Shop Owner Blaming Techs for Slow Times- WTF???

[@mbazzy123]

Inflation has caused people to differ maintenance in place of buying food

[@emiliog.4432]

If a shop is empty, maybe the owner isn’t doing something right. ? Plus, people don’t have money to spend. Techs aren’t responsible for a bad business.

[@isorozco511]

Shop owners are too delusional and have too big of an ego they have no idea.

[@northsideirish312]

Wow that dilapidated dirty depressing dark dump of a garage is in desperate need of a free pity pizza party.

[@jasonkoplen2554]

Shop owners wanting techs to do all the work, and run the business. In other news water is wet.

[@bluelightguy1]

Bet the service writer got paid that day

[@PhillyDee215]

Interesting bc I was at one shop that was slow and bc I had my own book of over 300 customers I was actually the only reason why the shop made money a lot of times. Of course the owner never thanked me for it neither

[@markm0000]

That’s a good idea to have all the contacts saved.

[@markm0000]

The actual “big wigs” of the place I work at came here once and all looked around like it was a dump yard. Never made eye contact or even said hi. That’s why I’m only here to help myself and get paid hourly. If they run their business in the ground my toolbox has wheels on it.

[@jlw1985]

I recommend everything I can thst needs repair, but if my SA can’t or won’t sell it, that’s not my fault. I’ve gotten a SA fired because he was deleting my recs from the RO, instead of putting “declined” he was deleting them and not even letting the customer know there were recs, he didn’t know that I take a picture of every RO after I submit the recs. As a CYA I also make a copy of the RO and hand write my recs on them as well,

[@StrongerThanBigfoot]

Great idea

[@Waldo425]

I’m not responsible for the schedule. I’m not responsible for selling anything. My old dealer was so slow that my bays were really clean. I’d have about two to three cars a day for weeks. Mangers blamed me for not making hours. I responded by giving notice. Now I’m making twice the hours. Doesn’t seem like it was me does it?

[@epicragegaming2016]

we absolutely have control over work flow. make recommendations, do your job properly. i know you do this, but very few people i work with do. often all the cars in the shop are my rec's. its tire season, we have people coming back in for clunks and scrapes. worn front end that didnt get checked. worn brakes that didn't get checked. its a major problem in this industry.

[@LoneWolfSparty]

But ultimately it's the customer's decision. You can make all the recommendations you want but if the person just doesn't have the money, they can't (or won't) have the work done.

[@loyallegend7243]

@lonewolfsparty facts brother, even when the service advisor would show the customers what they need, they would still deny the recommendations. At the end of the day it's the customers decision whether they want the work done or not.

[@fixitman2174]

I didn't see the owner blaming anyone in the clip provided. Is there more to it? Context is important.

[@dieseltechjoe]

That's why every shop I've worked at nothing ever gets fixed, because they always blamed the techs. Everything's always the techs fault.

[@shanestrains2849]

A/C Shop here in Florida, we are SLAMMED!

[@MrChickenspit]

ez money lol

[@jameslewis1175]

Everyone was slow af Monday after Easter sun. I get 13 shops numbers and all 13 was waaaaaay down that whole week especially mine!!!

[@FluffyMexicanik]

Blame the tech and youll end up too buzy because that shop owner will be the only tech there

[@spilledcoffee-gt1qj]

Literally the same for us after Easter all of us were doing nothing. Except they didn’t blame us 🤣

[@QualityAutoDave]

This is exactly why I also have my dealers license. I have 2 revenue streams to keep cash coming into my business. I can go BUY work! On a weekly basis from Manheim. Theres way too much to type about “Buying Work”

[@MsFireboy2]

Also I have seen techs walk out. Due to toxic work environments. The old saying tool boxes have wheels on them. Oh I got out due to fact of being micromanaged. Your thoughts please?

[@Mac-mu9cs]

I’m flat rate I do get paid for the time I spend picking up up keeping equipment cleaning out the back room and whatever else we’re slow. If I was in the shop, that’s slow where I didn’t get guaranteed time will get paid to do more than take out the trash, I generate and clean up my toolbox. I’d go home and tell him to call me when something comes in, the day after Easter, we were slammed

[@thisisausername1265]

Of course it's the techs fault Flat Rate Master - 100% of everything is the techs fault. Haven't you learned anything?

[@puremayhemFTW]

That’s exactly what my shop says is when it gets slow it’s because we didn’t write up enough tech quotes. And it’s the domino effect we didn’t write it up when we were busy and few weeks down the road when it’s slow that’s when we would have more work cuz the customers would have been coming back for the recommendations. It pisses me off. Like you said you can only write up so much shit that they don’t sell before you have had enough time wasting your time.

[@DKSE123]

Everything is the technitions fault , when the shop is run by extremely arrogant irishman .

