but they'll sell me a new one for 390.00 plus core charge so I ask the parts guy if its not rebuildable why do they want my old one.HEY I DIDN'T FALL OFF A TURNIP TRUCK YESTERDAY. So I thought well it aint no account as it is I'll just tear it down and see if I can fix it.Guess what went to industrial bearing and bought the seal cost me 3 whole dollars and its working perfectly


----------



## jethro (Mar 27, 2015)

Abraham said:


> Online shopping is popular because people are lazy, cheap, and greedy.



This is a foolish statement. I shop online for many reasons, none of which are even close to what you list above. First, I know more than anyone about what I want. It seems there is no one on earth with as much interest and motivation about my motor or item and what part(s) I need than me. I do hours of research to know the in and out of what I need to do before even shopping for the parts. I know what tools I need for the job before even buying the parts. What do I need a parts guy for? Some pimply kid that doesn't even know what a torque wrench is for isn't going to do me any good. Or how about the old codger that knows everything but is too grumpy to share it with you because he is making $12 an hour and has for the past 30 years. No thanks! Online I usually pay the same or sometimes even more, but I get better service!! Yes, that's right, I get better service because I am the parts guy now. No one on earth is as good a parts guy as I am myself. Thank god for the internet. I can research the parts, and I can usually Youtube the actual repair or service work to watch someone do it. Finally, most anywhere I go to get parts, I have to order them anyway! So why not do it online if they aren't going to be in stock and I have to get them in the mail! If I order parts at the store, I have to come back to pick them up. What a waste of time when I can just have them shipped to my house. 

In my opinion, online shopping has become so popular because finding someone to care about your interests as much as you do is impossible.


----------



## huntinfool (Mar 27, 2015)

The thing is, with technology, anyone can look up parts. ANYONE!

Not everyone is mechanically minded and/or has any snap.

As far as not opening a counter to look at a pistol, who in their right mind would buy a pistol, without seeing how it feels in their hand. Just a lazy employee. Probably heard the Mgr or the owner say something like that and decided to take the same stance. 

Idiots


----------



## bobberboy (Mar 27, 2015)

jethro said:


> Abraham said:
> 
> 
> > Online shopping is popular because people are lazy, cheap, and greedy.
> ...



+1 I do sympathize with the local shops and there are many I do patronize. But there are many other other reasons beyond the above to buy on the internet. I buy a lot of books, especially used books and look for specific titles. I could spend hours on the phone calling stores or driving around to no end. On the internet I can find dozens of stores having what I want without wasting my time and money running around. I think sometimes it's good to have someone local whose face you can get in when things go wrong but often that face is some pimply kid who cares less about your problem than even you think he does. The rating systems on the internet such as used by eBay and Amazon are very good at keeping sellers honest because the rating matters to them - and the rating isn't just local hearsay, it is posted for all to see. Finally, the internet companies are often local to someone even if they're not local to you. I recently was happy to discover a fly fishing store opened about half a mile from me. I went to check it out but didn't even go in. It turned out to be a boutique shop where I would have to pass the $1000 fly rods to get at the tying stuff, assuming they had any. No thanks. Local shop but screw it, I went home and searched the internet for what I needed without the shame of having been underdressed to shop locally. Speaking of which, a couple of years ago I did all my xmas shopping on Thanksgiving afternoon from my favorite chair, in my pj's. It was awesome, no one saw me in my pj's and I wasn't forced to see theirs either...

I sometimes marvel that human civilization got as far as it did _without_ the internet!


----------



## BigTerp (Mar 27, 2015)

jethro said:


> Abraham said:
> 
> 
> > Online shopping is popular because people are lazy, cheap, and greedy.
> ...



Well said!!


----------



## JMichael (Mar 27, 2015)

jethro said:


> Abraham said:
> 
> 
> > Online shopping is popular because people are lazy, cheap, and greedy.
> ...



