A couple years ago I was frustrated with service and food I was
finding at various restaurants around the area I had just moved to. I
started asking almost everyone I had a conversation with about their
favorites. As a result I not only made a few new friends by engaging them
in a conversation, but I now have a locally owned "greasy spoon" I frequent
a couple times a week as well as a nice locally owned steakhouse and a
locally owned upscale restaurant that I frequent each of regularly. All
three have good food, but more important all three pride themselves on
service. I rarely eat at a chain restaurants anymore.
Years ago the town I was living at attracted a home depot and I
excitedly ran down and spent a ton of money there in the first month or two
that they were open. As time passed though I found the service got worse
and worse and the selection was only the most common items. I needed a odd
sized hole saw at one point and after a 1/2 hour of looking for help I
finally got answers of "no we don't have it, no we don't stock it, no we
cant order it for you" A trip to a locally owned hardware store followed
and immediately inside the door I was greeted and asked if I needed help.
The guy knew what a hole saw was, where they were and that they did stock
the size I needed. He mentioned that if they ever needed to order one their
truck came twice a week. Talk about walking into a different world! I told
him about my home depot experience and he told me about how they had tried
to hire him away from his store after one of their scouts shopped his store
and gave him a high review. He didn't go but a coworker did because they
offered a couple dollars more an hour. After 3 months tat home depot he
coworker asked for his job back because his hours went from 40 down to 20
after they hired a bunch of minimum wage help.
As far as parts stores, I primarily use a H-O parts plus or Carquest
(and sometimes Napa). Find the stores that the local shops use, then go
shopping in them. Pay attention to who the flunkies ask questions and who
gets the most phone calls. Latch on to that guy! I get their name and
write it down. Finding a good parts guy is tough. I cant do business with
someone who actually asks me if its 2 or 4 wheel drive over a set of spark
plugs! Unfortunately most of my favorite parts guys have either died or
retired. Do you remember them? The guys who would say "fuel pump for a
235? Yep, we've got it" and go to the right spot on the right shelf and
pull the RIGHT part. Nowadays my best parts guys use their computer but
they don't miss a beat when I ask for a long water pump for a 454, they
don't need to ask the year...
So to close this longwinded stand on the soapbox... Good customer
service is out there, you just need to look for it and support it. I do as
much business as I can with locally owned businesses of all types. They can
still have crap service, but the odds are better with them. Sometimes you
have to find the right person at the right business to get what you want.
I've also learned that on average the prices at the big boxes is no lower
than the local guys, they just promote their low prices and get you with the
add on/ impulse sales. I special order things all the time from locals and
when I am checking prices they can compete, but I'm willing to pay an extra
couple bucks for good service, if I not then someday NOBODY will have good
customer service because its just not necessary.
Dustin
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