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Hey chain store mechanics.

6K views 79 replies 48 participants last post by  scramblerman72 
#1 ·
I recently got a job in a tire/service store in the Saginaw area. This company amazes me in how ruthless it treats the customers. A guy will come in for a $20 tire repair and they try to shove $500 worth of flushes, filters, repair, tires, etc, down the person's throat. If the customer says they don't have the money they then beat them with a store credit card application. The customer runs away never to return again. This chain does this with every customer!

The store does all types of service work and a mechanic can make a good living as long as "service" comes in and not just tires, wheels, rotations, LOFs, inspections, etc. Even if a person comes in for a $300 brake job, the store still tries to ramrod more stuff down the customer's thoat. This repair shop/tire store has almost no repeat business, only first timers that take the coupon bait and then (most) run like hell when they see what's going on.

I guess what I'm asking is if all chain service centers are like this? I've always tried to do the best quaility work I can and try to keep a customer for life. I sorta feel like a whore working at this place because they treat the customers so bad.

Just looking for your thoughts.
 
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#2 ·
That's tough. I am not a mechanic, however when I bought my avalanche in 05 it clearly stated on the sheet per my request all fluids serviced and it all checked out. a week later I took it back to the same dealership for some warranty work and when I pulled in while I was filling out the paperwork with the service writer they checked all my fluids an came in with the tray showing me how bad they were. I said I just bought the truck from you last week. I even checked to make sure all the fluids were clean. so what you're telling me is that in a couple hundred miles they got that dirty? the trans fluid was brown. I got up and went to my truck and pulled the trans stick.....bright red. you should have seen them trying to come up with an excuse...

I am an honest person at my job I try to make thing the most cost effective I can for the customer as I would rather see them do repeat business with us than just once.
 
#11 ·
That's tough. I am not a mechanic, however when I bought my avalanche in 05 it clearly stated on the sheet per my request all fluids serviced and it all checked out. a week later I took it back to the same dealership for some warranty work and when I pulled in while I was filling out the paperwork with the service writer they checked all my fluids an came in with the tray showing me how bad they were. I said I just bought the truck from you last week. I even checked to make sure all the fluids were clean. so what you're telling me is that in a couple hundred miles they got that dirty? the trans fluid was brown. I got up and went to my truck and pulled the trans stick.....bright red. you should have seen them trying to come up with an excuse...

I am an honest person at my job I try to make thing the most cost effective I can for the customer as I would rather see them do repeat business with us than just once.
Similar happened to me too. I put a new radiator in my car and about a week later took it in for an oil change. They told me I needed a coolant flush and brought some brown coolant out. I asked to go in the garage and watch the take the coolant out and they said well we wouldn't lie. All I said was, it was bright green when I replaced the radiator 6 days ago, give me my keys back. I will never go back, and I will make sure that people that I know that go there know about it as well.
 
#3 ·
I work as tech, when a car comes in we do try and sell the customer needed repairs. If we dont take the time to check the car over then we can loose the business, as far as craming the work down their necks thats not how it should be. We politly inform them as to what they need, if they cant afford it then we recommend to come back soon. I have seen where a customer will come in with an estimant from another repair facility and when we inspect the vehicle we dont always find what the other places have tried to get away with.
 
#4 ·
Tech here as well......If its a flat repair, it gets its lights checked and the air pressure set. If the incoming service does not require the hood to be opened then no recommendations are made involving anything under the hood. Same with service that does not require the vehicle to be lifted on the hoist, then no under vehicle inspections/recomendations are made. I have worked with the techs that recommend everything under the sun, I swear each customer got a 1-2K estimate. And 99% its "pull the car out" with nothing sold. When I do inspections on vehicles I always try to never exceed 200-300 worth of repairs unless it has multiple issues. With that style of inspection I sell work all the time, I'm always 20-30 more flat rate hours a week then my other techs doing it this way and I have many repeat customers that request me at the counter when they return.
 