[@jonyoung6405]

If you have slow or no business, and can not attract good people to work for you , you have a "management " or owners problem.

[@jasonvredenburg4839]

Even though I agree with you.. I have seen bad techs cause a business to slow down.. If no work comes in then that is managements issues....

[@coexist1018]

You a mind reader management sent me an threatening email for 44 percent efficiency, it don't bother me I'm hourly

[@meblake7359]

That shop is a filthy mess. You should see us clean on those slow days!!! They could have had that shop spotless.

[@paul2482]

The only person in the shop dumber than the customer is the shop owner.

[@MrChickenspit]

soo.. its not my shop that is slow? lol ok good to know. i was worried it was just me

[@DillonDaVillain222]

The shop owner sucks no wonder people won't go there

[@Daniel-vz4fq]

One thing i have to disagree on, is the fact a grown adult can make a mess and says it not my responsibility to pick it up. Thats lazyness, being a dirtbag, and chances are his work is $hitty. Your right, everyone is going to say i was hired as a flat rate tech blah blah blah. Have some respect for someone elses property and clean up up flipping mess.

[@sonofmontezuma3732]

Way back in the day worked at western auto so we had 5 managers since we were 7 days open. The leadership has 90% to do with probability. Same techs , same location but depending on the manager regardless of the day we were either blowing and going or going broke. Leadership is huge part of puzzle

[@smitty2jones]

I will literally go home if someone asks me to clean when there are hourly guys sitting around on their phones. You can go to hell if you think I'm going to do that shit for free. I told the GM he should tell the hourly guys to clock out and take out the trash and see the response he gets.

[@MrGcfsa2653]

Shop Owner need take responsibility for their actions don’t blame the techs. My shop is busy

[@mutthead1444]

Who is slow right now!!?? The shop has to be doing something majorly wrong to be slow in this new car market.

[@lovemym16]

I always write up everything I find, including the scheduled maintenance from the OEM. That way the recommendations are in the computer and they can pull the prior recs and call the customers with deals when we are slow

[@vangsta17]

Thats an owner who has no faith in his techs. Blaming them because he thinks, because of their unsatisfactory work, thats the reason the customers didnt come that day.

[@matthamilton0081]

Ran into the same situation for 15 years at my old shop. My new boss has a totally different Outlook... 👍

[@bassthunder819]

...shop owners/operators maybe need to rethink their price point for repairs...its insanity the rate these garages charge....

[@Sagittarius-88]

Not sure what world this dude is living in, rabbling on about things being slow. My "to do" list hasn't dropped below 90 cars in months, sometimes getting as high as 140. This is why I don't work for piss ant mom and pop shops anymore.

[@carlbyington5185]

Well.... we are rarely slow, but, when we are, it's the fault of earths rotation, that simple.

[@shanefranklino5568]

We slowed done a lot here in Louisville ohio. If it weren't for the car lot that owns this place I'd be bored out of my mind as I service all the cars they buy.

[@scallen3841]

Hmm i work retail and the upper management blames the store manager and employees for lack of business

[@johnchambers12]

I can’t talk flat rate, i was hourly but i would always clean my area when work was slow so i could have a cleaner area when workload went up.

[@stephendavis7812]

It's a two-way street. Sometimes it is the shop owner and sometimes it is the techs. If you don't recognize that, that's on you. Have you run your own business, or just been a loudmouth in someone else's shop? I have had employees working for me that need a babysitter. Between that and the shortage of guys available, it isn't easy putting a good crew of qualified guys in the shop. Nothing ruins a good reputation like poor work. Nothing makes for a poor workplace environment like a bellyacher. You sir... are class A bellyacher.

[@stormyyoung6344]

I think it's the shop's problem for not properly advertising

[@MrGcfsa2653]

It’s helps our shop we make appointments for courtesy check

[@jamessikes5369]

Its election time...every 4 years it gets a little slower in my experience. Thats just one reason I could think of

[@jameslewis1175]

What my buddy always says too. Idk not been in the biz long enuff to say

[@turboimport95]

this one of the reasons I got out of the flat rate business, had a lot of times like this, even as the only mechanic in the shop, I was busting work out so fast we had none..

[@stvargas69]

Went to fleet maintenance 27yrs ago because of the feast & famine cycle.

