Fun time at the battery store
 

I went to Batteries+Bulbs to get a battery for my car this afternoon. I like the place, they have RayOVac 1.65 volt AA batteries on sale sometimes for less than the 1.5 volt AAs at other places. But I digress...

I went to the counter and asked for a Group 25 battery.

Blank stare from the kid at the counter.
"It's for my car."
"Oh. What's the make model and year."
He's standing in front of the computer.
"It takes a Group 25."
"But I need the make, model, and year."
Kid staring at me.
"OK, it's a 1956 Porsche 356 coupe with a 912 generator. It's been converted to 12 volts. It takes a Group 25 battery."
Now the kid is staring at his computer.
Someone, maybe the manager, comes out and rescues him.
"I'll get it."
$111 with my corporate discount. It's not a real common battery, but they had it.

Like a modern day cashier , if the register didn't tell them the change back they would be lost . And they want to be paid $15.00+ per hour and can barely fog a mirror ☹️

I long ago stopped getting frustrated and/or annoyed at incompetent people, especially ‘kids’. Same with driving.

Chief Sandwicher, OTOH, almost pops a gasket or blows a vein when behind the wheel or in front of a counter.

I tried to explain to her once that idiots are the norm and it’s not their fault, usually. The blind driver is gonna cause a wreck!, she says.

Agreed, says I, but it doesn’t have to be with you.

And the kid behind the counter? He’s at least working which is better than most.

Thank God for the 'amount tendered' button/key.

I went to a local Napa place to get some of the Napa 1010 Gold filters (perfect for 356C oil canister and comes with a seal/gasket that actually works) and got them to order me an Optima 6v battery - they were wondering what year Ford pickup I was working on...

It's a battery store... I doubt they have the button for quantity of chicken tenders.

:D

They should know that they only come in packs of six.
Sauce is extra.

I think he is under trained. He was probably in his mid-20s, I don’t know many people who know what a battery “group” means - just the gearheads.

I worked at a parts place in the early to mid 90s. Many of the other young guys that I worked with "got it." Many of us were either car guys or reasonably intelligent. Maybe it had to do with being in a college town or something, I don't know. We had computers, but we also had a full compliment of paper catalogs.

I'm not sure if you find many folks that have a clue these days. If I need something, I mostly do my own research online ahead of time.

Back when I was in the biz, we would use the computers or catalogs, but we sold batteries by group number. These days, a lot of the employees, don't seem to know what the group number of their batteries is or what it signifies.

These are the same folks that if your bill is $4.65 and you give them $10.15 they don't have a clue what to do.

Kid "It's no good pointing at it. If it's not on the computer we don't have it."

roflmao!

Yep. And some parts places don't go by group, they go by part number which doesn't always directly signify the group.

I never heard of it and wouldn’t have known what you meant either…so there’s at least two of us.

The numbers are a code that links back to size, and then there can be an "R" suffix that indicates that the positive and negative posts are reversed.

You would expect a good parts person to be familiar. As a tech for a single make, not necessarily.
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/r/...tery-sizes.png

I'm totally fooked when it comes to buying parts for my '44 GPW (Jeep) that runs a Chevy 283 Corvette motor thru a Advance Adapters bell housing with a Ford clutch disc under a Chevy pressure plate to a Ford truck tranny with a Dana 18 transfer case behind all that going to CJ 7 axles (Dana), custom drive shafts, with a Ford Truck M/C and, believe it or not, a Porsche handbrake hooked up to Jeep CJ 5 cables.

Beyond that, it has an HEI ignition (distributor) using A small body GM dizzy with a modern Ford module.

If I need anything for the Jeep, I need to know the year and model of the donor parts (which I don't exactly know in every case).

Totally screwed in today's world. I pity whomever inherits this thing.

I will admit to having to have that written down Zeke, as I couldn't remember that if my life depended on it.

My worst case presently is that I put a Group 24 battery in my wife's car which came with a Group I can't remember at this time, but it was too small. Could have been a motorcycle battery.

For my Cayman battery, I take the old one to Walmart and tell them to get a new one just like it. Worked twice so far.