#5 ·
Ex-mechanic here. I worked at a dealership and I would mostly do work that required service on the hoist. I would always do an quick inspection to see if anything needed attention. I would make a list, get parts prices, put down labor hours and give it to the writer. At that point the writer would get a total price and inform the customer of the things that needed attention or would soon need attention. There was no "cramming" going on in the shop.

Sometimes the customer would say okay go ahead and fix it, we would give them a ride home and get the vehicle fixed. Other times they would end up bringing it back to get the stuff fixed. And sometimes we could see the vehicle four times for an oil change and the things that needed attention were never done and they weren't going to fix them.
 
#6 ·
I recently got a job in a tire/service store in the Saginaw area. This company amazes me in how ruthless it treats the customers. A guy will come in for a $20 tire repair and they try to shove $500 worth of flushes, filters, repair, tires, etc, down the person's throat. If the customer says they don't have the money they then beat them with a store credit card application. The customer runs away never to return again. This chain does this with every customer!

The store does all types of service work and a mechanic can make a good living as long as "service" comes in and not just tires, wheels, rotations, LOFs, inspections, etc. Even if a person comes in for a $300 brake job, the store still tries to ramrod more stuff down the customer's thoat. This repair shop/tire store has almost no repeat business, only first timers that take the coupon bait and then (most) run like hell when they see what's going on.

I guess what I'm asking is if all chain service centers are like this? I've always tried to do the best quaility work I can and try to keep a customer for life. I sorta feel like a whore working at this place because they treat the customers so bad.

Just looking for your thoughts.
Where do you work so I can make sure NOT to get my tires there, I hate shops that do that to people. Many years ago I was a service manager at a chain store and it made me sick how corporate wanted us to screw people over and take every last penny they had for 'repairs' people didn't need. Most of it was based on what parts supplier was giving us the best parts deal at the time, push their product (needed or not) for higher profit margins. It's just sad that that crap still goes on, especially with so many people hurting just to pay for the basic necessities of life.

Just because you can take advantage of an unknowing person doesn't mean you should. This country really has lost it's values somewhere along the way :(
 
G
#7 ·
Ask the customer if they would like a complete safety inspection.
95% of the time you will find something that needs attention. When you do just tell the customer before you go to the writer they work on commission. The service writers do all the cramming. The chain suck at customer service...
 
#8 ·
I don't have a problem with Mechanics telling me repairs that are needed, suggested, recommended etc. as long as they don't force the issue or make me feel like crap for not getting it done. Everyone's on a budget, what can you do, sometimes there's only so much money. Anyway, sounds like you are in a crappy place. I'd say, that I don't know if I could work for a place like that but in this economy, sometimes you gotta put food on the table and suck it up. Good luck man with whatever you have to do.
 
#9 ·
Sounds pretty shitty, I do all my own work and keep a good eye on my vehicle, if I go in for tires and they tell me I need U joints I always ask what that has to do with putting a tire on the rim.

It was funny though, the last place I went to get tires mounted and balanced the shop owner loved my beat to hell truck and couldn't believe how well it ran for having 188K miles on it...
 
#10 ·
Sounds like a company I worked for based out of Flint with stores there, the tri-cities and Lansing. I worked at one of their stores in Lansing and it was a joke, unless you like doing tires, oil changes and alignments along with attempting to ass rape every customer that comes through the door for services that don't do a thing or aren't needed just to upsell and try and make a buck.
 
#13 ·
There are places that try to do that on simple oil changes. I had someone INSIST that I purchase an oil change, using the "best oil and filter" that would run me $160. I have also had them tell me that things are wrong with the car, that are very dangerous. I called my dad, who IS a mechanic, and he told me that pretty much every car on the road has SOMETHING wrong with it, and they still run just fine. I have always ran my cars until something breaks, then fix it, and had very good luck with that. My wrangler just hit 100,000 miles, and my Chrysler New Yorker just hit 200,000 miles. Still running strong. All home repairs too!
 
#15 ·
I got reamed for not recommending a transmission flush on a 2003 Vibe. I told the store manager it didn't need a flush. The manager said at 100k miles it has too. I then told the store manager it was a stick shift. He then put something else down for service so the District Manager wouldn't beat him down.
 
