June 2012 by Bruce C.
So I'm looking for a part for a step van and no one can help me. Reliable Chevy sent me to Friendly Chevy. They sent me to Friendly Chevy Fleet Service. They sent me to Austin Hardware. I get to Austin Hardware: I walk in the office area and they send me to the warehouse area. As I walk in the door, I see signs that say, "No walk-ups." "If you don't have an order, please dial 8100 and talk to a salesperson and tell them you are at the Dallas warehouse." Of course, I called the number and got a "fast busy" and finally a guy came and said he was going to get a salesperson to help me. So Tom comes out and says, "can I help you?" I tell him, "I have a step van with a tilt hood and I need the buckle that holds down the hood." *Tom's looking at me as if he's not understanding me at all.* "It's a Chevy P30 with a tilt hood?" *Still looking at me as if I'm talking a foreign language.* me: "Okay, so it's a 1996...." Tom: "I don't know what you're talking about. What do you need?" I finally figure out that this place sells just the hardware. They don't know what the hardware goes on, so of course he doesn't know what buckle goes on which car, he just knows the buckles. Me: "I have a van that has a broken buckle, it's rubber and it looks kinda like these" *pointing to a picture on the wall. Tom: "hmm.. let me bring out the catalog and you can look at those." *off he goes* He comes back and starts flipping through.. Me: "Oh, I have a picture of the buckle..." *fumbling with my iphone* Tom: "Oh, that's a (such and such) series. Let me see if we have one." *off he goes again* comes back again "the nearest one is in Elkhart, Indiana. We can have it shipped down here but it will be a couple days. Me: "Can I have it shipped to me directly?" Tom: "Sure, I just need your address and a form of payment." *off he goes once more and comes back with a receipt and we're all done. The whole experience was difficult but mainly because I didn't know what to expect but luckily, I had a picture of the part I needed and Tom knew exactly what that part was. Thanks Austin Hardware!
