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

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,257
Location
Canada
Years ago someone brought the fix all into my dads business. Wish I could find a pic. of it. It was a carboard package with the clear plastic over it that hung on a hook. It was for all the thingamajigs, whatchamcallits, gagets, gizmos and other non descript items customers are looking for. Instructions were to chew till desired consistency and firmly apply where needed. It was a piece of Bazooka bubble gum! Perfect!

It does work both ways. Some customers are horrific and expect you to be a mind reader of what they want. Then they get mad because you can't figure out what they want or they blame you why it takes so long to get. I worked at a welding supply who had one of the oilsands operations need some specialty welding electrodes for the shutdown they were working on. They needed them yesterday at any cost. They paid to have them flown out ASAP the same day Ontario to Alberta. Shipping them was hundreds of dollars more than the electrodes cost. A regular customer expecting the same thing without the cost is not as uncommon as one would think.

I think the general consensus nowadays is that good parts people are much harder to find. Some are just lazy and others who could be good get absolutely no training. They're just thrown right into the hottest part of the fire. They get overwhelmed and then kind of shut off wondering why the heck they are even there.
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,421
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
I have but four people I can deal with, one of those is leaving the truck parts supplier in Columbia MO next Week. Sad days for certain.
 

Tenwheeler

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
870
Location
Georgia
More bitching about parts guys LOL!

I need some fan hub parts for a 320C so I call Cat (Tulsa line). Ron picks up, I give him the model and serial number of the machine, and he emails me the 255-2877 fandrive breakdown with the parts costs of each item..... Perfect!, just what I wanted. I notice on the email that he is in Amarillo Texas, not Tulsa. No big deal, it happens all the time. I have been trying to call him for the last 3 hours and no answer, just voicemail. I am trying to get these parts here tomorrow morning so I can get this emergency repair done for the customer.

So screw it. I just called the Tulsa line again and start all over. I give the "new parts guy" the same group number to look up. I spend 30 minutes on the phone while he lists the parts I need into his computer......only to find out the parts are double the price the Amarillo guy gave me 2 hours ago. I'm like WTF?! Turns out he ended up doubling the quantity on everything somehow.....and also informs me that there is an updated hub base that requires several more parts (something the first guy didnt say anything about)o_O No big deal, it happens......he then tells me that what I need will come from several locations and it would be 2-3 days. Well, figure freight then cause I need this stuff in the morning. another 10 minutes for him to correct the paperwork then all of a sudden I hear the phone hang up! JFC!!

So I have no idea which branch the second guy was from so I cant call him back. Knowing I came up on his call ID there, I figured he would call me back...... amirite!? Its been 45 minutes since then so I guess NOT!

So here we go for the 3rd time........just called the Tulsa line again to end up on permanent hold I thought until the operator comes on the line. She informs me that all the parts people are busy and that she would have 1 of them call me back as soon as they have 1 free..........that was 40 minutes ago.:mad:

The saga still continues and I probably will not get my parts tomorrow. Have you ever wanted to just kick your dog to let some frustration out? Its a good thing the wife took him for a mannie and peddie this morning.;)
What a frustrating day I had yesterday. I took a cased thrust bearing to the local bearing house to find a new replacement. Young guy at the counter spends 15 minutes measuring and thumbing through books.......then tells me there isn't any manufactured to the dimensions of the bearing I needed. The old guy (LOL, my age) happens to walk by during this conversation and asks young guy what he is looking for. He measures the bearing and thumbs through a different book while telling the young guy he isn't even looking at the right type of bearing. :rolleyes:

Called Cat dealer for part I need , Get "L"........hang up and call back, Get "L" again...........hang up and call back, Get "L" AGAIN! Drive to Cat dealer to avoid "L". Pretty much look up my own part number.o_O

Stop at a local Taco Bueno that's notorious for being slow. The sign on the door says the dining room hours start at 1030 AM. People in the drive through but I get there at 1045 and the door is still locked. So I decide they may not open til 1100 so I sit there.........and watch numerous folks go up to the door, then leave in frustration. My service truck is too tall to go through the drive thru so I walk over to the drive thru speaker. I attempt to get someone to answer , NOPE..........nothing. Go back to the front door, its now 1105 AM and the door is still locked. I see a guy pull up to the drive thru, so I walk over there and ask him, to ask them, when in the hell do they open the dam dining room. The reply he got was 1130. So back to the truck I go to wait yet again. While Im standing outside the front door, I see what looks like the manager glance at me several times.......its now 1135. Doesn't even wave , smile, flip me off............not a dam thing. I leave at 1145 with the front door still locked. If my service truck was capable of burning rubber I would have left most of my tires in the parking lott.:mad:

