# Advanced Auto Part has gone Corporate



## BobbyZ (Sep 26, 2011)

This year Advanced Auto Parts has gone to corporate contracts for all of their Landscape and snow removal services.
Is anyone aware of who the bidders are? I know of one of them (Emerald lawn and Landscape of Flint Michigan) but was hoping to find the others in an attempt to have a shot at the snow removal services in my service areas.


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## Plowman52 (Oct 3, 2009)

Scott been doing them for YEARS Idn who els is. 

I bid every year and never win lol. 

Bobby what company are you


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## BobbyZ (Sep 26, 2011)

*Company Name*

Sorry new to the site so we dont have all the goodies in our profile yet. Wilsons LawnCare and Plowing. We are currently providing the landscaping service for many of the advanced in our service area through a national service provider. And up until the last couple of weeks it was still up in the air as to weather Advanced was going to go national for their snow & ice. Wanna make sure we get a crack at the winter business as well.


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## Plowman52 (Oct 3, 2009)

Ya I haven't herd anything. Bobby will u send me a pm?


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## BobbyZ (Sep 26, 2011)

*Pm*

Sorry,not yet able to pm on the site..10 day restriction


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## Plowman52 (Oct 3, 2009)

I see. My email is [email protected]


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## countryboy1365 (Oct 7, 2010)

i work for advanced part time ill ask my gm for some info and report back


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

I started doing an advance last year. This yr the new mgr said the same as last year. "I don't sign contracts but you can have the job again" So now you are telling me I've held a place for them and some other Joe is going to be plowing them? I did get a signature anyway but that wont hold water. Guess I will have to check on it. Was just going to send out my first invoice too.


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## FISHERBOY (Aug 13, 2007)

I WONDER if they hav the ones in pa,? cause the ones in my area are done poorly to say the least


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

Advance sent me a contract termination letter for my contract signed 10 wks ago. I will be taking them to small claims for the balance of what the contract was for. I saved them a spot in good faith and they screwed me. Too late to find a replacement now. The manager did sign a contract after checking with her superior. Pretty unhappy to have that money taken from me after the season start. Not sure of how water tight my contract is... I guess I'll find out. Pretty ticked off at the moment. The contract I was told was picked up for half of my expected total if I used a normal 14 event to figure salt as salt was per operation. Going to find someone to get some feedback if I have a case or not.


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## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Sorry to hear this. As far as Auto Zone is concerned, their corporate offices don't give a crap about your contract obviously, and I'm sure they had their own attorneys look at your contract before sending you a term notice. Hope you have a case, but I'm guessing you dont.


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## perrysee (Jul 30, 2009)

used to do advance auto parts ,for lawn and snow now they too are going to corporate companys too. here in wisconsin


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Who is Advanced auto parts?

And how did auto zone get in this thread?


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

Well, I do think I will have more of a shot if I can go small claims. Local judge and all that. Play the underdog etc. Unhappy that they can do it this late in the season without a care.

Really, how can one be sure that a management signature is good. What can you count on. This is my bread and butter right now. Small retail 1/2 acre lots. Both private and national chain stores. I just purchased an expensive tractor and blade to handle the larger lots and business expansion. One step forward, two steps back it seems.


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

My experience is with Advance Auto. I had a reasonable expectation as I had a contract last year and they honored it and I was paid. No issues, no problem. What else could I have thought given last years experience. Guess I will have to get informed about the national's bidding processes.

Advance is a direct competitor to Auto Zone around here. Same layout, size and product type. They have 2 or 3 stores in every major town.


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## snowbrothers101 (Jul 27, 2009)

Advanced Auto Parts hired IBM last year to take over all of their facilities. IBM is sourcing all of their work. However, only thing I have seen is $45 weekly for mowing and $65 for plowing. No deicing. They want bare bones pricing. IBM guaranteed Advanced a save and the only way to do that is to cut costs by skimping on service.

The ones by me are complete piles of you know what.


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

The way I figure it they could pay a grand or so on every account serviced on avg. to satisfy some of old guys with contracts, pay the current contract, make a profit and Advance Auto will still be ahead. That's the difference between what I was getting fair market value for the area, and what they are going to pay the new subs. I can't survive on that and I consider myself to be lean. That's fine. I'll still be taking them to court. They want to play the odds, I'll comply.


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## olie (Jun 1, 2010)

Emerald lawn and Landscape of Flint Michigan had the ones around here for lawn and really messed things up and pissed the 3 stores off that I did. I sure hope they do not have the snow contracts.


