NAPA disappointment
 

A little disappointed with the quality of NAPA parts. Replaced the clutch master and slave, couldn't get it to bleed, no pedal. Pushed about 1-1/2 quarts of fluid through before I had the truck towed for repair. Here's what they found:

The shaft start out straight but it failed completely. When I returned it the counter guy told me that without the original box he wouldn't be able to resell it.
Perhaps that's a good thing.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

WHY would they want to resell a defective product??
Time for you to make a call to NAPA headquarters, talk to somebody higher up.
Let them know you are not a happy customer.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

I avoid my local Napa unless I'm desperate. Because every time I leave empty handed and disappointed. If you don't have a part number, the counter guy says "I don't have anything like it and I can't order it" without looking at the computer in front of him or the reams of parts books literally right next to him. I guess he doesn't care because they sell tons of truck parts to the nearby heavy truck shops.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

I guess I should be thankful to have a good NAPA store where I shop.
The counter guys really know their stuff, and won't hesitate to make the extra effort required to insure every customer leaves satisfied.
Your NAPA store sounds like the local autozone here, where a requirement to get hired is you must not know anything about cars, you gotta be slow in the customer service department, ignore as many customers for as long as you can, and work on your own car in the parking lot on company time while there are customers standing inside waiting for service.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

My newly installed water pump from NAPA failed after a few hundred miles ,they are going to give me a new one but it still tics me off .I bought one local to me instead of driving 20 miles up the road to NAPA but I will get the replacement one from them next time Im up there .

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

My local NAPA is decent, but the quality of the parts seems to have fallen off over the years.

I bought a clutch slave from Kragen/O-Reilly, and it failed after about 12 months. I bought a replacement at NAPA, thinking the increased price would buy me a better product. I was right, but the 50% increase in costs only bought about a 10% increase in lifespan, it failed at 13 months.

Now, I only go there when I don't know exactly what I need (which is rare), the increased price I'm paying is for answers to my questions.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

I don't do NAPA. Quality is not what it once was and prices are outrageous, here anyways.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

Their quality on many parts has definitely gone downhill over the years.
As with any of the parts stores these days, quality is always a roll of the dice.
At least the NAPA stores here both have an Autozone and O'Reilly within a block, and they will price match.
So, I shop online for quality and price, then walk into the selected store with part numbers.
NAPA is cool about not requiring a deposit from me when they need to order a part from the Phoenix warehouse, they know me and know I live 60 miles away and don't make many trips to the city.
Service like that does give them a brownie point from me.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

:lol:

Autozone came to my neighborhood a couple years ago. I went there for the first time to check in out and found just what MountainGoat1966 described. I went back once or twice just in case I had an isolated case, but little changes.

I get most of my parts from Advance Auto. They have a very good website. You can order online, pick up in the store in 20-30 minutes and if you use a discount code (Google Advance Auto discount code) you can save a boatload of bucks. There is a store near my office and two others near the house, so they're also convenient.

My experience at NAPA is just as the others have described. It was a better experience than Autozone, but no better than Advance Auto or O'Reilly. I'm not convinced the parts are any better quality and they're a lot more money.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

It seems like NAPA's are pretty hit-and-miss here. The big ones tend to suck (customer service-wise). The smaller ones are much friendlier and more knowledgeable, to the point where I'm willing to wait for them to get the parts as opposed to going to the idiots at the bigger stores.

Luckily, fairly close to me, we have a really great parts store in Anacortes, WA. It's a Parts Plus, but locally owned, and those guys know what they're doing. Plus they have a machine shop in-house.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

I like AutoZone. I get everything there. I don't pay for parts until they are in my hand, never had a problem with them ordering something without paying. I do have the app and look up all my parts before I go there because yes most barely even know what a car is.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

My local napa is a good place. They are all older guys that know vehicles. Like others said, I would call the headquarters and let them know about that store.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

We have 2 NAPA stores within 40 miles in 2 different towns,both stores are locally owned as well.I have had excellent luck with both for parts quality& availability.Very rarely I even have to order anything,usually in stock which is pretty good considering majority of my fleet is 25-30 years old.Both owners & most of their employees are truck people as well,they also support our small community as well which is worth a lot in my eyes.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

That blows :(

I always look stuff up before I go to the store, and my NAPA is pretty good. They give me bolts for nothing and laugh at me...

They also typically offer 3 grades of parts and tell me where they're from if I ask.

