Monday, March 12, 2007
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
It was only going to be a short errand. While Guppyman changed the brake shoes on his car, I would run the badly grooved brake drum to the auto parts store to be turned or replaced. Half an hour, max.
Store 1 couldn't understand the year and make. I had the brake drum sitting on the counter, but the clerk asked me if I had the car in the parking lot! Well, of course, I drove it here on three wheels. They did not turn brake drums, but they did carry them in stock --- except they happened to be out of stock on what I needed. They quoted me $36 for the part, told me it was at a store in a nearby town, and gave me detailed directions to the store.
As I was heading for Store 2, I noticed their competitor's store on the way. This competitor does turn brake drums, so I whipped into their parking lot. I waited about 15 minutes to talk to the guy who does the actual turning. He did not have calipers big enough to measure the drum, so he got out a measuring tape. I had two big problems with this: he needed to measure thousandths of an inch, which you cannot do with a tape; and there is no way you can get an accurate measurement of the inside of a round object with a tape. He said he would turn it, but by now he had me pretty worried, so I went on to Store 2.
Another 10 minutes waiting in line ... ask for the brake drum they have in stock ... get quoted $48 ... argue ... call Store 1 ... guy says " Heh heh, I quoted you the wrong price." ... get back in line, wait another 10 minutes ... they do NOT have the drum in stock. But the store just a few miles down the road does have it. They even call to verify it. It gets put on hold under my name in the computer. I get detailed directions to Store 3.
At store 3, I go directly to the payment line. The part is on hold for me, I know the part number, no lookup required, right? Oh, so very wrong. 10 minutes waiting in that line, only to be told I had to get in the line where they look up the parts. I believe these people are only working in auto parts stores as training to be government employees! I dutifully stand in the parts-lookup line, the guy finally comes over to look it up, and professes not to know anything about a part on hold. In fact, he says they do not have the part in stock at all! But don't worry, they have two in stock at the store right down the street. As he gives me directions, I realize it is the store I just left. At that point, I believe I may have used a bit of profanity, and said something about never again setting foot in one of their stores.
I stopped by the competitor's store again, but of course the guy who turns the drums had already gone home. So after a couple of hours and an incredible amount of frustration, I gave Guppy back exactly what I left with, unchanged except for the fact that it got to ride around in my car for a couple of hours ( and perhaps learned a few new words.)
Store 1 couldn't understand the year and make. I had the brake drum sitting on the counter, but the clerk asked me if I had the car in the parking lot! Well, of course, I drove it here on three wheels. They did not turn brake drums, but they did carry them in stock --- except they happened to be out of stock on what I needed. They quoted me $36 for the part, told me it was at a store in a nearby town, and gave me detailed directions to the store.
As I was heading for Store 2, I noticed their competitor's store on the way. This competitor does turn brake drums, so I whipped into their parking lot. I waited about 15 minutes to talk to the guy who does the actual turning. He did not have calipers big enough to measure the drum, so he got out a measuring tape. I had two big problems with this: he needed to measure thousandths of an inch, which you cannot do with a tape; and there is no way you can get an accurate measurement of the inside of a round object with a tape. He said he would turn it, but by now he had me pretty worried, so I went on to Store 2.
Another 10 minutes waiting in line ... ask for the brake drum they have in stock ... get quoted $48 ... argue ... call Store 1 ... guy says " Heh heh, I quoted you the wrong price." ... get back in line, wait another 10 minutes ... they do NOT have the drum in stock. But the store just a few miles down the road does have it. They even call to verify it. It gets put on hold under my name in the computer. I get detailed directions to Store 3.
At store 3, I go directly to the payment line. The part is on hold for me, I know the part number, no lookup required, right? Oh, so very wrong. 10 minutes waiting in that line, only to be told I had to get in the line where they look up the parts. I believe these people are only working in auto parts stores as training to be government employees! I dutifully stand in the parts-lookup line, the guy finally comes over to look it up, and professes not to know anything about a part on hold. In fact, he says they do not have the part in stock at all! But don't worry, they have two in stock at the store right down the street. As he gives me directions, I realize it is the store I just left. At that point, I believe I may have used a bit of profanity, and said something about never again setting foot in one of their stores.
I stopped by the competitor's store again, but of course the guy who turns the drums had already gone home. So after a couple of hours and an incredible amount of frustration, I gave Guppy back exactly what I left with, unchanged except for the fact that it got to ride around in my car for a couple of hours ( and perhaps learned a few new words.)
And what the heck was Guppy doing, anyway? Obviously, he had the Little Angel doing all the work!
5 Comments:
She's old enough to start working on the car... she'll need the skillz...
lolol, sounds like a typical trip to a parts store to me. :) good to see you still had a bit of a snese of humor when all was said and done though . nice to swing in and read, see ya around...
Incompetance at it's finest.
I would have been using a few choice words too!
OMG! I got frustrated just reading this! I can't imagine going through it!
Don't that just wanna make you rant and rave? What kind of idiots are they! I just hate it. I worked at the Air Force base in Hawaii for a few years managing a parts room. And I swear that the people I had to deal with at some of the vendors where I got my parts from needed to go back to school. That's why when I go to Lowe's or Home Depot, I don't ask for help with the people there. I just go in, get what I need and I'm outta there.
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