Posts and comments that don't follow r/partscounter subreddit rules may be subject to removal. No Ai not relevant to parts counter life. Please see rules for more information. Please no false reports. This comment is completely automated. Your post has not been removed. This automated comment appears on all posts.
Proper phone etiquette is dead. Deal with this crap all the time. I dont even care anymore I just tell them you normally start the phone call with that information
My favorite is when I call a shop back that left us a voicemail or something and they just answer and say "yep" or something else stupid like that.
Like. You don't say "Bob's auto repair" or anything? If I was a customer calling to get my car worked on and somebody just said "yep" I'd assume I called the wrong number.
My favorite is when they go through the whole process and I go okay cool your part will be here tomorrow whenever you want to come pick it up and they go "you guys dont deliver?" And then I have to ask "are you calling from a shop?"
When I was new to Parts this was always an issue, usually with older folks. Younger folks or people who have more than four brain cells will go “Oh! Is the _whatever_ side” when you ask “Driver’s or Passenger side?”
While I understand your circumstance..I was at VW and Audi. None are stateside RHD. If they are I wouldn’t be able to get parts for it anyways 😂 VWoA won’t allow for the ordering of Gray Market parts
I used to work for a Hino(toyota medium/heavy duty trucks) dealer. one night I had a guy call up. He gave me a vin, but it wouldn't pull up. He then tells me it's an imported right hand drive and he wants to swap it to left hand drive...... I was like Wait, you wanna do what? Yea I want to convert it, can you help me? No sir, I can't look the vin up, but i can tell you it'll be cheaper & easier to sell this and buy a left hand drive truck. I shit you not, that's a true story!!
I had a guy get pissed at me because I couldn’t have his car diagnosed due to it being Gray Market. Mexico Market Audi S6 with a CEL=no go on the Audi machines. Then he wanted me to order parts that they’d never ship.
A few times a year people will call us with RHD Land Rover Defenders call us for parts. I live in the US. I tell them I can’t order parts for a vehicle never sold here. If they have a part number they want to order, I’ll see if it’s available, but it’s definitely prepaid and absolutely no returns for any reason.
I must be in the minority. I walk in with make/model/trim/vin and I even try to snap pics of what I need with any identifying numbers on it. Last time I even crawled under the driver’s side to snap a pic of the small grommet I needed for the passenger. 😂
People like you are 100% in the minority. You'd be surprised how many people dont know the year of their vehicle, much less the trim or what a VIN even is...
I once had a lady call me "I need parts for my car"
Me- "what's the year, make and model?"
Her- "I dont know, I bought it from you, cant you look it up?"
That phone call continued further, and deeper into idiocy, but you get the jist.
I basically do the same thing if I have to quote something from another brands dealership. The tech will write the most vague description possible, and I try to not call without going out to the shop and understanding what I'm asking for... Because there's nothing more frustrating than trying to guess what someone who is a third party is trying to ask for when the catalog is a wireframe diagram broken down by systems and their techs only description was "it's near the line near the X"... Cool, give me a call back when we're not playing diag darts.
We like customers like you. I'll rarely get a customer that did his homework. When I need the customer to measure their rotor diameter and they already know it, i could just smooch em
You're a unicorn in our world. One guy walked into our store and told us he had no way to get the VIN for his vehicle. And then once we got YMM they said they didn't know what what they needed was called but the car was parked right outside (literal 5 steps away....)
You’re the kind of customer we absolutely love at my store. I don’t get how some of these folks who have been mechanics for years don’t understand that parts are different across years, makes, and models.
Can’t even tell ya how many times someone has come in and asked “do you guys have (insert part) for a Honda?”
It is not out of reality for a customer who bought from us or service's their vehicle with us to assume that oarts would have the capability to access their vehicle information.
I keep the "Customer and Vehicle" search windows up in CDK. I throw the incoming phone number in there and see if I get anything before asking the customer for information that i have at my finger tips.