[@ClaytheBMXer]

The one big exception to this I've personally seen is when the techs are so unreliable in coming to work and doing their jobs that customers start to get upset with the turnaround time of repairs. This is the one thing I've seen happen. Guys come in and interview and talk about how they want to work full time and need the money blah blah blah, a month later of looking/ waiting for better alternatives while dealing with guys coming to work maybe 50-85% of their scheduled hours and attempting to appropriately schedule less and less for that level of reliability and you start to see customers make other concessions or go somewhere else that can promise more consistent turnaround times if not just getting in the door sooner. And you can't really schedule for that until you know about it. I've seen a lot of promising new guys and techs alike quickly show their true colors two weeks after the shop tentatively planned for having a bit of additional help. Then at the end of the month when bills are due they magically show up to work on time every day after all of their supposed problems the last few weeks and expect to have work to do. Of course this is different from what you're talking about with a group of reliable techs, but still worth mentioning.

[@ClaytheBMXer]

I can see some of the responses coming to this comment, but I know guys who have experienced it will know exactly what I'm talking about.

[@jasonkoplen2554]

Due to the lake of compensation and career path in the industry it’s no surprise that people use it as a stepping stone job. Most shops are still offering $16-$30 per flag hour and wondering why they can’t find reliable help. It’s an absolute mystery 🤔

[@biometal770]

If the compensation was better, the mechanics would be more reliable and of higher quality.

[@shr00m7]

Thats still the shop owners/managers responsibility to hire the right people and fire the wrong people. Management isn't just doing the schedule and signing checks. In any industry, a poor performing workforce is either poor resources (tools, parts, equipment, paying people) or poor management (hiring the wrong people, treating workers poorly, poorly managing operations).

[@sonofmontezuma3732]

Yup the owners always blame the techs

[@peanutbutterisfu]

I own a shop and since fall of last year it has slowed down. There are things I do to be prepared for slow times. One thing is to make sure the cars are checked over good, anything things like brakes or tires that will be needed by the next oil change or so, if the timing belt needs to get done at some point or whatever I let the customer know which keeps work coming back in and also gives the customers time to save money it’s good for everyone. Any big jobs that people aren’t in a rush for I put off until it slows down. A lot of people don’t like dealing with used car dealers which 99% of them I don’t either I worked for used car lots in the past, I owned a small used car lot so I know the deal but I have one good dealer that is easy to deal with and pays I do all of his cars and if I’m busy I just do his sold stuff and when I’m slow I fix the unsold cars. Two other dealers I do cars here and there with the understand that I get to them when I can. Yeah I give them a better price then walk in customers but I set it up so I’m not loosing walk in customers work and when it’s slow there is something to do. Should always have some type of commercial work that could be as simple as a plumbing business or whatever you don’t want to try to schedule work so there is no chaos ever

[@eugened41]

Eric o is great to!

[@honda_doc6826]

Thanks.

[@natepeterson7145]

Flat rate or not if my place of business is slow and it's dirty I'm doing something. I can't sit on my phone at work.

[@Adam-kk7nw]

I'm happy everyone getting out of being auto tech

[@philh9238]

Hard part is getting another job. You always get the well you don’t have experience in this etc.

[@natepeterson7145]

@@philh9238 The key is to find a shop that'll hire you and get customer reviews then go back to the shop that you want to work at. That's how I got to be an appliance technician. Started in delivery and worked harder than everyone with minimal complaints and moved up and out of state. Making way more money and only working on one brand. Easy peazy.

[@danielkearns3600]

There has been a slow down since first length of time since December 2015 when it took off after elections. The only month my shop has been slow since was April 2020 the covid lock down and only for the month then back on up till the 2nd week of this February. Was booked 3 weeks out and had quit taking new customers in 2023 and all of a sudden the brakes are on but inflation is killing the American citizens and keep handing out money and it gets worse it drives the dollar value way down because the government can't keep printing and handing out money like they have for past 4 years.

[@josesainz1979]

I have worked at and known some shops that have horrible Techs, that is the reason there is no business. Speed of service, quality of service and honesty play a big role.

[@SALEEN961]

As a tech I will say that techs are often the problem. I can't stress just how often I get cars that need $4,000 in work spread across half a dozen different items when that car was just in a few months or a few thousand miles ago. Too many techs aren't inspecting cars or simply don't know what to check. I'm consistently getting $4,000 jobs sold because people are willing to spend the money when you show them what they need. I've seen plenty of issues caused by bad management, but techs aren't completely innocent.

[@eugened41]

When you mechanics rip everybody off, what do you expect.

[@COBRO98]

Does your medical doctor rip you off on your blood test results? You know about as much about modern vehicles as you do the human body, if I had a dollar for everytime a customer tried to tell me how to do my job.. congrats on being the reason I left the field. Every day mechanics are treated like scum when 99% want to help you stay safe on the road.

[@eugened41]

@@COBRO98 Doctors are worse than you jokers and I'd wish we had insurance to pay the worse mechanics on the planet. It is getting stupid out there. Thank God you left a thankless job. Like walking in sand!

[@I_Died_2_Weeks_Ago]

Just wait and see how empty shops will be after Brandon's tax plan gets implemented.. 🔥