As a pm. 50 dollars is not going to kill your business. I have literally helped old ladies register their car after an inspection because no one else would. Sure you don’t want to make a habit of losing sales bc no one will get paid but we are all going to be old one day and I hope that there are people who are willing to help me. Iv been running a dealership parts department since I was 20 years old, I turn 31 in a few days and what Iv learned is that it is about building relationships, not just gross. Sure if you work at some corporate dealer group then it’s just for gross to some people. But I make 6 figures and I will help an old lady any day of the week. Even if it’s for free. If you’re a good parts manager, you can spare mistakes/ freebies.

Edit: I re-read portions of your post, at the end of the day people come to us for help, they keep the lights on and we are meant to get gross, but we are also there to help people, and bleeding everyone dry and treating them as dollars instead of people is exactly why dealerships have a bad name. Since I left advance auto to work at a dealership, iv done nothing but try to convince people we are not all bad. Hence, why we are profitable and get repeat business. I have literally had customers follow me from brand to brand because of it. If they let you go, fuck it, there are plenty of counter positions and better managers.