joe_padavano

I was replacing the pump on my pressure washer yesterday (relevancy: I use this to degrease my Oldsmobiles... ). The motor shaft uses a 3/16" square key to drive the pump. I just figured I'd reuse the key from the old pump, until I found out that the "key" was actually broached into the pump hub...

Probably saved them a penny or two per pressure washer.

No problem, other than wasting another day. There's a large NAPA store on my way home from work that was one of the better auto parts stores around. Knowledgeable people, good stock of parts, racks of random hardware (like square keys), etc. I stopped there on the way home yesterday.

I walk into the store and the only person behind the counter is a large, angry, older woman. I don't like to stereotype, but I wasn't getting a good feeling about this.

Me: Hi, I need some 3/16" square key stock.
Her:
Me: You know, square metal keys for a pulley on a shaft.
Her:

Her (finally): I have NO idea what you're talking about.
Me: A square key, like you use to drive a pulley on a power steering pump. Don't you guys have a rack of hardware drawers?
Her: We have a bolt bin in the back. Do you mean a Woodruff key?
Me: A Woodruff key is half round. This is a square key.
Her (turning to the computer to start searching): Do you know what vehicle you're working on?
Me: Yeah, my pressure washer. I just need a generic 3/16" square key.
Her (rolling eyes, sighs, and reaches for the paper catalog - FINALLY!)

It is now obvious that not only does this person not know what a square key is, but she also doesn't know how to use the index in the catalog. After several minutes of nothing, I get on my phone, log into the NAPA website, and show her a square key.

Her: We don't have anything like that. I have to order it.
Me: This is why I just buy stuff on line now.

Amazingly, the local Tractor Supply actually had square keys on the rack. I'm amazed because TSC has pretty much become just "Lawn Tractor and Pet Food Supply" here in Northern VA.

oldcutlass

Be careful, I hear she carries a lot of weight around that store... Sometimes its hard to refrain from sarcasm in situations like that.

ELY442

Dont feel bad Joe, I went to Auto Zone and asked a worker if he has 5/16 Heli Coils. The worker told me is that the combination wrench for the ignition? I walked out of there and went to Lowes.

70-442-W30

One of my summer jobs was working at a hardware/lumber store. Very uncomfortable situation because builders would come in there asking for particular items and I had no real life knowledge of many of the items they wanted. One of the more difficult tasks was looking up fasteners in the little book at the register. Too many variations. Of course now I know what many of them are, but at a young age...it was overload.

joe_padavano

Yeah, but I EXPECT that from AutoZone or Advance.

And had this been the usual pimple-faced teenager behind the counter, I would not have been surprised.

quaddriver

when I walked into advance a few weeks back with a suspect alternator I asked the scraggy bearded millenial behind the counter 'do you know what this is?' and held up the alt, he goes "um, a starter"

Me: 'close enuf, lets go test it....' (the results mentioned in another thread)

ps: dont knock TSC too hard, when CT/F&F etc went **** up, they took over all the stock my friend 'nseries' didnt buy and are pretty much the only place to have a partial chance of ordering from nowadays....I buy my grade 8 fasteners from them in bulk

joe_padavano

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of farms left in Northern VA, only McMansions, each with a brand new German SUV for him and an RX350 for her, along with a brand new Kubota tractor with loader for mowing those 3 acre lots.

No one here fixes anything any more. TSC has opened several new stores locally. All are small and heavy on the pet food, horse feed, and lawn care products.

I can drive to Winchester to the large, older, well-stocked TSC, but it's a pain for small items.

quaddriver

yanno joe, I think you and I chew the same ground....my duty post is in martinsburg and I am in winchester a lot when I am down there.. do any local auctions? we source a lot for our store from berryville/winchester etc

joe_padavano

I'm in Lovettsville, about as far north as you can get and still be in the state of VA. We've got a convoy headed down I81 to Kingsport on Tuesday Jul 19.

Olds64

Luckily, the folks at the O'Reillys I usually go to know their stuff. I haven't stumped them yet.

Koda

This is why Rock Auto does well.

RetroRanger

And Amazon, Amazon can be a little trickier on locating exact parts for your car but many times they are price competitive, and on things like hardware I bought boxes of stainless fasteners for only a little more than I could buy a few pieces in the local hw store ( if they carry what I'm after)

RetroRanger

I couldn't have been more ecstatic when in the early 00s the power sports dealers posted year specific fiche online for ordering. Imagine I could get the correct Oem part I wanted without going to the dealer 3-4 times while the guy behind desk looked up the wrong part and ordered it at least 2-3 times in a row, then blamed me!!!

oldcutlass

You can go to a local fastener store (bolt store) and do the same thing. A lot of them carry bulbs, electrical supplies, body clips, abrasives, etc.

Troys Toy 70

I can remember when I was a pup, the local part store had a gentleman that if he caught you as you came in with part in hand, he would have the part on the counter by the time you got there. That was service.

Me of my major pet peeves is when I go in a store and ask about a product, and I kindly get the bullet points read off of the tag below the product.

MDchanic

I miss being able to walk into the store and ask for "an oil filter for a chrysler 4.7" or "a GM coil."

Now it's "What year?" "What model?" "What color?" because they only know what the computer tells them.

- Eric

Koda

I guess we get what we pay for. Parts counter guy is an $8 an hour job. You're not going to get a nascar crew chief. I suppose my favorite one is being asked if my 67 442 was a 2 barrel or a 4 barrel; I granted an exception because the previous year could have been (multiple) 2 barreled.

rob1960

My local Napa store is excellent! Most of the guys have been there for years & know what they're doing. Plus it's the only one in town that still has a real machine shop! I miss our local Sears hardware store that went out of business this past spring. They had the best stock of "hardware" around. 3 aisles of bins,drawers,pretty much everything(even square keys!). They even carried a great selection of chrome hardware so I didn't have to get raped at my local Harley dealer. I hate Sears anymore,ever since they got in with Kmart,they've gone down the toilet,I doubt they'll be around much longer, but that hardware store was pretty good & good people worked there too. Shame to see it close after more than 20 yrs.

citcapp

Here in Rathdrum ID we have an old fashion hardware store with several rows of hardware, bolts nuts, cotter keys, washers you name it. buy by each, box, or per pound. These stores are far and few between. I think this one is still in business because there are still a lot of ranchers around here

cjsdad

That sounds as bad as the hardware store here in our little podunk part of NM. Used to be a True Value but still owned by a guy I went to church with. They have a limited lumber supply in their basement and I asked the cashier for an 8 ft. 2X10. She looked at me like I had hit her with it. No idea what I wanted. She asked me 2 by what by 10? So I repeated I need a 2X10 board, 8 feet long. She had to radio the guy that worked lumber if they had "8 ft long boards". Finally payed for it and drove around to the lumber garage and the guy hands me a board that could have been used for the keel of a boat! I asked if he had any straight ones and he grumbled something unintelligible as he scrounged through all five in stock to find a straight one.

Back on topic, the local O'Reilly's usually have decent parts counter employees. Some are even gear heads that know the oil filter goes under the hood, on the engine. I remember being the 16 year old on the sales side of the counter so I try to give as much information as possible when asking for a part.