That rod had to have bottomed in the bore and the force had nowhere to go. Got any pics of the old and new parts side by side, hopefully with the rods removed? I'll bet there are differences.

NAPA should take that back w/o a wimper.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

My local NAPA is the best. Has a machine shop on-site. Never gotten a bad part from them yet. Special orders arrive the next business day. Three of the employees have 73-87 vintage squares or burbs, so talkin' trucks is inevitable. Plus I get a 25% fire dept. discount!

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

Napa here is decent. Napa in Tipton is great. And open Sunday.

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My wife has worked for the local napa warehouse here for 16 or 17 years. I will say that of the 4 stores here where they all know me I still have a hard time dealing with the customer service at a couple of them. Theyre franchised and the 4 here in town are all owned by the same guy but vastly different management at each place. Also if your guy didnt offer to defect that out and give you a replacement and just send that one back in the replacements box he screwed up. Also depending on what brand it was I have had them get me a box to send a faulty part back and get a refund. Theres almost always a solution to that kind of problem but if the counter guy is lazy you dont get any help. Napa corporate usually has some kind of customer satisfaction warranty that overrides whatever a particular part may or may not have had. If your guy wanted to put that back on the shelf he has bigger problems than his customer service practices.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

My recent NAPA experience turned out good. Parts guys were awesome but part itself was beyond bad. They actually delivered it to my door personally.
If has Cardone on the box, avoid it at all costs.
4 ps boxes from Cardone in 4 yrs, all under warranty.
They tried to give me another rebuilt Cardone steering box and was a mess right from the carton. Paint over old grease, brown fluid inside along with chucks of metal. Gave me a 6th one from BBB Industries and it was perfect.

You didn't say if the slave cyl was new or reman.
And tell that counter guy to go pound sand. You don't need the box. The receipt alone validates their warranty. I went thru NAPA head office and my problem was solved in 48hrs.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

Irish is right I work for a Napa auto parts store! As long as you have the receipt the warranty is still good! We only need the box for cores on remans and if the part is still new and not installed! I know of the experience of counter guys saying they don't have the part, or not even trying! Its called laziness! It doesn't take much effort to go the extra mile and do some searching whether its through the books or even using Google as a reference to get a part number to cross.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

I have spent too much time buying parts in all of the aftermarket parts stores, as well as the local dealers, and online OEM vendors. My conclusion is that you need to do your homework online (a lot of homework) before you buy a part. I don't expect the parts stores or the dealer to know much or want to know much about our 30-40 year old trucks. Returns and refunds have never been much of a problem wherever I shopped, but the online vendors do charge return shipping which is to be expected.

It pays to shop the sales, so I have a shed with a lot of $1/quart Penzoil, QS, etc., free spark plugs, free oil filters, etc. The aftermarket stores are good for free or real cheap stuff - can't complain about that.

Some aftermarket parts are fine. I have a 12 year old steering box from Autozone that has been trouble free and only cost about $20 with my old core.

Generally speaking, I prefer to buy Delco or OEM GM from online vendors. The prices are about the same and sometimes cheaper than aftermarket.

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I bought a FS500 fuel tank selector switch at NAPA, went to test it out with the new solenoid I bought online from another source, and the switch fell part in my hand after moving the rocker style knob twice.
Gonna return it for a refund and go to Chevy and hope they have a GOOD one.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

It will start right with the counter guy/gal no matter where you buy parts from when you get a defective part. I worked for a Napa many years ago and the store policy was always find a way to make the customer happy. This defective part should get sent back to the manufacture through Napa for a credit. If you have the receipt, you don't have to take that part back to the same Napa you bought it from.

Looking at the photo, I have to ask if the clutch master is for a F^%d Ranger? Did the shop get the repair done and are you driving it now? There are reasons for my questions based off of your answer.

Take care,
Tom

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

i have kind of given up on my local napa i have a comerical account where they deliever to my work normal delievery time is like 3 days if i place an online order and dont cALL to follow it up they keep asking me what can they do so i would buy more and my answer was deleiver my parts in less then an hour....

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

I tried to set up an account at our local NAPA so they would deliver to my work ,they said no ,that it was too far out (6 miles) even though they deliver to a local garage right across the road .My work uses O'Reileys so I set up a commercial account there and they deliver in an hour or less plus give me a generous discount .

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

If you still have the receipt or a charge on a card I can't see how they won't give you a replacement part or a refund.

