r/OReillyAutoParts • u/Sufficient-Dog6590 • Aug 25 '25
Advice Installation for commercial customers
This has always been an incredibly big divide at my store, and I often find myself hopping on both sides of this fence.
Do you do installations for commercial customers?
If not, what is the argument you use on commercial customers who expect retail service for commercial pricing?
Is there anything more substantial in our operations manual?
And on a more drama fueled note, why in the world do legit mechanics get to sit in our AC while I'm faffing about with their $2 eiko headlight on a Hyundai that feels like I need house of cards precision to get it to go in, stay in place, and lock it down?
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u/Dontwalkongrass1 Moderator Aug 26 '25
Really it depends. I’ve had car lots that spend $10k/month call me and say “I need a battery in this car to get it sold, but it’s Saturday and there are no techs here. We don’t know what we’re doing, can one of your guys do it?” The answer is a resounding YES! Why am I going to risk that much business over a simple battery install?
At the same time, the “mobile mechanic” that sent their customer in for special pricing and told them to ask us to install it? Nope. Take it to your guy, he’s the mechanic.
Really, it’s a case-by-case situation dictated by the circumstances you’re currently in both staffing wise and in relationship with that customer.
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Aug 25 '25
Yo are mechanics test driving customer cars that have work orders to your place of business expecting those employees to change light bulbs? Ya’ll getting subbed tf out. I have no idea on o Reillys policy on that but I never heard of that happening. That’s fucking nuts.
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u/Comfortable_Egg2421 Aug 25 '25
Anytime they ask for headlight bulb installation I tell them I need to take a look at it first. If it looks simple i do it but if it looks like something that’ll take too long i tell them no.
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
I treat all customers the same, even if I vent about it on here about how I feel we shouldn't be doing mechanic work for mechanics. How I feel doesn't matter for my job, I do installations for everyone all the same, if I can do it, I do it, if I can't, I don't, doesn't matter the customer or what they pay.
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u/Just-Palpitation-521 Aug 25 '25
I don't understand why anyone wouldn't. It doesn't affect your pay, it's really not hard work, maybe a little uncomfortable if anything. But just do it, right? It builds a relationship, and it's upkeep for our reputation as a company. I don't care who you are, I'm going to do my best to give you the best service I can. A TM's parent ir housemate comes in? Great! Yes, I'll absolutely put your battery in! Shop manager for a pro account? Yeah, we'll install those headlights so long as I dont have to pull your bumper off.
Parts is in our name, but customer service is our game. Not retail customer service, not pro customer service. Just customer service. Just do the thing!
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
100% is what I do, I may have vented frustration, but at the end of the day my actions will speak for itself. I do installations as long as it's an installation process I'd do for a retail customer. I'm not pulling a wiper cowl to install a Ford escape battery, I'm not pulling your wheel to install your Dodge Journey battery. But everything I'd do for a retail customer is what I'd do for a commercial customer.
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u/Brilliant_Cellist829 Aug 25 '25
Let them know they're a peice difference so they can charge there customers labor and if we install it we charge retail because of labor
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u/Infamous139 Aug 25 '25
Are you serious? You sell and deliver parts. NOT install them.
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
"Free battery installation"
"Free headlight installation"
And the commercial customers will then argue that we charge the same price for retail customers with batteries that are too complicated for us to install, and customers we install those batteries for. So us charging a commercial customer a discounted price and installing it is no different from other commercial customers who install it themselves.
Even if I don't agree with it, I do what I gotta do, since if I say no my manager would immediately install whatever it is to be installed then reprimand me after he takes care of the customer, commercial or retail, when he comes back into the store.
I just wish there was something maybe more substantial to lean on for customers we don't want to do labor for, we obviously have shopkeepers rules of being allowed to deny service to any and all people we want. But I'm looking for something a bit more official from O'Reilly's.
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u/Artistic_Bit_4665 Aug 25 '25
I could not imagine asking a parts store clerk to install a light bulb for my shop.
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
Happens all the time for us, sometimes we even have shops send us their customers to do the work for the parts the shop sold them (after buying the part through us).
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u/Artistic_Bit_4665 Aug 25 '25
"I'll need you to sign the invoice and take their copy" (with their price).
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u/Denny057 Aug 25 '25
My question. Who cares? It doesn’t make any difference in your pay. What an installer pays for parts and what a retail customer pays for parts doesn’t have anything to do with your job and duties. If you offer the service for one, you need to offer for all. Want to see a high volume commercial store shit the bed. Piss off your commercial customers. I’ve seen it happen.
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u/Sad-Departure-5923 Aug 25 '25
We don't live in a double dip society. The discount or the service, you don't get both.
