Autozone

[snowdriver]

i use a carquest,the guys in this particular store are all tinkerers and hot rod and off road enthusiasts,so they are pretty sharp and very helpful,as to az gun policy,thats pretty standard,BUT,they need to use some common sense and look at what happened,

 

[eclipse85k10]

Autozone moved in my area only a few years ago so they are new to me and around the corner from me there is an Autozone and Oriellys across the street from one another and it has been a lesser of the two evils for me since both have clueless employees and the napa has cranky unfriendly old guys. So i usually switch it up. And if I really need something I go a little further to a carquest that has been good to me.

But... After reading this story, which displays what is going wrong in this country!
I plan to not step foot inside an Autozone door!

 

[6.2Blazer]

I want to make it clear that I do not agree with the guy being fired, however almost any big chain store would have the same reaction to this type of situation. Talked to a couple people who were managers at fast food joints and the companies had strict policies that you were not to antagonize or take offensive actions against a robber, armed or not. As one guy put it "if somebody came in and said give me all the money in the cash register, I'm to comply with the demand and ask if he would like fries with it"....okay, so maybe slightly sarcastic when it comes to the fries but you get the point. Basically the stores don't want the liability of one of their employees starting a gunfight with the potential of people getting hurt or killed. I believe a majority of these robbery's end by the thug grabbing some money and running away, and a big chain like Autozone would rather lose $2,000, which is probably covered by insurance anyway, then deal with millions of dollars of potential legal fees after a stray bullet from their employee's gun hits some kid walking down the sidewalk outside the store.

And again, not saying I agree with the policies or this guy being fired but that is where these big companies are coming from.

On a side note, I buy quite a bit from chain stores like AZ or Advance Auto. Part of the reason is they don't have banker's hours....really like the NAPA in my old town and went there for certain items but they were only open until 5 on weekdays, so if something popped up I needed it was pretty hard to get there. I'm just always prepared before going into one of those places and either have already looked up the store part number for what I need, or know the vehicle application that the part originally came on. Obviously don't expect to go in and ask for brake parts for my '90 K5 and then get mad because it's not the right stuff for my front D60 or disc braked 14FF.

 

[dirtygoat]

I agree, the guy shouldn't have been fired... To me, this is a situation that needed to looked at outside of autozone's gun policy... The fact that he is a vet just pissed me off even more...

 

[byggyns]

Before I even worked in auto parts, I hated AZ. Working in the industry made me dislike them even further. This incident just adds to my distaste.
At the time I worked there, Advance did not have a weapons policy like the AZ policy quoted. But that was 10 years ago, so things have likely changed.
After that, I worked for a locally owned NAPA, and our owner didn't have a problem with employees carrying in the store.

 

[diesel4me]

When I worked at auto parts counters,I was always told in the event of a robbery,to just hand the money over--I agreed,working for 8 bucks an hour,I'm not about to be a hero!........but what if the robber decides to put two slugs in your head anyway ,after he gets the loot,to prevent any witnesses from being able to identify them?....or just out of spite,nervousness,gang initiation,etc.?... I'll be DEAD,so I told my boss if I ever did get robbed,and the robber tries using a weapon on me after I handed the cash over,I'd do my best to KILL the mother-blanking bastid!..if I'm gonna die anyway,I'm gonna do my best to take them with me.....................................................................................................One day at one store I worked at,some grubby looking bum,probably a crack addict, tried to grab cash from the register,after the boss's wife rung up a sale (two quarts of oil!)--I was out on a delivery ,thankfully...the counter where she was standing had a large tool display on the wall behind her...my boss happened to be in the aisle behind her getting parts off shelves to fill an order,he heard his wife squeal when the guy lunged for the cash drawer--he came running out front and grabbed a large torque wrench off the wall,and smashed the guys arm so hard it broke it--then he whacked him over the head with it.....they had to call EMT's to take him away on a stretcher...................................................................................................The cops were there when I came back from delivering parts,I was glad I wasn't there when it happened.......my boss told all of us later on,in a meeting--DONT DO WHAT I DID!...I only reacted STUPIDLY because it was my WIFE who was in danger....I piped up and said " Oh,if it were ME or one of US ,you'd have just let the theif do whatever ,and you'd just run to call the cops?...he didn't have an answer,but again repeated "just GIVE them the money,and TRY to get away!"....................................................................................................I wanted a licence to carry after that day...I later learned both my boss,and his father,who started the bussiness and still worked there part time,both had a pistol stashed away in the office...but locked up in a desk drawer!...fat lot of good it'd do there!....I always had the fear someone would walk in and pull a gun on me at every store I worked in,from that day on...thankfully it never happened...