Do you loathe parts guys sometimes? Do you wonder if major manufacturers really have it together?

[Vetech63]

This is the thread for you to post your experiences................vent, whine, cry, or complain here!

I've gotten screwed several times by both in the last 7 days, so bad it deserves its own thread. It started off with the manufacturers (CAT) stupidity of not selling a electric motor and gearbox combination as a unit. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about...............that thread is in the paver section for your review.

Yesterday, I have to do repair work on 3 Cat paving rollers. I consider this minor work, mostly operator seat repairs. I call Cat to order my parts from the jobsite. I tell the parts guy the model and serial number of the machines...... and that I need 6 seat switches (the ones that let the VCU know your ass is in the seat so the machine will start and operate) , the sliding rails for the CB34B, and the thumb boots for the joystick controllers. Simple right!? When I show up to get my parts (next day air'd ) I open the box to find 6 switch kits.......now I have 12 switches when I only needed 6. I told the parts guy that there was 2 switches per seat, 3 machines..........= 6 last time I did math. Didnt matter, he just ordered what was on the screen without even looking and telling me anything.
Next thing I look at in the box is the thumb covers.........well, they arent thumb covers..............it 2 rubber lever boots. WRONG AGAIN!! I told him on the phone they went over the END of the control handle. He just saw "boot" in the parts column and clicked on it not even checking.

Then I go back to the seat switch kits.........notice anything missing?

2 switches, one has the weather boot, the other doesn't! I opened all 6 kits...every one of t
hem has a switch with the rubber weather boot missing. Now what!!!? I even took a pic of the old switches still in the seat frame just in case....

SO, incomplete kit, NSS, ..........I ended up having to reuse 3 rubber boots from the old switches that were weather cracked. I told the parts guy that he should let someone at CAT know about this, that there was probably 100's of incomplete kits in inventory. He said "I wouldn't even know who to call." LOL

More coming Im sure! Be ready !

 

[AzIron]

I have an e stick for a backhoe that's lost on a truck supposed to be in 4 days ago no one knows machines been down 2 weeks and counting but dont worry the dealer is more than happy to rent a machine to me

 

[lantraxco]

Don't blame the untrained, underage, underpaid drone answering the phone. Most dealers still work under the 3P parts man model, "Present with a Pulse, and a Pencil" you're a parts man. And when CAT absorbs these off breed lines and puts CAT yellow and stickers on them, the parts listings can pretty damn obtuse. But yeah, everything is a crap shoot nowadays, even the simplest ****.

 

[AzIron]

Really we are just living the pinacle of everything got so complex there are to many parts required nowadays for the right ones to be on the shelf and less of every part on the shelf because there are ever more parts to inventory

 

[Nige]

Why don't you get your Cat dealer to give you a SIS-web account then you could order your own parts...........??

 

[Junkyard]

Why don't you get your Cat dealer to give you a SIS-web account then you could order your own parts...........??

He could have one....I’ve offered my login! Lol

 

[Junkyard]

@Vetech63 who did your order? I have a guess....lol. Is it a cowboy hat company name? There’s a guy there that shares our name and seems to be pretty good. Since Dennis and Kim don’t seem to be around anymore it kinda sucks....

 

[JD955SC]

Partially in his defense SIS absolutely sucks for parts listing a lot. The people who put the listings with the diagrams have an absolute hatred of providing enough information to make an informed choice when ordering parts. I fight this near daily when ordering parts.

 

[1466IH]

I commented the other day on a post about this and was having problems getting an EGR valve for a 329E that was on a worldwide freeze. Finally got one in after waiting over 2 months only to find out that the gasket for the exhaust air intake manifold was not available and it has to be removed in order to grind out the old valve. Come to find out the EGR valve was available the entire time as an assembly with air manifold and is only a few hundred dollars more than the valve itself. Of the 10 parts people I talked to at 2 separate dealers not one of them mentioned the fact that they came as an assembly. Was probably a good thing I was not the one picking up the parts from dealer because I probably would have been escorted off the property and told not to return. Parts people and parts computer systems p**s me off to no end

 

[Jonas302]

A good parts person is worth there wait in gold a bad one or even a good one having a bad day can cause an unbelievable amount of damage

And having SIS parts actually makes me have some sympathy for the parts counter people

 

[XSKIER]

Why don't you get your Cat dealer to give you a SIS-web account then you could order your own parts...........??

I'm not even an HE mechanic, just a owner/driver. Of Cat, Deere, Kubota, New Holland, and Volvo, I always get the right parts, at reasonable cost, with SIS.

