Pros
Easy to climb the ladder and gain promotions. Moderate benefits and exclusive discounts with certian companies, like on buying cars, etc. There may be one other small pro, but none that are important enough for me to recall.
Cons
Overall, the idea and coorperate structure is okay. The issue here comes from a lack of understanding that coorperate has (or ignores) in certain regional locations. In certain parts of the country/state/region the staple perks advertized, such as battery installations and bulb changes have created a miserable environment for employees. In most cases, at least in the greater DFW area, these complimentary services are never just that. Most customers feel extremely entitled in regards to those free perks, regardless of the situation. In addition, the majority of situations are beyond the legality and professional skillset of the employees. Nearly all newer vehicles have their batteries wired to their system electronics, we can't touch those. Batteries which are improperly maintained, like most are, have corrosion buildup around their connective terminals and often they become welded together. We can't touch those legally. Batteries located anywhere other than directly under the hood without obsructions blocking the removal; bulbs which need to have components removed to access (most); or even so very common situations where our tools have been stolen, when we are understaffed, or when it rains. I could go on, but the main point is that 85% of situations prevent us from performing the complimentary services, and customers get very upset quite often because the advertizments they are viewing over and over feature this as a selling point. This, to me, is false advertizing and stresses out the employees non-stop. We get treated like a cheap mechanic shop and not a retail store. Despite other things like decent benefits, the pay is very low and can only retain retail floor employees who have no other options but to continue working hard for nothing and/or end up matching the pay with their reduction in performance, commitment, etc. Most locations have become very tribal in-nature, especially amoungst the niche demographic of females (which I am), thus breeding a culture of childish clique-games. Night shifts can get dangerous in this area, with theft of auto parts being a very lucrative business. Resources were always in the deficit, and issues tend to remain issues for lengthy periods of time, often until they become an incident or one too many complaints get send to coorperate (which you get marked for, even if its because of circumstances beyond the employees control, etc.) The people who love it at autozone are always people who have been given multiple promotions, so changes in daily shift employee's experiences are difficult to comprehend by upper mgmt and/or they intentionally have 'coorperate' responses which only look good on paper or practiced in milder regions... like regions whose locations aren't also homeless encampments. Our requests for security to be assigned to our location like some others was never granted, and things escalate when word gets around that a location is an easy target. All together, I quit due to the overbearing disrespectful and terratorial treatment from a fellow manager, however I felt increasingly less safe as each day went by working for Autozone. Again, this is not every location so do your research before you agree to be assigned to a store. The job has plenty of potential given it has better upper management/leadership. Half of the people I worked with were amazing people and the other half made it incredibly uncomfortable. If you aren't the same as everyone else, you may not feel welcomed and that has nothing to do with looks/appearance/characteristics and everything to do with personality.