I go to Braums across the street, yet again not able to go through the drive thru. I walk in and order food for me and the wifey (whom I was meeting at her shop for lunch). I order a #7 and a #12 with NO DRINKS. The 40-something woman started to push buttons on the register, then stopped with this confused look on her face. She keeps pushing buttons and gets even more frustrated, all while a long line is forming behind me. She FINALLY calls a manger over and asks how to enter a combo meal with no drinks. The manager says you cant get a combo with no drinks, you have to enter the items separately.:rolleyes:o_O I kept my cool, but inside my soul I was ready to go postal at that point.

This was all in the first half of the day. I decided to go to a job I had scheduled for later in the week. I knew there would be NO ONE there to deal with for the rest of the day. It was a blissful last half of the day!:)

What the hell will the rest of the week bring?!!o_O
More bitching about parts guys LOL!

I need some fan hub parts for a 320C so I call Cat (Tulsa line). Ron picks up, I give him the model and serial number of the machine, and he emails me the 255-2877 fandrive breakdown with the parts costs of each item..... Perfect!, just what I wanted. I notice on the email that he is in Amarillo Texas, not Tulsa. No big deal, it happens all the time. I have been trying to call him for the last 3 hours and no answer, just voicemail. I am trying to get these parts here tomorrow morning so I can get this emergency repair done for the customer.

So screw it. I just called the Tulsa line again and start all over. I give the "new parts guy" the same group number to look up. I spend 30 minutes on the phone while he lists the parts I need into his computer......only to find out the parts are double the price the Amarillo guy gave me 2 hours ago. I'm like WTF?! Turns out he ended up doubling the quantity on everything somehow.....and also informs me that there is an updated hub base that requires several more parts (something the first guy didnt say anything about)o_O No big deal, it happens......he then tells me that what I need will come from several locations and it would be 2-3 days. Well, figure freight then cause I need this stuff in the morning. another 10 minutes for him to correct the paperwork then all of a sudden I hear the phone hang up! JFC!!

So I have no idea which branch the second guy was from so I cant call him back. Knowing I came up on his call ID there, I figured he would call me back...... amirite!? Its been 45 minutes since then so I guess NOT!

So here we go for the 3rd time........just called the Tulsa line again to end up on permanent hold I thought until the operator comes on the line. She informs me that all the parts people are busy and that she would have 1 of them call me back as soon as they have 1 free..........that was 40 minutes ago.:mad:

The saga still continues and I probably will not get my parts tomorrow. Have you ever wanted to just kick your dog to let some frustration out? Its a good thing the wife took him for a mannie and peddie this morning.;)
I do not know if this works the same for Cat all over the US but this is what I found out and how.
Took this machine apart again and some of the parts were wrong. Did not even bother to call. Drove to the dealer and was standing around at Covid distance. Bad mad must have been leaking out as a man walked by and did a double triple take and stopped. Have you been taken care of? Is there something I can help you with? Ends up he is the parts guy for the shop.
The machine I was working on is a bit of a basturd or maybe just the loader - quick hitch. The parts I needed showed up under the quick disconnect section but not under the machine. Also appears there were 3 or 4 different options along the way. He helped the other man at the counter and they got it all worked out.
Also told me if I call and have a choice to hold or leave a message to leave a message. The message stays at the location you called and they will call you back. If you stay on the line it goes to the first available open line where ever it is. This has worked out OK since then and I have one man I deal with.
Always keep notes: Date, time and who you talked too. What you ordered.
 

