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Auto Parts Company Crosses the Ethics Line

Joe Marconi

By Joe Marconi
in Automotive Parts & Suppliers

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  • 1 year later...
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Auto Parts Company Crosses the Ethics Line

 

Its one thing to open a parts store and do free check engine light scans, battery testing, battery installation in the parking lot along with wiper blades. And, although I don’t agree, I can’t stop a parts company from selling $11.00 brake rotors and $17.00 O2 sensors to the general public.

 

BUT, it’s another thing for a parts rep to come into my facility and ask my lead tech if he knows of a tech that is looking for a job scanning cars and testing batteries outside the parts store. Or, approaching my service manager and asking him, if he knows of a manager that might be looking for a job at one of the parts store.

 

This crosses the line and I am furious. The way they did too is underhanded and unethical. This rep came in my HOUSE and in a “round about” way was actually trying to recruit my top people.

 

Business is Business, but this not about business. I will never buy anything from this company, not even if they are the only parts company in the world that has what I need. I refuse to patronize a company that has the morals of a worm.

 

Just to set the record straight; my number one supplier has been and will always be CARQUEST. I do deal with other local companies as my second call. The part company I am referring to in this post is not NAPA, AutoZone, O’Reilly’s, Auto Parts International or Pep Boys. Nor is it a small local company.

 

 

once your guy saw what they were gonna pay him (even PT after you shop closes) he would have laughed. the store (AAP) wants you to know everything for nothing.

 

we have a part timer that works FT at a local shop, he works 8-12 hours a week for us, it helps with gas money for him, plus he can get insurance too. i do believe that he came to us though.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

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      Want to End Your Technician Shortage? Focus on Retention!
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      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”

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