+1
I can spend my day calling around to the different stores near me trying to find a store that has the item I'm looking for in stock, then drive XX miles and burn X gallons of gas, hope the kid I talked to didn't make a mistake and is now trying to sell me the wrong item. Or I can spend a few minutes locating the exact item I need, place my order, and in less time than it took me to look up all those phone numbers and make a couple of phone calls, I've got my part on order and will have it in hand in a few days. Now that may make me lazy by your definition but I call it efficient, and it makes the most of my time so now I've got the rest of the day to do other things I need to get done. I saved the wear and tear on my truck, saved a few gallons of gas, and probably paid less for the item than if I had ordered it locally. If that makes me cheap, then get my label ready, because all of my life I've always looked for the best deal I could get when buying things. If you've got so much money that you want to spend as much as you can, I'll take some of it off your hands and you won't have to worry about being "cheap". And I don't have a clue where "greed" would come into play in this topic.


----------



## TexasLoneStar56 (Mar 27, 2015)

bigben said:


> Well I've got a good story my CMC tilt and trim started leaking around the shaft seal carry it to boat motor mechanic he fills it up with oil and shaft seal starts leaking tells me that I've got a shaft seal leaking (I told him that when I pulled in) goes into his office comes back tells me no parts available and hands me a bill for 40.00. I come home call CMC they tell me its not rebuildable but they'll sell me a new one for 390.00 plus core charge so I ask the parts guy if its not rebuildable why do they want my old one.HEY I DIDN'T FALL OFF A TURNIP TRUCK YESTERDAY. So I thought well it aint no account as it is I'll just tear it down and see if I can fix it.Guess what went to industrial bearing and bought the seal cost me 3 whole dollars and its working perfectly



:LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2: 

See, this why I do online shop, A LOT!


----------



## Daretofish (May 29, 2015)

I have to give credit to two outboard dealers that provide great customer service and almost always have what I need, Ron's Marine is an Evinrude dealer that carries the older Johnson parts, Bill's Marine is a Yamaha dealer that has Mercury parts. both are in Portsmouth Va. and both have a knowledgeable staff that try to help with advice and trouble shooting tips.


----------



## turbotodd (May 29, 2015)

I'd like to share my $.02, and to some that might be all it's worth.

I own a tiny business, buy and sell some small equipment including some smaller outboards. Mostly lawn & garden stuff, less than 15 or 20 units a year. Also, I work full time at a dealer that sells, services, and supports new outboards. So I have a clue about how it is to be on BOTH sides of the issue.

Why buy on the 'net? Price, YOU get more control over what you choose, you don't have to deal with people, no sales tax (usually....and that is changing), among many other reasons but those are the main ones.

Why buy from a dealer? The dealer has factory support, which you can't get from 99% of online sellers. You support the little guy, in some cases (like the dealer I work for which is tiny). You get to work directly with a human instead of fighting with a computer or another person on the phone who might or might not care about who's on the other end, thousands of miles away (if you even get someone in the same country). IF you have an issue, you can go directly back to the dealer. Which generally means you don't have to pay any shipping to send it back and wait days or weeks. If you have a problem with a parts guy, ask for another one. 

And finally, there is a such thing as human. We all are human. Ain't none of us perfect. Humans also designed and programmed the computer that you order your parts from, and humans know how to steal your credit card info. When the order is placed online, you are taking a gamble...and I'm seeing more of this stuff happening lately. Additionally humans also figured out how to input the incorrect part numbers, to pull the wrong part from a big stack of parts, or to label the wrong box. 

I've been down both roads, and to say that internet shopping is king is misleading. But it's somewhat psychological in that you get more control of things...or at least in our own minds we do. But what happens when you get a part you didn't order? Or even more frustrating, you receive a part that you did order, but you selected it wrong? 

And finally, if dealers are all out to take your money, if they're all greedy jerks, what is their purpose? Do ya think we should close them all up and do 100% of business online? Before making a statement such as "greedy" and "out for themselves", try running one...or even running a repair shop (non-dealer) and the associated costs and headaches of doing so, and tell us after you close up that they're all out to screw everybody.


