another autozone story

[creative1]

so... last thursday (nov 18) i went to autozone to get a set of spark plugs for a D100 with a 360 that i recently acquired. now... i dont usually go to autozone (for reasons that will soon become obvious, i hope), but i was going right past it, so i decided to give them another chance.

rather than take the chance of the guy behind the counter being unable to use a catalog, or sprain his typing finger, i told him "i need a set of 8 champion RN14YC sparkplugs." so... he hemmed and hawed around, and after several minutes he went back to the spark plug rack and actually climbed up on the rack so he could reach the stuff 8 feet off the floor. he brought back 2 boxes of champion spark plugs, each containing 4 plugs.

now, at this point i was rather happy... i didnt think they could screw this up... but i was wrong.

i paid the guy and went home to install my new plugs. got out the gap gage, spark plug socket, ratchet, extensions and universal joint and started in. first i removed all the old spark plugs.

then i opened the first box of spark plugs. then i opened the first spark plug (one of those 4 individually boxed spark plugs in a box of 4) and pulled out.... wait... what the he** is this? a USED AUTOLITE sparkplug? and i DO mean used. i have seen spark plugs that came original in 1952 M farmalls that had had better lives! so i opened another plug... this was worse than the first one, but it was a mate. the 3rd box had the word 'fouled' written on it in ball point pen. i was beginning to see a pattern developing here, but i opened it anyway, just for 'fun'. i neednt have bothered, the owner of the pen was correct.

i didnt open the remaining plug in that box of 4, instead i opened the other box of 4. it contained what i had hoped for... 4 shiny, new, never used champion RN14YC spark plugs. i gapped and installed these 4 plugs, and reboxed the used autolites, made sure i still had my reciept, and headed back to autozone. as luck would have it, i had the pleasure of being waited on by the same "eager to serve me" counterman that had waited on me the first time. as nicely as i could, i explained my problem, and opened the box and showed him what i was talking about. his reply was "looks like someone ripped us off", then he wandered back to the spark plug rack and climbed back up to the 8 foot level and got another box of spark plugs.

now, if things werent bad enough before, this is where things went horribly wrong. first, i wasnt too happy with the spark plug deal... i should have gone to my regular parts store and i was kicking myself for that. also, i had to be at work in an hour, and i wanted this job done before then. and, to top it all off, i was trying to figure just what 2 other "mechanics" done to this truck in an attempt to get it to run that hadnt worked... so i didnt take the time to pay much attention to this new box of spark plugs other than to insure that it didnt contain the other 4 autolite plugs.

i got home with the new plugs (and an apology... something about 'any inconvenience this caused')... opened the box, and ... i'll be dam***. they were RV14YC... now i dont know what they fit, and i dont really care. they DONT fit a small block dodge, and they wont fit my 440! and yes, i should have checked the numbers, but so should have that parts guy... ESPECIALLY since it was my 2nd time back that day.

so... with 45 minutes left before i had to be at work, i went to my usual parts store and got 4 champion RN14YC spark plugs to finish the job. no, i didnt take the RV14YC spark plugs back... i was afraid they would try to return my money in rubles or something. i just wrote it off as an inexpensive reminder that autozone here in THIS town is NOT to be trusted... even with something so simple that they dont even have to look it up!

[rallye72]

I learned the hard way too! When building a duster for my wife I had Auto zone sell me both disc brake calipers and rear wheel cylinders. All 4 bleeders use a different sized wrench. That did Autozone in for me. Next came Advance Auto. Bought all 4 shocks, When I got home and pulled them out of the box only one front and one rear would work. The other two looked like they were for one of the little bitty Steve Urkel cars. Now I just hit the local part store instead of the big name stores.

Hey Creative 1, Drink two beers and call me in the morning. Dr. Rallye

[Formula95]

I needed a fuel filter for a 97 dodge avenger and the guy at autozone told me a was a dealer item only...so i went down to Oreillys Auto Parts and picked up one no problem....

Another time i needed a oil pressure/fuel pressure switch for 97 chevy pickup. Its a sensor that shuts off fuel to the engine if no oil pressure id detected. I took the printout of the part i needed from the factory chevy book ..and what it was called and where it was located on the engine. The guy at the counter insisted the chevy manual was wrong..and it has nothing to do with fuel pressure its only for oil pressure..i pointed to the part in printout i had..and told him to just give me the part..i dindt have time to argue about it.

[rosserman]

Not all autozones are like that the one close to me is actually pretty god if you know which counter people to avoid. There are one or two not so good stores in my area, but the one i go to is a pretty good one.

