Is it a coincidence that Harris Steinberg was named the Counter Professional of the Year and he is also on the Counterman Board of Advisors? Can you say “fixed?”
— Anonymous
I’m sorry to debunk your conspiracy theory, but there’s no fix at all. Because Harris was named the 2006 Counter Professional of the Year, he was invited to join the Counterman Board of Advisors, not the other way around. Rest assured that neither Harris, nor his suppliers nor anyone else influenced the award.
Counterman magazine is now accepting entries for this year’s Counter Professional of the Year. We are grateful that the award is being sponsored once again by the Affinia Group. We encourage every store, warehouse, retailer or program group to nominate a top-notch, ASE-certified, senior-level distribution professional who deserves some well-deserved national recognition. The winner and a guest will be treated to an all-expenses-paid trip to Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas. On-line nominiations can be completed on the Counterman Web site.
— Ed.
THE REAL WORLD
In response Mike Rose’s letter in the March issue: Mr. Rose is not living in reality. In our industry, defective product is going to be made and sold. It’s a sad fact, but it’s still a fact. Unless his company has changed, Mr. Rose and PCI do not manufacturer most of the products it sells, therefore he is relying on other companies not to sell him defective product. Does Mr. Rose personally watch, inspect and test every item, every time it comes off an assembly line for his company? PCI does sell many high-quality items, but for many years we had to absorb many of those items found to be defective that we sold because, as he states, he refuses defective claims. I wish Mr. Rose would share his secret on how he does not sell defective product. Every manufacturer would like that information.
We also had to absorb many labor claims that came with selling some of his defective product. Yes, we all know “labor claims” are bad words. But again, we are in the business of customer satisfaction and our company has not survived 57 years by not taking care of our customers. If our policy were to refuse defective claims, our defective rate would be near zero also. But our company lives in the real world. We strive harder to sell the correct items the first time. We sponsor numerous tech clinics each year to help educate our customers and technicians at all levels. That’s how we keep our defective returns and labor claims low. To openly blame defective items on improper installation by the technician, Mr. Rose does a huge disservice to our industry and those who work at all aftermarket levels. We also purchase from manufacturers that stand behind their products, no matter who makes it for them. We also constantly strive on to have the highest quality parts on our shelves for our customers. We have made line changes because of poor quality and are not afraid to do so.
Mr. Rose also helps make matters worse in the area of accurate catalog information. Unless he has changed his ways, he does not supply his catalog information to the aftermarket electronic catalog suppliers such as Activant, Wrenchhead or others. Thousands of aftermarket parts professionals rely on this information daily to help supply their customers with the most up-to-date information available, including new numbers and catalog application corrections. Mr. Rose would rather you use his paper catalog instead.
Tim Trudnowski
President
Automotive Jobbers Supply
Spokane, WA