Vetech63

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Messages
6,362
Location
Oklahoma
Typing from the other side of the counter (and, yes I have been in inventory control and material management for almost forty years), please consider; Starting in March of 2020 (Covid-19), I have never been as challenged to procure parts in a timely manner. Our parts counter represents almost ten global brands and the parts are sourced globally as well. Covid seems to have started in Wuhan, China (the land of almost right). Almost all of our brands get at least some of their parts manufactured in China. Now Covid (and weather) have shut down much of the production in India. In the past two weeks I have been told by one vendor here in the US that my order for rotary cutter parts would be at least twenty weeks before shipping. Same vendor was shipping within forty eight hours prior to Covid. Another manufacturer has gone from four days to ship a stock order to an average of nine weeks with a fill rate of less than eighty percent. Another manufacturer is struggling to hold a fifty percent fill rate on parts ordered.
It is an absolute truth that us guys and gals behind the parts counter should be very familiar with the brands we represent. However, it is an absolute impossibility for any of us to know everything about everything. Parts book at the counter are a thing of the past and I did find great value in the notes hand written in the books left by those that traveled the path before me. Believe it or not, there are errors in most of the parts lookups that we have access to, not to mention parts that have been left out of the system. Shipping has become another fiasco that we have no control over as well.
Lastly, please do not forget to do what Nige has asked all of us to do, stick your tongue out and tell me - what's your serial number? Model number would be nice as well. Today it is most difficult to locate anything with any degree of accuracy without this basic information. The thingamajig to the left of the whatchamacallit down below "that fitting" just don't cut the mustard any more.
Just my $.02
Sure I get this. Im talking more of the parts people that don't know what a camshaft is. Too many times I have to describe in detail over the phone what area or component I am working with to even get them close. I have even been told by a parts person that if I didn't have a part number, odds are what I order may be wrong.
Its frightening when I call the Cat parts counter trying to order new tappets/lifters and have the parts guy not even know what I'm talking about. I had to tell him over the phone to bring up the valvetrain pic on his computer and he STILL couldn't find it. I had to tell him to find the pushrod in the pic, then find the camshaft, I wanted what was between them. His reply was "You mean that barrel looking thingy?'" I mean, COME ON MAN!
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,421
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
Fully understand, I have gained access to SIS for my needs from a Friend so I can look up my own stuff, parts man asked "Where did you get the p/n? so I told him, said it cannot be correct so gave him the detailed access directions I used, told me then I was correct.
Pretty bad when a Customer can wade thru SIS 2.0 and find needs the parts counter people cannot.
 

John C.

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
12,865
Location
Northwest
Occupation
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
I can understand the issues of new people on the parts counter. What I can’t stand is a know it all on that counter who’s only knowledge is from a book, computer screen or out of someone else’s mouth. They blow smoke and still get everything wrong and blame everything and everyone else for their own incompetence.
 

HardRockNM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
101
Location
New Mexico
Occupation
Miner
Had a heck of a time getting a fuel filter for a 3306PC. The local CAT dealership has a shop five minutes from me so I went in, gave the model number and serial number of the engine, and their catalog only turned up cartridge-type filters at first. Eventually the parts counter guy found a spin-on and ordered it, but it magically morphed into a massive cartridge filter upon arrival.

I gave up and bought one online. Serves me right for trying to give local guys my business.
 

Weicco

New Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2020
Messages
4
Location
Finland
I used to work as a sparepart salesman for Volvo about 15 years. 13 of those for Volvo passenger cars and 2 for Volvo trucks & buses. In my opinion you have to have a certain passion for what you do and genuine interest in your job. I try to get a correct partnumber every time when i need something so i know it's right stuff . If you know next to nothing about engines / brakes / hydraulics etc. You are on a wrong job.. And what comes to know it all persons i had a colleque who was "allways right" If parts didn't fit it was a fault on software or mistype at cataloq. If they didn't arrive it was couriers fault (he just placed order too late in reality) Heck i even claim that If i'd told him that person responsibly for failure can be found from a mirror he would have claimed someone else was looking back from there..
 

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,257
Location
Canada
Parts man used to be a trade, not sure if still is or companies don't want to have to pay the wages once they become a journeyman. I don't think there's much in house training for any type of counter people nowadays. I worked in a few welding supplies but have a welding background so mostly just needed help figuring out the computers. There was no training for the other counter people and some of the longer term employee's didn't have a clue either. When I was hired at one place the satellite manager said I was a good edition and they'd be asking me about a lot of stuff. I was quite surprised how little most them knew about welding. I would have thought most places would try to hire counter people with some knowledge of the industry they're in but sadly I think they don't want to pay for experience and figure they're saving money. They're more likely losing money because customers get annoyed with the lack of knowledge and go somewhere else.
 

John C.

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
12,865
Location
Northwest
Occupation
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Don't know that I ever heard of a parts man being a trade anywhere. Not in a union program, not in a state approved apprenticeship program and not in any trade schools. All the dealerships took someone out of the warehouse or grabbed a floor sweeper and put them on the phone. The guys that got good at it became product support people and went in a truck to sell face to face. Once in awhile an old mechanic in pain or just plain tired of climbing on gear decided it was easier to sit at a desk and answer phones. Parts people were always not smart enough or not enough ambition to be able to do something else that paid more money.
 

emmett518

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
810
Location
USA
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?
View attachment 237726
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....
View attachment 237727
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 !