 

[Bumpsteer]

Called a company yesterday, needed a part # for their b*****d size drive sprocket.....first parts dood tells me my serial # is wrong, wtf? I'm reading off their tag.

So I look at the parts info on-line, nope not even close...sooo, get another beer, call back, get a different dood this time.

Tell my story, oh, yours must be really old! You need to talk to Chris...I'll transfer you...thanks...time for another beer.

Get the right guy and half a beer later I got my part number.

Ed

 

[mg2361]

I told the parts guy that there was 2 switches per seat, 3 machines..........= 6 last time I did math.

The CAT guy must have learned math from that new "Common Core" curriculum. It started when my youngest kid was in high school in the early 2000's. I remember my wife and I tried to help her with some math stuff and said WTF are they teaching these kid's. What the teacher's wanted them to right out to solve problems was insane and too long. We ended up teaching her the way we learned so she could figure out the correct answers quickly, then right the problem out the way the teacher wanted it.

 

[BigWrench55]

The CAT guy must have learned math from that new "Common Core" curriculum. It started when my youngest kid was in high school in the early 2000's. I remember my wife and I tried to help her with some math stuff and said WTF are they teaching these kid's. What the teacher's wanted them to right out to solve problems was insane and too long. We ended up teaching her the way we learned so she could figure out the correct answers quickly, then right the problem out the way the teacher wanted it.

I too had the same problem with my kids in school. My son was so upset because he couldn't understand how to solve the math problems the way he was taught. I sat him down and had him show me what he was taught. No freaking wonder he was confused and upset. It was the most convoluted and confusing way to go about finding the answer. I showed him the way I was taught and he got it immediately. He told me that was so much easier and made so much more sense. He then told me that he will need to show his work the way he was taught to get the grade. I just told him that his teacher is a moron. And if she fails you when you have the right answers. I would take care of it and not to worry about it. After that he was the only kid in that class getting A's. Our schools are producing morons at a faster rate than China is bringing junk into this country. Rant over.

 

[cuttin edge]

I had a summer job at a Ford dealer once. I worked in the stock room. Some guys really knew their stuff, and some just answered the phone. This was in the micro phish days. One guy had worked for an international dealer before, and had picked up the Ford system really fast. Same as the Napa dealer. There are certain guys that I tend to ask for on the phone. I took the crankshaft for my Ferguson tractor to a machine shop to be turned. As soon as I set it on the counter, one fella said "Looks like you got yourself a TEA20. I have an Artic Cat snowmobile. I had put a few pounds on over the years, so I wanted some fatboy springs. I went to the dealer. I told the girl what I wanted, and when she called, they were just stock springs. She tried again, and brought in aftermarket, stock springs. One more time with her bosses help, and they were stock springs from Arctic Cat. Boss says, no such thing exists. Was hauling salt to the dome a couple hours north of here, and I saw the sign for the dealer there. I took the chance, went in, and buddy says no problem, I know what you want. Should be here, in the morning, and I can send them down on the bus. Went to the bus the next day, and the springs that my dealer said didn't exist, were in the package. Now this fat boy is sittin up pretty as can be. And I should add that I am not bad mouthing stock girls. Napa has a girl that has been behind the counter for a while, and she even knows how to order points and condensers.

 

[lantraxco]

As soon as the online systems came available the Stealers started downsizing, dealer mechanics first were told to order their own parts, and then out to the bigger customers, and now anybody can get online and order their own bits. So between downsizing and retirement what you have left is an ever declining pool of experienced parts guys and gals that have become mostly tech support and the call of last resort, and a counterman or two at each dealer location mostly to handle shipping and will call, put parts on the shelf, etc. The learning curve is astronomical walking in, and the wages ain't on par with the service techs, because you can't gauge parts people by the hour the way you can mechanics. Twenty years ago I was churning through on average a million and a half a year in parts invoices, making a third less than the lamest mechanic out in the service shop. You get what the dealer is willing to pay for and train. Oh, and even if you're the hero, with the right part, in the right place at the right time, nobody likes parts techs. Maybe the odd mechanic, but that's it. Everybody that calls or walks in has a problem, and you're to blame. YMMV

 

[funwithfuel]

I don't think any of us will understand that level of shenanigans.

 

[lantraxco]

Sounds like dealing with the Japanese... "You did not ship the part????", "Yes, we did not ship the part.", "Why???", "Because the moon was full and the rice was cold." Anything works as an excuse.

 

[BigWrench55]

I don't think any of us will understand that level of shenanigans.

That meme sums it up.
My brain felt like that cat looked after trying to learn common core math.

 

[1466IH]

I don't think any of us will understand that level of shenanigans.

The next person to say shenanigans is getting pistol whipped