O'Reilly Auto Parts — Local services in Mountain View

I've shopped at this location for many, many years — probably 10-15 visits in all. I've always found the staff working here helpful , friendly, and pretty knowledgeable, both on the phone and in-person. Maybe I've had good luck, as I see some other reviews claiming bad experiences. Sometimes there's an off-day, or maybe an employee is sick and an unhappy temp has to replace them. Based on my repeat positive experiences, I actually think the management and staff themselves deserve credit for a pretty positive service culture. The store doesn't always have what I've need in stock right away, but they've got the needed parts delivered same day or next day 100% of the time reliably. I also find the prices pretty reasonable. I do wish the batteries lasted longer, but at least they're pretty transparent with how long you can expect them to last....

We came here to buy a new battery and test the old one that I was pretty sure was on its last legs. The girl at the counter was either completely over her job or so high she could hardly make sentences. I had to ask multiple times if they did free battery testing and installation to get an intelligible answer out of her as she would stare at me and then mumble something I couldn't hear.

She never did test my old battery and when I tried to have her install the one I purchased, she tried to use a ratcheting wrench and took her sweet time. When she got to the positive terminal she couldn't figure out that she needed to spin a screw on the side and stopped to tell me it needed to be professionally installed. I next proceeded to borrow her tools and installed the battery myself. So much for free installation...

I had an excellent experience yesterday, Labor Day, at around 12:30 pm at the Mountain View store in the shopping center next to Petco. I came in with a key fob that had somehow fallen apart. The woman behind the counter who assisted me (wish I could remember the name!!), of S. Asian/Indian descent, took the time to re-assemble it for me so it was good as new! Saved me at a minimum a couple hours time going to the dealers, and maybe a couple hundred dollars as well. So, big shout out to this employee! Went over and beyond. I hope management sees this and promotes her and/or gives her a raise. ...