Very few people give a ****. They don't take pride in their work, and don't give a rat's ass about the customer. The only thing too many of them care about is how many seconds to quitting time.
 

emmett518

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
810
Location
USA
What a frustrating day I had yesterday. I took a cased thrust bearing to the local bearing house to find a new replacement. Young guy at the counter spends 15 minutes measuring and thumbing through books.......then tells me there isn't any manufactured to the dimensions of the bearing I needed. The old guy (LOL, my age) happens to walk by during this conversation and asks young guy what he is looking for. He measures the bearing and thumbs through a different book while telling the young guy he isn't even looking at the right type of bearing. :rolleyes:

Called Cat dealer for part I need , Get "L"........hang up and call back, Get "L" again...........hang up and call back, Get "L" AGAIN! Drive to Cat dealer to avoid "L". Pretty much look up my own part number.o_O

Stop at a local Taco Bueno that's notorious for being slow. The sign on the door says the dining room hours start at 1030 AM. People in the drive through but I get there at 1045 and the door is still locked. So I decide they may not open til 1100 so I sit there.........and watch numerous folks go up to the door, then leave in frustration. My service truck is too tall to go through the drive thru so I walk over to the drive thru speaker. I attempt to get someone to answer , NOPE..........nothing. Go back to the front door, its now 1105 AM and the door is still locked. I see a guy pull up to the drive thru, so I walk over there and ask him, to ask them, when in the hell do they open the dam dining room. The reply he got was 1130. So back to the truck I go to wait yet again. While Im standing outside the front door, I see what looks like the manager glance at me several times.......its now 1135. Doesn't even wave , smile, flip me off............not a dam thing. I leave at 1145 with the front door still locked. If my service truck was capable of burning rubber I would have left most of my tires in the parking lott.:mad:

I go to Braums across the street, yet again not able to go through the drive thru. I walk in and order food for me and the wifey (whom I was meeting at her shop for lunch). I order a #7 and a #12 with NO DRINKS. The 40-something woman started to push buttons on the register, then stopped with this confused look on her face. She keeps pushing buttons and gets even more frustrated, all while a long line is forming behind me. She FINALLY calls a manger over and asks how to enter a combo meal with no drinks. The manager says you cant get a combo with no drinks, you have to enter the items separately.:rolleyes:o_O I kept my cool, but inside my soul I was ready to go postal at that point.

This was all in the first half of the day. I decided to go to a job I had scheduled for later in the week. I knew there would be NO ONE there to deal with for the rest of the day. It was a blissful last half of the day!:)

What the hell will the rest of the week bring?!!o_O

 

emmett518

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
810
Location
USA
Had a heck of a time getting a fuel filter for a 3306PC. The local CAT dealership has a shop five minutes from me so I went in, gave the model number and serial number of the engine, and their catalog only turned up cartridge-type filters at first. Eventually the parts counter guy found a spin-on and ordered it, but it magically morphed into a massive cartridge filter upon arrival.

I gave up and bought one online. Serves me right for trying to give local guys my business.

The same thing happened to me, except it wasn't their fault. Deere changed the filter design halfway through the model year. My serial was made in March, but they listed me as the new design. Had to swap out the filter for the correct one.
 

JLarson

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
656
Location
AZ
Occupation
Owner- civil and heavy repair/fab company
I hate the parts thing just cause of the amount of time it eats up, we've only got a few places where I know I can call sometime in and they'll get it right so a good amount of time gets wasted chasing parts in person.
 

HardRockNM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
101
Location
New Mexico
Occupation
Miner
I hate the parts thing just cause of the amount of time it eats up, we've only got a few places where I know I can call sometime in and they'll get it right so a good amount of time gets wasted chasing parts in person.

I have two parts suppliers I actually like dealing with, both are out-of-state so it's all via phone or email. Granted they're both both family-owned outfits, but being able to call in a part number for a 40-year-old machine and receive exactly the right kit, or give a vague description of a part (no manual on hand) and also receive exactly the right part, is refreshing. Young's Machine in Monticello, UT is good people.
 

ih100

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2009
Messages
731
Location
Peterborough UK
I deal with two local Finning parts men and they are excellent -definitely not doing it because they’re dumb. As far as SIS2.0 goes, the system sucks but between them and me, we get there. Same with most places I use. I just wonder if the way one or two on here obviously think of parts people leaks out during dealings? Just a thought.
 
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