Warranty - when are techs responsible?

[Gerald Martin]

No one loves comebacks.  But they are a part of life.  They come in all shapes and sizes:

1.  Faulty parts.  We have more part quality issues than ever before, including (less frequently) OEM parts.

2.  Tech error.   A tech fails to properly tighten brake caliper frame bolts.  A belt is installed with one groove off the edge of a pulley.  Some techs rarely make these errors.  But mistakes will happen.

3.  Warning lights on or new symptoms noted "ever since you worked on it".   Always needs to be taken seriously - sometimes issues identified are fall into category 1 or 2.  Or further OBD monitors ran since repairs were made and other issues are coming out of the woodwork.  And sometimes people will try to pin every new issue on the shop that last worked on the car.

 

How do we deal with warranty cases?   

When tech error is involved, is the employer responsible to pay the tech's time to correct his own mistake?  Does it make a difference if there is a pattern of carelessness?  If the employer picks up the tab for everything, doesn't this reward the making of mistakes?

It seems reasonable that the tech should not take responsibility for part failures not caused by tech error, doesn't it?

And what about that follow up scan to see why the warning lights are on?  Should the tech handle this as a courtesy until determined what area the fault is in?  It may be, after all, that he left a vacuum line off the air cleaner box.  But it shouldn't take too long to know if the advisor needs to request more testing approval from the client...

 

And should any of these questions be influenced by whether the shop pays flat rate or hourly?

I know that's a lot of questions.  But I hope it starts a conversation, because it's an area we really need to develop an SOP and stick with it.

 

Gerald

 

[Transmission Repair]

On 12/8/2023 at 7:33 PM, Gerald Martin said:

How do we deal with warranty cases? 

I don't know what to tell you, Gerald, each shop is different.  I can tell you how I handled it.  I was a transmission builder long before I became a transmission shop owner so my method of handling comebacks is different.  Before I start, let me tell you this.  I worked at a lot of transmission shops that were franchises, independents, and even a dealership.  Something pervasive to me was most of them couldn't keep me busy all the time.  I remember distinctly the week between Christmas and New Year's of 1981 when I was at a Chevrolet dealer; I took home $81 and I'll never forget it.  I felt they were lacking in marketing, sales, or both.  When I became a transmission owner, that all changed.

I didn't pay flat rate, but by the clock hour.  If we had a comeback or a no-go that failed the final road test, they were paid again.  I don't care if it was a defective or mismatched part or even the technician's mistake I paid them.  They could always depend on getting at least 40 hours a week.  Because few shops do that, the techs would go the extra mile.  They would sometimes beat themselves up for mistakes or the other techs would think less of them.  Peer pressure ended up being a great equalizer.  The poor techs I would let go.

The way I see it, marketing and sales were my job as a shop owner.  The very first year I was in business, I bought a full-page Yellow Page ad. (back in the day) I later transitioned that to online Pay-Per-Click advertising.  I spent A LOT on marketing and a lesser amount on comebacks, but I still always paid.  It was incumbent on me to structure our prices to cover those costs.  We were the highest-priced transmission shop in the area; equal or higher than the dealer.  Transmissions are a transaction-based business, not relationship-based like most shops.  So be careful of your pricing structure.

Our business was a lot like the collision business; one and done.  Move on to the next job.  A repeat customer to us was either a comeback or somebody with multiple vehicles and really bad luck. 🙂  So, take everything I've said with a grain of salt.  It worked for me very well over the years.  I did a little bit of shop coaching/managing after I retired and the almost universal problem I saw the most was undercharging for their services.  In other words, giving work away.  The other problem I saw was after my engagement was over, that shop would go right back to doing the same thing as before, forgetting everything I had done and taught them.  I guess old habits are hard to break.  When the shops starve, the techs starve.  Trickle-down economics.

I hope and pray you work your way out of the comeback issues.

Edited December 10, 2023 by Transmission Repair
Rewording.

[bantar]

On 12/8/2023 at 8:33 PM, Gerald Martin said:

How do we deal with warranty cases?   

When tech error is involved, is the employer responsible to pay the tech's time to correct his own mistake?  Does it make a difference if there is a pattern of carelessness?  If the employer picks up the tab for everything, doesn't this reward the making of mistakes?

It seems reasonable that the tech should not take responsibility for part failures not caused by tech error, doesn't it?

And what about that follow up scan to see why the warning lights are on?  Should the tech handle this as a courtesy until determined what area the fault is in?  It may be, after all, that he left a vacuum line off the air cleaner box.  But it shouldn't take too long to know if the advisor needs to request more testing approval from the client...

The business owns full responsibility for tech errors.   At best, you dismiss the employee if the errors are too much or egregious.   I've had people offer to pay for their own mistakes, but I refuse this.   Council them and move on.

CEL on after repair:   I want my techs to dig in and at least get a head-start on the fault.   If there is something new, we need to bill for "peeling the onion" and finding a new problem.   If it's our fault, back to previous statement above.  I pay hourly + flag bonus.  I don't dock flag hours for them taking more time.   We hope for more wins than losses in the shop as a whole and per tech.  If the tech is not a consistent winner, well now.... (I just let a non-winner go 2 weeks ago).    If we have a new problem, we go back for more time.  

Accurately billing customers for time has been the hardest problem for me to solve.   I have one tech that always wants to "know" what is happening, regardless of whether we're getting paid.  Just this morning, I was thinking that I'll adjust his flag bonus up (to give him a COL raise) and remind him that he gets paid more when we get paid more!    We'll see if it helps.