Retail Customers Can be a Pain...

I can't tell you how many times I heard that phrase from outsiders last year when I explained we were going to add a consumer direct auto parts web site... so much so that I was pretty apprehensive about beginning to take calls. For 86 years we had always been a business to business auto parts company. I have been working face to face with “customers” for years, but I was being told that “retail customers” are a different breed. Let me just say this; “They were wrong!” I have been pleasantly surprised by the genuine character of almost everyone I have had the pleasure of dealing with. Even those who had been wronged by some part of our procedure seemed more than patient with me as I did everything I could to make sure they were taken care of. I almost used the word happy there. People are basically understanding of issues that sometimes arise. As long as they feel that their problem is important and a solution is being worked on, I find they are appreciative and thankful amidst the issue. I (we) pledge to continue to repay our faithful customers with a higher level of service than they were expecting. I think that the combination of very low price, unexpected great service and continued wide availability really puts us at a different level than our competitors. That I believe is why we have such great customers!! As long as we continue to partner with their needs when their car breaks down, I think they will continue to be the best!!


P.S. Of course since we sell wholesale we really don't have any retail customers!