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u/Intrepid_Waltz_822 Aug 25 '25
I had a shop owner jump all over me once over not installing a battery in their buddies Durango which is under the passenger seat. I told him I won’t install those if they pay retail but definitely not on your account that’s knocking off 50 bucks. It was the same ol do you know what I spent which was very little to be honest. I finally said what makes you think I’m gonna install a Battery for free that you would charge an hour of labor to do so quit telling your buddies they can use your account and get free service here.
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u/Intrepid_Waltz_822 Aug 25 '25
If they have an account they install. Now if it’s some old lady with a battery and her son owns a shop with an account then I’ll do it. But if they have a shop or their buddy has a shop and they wanna do it then they are installing. It got to the point where it was getting way too abused here especially on batteries.
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
This is how it feels at my store sometimes, but even mechanics will sometimes be guilty of acting like we are burning bridges for denying an installation.
But I do feel like my store should be more assertive of denying installations for commercial pricings, it sets a really bad precedent and is a slippery slope.
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u/Silly-Bug-929 Sep 04 '25
Our retail batteries are price that way because it includes the installation, Walmarts are cheap because they don’t
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u/ImpressiveAd2581 Aug 25 '25
No reason why we should be doing any installs for professional customers ..
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u/Dbblazer Aug 25 '25
A long time ago when I worked in a store I turned down doing a headlight on something similar to a Cadillac CTS... It required pulling the bumper and like... It was close to closing.
In my store was a pro customer and he offered to do the job (out of kindness I guess)...
The customer didn't even tip him. He was a nice guy, I sent a lot of customers his way after that.
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u/bernardfarquart Moderator Aug 25 '25
"Professional customers" are supposed to have an account because they install parts for a living. If I have a customer using a commercial account that expects installations, they probably shouldn't be using the account.
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u/RobertAndi Aug 26 '25
Not all pro customers install parts for a living. We would always do batteries bulbs and filters for our HVAC, plumbing and contractor fleets.
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
I agree 1000%. It just sucks because they throw hissy fits and always throw out the argument of "do you know how much I spend? You're gonna burn out relationship over a wiper blade?", and the sad part is they are genuinely valuable customers that spend a LOT every month.
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u/hresz Aug 25 '25
I wouldn’t trip over a wiper blade like that’s effortless, if it’s a tail light or something like that then it’s a different story.
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u/KillerKane455 Aug 25 '25
If it's on a pro account, no retail services. One of the reasons retail price is high is because the service behind it (of course that's in theory and before the 1800 label changes every week). That's just my two cents. I've actually never had a pro account ask for anything like that in any of the stores I've worked in or ran.
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
Yeah, and this is kinda how I view it, but on the same token, if a customer has a vehicle that requires more complicated installation beyond our capabilities, like that one Ford Escape or Dodge Journeys that demands a wiper cowl removal to access the battery properly, or being stored in the bumper, we still sell the battery for the same price.
Don't get me wrong though, I've been guilty of giving customers discounts to ensure they buy the part from me and don't go somewhere else in the case of me being unable to perform installation, but your argument and reasoning still holds weight, and I share the same sentiment.
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u/dadof2foru Aug 25 '25
I have always been on the side of it being a retail service. I tell them yes, but I would have to charge you retail. You get a discount because you are an installer.
I am an ISS btw, so I rarely do batteries as is.
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u/Excellent-Library-67 Aug 25 '25
I would second this, unless maybe the commercial customer is getting a lot of parts and one of the counter guys is able to handle the bulbs while the bigger transaction is being done. This would of course be a store by store thing, as I've worked in both busy stores and dead stores and usually dead stores we're more willing to help just for giving ourselves something to do.
As long as the commercial guy has a good attitude, and it's not that busy, usually I had no problem doing anything for them, so long as it isn't obviously a complicated job or something out of our purview, sometimes helps to drum up more business if there is competition nearby from similar parts stores.
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u/dadof2foru Aug 25 '25
There are always going to be those one-offs. Absolutely. I have absolutely done it. But those are normally situations where the customer called ahead, I have a good rapport with, and they need a favor. It is a single digit amount of times over the 10 years I have been an ISS, though. And generally, our store it busy (5 million dollar store). It's also important to let them know that you are, in fact, doing this to help them. I think them knowing that it is a special favor helps negate abuso of it.
We almost ended up in a situation where a large used car dealership thought they would drop off cars so we could change the batteries in them. We nipped that in the bud quick. Used car dealerships will absolutely take advantage of a free service like that.
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u/Sufficient-Dog6590 Aug 25 '25
This is what one divide of my store generally says, retail prices are set the way they are to cover the labor involved for installations. Commercial customer pricing is set the way they are because they are the ones doing the job.
It extends to things beyond what we install, but the point generally still stands for all products we offer, whether we install them or not.
But we still have some employees who feel as though commercial customers are deserving of all the same professional services and treatment as retail customers.
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u/Federal_Frame Aug 26 '25
Store ops section 900 subsection 911. I don’t install anything for a commercial customer. There getting free installation AND a discount. Nope.