#17 ·
I would better change that fluid. My neighbor did replace manual transmission in his 2005 vibe it have 75,000 miles due bearing seizure.


I try not do that but sometime I see much problem but told customer we can do 1 time then wait few weeks then fix other problem.

One thing I am shock when shop charge $1,500 to replace ball joints, tie rods, and $70 for alignments to my friend's 2001 F250 with plow. After that he bring to me all times when he have problem. That shop didn't tell how much but told it would be $1,000.

One shop which is Walmart they try get me to have tires balance I say no they tell me it policy they need do. They want $60 for balance 4 new tires I say No I do at my college.

It seem they try get more money by have balanced or FEE for old tires. 1 shop want $35 for old tires.
 
#19 ·
I had my old GMC in at Belle Tire for a tire swap.
They noticed my tierod end was just about toast.
They let me back to look at it and sure enough, it was.
I told them to give me a quote just for the hell of it, they wanted close to $200 bucks to do it.
I laughed and left.
(I did thank them for noticing it though, very nice)

Had the part for $12 and fixed an hour later...jeeze
 
#21 ·
I worked for a Goodyear in Novi for almost a year, and while they weren't so bad with customer service they treated their employees like dirt. If you couldn't do a LOF in less than 10 minutes you were worthless, even though we only had one drive-on hoist, and every car that got an oil change got all the fluids checked, air filter checked, tread depths checked, lights, etc. Not to mention you ALWAYS had somebody breathing down your neck. Horrible. I had more fun working 50 hour weeks building GM crate engines non-stop than I ever did in a short week at that hellhole.
 
#23 ·
First of all I do most all my own work and have a 2 post lift at home.
I love when I get tire work done and these places come out with a list of $1500 in issues I know they made up because I just had my vehicle on the lift a few days earlier looking it over. I had the one tires shop put in the list of things I needed a new Pitman arm on my S-10 Blazer. Hmmm - I've never heard of the pitman arm going bad. It's solid metal with no bushings. I laughed at the guy! He said "Well you had better get this stuff fixed right away!" I was able to drive that truck for another year and a half before I had to replace any suspension parts.

That crap makes me so mad! I wonder why I feel like I have to do all my own work. I've even heard stories on places charging for work they didn't even do. After all who's getting under the car to see if they really replaced the parts?
 
#29 ·
with any big chain stores you will have things like this.

When I worked at Best Buy they wanted us to push the item that was on sale or one that was being faded out for a newer model. They wanted us to lie and say it was the best when really it was the worst.
 
#31 ·
Since Killerb isn't here to chime in I will tell you one of his stories....(briefly:teehee:)
He use to work at a chain type trans shop. He got sick of how they were ripping people off............hence Rochester Hills "KillerB's Trans and Stuff, I Do It All" shop :d:
 
#38 ·
I wouldn't go THAT far but it is a pretty crappy place.

I've decided to look for another job. I would like to get right out of the automotive world and back into equipment repair. I loved my old job as a traveling equipment mechanic. The people that ran the company were nuts but I was hardly ever at the shop. With the decline of GM and very poor business decisions by the owner (second generation spoiled fucktard), my job pretty much dried up.
 
#80 ·
Uncle Ed's told me that I had the wrong coolant in the focus, and that it would cause engine damage if I didnt change it.


It was the coolant from the factory.

I will never go back.

most places just drill crap like that into a newbie tecks brain...
at valvolin years ago when Cadilacs had aluminum blocks with steel sleeves they had pills to drop in the rad to make it combatible with the steel to aluminum motor and it turned it shit brown and my grandma AND I in the passenger seat ( 18 or 19 year old /gearhead) told her her she needed a flush and the fluid was so bad he was suprised it ran...when she said she just had it changed the last oil change there...teck took off.. meen while grama ranted... manager came back and said it was ok tech messed up I steped out of the can took the manager to the side and said they were going to change it to give my grandma peice of mind or I was going to report them ...they changed it
 
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