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Posted

I just had a quick question I wanted to ask some other shop owners. Just a little background but we are a mechanic shop that pays hourly and not flat rate. If your mechanic diagnoses a vehicle for problem X and after the customer approves and the repair is completed, problem X is not fixed but additional parts and labor are needed to fix the problem, how do you all proceed? Does the wrongly diagnosed parts or labor or both get taken out of the mechanics pay?

 

Also, if a mechanic breaks something on the vehicle while doing the repair, does the mechanic pay for it or the shop owner? I wanted to get a better understanding of how other shops are handeling these 2 situations.

Posted

As a shop owner, I feel that I am responsible for my technicians. Stuff gets broken and unless it was just plain abuse, I cover the costs of the repairs. If braking things is a common occurence it may be time to have a discussion with the technician about this or start looking for a new technician. As far as wrong diagnosis this is a little different story. I have taken parts off vehicles when they didn't fix the repair. I don't feel that its appropriate to charge a customer for parts that don't fix the problem. I had one this week that I ate about $100 in parts because they didn't fix the problem. This customer is one of my most loyal over the years so sometimes I feel its just a part of doing business.

Posted

Even the best mechanics make mistakes from time to time. I have made my share of blunders too.

 

Unless we share in all the profits of the business with our techs, we need to realize that things will go wrong and chalk it up to another cost of doing business. If a tech has a comeback due to his or her mistake, that tech should re-do the job, if possible. Flat rate shops and hourly rate based shops will have different pay procedures to deal with this.

 

If a tech makes a mistake, find out why. Is it lack of training, lack of following company policies and procedure or is due to sloppiness. If there is a trend where the tech’s quality cannot be improved, you will need to let that tech go.

 

We track all comebacks, tech related or part related and we know what percentage of total sales are comeback related. We know that in any given year we will have 2 to 3% tech comebacks. We add this to our cost of doing business breakeven number and amortize this expense like any other budgeted expense. It hurts less when we know the numbers and have it budgeted. Because we track the number of each tech we can tell if a problem is developing and deal with it.

Posted

Wow Joe. What kind of program do you use to figure that out? I have enough trouble just getting my operating numbers correct.

 

I just created a simple excel spreadsheet.

Posted

Hey Joe,

 

Do you happen to know what some of the payment methods that hourly shops do in these types of situations? I understand in a flate rate shop that the mechanic is just given the job again and the shop may not give the mechanic hours for the come back but in an hourly shop, what do they do (clock the mechanic out so he does not receive hourly pay during the repair)?

Posted

Hey Joe,

 

Do you happen to know what some of the payment methods that hourly shops do in these types of situations? I understand in a flate rate shop that the mechanic is just given the job again and the shop may not give the mechanic hours for the come back but in an hourly shop, what do they do (clock the mechanic out so he does not receive hourly pay during the repair)?

 

There are a few ways they handle it. Shops that use a clock will still clock the actual time, but charge back the tech at the end of the pay period. If at all possible, the tech that caused the error should get the job back to redo, if not the tech that does the comeback will get credit which goes against the other techs hours.

 

With shops that don’t track productivity hours and just pay an hourly wage or salary, it’s a little harder. Some shops, when the tech as very few comeback, will not even make an issue out of an occasional mistake and eat it as a cost of doing business. Remember, a chronic comeback problem cannot be tolerated and usually is an indication of a problem. If it’s not a part issue or training issue, then it’s a tech issue. If the tech cannot improve, you need to pull the trigger.

 

I don’t know of any shop owners that actually make the tech pay out of pocket, unless the action was deliberate, and in that case there’s a real problem at that shop.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Here's my two cents on this. It's a touchy situation when debating whether to dock the tech's pay. In Illinois for example the employer cannot deduct anything other than the usual taxes & such. He legally can not do it arbitrarily on his own. The deduction needs to be in writing & approved and signed by both parties for that particular occurrence. Not following that can get you in hot water with the state...especially if you have a tech that knows his rights & the law.

Posted

Here's my two cents on this. It's a touchy situation when debating whether to dock the tech's pay. In Illinois for example the employer cannot deduct anything other than the usual taxes & such. He legally can not do it arbitrarily on his own. The deduction needs to be in writing & approved and signed by both parties for that particular occurrence. Not following that can get you in hot water with the state...especially if you have a tech that knows his rights & the law.

 

Illinois is a labor/union state. The Illinois Department of Labor hates any nonunion business in my humble opinion.

Posted

Illinois is a labor/union state. The Illinois Department of Labor hates any nonunion business in my humble opinion.

 

 

Yes, that is somewhat true...Illinois is a very pro-worker state. Other than Municipal jobs there's hardly any union jobs left & has been like that since around 1990. The local 701 Mechanics union is pretty pathetic as well. Most of my family worked at various GM divisions around Chicago until they all got whacked in the 80's. People here know the UAW as U....AIN'T WORKING!

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         0 comments
      It always amazes me when I hear about a technician who quits one repair shop to go work at another shop for less money. I know you have heard of this too, and you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can this be true? And Why?” The answer rests within the culture of the company. More specifically, the boss, manager, or a toxic work environment literally pushed the technician out the door.
      While money and benefits tend to attract people to a company, it won’t keep them there. When a technician begins to look over the fence for greener grass, that is usually a sign that something is wrong within the workplace. It also means that his or her heart is probably already gone. If the issue is not resolved, no amount of money will keep that technician for the long term. The heart is always the first to leave. The last thing that leaves is the technician’s toolbox.
      Shop owners: Focus more on employee retention than acquisition. This is not to say that you should not be constantly recruiting. You should. What it does means is that once you hire someone, your job isn’t over, that’s when it begins. Get to know your technicians. Build strong relationships. Have frequent one-on-ones. Engage in meaningful conversation. Find what truly motivates your technicians. You may be surprised that while money is a motivator, it’s usually not the prime motivator.
      One last thing; the cost of technician turnover can be financially devastating. It also affects shop morale. Do all you can to create a workplace where technicians feel they are respected, recognized, and know that their work contributes to the overall success of the company. This will lead to improved morale and team spirit. Remember, when you see a technician’s toolbox rolling out of the bay on its way to another shop, the heart was most likely gone long before that.
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