Go easy on the young fella, we all learn something new every day . That's what its all about

If the store had that chart taped next to the register he probably would have found it in a second.

Count me three for not knowing.
We often learn by experiencing and needing to. And some of us have experienced more than others.
I've got plenty of time for those who are trying.

(Taking the old battery in saves the core charge and matches it up)

You should have told him the color of the car, too.

Maybe it was a learning experience for him. I remember at age 15 when I started working part time in a gas station, I'd mentally subtract a purchase amount from the amount the customer gave me. What a revelation when the owner told me to just add change until I reached the amount the customer gave me.

That brings back memories. It’s been a long time since anyone counted change back to me.

Being adept at "mental math", if I have change, or dollar bills on me, I will give a $20 bill, plus singles & coins to make it easy to give back what's owed me. One time I tried to correct the cashier when she gave me the wrong amount but I wasn't gonna convince her, so I pocketed my "windfall". Looking at the receipt later .... she had mistakenly entered 10.02 instead of 10.00 and we are so domed...

That's my .02 worth ... thanks to that cashier :D.

But I wouldn't know batteries by "group" either ;)...

Not a ig surprise. Most people at parts stores need to punch buttons in a computer to find anything. I've given them a part number for something and they'll still ask "whacha workin on?" so they can enter it in the computer even though I already entered it and verified fitment.

And that it's a 2-door and not a 4-door.

You guys joke, but when I worked at the parts store, there were plenty of folks that had no idea what they drove. It wasn't uncommon to have to go out and look at their vehicle to figure it out. They probably knew the year, the color, how many doors, sometimes the make and if you were really lucky, the number of cylinders.

I've been told that a guy had a "Mercury Grand Prix Pontiac Marquis". I've been told "19xx Ford Van, blue." Toyota 4 cyl. etc....

I had a younger guy get really pissed once when trying to buy brake pads for a toyota corolla.
It's a 4cyl.
Yes, sir, but that year of that car could come with either a 1.2L or a 1.6L, and they took different brake pads. What size is the 4 cyl?
Just give me my damn brakes. It's your job to know what size engine my car has.

When I had my 914 race car I went to the VW dealer as I mostly did cross referencing parts. I started doing that in 1972 when I had my first 914 and Porsche dealers were small outfits.

I needed a long shoulder bolt in metric and I knew where it went on the engine, but to get it I had to make up the model car I was driving to get the exploded diagram up on the screen.

"There, that one."

Remember when VW's were so popular there were shops that only sold aftermarket VW stuff. They'd have a wall of BugPac stuff hanging on it. Headers, carbs, interior items. Those were the days.

Still one of those shops here in LB. It's called Foreign Unlimited if you want to look it up.

Yup, nowdays they give you crumpled bills and your coins and say, "Here you go."

Until the early 70s we actually had an independent auto parts store (along with a Chevrolet and a Ford dealer) in our town of 3500 souls. The guy at the parts counter liked to give customers a hard time.

Customer, "I need an oil filter for a '65 Olds."
Joe, "Two door?"
"No four door."
"Color?"
"Blue."
"Whitewalls?"
"No - WTF? Just get me the oil filter!"
Joe is walking back through the shelves.
"I always wanted a '65 Olds 2 door, red, whitewalls."
"Will you just get the damned oil filter!!"

There was a poem posted on the counter. I can't remember the whole thing but the last lines are

I'd grin from ear to ear
If the customer would just give me
The model make and year!

You should see the look on their faces when I told them the part was for a 1919 Maxwell or a 1929 Porter.

I was at a chain parts store with a friend and he asked for a part for his Ford sedan. In response to the question "What year?" he told the young counterperson "1929 Tudor Sedan". The reaction from us and from his manager (who was standing behind him, smirking a bit when he heard this) when the counterperson tried to type that in was priceless.

I'm trying to remember when I last paid cash for anything.
Hmmm. Maybe it's a sign of advancing age. I do however enjoy "adding to the depth of training " for new staff in local stores.
Beware of old guys with nothing better to do!:D

Best
Les