Parts Factors

[octyal]

Is it me, or are parts factor staff starting to get really stupid???? We deal with around 150-200 calls per day from factors, asking for advice on clutch, dmf, wheel bearing etc part numbers. However, it gets seriously frustrating at times. As an example, at least 5-6 times a day, we get asked for a clutch for example, so we ask for the engine code, and they say, oh, "it's got 2 codes", but they don't seem to realise that a car only has one engine before picking up the phone!

Anyone else find that motor factors seem to be employing McDonalds rejects these days? (no offence to anyone that works in a factor, especially if you know what a car is, and how it works, other than something you drive and put petrol/diesel in)

[StevesTruck]

I gave one a vauxhall engine code a few months ago. They looked at it, asked me make, model, (eeer, astra, like I just said), year, and then asked me what size engine it is.

I know **** all about vauxhalls, but even then, I know the two numbers in the middle of the engine number are the engine size.

Edited 16 August, 2016 by StevesTruck

[malcster]

Having worked on both sides main dealer and aftermarket I kind of agree although in the aftermarket side they are always behind with current info and usually don't have correct super sessions

Also a factor who is not specialist in vag cars will have no idea what a engine should look like

Manufacturers need to understand there will always be factors some selling good quality gear (febi bilstein victor reinz and elring lemforder Luk clutches are all oe suppliers and usually a lot of the vag stuff came with the part number and logo removed

Aswell as some factors selling tat

Vauxhall had a few years of not helping factors and ford went one further and put a premium rate number for factors to call for help

I take it from the call amount you quote you work in a tps site with .modern epc etc that removes nearly all the choice once the reg number etc is inserted

Try going back to my time with microfiche and a catalogue as back up should the microfiche not work I spent my entire apprenticeship reading vag microfiche to learn where every group was listed

We also passed the old microfiche slides into parts factors in our area can't see vw allowing you send etka discs out to all and sundry

[Updown789]

The guy at ECP once gave me ht leads for my 1.4 ibiza. The ones he gave me were for a mk2 golf (completely wrong) and the reg plate he put in the system was for a bora 1.9 tdi. Somehow he didn't twig that a tdi doesn't have ht leads. I triple check everything they give me before I leave the store now

[meta55b]

Is it me, or are parts factor staff starting to get really stupid???? We deal with around 150-200 calls per day from factors, asking for advice on clutch, dmf, wheel bearing etc part numbers. However, it gets seriously frustrating at times. As an example, at least 5-6 times a day, we get asked for a clutch for example, so we ask for the engine code, and they say, oh, "it's got 2 codes", but they don't seem to realise that a car only has one engine before picking up the phone!

Anyone else find that motor factors seem to be employing McDonalds rejects these days? (no offence to anyone that works in a factor, especially if you know what a car is, and how it works, other than something you drive and put petrol/diesel in)

What is your job, I'm unclear from your post. You say ''we receive 100-150 calls a day" from factors asking advice on clutches, dmf, etc. If you were getting that amount of calls a day, I would say you worked in a factors.

[mac11irl]

Tbf, i was trying to get arb bushes for my previois cordoba. Reg number search at factors kept giving one type. Vw dealers with a seat service centre did a reg search and only got the same answer as the 3 factors i tried.. eventually figured out that the bushes i needed were for an older version that were used on my car then changed... so the factor guys arent always wrong..

[octyal]

What is your job, I'm unclear from your post. You say ''we receive 100-150 calls a day" from factors asking advice on clutches, dmf, etc. If you were getting that amount of calls a day, I would say you worked in a factors.

 

I actually work (along with 4 others) in the technical department of a very well known clutch manufacturer. My gripe is that none of the ones that phone up appear to have any clue about cars in general, which leads me to believe that they have no training, or knowledge of how a car works, or what the parts do - something that, to me anyway, is an essential part of working in the parts business. Obviously not to the same level of mechanical skill as a proper technician, but enough to understand how things work.

We do have access to some dealer based systems, but they only get used very rarely, we don't even use a registration based lookup system, but rely on things like engine codes and model types.

Personally I have tried time and again with numerous callers from the main suppliers in the business, to explain how things work with chassis and engine numbers (which is really simple to understand - if anyone wants a brief explanation, I will be glad to share the knowledge), but to no avail, it's as if they get reset at midnight and are straight back to square one at 8 am the next day.

