4WheelParts.com Retail Location Hours (and Attitude)

[Mad Hatter]

After viewing the excellent Vendor area at the recent Bantam Jeep Festival near Butler, PA, I wondered what off-road accessories vendors we had locally in Pittsburgh. Googling brought up 4WheelParts in Monroeville, PA (actually Wilkins Township). Monroeville is a super-busy shopping zoo area on Saturdays, but it's also convenient, so I decided to run some errands in the area and end my trip at this obviously new store.

Turns out this 4WheelParts store is in an old Sears building. My corporate career started in the same office park some 45 years ago, so it's nice to see the renovations. A very nice conversion of the shell left by Sears. But when I drove up at 5:15 PM today (Saturday), the store was dark. I wondered if it was so new it hadn't opened yet. So I parked right in front, got out, and read the Store Hours sign. IT HAD CLOSED AT 3 PM ON A BUSY SATURDAY AFTERNOON!!!

Having worked a professional career in Sales and Marketing Management for a $1B corporation, I thought I would call 4WheelParts' Corporate Customer Service and give them some constructive feedback. I googled on my smartphone and called the 4WheelParts National Call Center. When I selected Customer Service in the phone tree, Sales answered. I said I had tried to get Customer Service, he said they were closed on Saturdays. Hmmmm.

I said I wanted to give them the feedback that closing at 3 PM on Saturdays was totally uncompetitive in a busy shopping area on a Saturday afternoon. He said that he didn't set the hours, it wasn't his fault. I noted that I hoped he would give my feedback to his management. I said further that I drove across town to go to the store, expecting it would be open. He responded that I should have called the store first! I responded to this "customer-friendly" [not] comment that I likely would never return to that store. I also noted that if 4WheelParts knows so much more about what customers want than their customers do, they are doomed to go out of business. He hung up on me.

I don't know what the rest of you think, but closing every day at 6 PM except at 3 PM on Saturdays is not indicative of an accessories vendor that wants my business. Adding rude Sales people at their National Call Center, and you have a recipe for disappearing customers.

I hope everybody else's experience with 4WheelParts is better than mine. I did confirm that they are NOT one of our Forum sponsors.

MH

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[2Wheel-Lee]

Woah! You have an offroad shop that's open on Saturdays until 3:00pm? Most around here close at noon or 1:00pm. They're not AutoZone or PepBoys, so I don't have the same expectations. For example, it's perfectly normal for industrial hardware or metal supply stores to be closed at noon. It is what it is.

I don't know about the 4WheelParts stores' hours near me, though I do know their national headquarters, which is nearby, are closed on Saturdays. They only carry generic, mainstream parts, anyway. Service is not their thing. Sure you can buy Fox shocks from them, but forget it if you want to buy any service parts for those shocks.

 

[lightsout]

You should just go to a different off road store then that is assuming there is another one, likely not. The 4WP stores I have seen do not stock a lot of items, their service center seems to be larger than the retail area. I think 3PM is very reasonable for small specialty stores that have to operate with limited staff size to be profitable. If you want to blame anything for lack of brick and mortar retail on a Saturday or Sunday, blame the internet not the few that are trying to survive and provide brick and mortar retail, which is why specialty stores like this are far and few between.

Sorry but I think this is petty.

 

[Andrew05LJR]

Is this serious?! Other than your tire/oil places, no care service centers are open past those hours on the weekends. This is standard procedure in the auto industry as even dealerships are just now extending their Saturday hours. This isn't a true retail business. Get over it

 

[ads75]

I think you need to find something else to be outraged about.

Not everything is open all the time. If its a new store, it may have minimal employees, who need time off also. These stores aren't necessarily billion dollar corporations with huge budgets. In today's retail world, many people order off the internet anyway. Retail stores have to adjust to this also. I would also guess, if the store was busy, it wouldn't kick everyone out and close up. Store was probably empty, they turned the sign around, and went home.

And the call center providing an answer you don't like doesn't make them rude. The call center was right, you could have called to verify hours before driving over. Or checked the hours on the website. I've gone to stores before that were closed, it isn't a big deal if I assumed the wrong hours. When the sales guy hung up the phone, he probably realized he could say nothing that would satisfy you, and decided to end the conversation before he said something rude.

 

[Shepherd12]

I have been to that shop in person, the workers are very helpful. Great attitudes, cool with my young children, and even offered to carry the parts I bought out to my Jeep for me.

I’ll certainly be going back.

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