Don't be a know it all!

Since my car became more of a problem generator than any of you on here could handle, I joined forums that were more of a mechanic and tech's related. Anyways, I was reading a thread in the open area on one of them and read a story that made me thing flawless victory.

Thread starts with one tech bitching about people going to autozone, getting a FREE scan, having some parts jockey there tell him what's wrong with it. Then go to the dealership and TELL the mechanic what to do. Well...one guy went to a parts retailer, never said which one. They told him the knocking sound was his engine going bad, he was going to need a new one. Said customer goes to a mechanic. Was a complete asshole to the people there. But the mechanic recognized the sound immediatley. It was the fuel pump going bad. He talked the customer into replacing the fuel pump along with the engine. Anyways, how many thousands of dollars later after all the work is done. The guy found out. And went nuts. But mechanic said work order never said "diagnose" just replace engine. lmao.

Another good one, guy was a total dick to the mechanic again, wanting his compressor replaced on the car. Mechanic notices there is a wire that was broken. And the compressor was still in working form. Asks the guy if he wants the wire fixed as well. Says something like what do you think einstein!?! So he put in a what 700 dollar compressor when it was just a wire!

Thread is full of stories like that and they keep comming in. It's funny as hell.


Be nice to your mechanics!!

I have a friend who is a mechanic and he's dealt with the same things before. The shop he used to work at would not let a tech work on a car that did not have diagnosis time. The also would not use any parts that the customer would bring in.

BTW, good thread topic. I can't wait to see some of the other responses!

Link to thread?

You have to join to read it...

It's on flat rate tech though

I agree. Be nasty to a mechaninc...be prepared to pay. When I was a tire installer for Sears and folks got nasty because they said we took too long, our manager told us to relax for about 5-10 mins. OOPS!!!

We also had customers who couldn't decide on tires and if we completed the installs before the customer changed their mind, our manager would charge to remove the new tires for the brand the customer wanted after all was said and done. Or we reinstalled the old tires and didn't re-balance them. Oh well. :shrug:

My Motivational Poster would read:

MECHANICS: WE KEEP AMERICA RUNNING!!

OR

MECHANINCS: GO AHEAD AND LOOK DOWN ON US...WHO THE FK GETS YOU FROM POINT A TO B??!

As a dealership tech, I love this thread. Cause this shit happens all the time. They dont wanna pay diag time, they come in and tell you what to do to the car, and god help you if you are dumb enough to listen to them and it doesnt fix their car. Nobody wants to pay for shit. They think you are there to fix their nonmaintained piece of shit for free. Vatozone and their "free" scans that magically "tell people whats wrong with the car" are a disservice to the industry. Looking up a code DOES NOT tell you whats wrong with the car, it tells you what fucking code the monitors are reading and firing the light. If it was as simple as looking up a code and replacing a part, cars would get fixed in 5 minutes.

Another favorite customer line of mine "well i could have done that" Oh yeah? You could have but you didnt, you came here because you wanted the problem fixed and thats what you got, the problem fixed. You could do a lot of the things the doctor does at his office, but its not always what the person does but what they know. They somehow think that a techinicians time is infinite and doesnt cost him any money. We're not their to just help the person out for free. Its idiot cheap ass customers these days that think people owe them something that are driving all the good techs out of the business. Techs dont wanna be bothered anymore, it just isn't worth it. Eventually it'll come to a point in time where unless the factories step in and arrange things where they get rid of flat rate there will be NOBODY to fix these cars anymore.

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Originally Posted by 310stanger

As a dealership tech, I love this thread. Cause this shit happens all the time. They dont wanna pay diag time, they come in and tell you what to do to the car, and god help you if you are dumb enough to listen to them and it doesnt fix their car. Nobody wants to pay for shit. They think you are there to fix their nonmaintained piece of shit for free. Vatozone and their "free" scans that magically "tell people whats wrong with the car" are a disservice to the industry. Looking up a code DOES NOT tell you whats wrong with the car, it tells you what fucking code the monitors are reading and firing the light. If it was as simple as looking up a code and replacing a part, cars would get fixed in 5 minutes.

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:true:

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Originally Posted by 310stanger

Looking up a code DOES NOT tell you whats wrong with the car, it tells you what fucking code the monitors are reading and firing the light. If it was as simple as looking up a code and replacing a part, cars would get fixed in 5 minutes.