 

I too, like Malcster, have worked both sides, main dealer (spent 4 years at one gaining qualifications) and factor (8 years, 4 as branch manager). Whenever I needed a member of staff at the factors for handling customer enquiries, I always made a point of "testing" the knowledge of prospective applicants, to see if they would be able to confidently answer the phones - and it worked, we had a cracking team, that knew what the garages were on about. Most of the ones we talk to on a daily basis must be giving a really poor impression to garages.

[moley]

Some years back the wife's Fiat Uno needed a new brake master cylinder. I called the local Fiat dealer, gave him all of the info for the car and he ordered the part. Lucky I checked it when I went to pick it up and straight way I could see it was wrong because the flange with the two bolt holes were at 45 degrees to the body. The parts guy said 'that's the correct part'. I didn't buy it and went to the nearest motor factors. The guy at the factors looked it up and Said that there were 3 different master cylinders used on the Uno, he put all 3 on the counter and I was able to pick up the correct one. Not all those who work in the factors are that bad.

[octyal]

Some years back the wife's Fiat Uno needed a new brake master cylinder. I called the local Fiat dealer, gave him all of the info for the car and he ordered the part. Lucky I checked it when I went to pick it up and straight way I could see it was wrong because the flange with the two bolt holes were at 45 degrees to the body. The parts guy said 'that's the correct part'. I didn't buy it and went to the nearest motor factors. The guy at the factors looked it up and Said that there were 3 different master cylinders used on the Uno, he put all 3 on the counter and I was able to pick up the correct one. Not all those who work in the factors are that bad.

 

True, there are still some knowledgeable people out there, but they are getting few and far between these days as they are now starting to retire, or being forced out of business by the bigger chain store style model of the big factor groups. However, the last few years have seen a proliferation of very young, inexperienced staff being employed, who, rather than rely on knowledge and information, believe everything that the registration number tells them. We get at least 5 calls a day for people asking for a clutch for a full automatic or CVT transmission.

[StevesTruck]

I'm guessing that was a "back in the day" with it being an uno.

Edited 17 August, 2016 by StevesTruck

[malcster]

So you work at Luk ??

Depending in how long you have been there we may of spoke

Having sent clutches for special examination from a main dealer and a factor over the years

[octyal]

3 years November

[malcster]

Newbie ????

I left the trade in 2010 after 17 years

Never looked back

[octyal]

Newbie ????

I left the trade in 2010 after 17 years

Never looked back

 

Only here - 4 years main dealer training (parts dept -2 NVQ's, plus management training course), 8 years factor work (4 years as branch manager), plus every car I have owned has had all work (including engine rebuilds etc) done by myself. Only time my car sees a garage is for MOT time.

[meta55b]

I worked for partco/unipart for a long time. It was me that done the ordering and tech stuff on the LuK for my branch. A lot of my day was spent talking to the 2 nearest branches due to all the info I kept in my head, my work mates used to say I was sad lol. That was over 10 years ago now.

[StevesTruck]

That's called knowing your trade, and it's something to be proud of - fair play to you.

I used to use a branch of gsf a lot for older vw stuff and there was a bloke in there, sat at the back, and he was like an Oracle. If any of the counter staff got stuck, they'd ask him, and more often than not, he could describe the part and tell you the part number from memory.

The branch moved to a new site, he got stuck out the back somewhere and a load of kids got put on the counter. I stopped going in within a week.

[octyal]

,

That's called knowing your trade, and it's something to be proud of - fair play to you.

I used to use a branch of gsf a lot for older vw stuff and there was a bloke in there, sat at the back, and he was like an Oracle. If any of the counter staff got stuck, they'd ask him, and more often than not, he could describe the part and tell you the part number from memory.

The branch moved to a new site, he got stuck out the back somewhere and a load of kids got put on the counter. I stopped going in within a week.

 

Exactly my point - too many kids being employed who haven't got a clue, can't be bothered to learn what they need to know (chassis numbers/engine numbers for example), or are just plain dull - leads to a lack of knowledge in the branch, which in turn can lead to a lack of trade in that branch. I think a lot of the problem is that the branches don't provide any kind of training, apart from "There's the phone, PC and notepad, get on with it"

Personally I am proud of the fact that I have built up a vast knowledge over the years, and will continue to feed that knowledge as best I can - revelling in the fact I can prove the muppets at the factors wrong time and again.