I would definitely be contacting NAPA headquarters(be direct and polite).

NAPAonline.com

Contact link @ NAPA Online

There is a contact form, a listed email address you can use and this :


Phone

For customer service, including product information and order status, contact us at:
1-800-LET-NAPA (1-800-538-6272)
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Eastern Time
Monday – Friday

... and if that doesn't work... go old school :


Napa Auto Parts Corporate Office Headquarters

National Automotive Parts Association, Inc. (NAPA)

2999 Circle 75 Pkwy SE,
Atlanta, GA 30339 USA

Corporate Phone Number: 1-770-956-2200
Fax Number: 1-770-956-2212 ‎
Customer Service Number: 1-800-538-6272
Napa Online: 1-877-805-6272


-W

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

I've never had much luck with Napa. I normally drive across town to Auto Zone because of the rewards program. I live within 1 mile of O'reilly's and used to go there alot till one day. I sent my wife in there to get a brake spoon. The kid behind the counter had no idea what she was talking about so he took her over to the tool isle and told her it was somewhere on that isle. She left pissed off. I sent an e-mail to the district manager about the incident and all I got back was a reply saying "Sorry for your trouble".

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

Napa is not the problem here. If you have had problems at your local napa store it is the people that the store specifically hired. my .02

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I usually love these discussions, because I have either worked for or worked "with" a local parts company (ABC Auto, for those in East Texas), O'Reilly's, AutoZone, Pep Boys, Bumper-to-Bumper, NAPA, Advance Auto Parts and some of the "small scale" parts houses - the mom & pop, only have one or two locations small businesses.

Like dealerships and independent service facilities, there is a built-in failure rate. I will say with 100% confidence that I know I have failed people in the past, it's part of the business - unfortunately. We are all human.

The biggest problem I have with almost every parts store is they refuse to hire or retain people (in my experience) who might actually know a thing or two about cars. In my entire work history, I have an array of experience - including in management (parts and dealership service), Chrysler, Ford, and GM training regarding troublshooting and repair issues, and have successfully turned a net profit in a small parts store south of Lufkin way back in 2009.

But you guys want to know the worst part? I cannot seems to find a "parts store" manager who wants to cough up my desired pay rate. Once you start talking $10+ an hour, they all balk. Trust me, I've tried.

I may be awkward and ramble online, but behind a parts counter, I was a force to be reckoned with. I was the type of guy who would call every available source if I didn't have a part, I was the guy that would slap on wipers in the middle of a storm with no hesitation, and I was the guy who greeted people and actually got to the root of their issue - even if it meant telling them I think they might have another issue and to go back and check this or that.

"Difficult" customers (I know we all can be one) were the best. Some guys and gals come in with what they expect to be a pain in the butt to find problem - sound familiar? - only for me to solve it without even breaking a sweat.

So yeah, getting back to the point, I've been disappointed with a lot of stores from time to time, and I've been amazed at what talent and knowledge some parts people have... I chalk it up to luck of the draw, you'll have a bad experience any place you go, on a long enough timeline. But always, always find the guy who works at those locations that actually knows his stuff.

If it weren't for customers who came looking for me, specifically, I probably never would have learned as much or stayed in the business as long as I could.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Re: NAPA disappointment
 

The problem isn't NAPA, it's the lame help and or management. Yoou should complain to corporate so they can put some heat under their butts.

I don't know what I'd do w/o my local NAPA store. Parts don't come from infinite sources. Many stores sell parts from the same place but have them packaged as their brand. The rebuilt parts are a crap shoot, but are warrantied. I have had good luck with those. Often the higher price part is same as cheaper and you are only paying more for a better warranty.
I live near a small town, so out NAPA is a smaller one. But I have never had to wait more than 1/2 day for a part. Often they can catch the driver enroute and I get the part within an hour. I could always just run up to the hub store about 20 minutes and get it quick. They run at least 3 trucks and the place is hoppin'. It seems every shop in the area relies on them. The manager is very serious about getting the right parts out ASAP. They had a sign looking for counter help. I asked on my son's behalf and job was filled. I asked what the requirements were, such as knowing the program on the computer. The manager said, "Someone who knows cars". He said the program doesn't matter when you don't know what you are looking for. Said it took him a year to get it down and they just help new people get it. It all depends on who is running the store, who they hire, and how they are managed. The sign just tells you where you are.