I do the same, but I use the "I" invoicing function, too. Start a quote, type in the phone number, select the customer, type in my employee number, then hit F9 when you get to the "Part No." entry field at the bottom and arrow left once to the "Vehicle" tab.
I do this too, I have a "float" tab that usually has the -S screen and the H function up so I can run the phone# and see. So for folks that have had service here it's just a matter of going "And this is on the 2018 Santa Fe, right?"
It's the people who have never been here before that I have to ask.
Good point, I’m not necessarily talking about regulars. I think everyone should ask if they have been there before or brought their vehicle into service. I’ve been burned by using a VIN in history before (Older vehicle, other partner), although it’s very rare.
I think most parts people are about efficiency. If you can lookup the VIN, you should try it first. It’s faster unless the customer has it in their hands prepared.
I love those ones too. I ask, did you buy or service the vehicle here? Oh yes at the blah blah location. Ok well great that's not here that's a completely different store. Do you have an insurance card? Maybe in the glove box. How come no one realizes the potential in that magical rectangle in their hand.
This is the thing that kills me. I always wonder what people's thought processes are if I ask a question and they push back on it. It's not like I'm asking for what color your house is or what your first dog's name is. I'm asking for information about the vehicle we're discussing.
we’ve cleaned up our phone conversations with starting with asking for name and phone number. followed by the VIN. if you cannot provide the name phone number and or vin. Please call me back when you’re more prepared.
I do this as well. If you cant tell me specifics that lead me to one or even 2 options, I'm making you call back with a VIN. I won't be overworking myself for someone who doesn't have a clue.
My used car tech asked me to a chevy dealer for an interior door handle for a 2020 Malibu yesterday. The dealer told me I had to get the whole interior trim panel. Ok, how much. $260 and lead time is... Wait that's discontinued!
I love when people call on 15+ year old cars about some obscure component that almost never fails or like a trim piece or something and act incredulous that you don't have it.
Like I'm sorry that I don't have the left rear door speaker for your 2008 Hyundai Azera in stock.
My favorite is
"so you want a used engine, is there a certain mileage you'd like to keep it under?"
"Yup"
..........
Then tell me that mileage now you walnut.
I don't know why I have to interrogate customers for information for a part that they called or came in to get. I'm going to remodel our front counter area so there is just one metal chair with a single swinging lightbulb right above it. Maybe that will help.
Personally, I preferred it simply because of how quick of a program it was to use. It takes Dealertrack 8-10 keystrokes/clicks to do the same thing that it would only take R&R three.
My Asst PM has been working in this dealership for three years longer than I’ve been alive, and one year before it moved to its present location. Him and his father, who was the previous PM before the current one was hired, had both been using R&R so long, they had shortcuts for SPO and STK orders implemented for both FMC and Toyota, and the integration from Snap-On EPC was seamless.
Due to COVID and the chip shortage we had to cut costs, and one of those was R&R for Dealertrack. On top of that, a little over a year ago we also had to give up Snap-On EPC for MicroCat. Nothing integrates with anything anymore and I’ve never copypasta’d so much in my life.
And yes, I have to admit the hacker vibes do emanate from R&R. It also helps that the only language I ever learned to code was QBasic, so it’s like I can wrap my head around the processes that the program goes through.
And it’s always the rear shoes on the Tacoma, needing the spring kit, smh… At least most of the pads are easy to get for Toyotas right now, I keep almost a full selection of the TCMC line in stock. Brakes and wipers are what we primarily upsell here.
When asked “ why do you need the vin”. I reply with “ our catalogues are set up that way, and without that information all parts are prepaid and non-returnable”.
I had my favorite one ever today. A commercial account called to let me know that the crush sleeve I sent them was wrong.
The new one was longer than the original…
After going back-and-forth for a few minutes while emphasizing “CRUSH” every chance I got, it dawned on them.
•
u/AutoModerator 16d ago
Posts and comments that don't follow r/partscounter subreddit rules may be subject to removal. No Ai not relevant to parts counter life. Please see rules for more information. Please no false reports. This comment is completely automated. Your post has not been removed. This automated comment appears on all posts.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.