[dwc43]

YEah, our autozones around here suck too. Cant walk into one that you don't get served by some arse hole. They aint gott a clue about cars, and these around here sell everything but autoparts. THey have toys in them, food, mags, etc. etc. The Advance autos are real good around there though.

[ehostler]

I haven't had any problems with my local autozone. They've been right on the money, every time.

The last time I went in to get new brakes and a rotor. The man in fornt of me didn't speak a word of English. The girl at the counter didn't speak a word of Mexican (err... ummm... Spanish... lol). It waqs rather funny watching him try to describe what he needed. Then he didn't even know the basics about his truck (2WD vs 4WD). She was showing him pictures, to help the process... lol

When I went back later, to return the worn parts, the same thing was happening with a different counter person and a different customer. LOL

[cutting torch]

WHAT GETS ME ABOUT SOME PARTS STORE COUNTER PEOPLE is that they ask about the problem, then tell you that the part you want is not the part you need. I have reminded these people more than once (so loudly that everyone in the store could hear) "Look- I am a triple master certified ASE mechanic, and YOU are telling me what I need? If you know so much about fixing cars, why are you here making a third of what a mechanic makes?" They usually shut up and give you the part (not always the right one). The look on the other customer's faces were priceless!

torch

[bjoehandley]

Haven't used the recently opened Auto Zone near me for much, but I had decent luck with Bosch Platinums for my XJ, and they actually carried the drop in K&N filter for the truck?! The local Pep Boys and Farm and Fleet didn't carry them in stock, and the local bozos at the NAPA thats less than a mile to my house told me that I had the wrong part number (one that was in the book at the Pep Boys and on K&N's website was the wrong one!!) The manager at the Auto Zone seems like a bit of a dip, but got the plugs right, and they have a girl in her early 20's that seems to know what's going on there. I haven't had much involvement with Pep Boys since my turbo cars went away, but I did have one of the emloyees ask if the 2.2 turbo motor in my Lebaron GTS was the same as the 2.2 pushrod 4 cyl in his that was in his Cavalier! The same NAPA that told me I had the wrong PN on the K&N has told Dad that there was no u-joints on the front axle of my sister's '92 Cherokee Briarwood 4X4, they kept trying to sell him u-joints for the front drive shaft instead. They've also told him repeatedly for years that the single in/ single out into dual tailpipe exhaust on out Chevy G-Van is not a factory system since it's not in their books and must of been put on the thing by original owner before we bought it (funny thing is that we are the original owners of this van, which mean GM installed them on the factory line, and the G-Van we had before this one also had this system on it), yet the even closer Car Quest has this exhaust avalable as does the local Chevy dealer we traded the last van and bought this van at.

[creative1]

i am glad there are some good autozones out there, truly i am. my local one however, isnt one of them. responses i have gotten there:

"thats metric! we dont have one." (this for the exhaust manifold stud for a 440... with mangled threads!)

"you CANT have a 1984 dodge truck with a 440 engine in it. they didnt make one." DOH!!! right... they didnt... I DID! and a 440 spark plug is a 440 spark plug, no matter what year it is or what it is in!

"it will be here first thing in the morning." they open at 7, at 8:30 they said "try back at 10." at 10, they said "try back at 1 pm." i said "call me when it gets here" and gave them my phone number and made them write it down. that was june 25, and they still havent called. (when i left there, i went to their competition and bought a substitute part.)

oh... and let us not forget this one:
somewhere between the dodge factory and the salvage yard i got the first 440 from, the air cleaner disappeared. so did the carb, but thats a different story. went into autozone one night (all the other parts stores were closed) and told them i had a 440 chrysler engine with an edelbrock 4bbl carb on it, and i needed an air cleaner. after deciding on a $24.95 one, i asked the man if i would need anything else. he assured me i wouldnt. the next morning, after trial fitting it to the eddy, i went back and bought the necessary spacers to raise the air cleaner enough to clear the fuel lines. another $8. then had to make yet a 3rd trip back to get the kit to install the fresh air intake for the PCV system... another $8!!! THEN i had all i needed. when the demon carb arrived, i didnt go back to autozone (that air cleaner... well, the $8 spacers, really... interfered with the choke)... but i DID save the PVC kit to use on the new air cleaner that i did NOT get at autozone for $18... and only ONE trip!

[Hemi David]

I have had some good luck but also some bad luck with AUTO ZONE, I think it depends on the employee. Plus they probably dont pay very well, that would explain it!!!