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I remember when the guy behind the parts counter actually knew how to work on cars and could suggest the parts you needed to buy and knew one part from another. Now, they either are some HS kid, or someone who speaks very little English. A while back, one of their employees couldn't even give me directions to another one of their stores.
My sons and I buy a LOT of car parts, we build cars and currently have about 5 car projects going. More and more, I order either from Rock Auto or one of the race shops like Summit, Jegs, Speedway, etc. They are efficient, their websites are easy to navigate, and the parts are much cheaper, even with shipping (some even pay the freight). For example , I just ordered a new radiator for my Mustang from Rock Auto and it was $ 80 + $6.95 shipping, and I will have it in one day. Advance Auto gets $ 151.00 for the same radiator.
In the past 6 months, I have probably ordered $8000.00 in parts from on line businesses, and would have paid a lot more locally, if I could have found it. Yeah, I would love to support a local guy, but I also need to save money when I can, and I get better service on line.
That's because those knowledgeable retail salespeople either retired or were forced out in favor of part time minimum wagers.
I needed a replacement part that moment.
Well I bought it at autozone,
bought it on amazon as well,
then returned the new one back to autozone.
Good ol amazon,never letting me down.
That's flat out dishonest and perhaps illegal. It's ok to prefer buying online and it's ok to prefer buying local but it's not ok to commit fraud.
Location: Removing a snake out of the neighbor's washing machine
3,095 posts, read 2,038,767 times
Reputation: 2305
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyRider
I think that's another internet meme, like CVT. Short of falling apart in plain sight, there is no way to trace back the oil filter brand to any engine problem.
20 years ago, I drove one of those parts pickups. We were delivering parts that I would not use on my own car to local garages. I also got the impression these shops were doing a lot of upsetting. I could tell from the parts ordered and usually knew which car they were going in when I delivered them.
That's because those knowledgeable retail salespeople either retired or were forced out in favor of part time minimum wagers.
And does anyone think they are dealing with knowledgeable and experienced automotive people at the online stores like Amazon? Of course not.
The brick and mortar stores have more overhead than online retailers just to keep the lights on. So in order to compete they have to shave money everywhere, and the biggest cost after the property lease is in wages. So they can't afford to have long term experienced employees anymore. Sad, really.
And they buy from the wholesalers as well, so their cost to buy is about the same as your cost to buy online, and they have to turn a profit on top of that to keep the lights on. So yeah, the parts are going to be more expensive. That's what shopping local gets you, even with a chain store.
I kind of disagree with the article.
My logic is, most poor people do not shop on line.
Here in Southern California, most poor People are diyer's when it comes to their cars. They don't have time to wait a day or two for a car part.
Location: Removing a snake out of the neighbor's washing machine
3,095 posts, read 2,038,767 times
Reputation: 2305
Quote:
Originally Posted by oceangaia
That's flat out dishonest and perhaps illegal. It's ok to prefer buying online and it's ok to prefer buying local but it's not ok to commit fraud.
Nothing illegal at all: He bought two of the same part, one from a store and one on line. He just returned the one he bought from the store because it probably cost more.
Nothing illegal at all: He bought two of the same part, one from a store and one on line. He just returned the one he bought from the store because it probably cost more.
My interpretation was he needed that part same day. Went to Autozone to buy part for say $100 and installed it. Also ordered on Amazon for $50 and when it arrived a few days later returned the part from Amazon to Autozone to get $100 refunded. If that's the case pretty low
My interpretation was he needed that part same day. Went to Autozone to buy part for say $100 and installed it. Also ordered on Amazon for $50 and when it arrived a few days later returned the part from Amazon to Autozone to get $100 refunded. If that's the case pretty low
That's my interpretation as well since he went to the local store becaue he needed it right away. It may be the same part numberand style but it's not the same part. It may have been built at a different locationon a different date by a different manufacturer, it may have a different internal serial number, it may have been handled differently, etc. And even if not, it's still deceptive. I'd like to see him approach the local store and explain exactly what he did, that he used them to buy a part because he needed it right away and now wants to return a part bought later on Amazon and get his original cost refunded, and see if they would be cool with it.
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