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Well, now I know why my thirdgen isn't running. :)

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Originally Posted by 310stanger

Another favorite customer line of mine "well i could have done that" Oh yeah? You could have but you didnt, you came here because you wanted the problem fixed and thats what you got, the problem fixed. You could do a lot of the things the doctor does at his office, but its not always what the person does but what they know. They somehow think that a techinicians time is infinite and doesnt cost him any money. We're not their to just help the person out for free. Its idiot cheap ass customers these days that think people owe them something that are driving all the good techs out of the business. Techs dont wanna be bothered anymore, it just isn't worth it. Eventually it'll come to a point in time where unless the factories step in and arrange things where they get rid of flat rate there will be NOBODY to fix these cars anymore.

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Yup. Ever meet the a-holes who tell you they are a mechanic or have their own mechanic?

I HATE THAT FKKIN SHYTE!!!:ar:

Theres a diagnostic procedure for nearly every check engine light a car can set. It could be a broken wire, a failed part, bad fuel, worn engine, missinstalled part, wet part, wrong part, inferior part etc Any one or a lot of those things can set off the check engine light. But the customer wants an accurate conclusion on this in 5 mins. Or they bitch to high heaven.

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Originally Posted by cammed goat

Yup. Ever meet the a-holes who tell you they are a mechanic or have their own mechanic?

I HATE THAT FKKIN SHYTE!!!:ar:

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I'm a mechanic

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Originally Posted by cammed goat

Yup. Ever meet the a-holes who tell you they are a mechanic or have their own mechanic?

I HATE THAT FKKIN SHYTE!!!:ar:

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Yup. "im a mechanic" But they are there because they cant figure out their brake noise, and you are also changing their oil. Or, "I'll have my mechanic look at it" after ya just finished diagnosing it. Or THEIR mechanic tells them its xyz and they are wrong, now they are at your shop and they want you to fucking basically certify his work. They already spent a bundle with the hack and now they are at your shop and they dont wanna spend money and they want it fixed for free. Or the customers that only want you to do the shit jobs, and they let jiffy screw suck all the gravy out of the car and they cant even handle that part right.

EVER SINCE SYNDROME "ever since you replaced my battery....." "ever since you replaced my serpentine belt, I hear this noise at 55"

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Originally Posted by 310stanger

Yup. "im a mechanic" But they are there because they cant figure out their brake noise, and you are also changing their oil. Or, "I'll have my mechanic look at it" after ya just finished diagnosing it. Or THEIR mechanic tells them its xyz and they are wrong, now they are at your shop and they want you to fucking basically certify his work. They already spent a bundle with the hack and now they are at your shop and they dont wanna spend money and they want it fixed for free. Or the customers that only want you to do the shit jobs, and they let jiffy screw suck all the gravy out of the car and they cant even handle that part right.

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:iagree:

Well said 310.as a former ford electrial systems tech, i understand exactly what you mean! Glad I left the flat rate world behind.
Posted via Mobile Device

I still can't remember what flat rate is.:hmm:

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Originally Posted by cammed goat

Yup. Ever meet the a-holes who tell you they are a mechanic or have their own mechanic?

I HATE THAT FKKIN SHYTE!!!:ar:

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Shit like that comes in to my work as well. I'm just a tire installer, but I see and help the mechanics with a lot of shit that they work on. One lady brought in one of her fleet vehicles for a multi-point inspection, only to tell us that she wasn't going to have any of the work done there, she just wanted it checked out because she has her own mechanic. That's where, if I had my own business, I would have told that lady to get the fuck out and don't bother coming back. But, that's probably why I don't have my own business.

So many people want shit for free, its ridiculous. I don't understand why people don't get that they are wasting our time and the mechanics time as well.

Anyone ever get the people who have brought vehicles back because something is "damaged that wasn't like that before"? Or, "One of your employees stole my iPod, my cell phone charger, and my prescription glasses"?

Fuckin' people.

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Originally Posted by cammed goat

I still can't remember what flat rate is.:hmm:

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I refer to it as Flat Rape. This is how most technicians get paid and nearly all techs at dealers get paid

You work 8 hrs a day, 40 hrs a week roughly.
Each job you do has a value, oil change .3, brakes 2.0 etc. Well ideally you wanna "make" 8 hrs a day minimum. Then you covered your pay. If you make 12 hrs a day, you get 12 hrs pay, if you make 6 hrs you get 6 hrs pay even though you could be at work 8 hrs or longer. So in a perfect world you make more then what you are at work for, in an imperfect world you make far less and you are essentially working for free. The customer doesnt give a flying fuck if you make a living or not. NOW, we get into warranty time. Lets say you do warranty repairs all day and lots of electrical. You could speond HOURS on a job and get paid next to nothing. Lets say the whole procedure took you 10 hrs to fix but the factory only wants to pay 2. Well they fucked you out of 8 hrs. Hence Flat rape. God help you if you run into broken bolts or problems along the way.

Hence the emphasis on working fast. Thats where the corner cutting starts, where snap on makes a ton of money with an innovative tool etc.