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

I just realized my error. I have been dealing with a guy from Ibm and he is the one who terminated my contract. My contract is with Advance not with Ibm so not sure why ibm thinks they have any right to issue a cancellation or termination. 

I am going to follow up with Advance this week. After all I have no agreement with Ibm right so why are they telling me what I can and can't do. If I take them to small claims it will be against Advance not their subcontractor.


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## leolkfrm (Mar 11, 2010)

a lot of it depends if they are part of a larger complex (with a property manager) or free standing store...


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## snowbrothers101 (Jul 27, 2009)

Was it Doug Ding?


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

Yes, Mr Ding, Is he a friend of yours snowbrothers101.

I did make a couple of calls to a Mr Barnes from Advance facilities mgmt. He did finally call me back but I missed it somehow. He left a message that he would try to make it right so we will see what right is. Too late to call now. Contact is a step in the right direction. Looking around for a replacement lot. Everything in my area seems to be staked out already but I'll keep looking. You just never know is my experience.


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

What happened Snowbrothers?

So here is what happened with regard to the lost contract. I exchanged info and a phone call with a Mr. Barnes, who is facilities management with Advance Auto. He explained that the company decided to go with a regional this year late in the season and apologized for the lost contract. He agreed to "make it right" and we did. I compromised on my end a bit and he agreed to pay a fair portion of the contract. He mentioned that he was a certified snow contractor through the SIMA course and treated me well I thought.

To say that I was happy with the end result given the possibilities is an understatement. Did I lose some potential dollars? yes absolutely. Given their position, they could have made me go to court for some compensation. A appreciate the fast track to a fair solution. Mr. Barnes asked a great question. Do you think your contract will hold up in court. or, do you have faith in your contract. I do not....

The first money spent on overhead for next season should probably be in the contract language dept. A tough wake up call. I'll be looking at the SIMA info in my spare time this winter. My contract is based on an 8 yr old Sima CD. It just doesnt not pass the test at this point in time.


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## framer1901 (Dec 18, 2005)

Most contracts have some kind of "out" in them. I've seen some 30 days and others 7 days. 

I would be grateful that you received anything out of that deal. It seems your contract was cancelled well in advance of any snowfall. 

Sorry to come off that way, but it's not like they told you in January.


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## shredder (Jul 14, 2007)

We had some Advanced Autos here in west michigan last year, same thing, lost out because of corporate. East siders getting the jobs for tripple, subbing it out the lots out on this side of the state to people willing to do it for 25.00 per push.


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## DeereGuy (Dec 12, 2003)

Can't agree with you there framer. IMO Snowfall has nothing to do with it. I had a signed contract for the seasonal term, date of signature to april 20. No out, No, sorry we changed our mind. It was my contract that they signed, not there's. I'm not sure it would have held up in real court but small claims, perhaps. I do think Mr. Barnes cut me some slack and understood that by waiting to close his regional deal so that he could gain bargaining leverage, getting a better deal, I got burnt. I think that is a reasonable assessment and he responded in a manner conducive to best business practices. Old school, where integrity means something. I was, quite frankly, surprised. No matter what he decided to pay me, his corporate deal is going to save them lots of dough. I took my contract off an old SIMA CD almost 10 years ago. I never showed it to a lawyer. It was not scribbled on a napkin. It had some legalese in it and explained clearly what the deal was. Yes I did plow 2" and salted the week before they terminated it. Not that it matters. I tried to do my due diligence and it paid off.. 

I think he saved his company a couple grand in the long run on my contract by settling out of court, so we both won. Compromise... He got hundreds of cheap contracts across the board and I got almost half my expected dollars for a broken contract. 

This is important. I didn't stop with what the seasonal price was. I expected to make $2730 on salt in addition to the seasonal plow price during an avg winter. 14 events for my neck of the woods. Combine the seasonal plowing amount with the expected avg salt money, less fuel, and my cost of treated salt and that was what I felt we were negotiating for or what I considered my loss to be. I asked for half. All my accounts are estimated out so that I know what kind of money I have to purchase/fix equipment and can justify getting up in the morning. If I'm not making money, I'm going to limit my exposure. That's just me.

And hey, don't be sorry. If you feel I had no right to the money than that's fine. I'm not going to take anything personal on here. Too old to care these days. I've never taken anyone to court by the way, nor has anyone taken me to court so it's not about that. I do a lot of everyday business on verbals. It is about trust. He broke the trust. He broke it inadvertently as the store did get supervisor approval but it was never reported to his dept that I was contracted.


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