----------



## turbotodd (May 29, 2015)

bigben said:


> Well I've got a good story my CMC tilt and trim started leaking around the shaft seal carry it to boat motor mechanic he fills it up with oil and shaft seal starts leaking tells me that I've got a shaft seal leaking (I told him that when I pulled in) goes into his office comes back tells me no parts available and hands me a bill for 40.00. I come home call CMC they tell me its not rebuildable but they'll sell me a new one for 390.00 plus core charge so I ask the parts guy if its not rebuildable why do they want my old one.HEY I DIDN'T FALL OFF A TURNIP TRUCK YESTERDAY. So I thought well it aint no account as it is I'll just tear it down and see if I can fix it.Guess what went to industrial bearing and bought the seal cost me 3 whole dollars and its working perfectly




CMC buys the actuator already built from a Chinese company. Therefore CMC does not offer parts to fix it. CMC sells cores back to the manufacturer but from that point I don't know what they do with them. Recycle them? Repair them as reman units? I don't know but I'd like to.


----------



## sonny.barile (May 30, 2015)

If you text the 20 year old sales people and clerks from out in the parking lot they will pay more attention to your needs.


----------



## Boatfloater1989 (Jul 1, 2015)

I personally worked at an AutoZone around the corner and bit to toot my own horn but when it comes to automotive engines in a freakin genius anyway I used to have to look up parts for lets say a headlight bulb and the computer wouldn't let me go further unless I picked either auto or manual trans.. I never asked I would just pick whatever one was closer to the arrow at the time but you would be surprised how many people have no clue what they drive I had a guy come in and needed an alternator... So I go through the usual questions that everyone knows the first one being what kind of car do you have.... No lie this mans answer was " a blue one" had no clue what he drove what year make model motor .. Nothing he showed me a picture on his phone .. It was blue... Lol a blue 97 for Taurus sho its hard not to laugh in someone's face when you make 8.50 an hour and deal with complete morons


----------



## turbotodd (Jul 2, 2015)

Boatfloater1989 said:


> its hard not to laugh in someone's face when you make 8.50 an hour and deal with complete morons



That is the truth right there!

But I've been on the side of the counter too. Walk into a parts store and the guy behind the counter said what can I get you. I was needing a outer tie rod end, working on my old '75 Ford Maverick-but I swapped in a Mustang II/Pinto front suspension, with rack & pinion. So I tell the guy exactly what I was doing. Said I needed a tie rod end for my '75 Ford Maverick that had a '74 Pinto front end in it. He says ok, what kind of car is a Maverick? (Didn't I just say Ford?)....so ok I can play this game. 

Make: Ford
Model: Maverick
Year: 1975
Engine: 7.3L
Transmission: 2 speed Chevrolet Powerglide

And you can imagine the look on the parts person's face. They he wants to get smart with me. I let him...after all I was being a smart butt with him. Then I asked him to look up the tie rod end for a '74 Pinto and out it came, perfect. Told the guy very nicely that if he'd listen a little closer and use some critical thinking skills that he could avoid such problems in the future.

And I've been on the parts clerk side of the counter...many MANY times over the last 20+ years. You'd be surprised how many people come in and they don't even know what they have. "I need a part for my lawn mower". Ok sir, what kind of mower do you have? "Orange one". Well...Husqvarna, Kubota, Bad Boy, Stihl, what brand of orange mower do you have?" Then usually they either get real smart with you or they don't know and think that all parts interchange, and walk out the door and badmouth you. Daily occurrence multiple times a day, trust me! It wears on you.

Usually, though, if I need something off the wall and I am at a place looking for it...if there's a pimple faced kid behind the counter and an older person, 99.99% of the time I'll bypass the kid and talk to the old guy (or gal in some cases).


----------



## Y_J (Jul 6, 2015)

I just spent a couple days hitting up all the auto-parts stores in my city, along with tractor supply and a couple of lawnmower repair shops with a fuel petcock in hand. My ??? to them all was "Do you know what this is?" Favorite answer given at all of them was "I have no idea". I finally got to an Autozone and an old gentleman and his reply was. "A fuel shut off valve". Great. Do ya'll have any, please? I'm afraid not he says. Ok. Let's try this one out. I unscrewed the knob on it and took it out to reveal where the O-Ring should be. Got one that will fit this? He tried his best to find one that would fit but no luck. 
I ended up back at another lawnmower shop and just bought an inline shut off valve for my outboard motor. Not anything close to OEM but should work OK until I can find an O-Ring..
I can not believe how ignorant (use Websters definition please) auto parts store and shop employees are. 

I've also worked tech support in the computer field and hit tons of responses similar to what turbotodd was talking about. Sure can be frustrating at times..


----------

