Auto Zone - Shades of "Miracle on 34th Street"

There is an Auto Zone http://www.autozone.com/autozone/homePage.jsp?cmpid=Google in my neighborhood.  We have other auto parts stores in Lubbock: O'Reilly http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/home.oap and NAPA http://www.napaonline.com/ to name two major chains.  But I usually start with Auto Zone because they are conveniently located to my home.

I needed a new rear window wiper for the Vue.  I started with my owner's manual to see what it said about replacing parts and parts listings.  Some of the parts for the Vue were listed with a Saturn part number and an ACDelco http://www.acdelco.com/ part number.  Only the Saturn number was listed for the rear wiper.  The book also said just to slide the old blade out, the new in, as replacement instructions.

I went to Auto Zone and looked through their books, then had to go back out to the car to re-look at the wiper.  When I re-entered the store, an associate, Shan Alexander asked if he could help me. I told him what I was looking for, and he looked it up.  And was puzzled because nothing was listed.  We went out to the car, he took the blade out, and went back into the store, so Mr. Alexander could do some more searching.  A colleague was also helping him briefly.  They decided the part was unique to Saturn, and they did not carry it.  Mr. Alexander even called NAPA, but they did not carry the part.  He recommended GM dealers in town, including the new one, and the closest to us.  He also told me when there is build up on the window, to clean the blade, to prevent it from splitting again.

I went to Gene Messer Chevrolet http://www.genemesserchevrolet.com/: They did not have the part: it is a specialty part, and they had to order it.  They anticipated it would be in Monday.  That is convenient, I can stop on my way home from work to get the part. 

Shan Alexander did a wonderful customer service job for me.  I would have continued to start with Auto Zone in the future, any way when looking for auto parts.  I have generally had good results with them. They had to order an air filter for the Vue, and it arrived just a few days after it was ordered.  But Mr. Alexander made a hit with me.  I found a contact us link on the Auto Zone website, and let them know what a good job Mr. Alexander did!