Very poor experience.
I was passing through Wareham with my wife and three children (ages 4, 10, and 14) to take my special needs 10-year-old to a doctor's appointment that was three hours away from our home. Our van's alternator stopped working, which led to the battery dying. After two jumpstarts, we just barely made it to an AutoZone. The staff there helped me with diagnostics, but unfortunately, they didn't have the part I needed in stock.
One and a half miles away, an Advance Auto Parts store had the alternator. With only a 63% charge on my battery from AutoZone's charger, I managed to make it there. After the employee at the counter retrieved the new alternator from the shelf, I started talking to him about tools. Since I was far from home and about to change an alternator in a parking lot, I needed a little assistance. I asked for a couple of sockets and something to relieve the pressure on the tensioner pulley so I could take the belt off and put it back on.
After spending a few minutes reading a computer screen, this employee went and stared into a box for several more minutes before disappearing into the back. He finally brought me a pulley puller toolkit—a completely useless tool in this situation—and then told me they don't just loan tools out! With the new alternator in my possession but absolutely no tools, I was put in a terrible situation.
Since the workers at AutoZone had been so helpful and knowledgeable, I decided to chance driving back through the busy afternoon traffic to return there. I am SO GLAD that I did! Though I barely made it into the parking lot, the knowledgeable workers at AutoZone helped me find and loaned me the exact tools I needed. Three hours and some change later, I was back at Advance Auto to turn in my old alternator for the core charge.
Advance Auto, thank you for having my part in stock. However, any idiot can type something into a computer, read whatever pops up on the screen, or order inventory for a store. Having actual experience with vehicles and having compassion for other human beings is top-tier in life and business. Neither was displayed by your staff to my family yesterday.
You need to reevaluate the tall guy with glasses working the evening of June 1st. There is an AutoZone just 1.5 miles away from your store, and you should take notes from them when hiring your employees.