We Didn’t Spend A Penny With NAPA For Years…

Comments · 3.1K

• SO

  @sonnymiller1486 · 3 months ago · pinned

  Sherwood, I&apos;m a 20 year NAPA Veteran, started as a driver in 1980 went all through the ranks to manager before the end of the 80&apos;s, thru 2000. I worked for a Family owned Napa that had 30+ stores in the southeastern US. They were the Greatest Family I ever had the privilege to work for. You are so spot on about the Loyalty. &nbsp;That&apos;s exactly how I was brought up. It was Fun and Great way of running a business. You brought back such great memories of being part of the whole NAPA Family. Alot changed in the NAPA Family in the late 90&apos;s it started with our NAPA warehouse. Too many of the Upper Management changed in our warehouse and it wasn&apos;t for the better. It was alot like you explained. That attitude began to spread through our warehouse and &nbsp;down into our stores like wildfire. It was like, the business that all these Fathers started, had retired and the kids took over, and it quickly went downhill exactly as you explained it. I saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship in late 2000. The whole Auto Parts industry started collapsing as I was seeing it. To me Napa, (Genuine Auto Parts) was the GREATEST in the industry with Big A Auto Parts right on NAPA&apos;s heals. All of the professional auto parts stores around me got along great, helped each other out if we got in a pinch and had that Loyalty between each other, just like we did with our customers. It was an amazing time. Now look where the auto parts industry is today most of all the major suppliers were bought up by corporate investment companies that only cared about making money for there stock holders and thats where the Loyalty part slipped away. These suppliers started sacrificing quality to make more profits. I ended up back turning wrenches for a Corporate Equipment Rental Company &nbsp;for the next 20 years until the same game started happening there just like the parts business. So I decided to retire early and enjoy my Grandkids and found out what I missed with my own kids. But I&apos;m finding out I can&apos;t keep up with the little 4 year old, but I Love It. If you found that Loyalty with another parts house, PLEASE let us ALL know who they are. We&apos;d Love to give this Loyalty, our business. &nbsp;<br>Keep doing, what your doing. Love watching your Channel. 👍❤🙏

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• PL

  @pl5624 · 3 months ago

  Weekly billing means their cash flow was slow and they were in trouble.

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• MA

  @mattcasoni · 3 months ago

  Napa today is not the same as NAPA back in the day

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• HP

  @HPICamaroSS · 3 days ago

  Stopped going to NAPA years ago when I realized the same 5qt jug of oil at NAPA that is 42.99 is only 21.99 at Walmart.

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• MI

  @mikeremski2102 · 3 months ago

  I will go out of my way to not use someone that breaks loyalty.

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• 70

  @70stastic · 3 months ago

  My family had been loyal to State Farm since the early &apos;80s. We always paid on time and never caused them grief with no accidents and just an occasional tow claim for car service. Then, I had a freak accident in &apos;15. Health problem; not careless or reckless. Would have been a small claim to pay out. State Farm changed the TOS abruptly so they didn&apos;t have to pay out on that claim. They threw away 30+ years of loyalty to save a few $. I repaired the car myself out of pocket. Once everything was paid up, I went in person and canceled every insurance policy through them. Quite a large collection of cars. Never looked back

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• GO

  @goldpop5001 · 3 months ago

  We dropped NAPA 20 years ago because they refused to warranty a $15 u-joint that was faulty right out of the box. We had been spending 1000-2000 per month there for several years.

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• PS

  @pschilleru · 3 months ago

  Good for you. &nbsp;A saying I like: &quot;If you can&apos;t change the people around you, change the people around you.&quot;

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• LY

  @lynncummins6903 · 3 months ago

  Im a shop owner myself and im 100% with you ...... No such thing as loyalty anymore

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• DR

  @drew1381 · 3 months ago

  I live in a town of about 1600 people and NAPA is the only parts store. The next closest city is 45 mins away with ALL the auto part store chains. I ordered some oil and a filter for my vehicle. They needed to order it for me- regular 5W-30 Valvoline, because they don&apos;t carry anything on the shelves practically. The order came in 3 days later and I couldn&apos;t get there that day, as they were closed when I got off work. So I go in the next day and they had cancelled my prepaid order and refunded me. I had bought the oil because they were running a special. The sale had ended at this point and they told me that I could just purchase my items again since they were sitting in the back. The email I had received said I had a week to pick up my order after it came in and they cancelled it because I didn&apos;t pick it up that day. They said they wouldn&apos;t honor the sale price either. The owner said if I didn&apos;t like it I could go elsewhere. Strike 1. A few months later I ordered some gear oil. I waited 4 days for them to finally tell me that since I had only ordered 3 quarts and they would have to purchase a case of 12 qts they wouldn&apos;t do it because the remaining 9 qts &quot;wouldn&apos;t sell&quot;. So they refused my business again. I vowed to never go there again and will drive the 45 mins to use ANYONE else.

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• DE

  @delavalmilker · 3 months ago

  Trust is like something made out of glass. &nbsp;Once it&apos;s broken, you can try and glue it back together. &nbsp;But it&apos;s never the same again.

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• RO

  @robertdiogenes2655 · 3 months ago (edited)

  Absolutely NOT petty at all!! The ‘brothers’ were the ones with a cash flow problem and they were squeezing you to finance their 💰 problem by having you make weekly payments so have money for their irresponsible actions. They also were incompetent to operate a business and their only loyalty was to the 💵. You and Royalty Auto Service have integrity, honesty, common sense, great reputation, loyalty, and other fine qualities that put you and your shop above and beyond others!! This is what you did to make a successful business with a loyal following of customers. God Bless you for what you have accomplished and how you interact with everyone!

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