spencersauto

We are using go payment from quick books. 1.6%, 25cents per transaction and 19.95 per month. No hidden fees, deposits within two days and fees are dedcuted at same time as deposit.

Thanks for all the comments and advice. We decided to give him two days off for the insubordination and told him if he wanted to continue to be apart of our team come back Monday with a new attitude ready to follow our policies and procedures. We also told him with the fresh start he would need to take a drug test to return. He quit on the spot after telling him that. Guess everything happens for a reason.

We recently started doing courtesy inspections through bolt on technology. I have one technician that is being very resistant to writing any vehicles up for any maintenance or problems as he feels we shouldn't be pressuring the customer. Today we had one come in from Goodyear that they recommended upper and lower ball joint's. I asked him to check it out and to complete the multi point inspection. On the multi point he indicated that there were no problems with the ball joints. I had the owner recheck and he found the ball joints had significant play present. The owner was quite frustrated as this was $1500 that we could have potential he lost had he not rechecked him. The technician that originally came and checked it out came to me and asked why the owner was being such a dick. based on his resistance to completing the courtesy inspections, not knowing what he's checking out (has recommended fuel filters and timing belts when the car doesn't have one) and hey I'm calling the owner a dick I feel it made to be time to let this employee go. Should I write him up for insubordination or just cut ties with him?

Who are you using for digital inspections? Likes/dislkes? Cost to setup and monthly cost?

We are considering mobil manager pro with bolt on to use the digital inspections on tablets? I wanted to know the pro's and con's you have seen from using the service? Cost to setup plus monthly cost? Is it worth it, has your RO increased enough to cover the cost associated with implementing the program? Is it functional for those who aren't very technical savvy?

What's your houlr labor rate and where are you located? We're currently at $95 in Texas

We use synchrony as well and I've never had any issues. When someone asks about paying us out this is always what I use to supply them with an option.

We pay .25 for oil changes

Could we do $1400-1500 a week yes, but I also don't want to be overpaying. I know there is a scale out there what lead technicians are being paid and I want to see what that range is.

I'm currently looking to hire a new lead technician and would like to find out what your paying your lead technicians. We are in a small town, population around 4,000. 4 bay shop with one lead tech and one c tech. My lead is leaving after 15 years because his wife is changing jobs. He's been with us since we opened . He's currently being paid $1100 a week salary and averages 40 hours per week. My c tech has been with me 10 months and is paid $13 per hour. Ive got one that applied asking for $35 a flag hour and another $1500 a week. Either I'm under paying or these guys are crazy. Would also like to know if you pay per flag hour, working hour, salary, or hourly plus commission.

I would really like to go, but will have to decide as the date gets closer.

I have one I can send if you want to let me know your email address

Oh and it was for one day, however he's going to have to go again in June.

Thank you all for your replies. I have nothing in my handbook about jury duty so I wanted to check. This particular employee wasn't going to court for jury duty but to testify in a case as a character witness.

Do you pay your employees for your jury duty? Or if they are called to court as a witness to a case?

http://www.spencersautorepair.com/mobile/

Thank you for the replies. Everyone seems to be in line with what we have done in the past.

I've had a few that werent worth filing a mechanics lien and called a local wrecking yard to pick them up as abandoned vehicles and they handled they paperwork. The ones that were worth it we filed mechanics liens and sold the vehicles. We have it posted that any vehicle left over 2 days afer completed repair a $25 per day storage fees applies and after 30 the vehicle is considered abandoned.

How many of you give Christmas bonuses and if so how much?

Well said ncautoshop. Both my lead tech and the one I just terminated are making close to what I do. By no means are we greedy! Like the other post said if you don't like the pay try starting your own shop and then you can see what we're up against.

The employee was paid $16 per hour for attendance and an additional $10 per flag hour. He's been written up twice in the last 90 days. Unfortunately I let him go shortly after this post. He misdiagnosed a blend door and it was a heater core and after all that he failed to let me know the temp. gauge wasn't working. We do not offer health insurance, 23 do supply all tools and scanners, and no saturdays. We also have bonus programs for record months. In regards to having a nice home I in fact do, and I work hard for it. This individual could have had to same if he was willing to work for it, but he wasn't.

I am frequently faced with the dilemna of pay. I don't want to low ball someone when hiring, but on the other hand I don't want to over pay either. I am currently in a hard spot on what to do with an employee who I feel is making too much based on his skill set. He is very weak in his diagnosing skills, but is a good parts changer. He's not honestly much better than my lube technician who is making $13 an hour. Tech B is making $16 per hour and $10 a flag hour. On average this is coming out to $22 per hour. I decided 90 days ago to put him on probation for violating state inspection procedures, some shop policies and because he was not meeting the expectations of the job description. Well the 90 days is up. He misdiagnosed a blend door problem yesterday which was a heater core restricted (cooling 101 in my mind), he's since lost his inspection license because he didn't followup with the state on the ticket he received, and he is not running the 35 hours a week I expect him to. The shop is average 80-90 hours per week so the hours are there, but he just isn't running them. Plus, I feel like I have to babysit him on making sure he is doing his job. I did put an ad out to get feelers and we had no one qualified enough apply. So do I let him stay based on he does do clean work, but at a slow pace and cut his pay or just cut my losses and can him now. spencersauto 25 Club: Starting Contributor Posts: 38 Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:42 am

We charge $25.00 per day after the 2nd day of completed repairs. I have only had to enforce once and I did collect. Every customers know the amount and the length of time we will need before the repairs are completed. With that being said I usually will give a couple of days, but if they tell me it's going to be more than that then I inform them of the storage fee.

Thank you all for your replies. To top it off this morning his inspector license was revoked for not handling a ticket he was issued earlier this year. The scales are about even when I weigh risk vs reward. It's very hard to find good techs in the town were in. My lead tech is leaving in April due to his wife's job relocating.

I have a tech whose been with me a year. He's been written up twice in the last 90 days. He is currently on a 90 day probation For not following shop policies and procedures such as cell phone use and not performing his duties as assigned in the employee handbook. He had eight years experience with Mazda and I was aware when I hired him there would be a slight were learning curve coming from the dealership to independent. Well were year into it and we seem to still be at point a. He has only run 40 hours one week of the 52 weeks he's been with us. He lacks at diagnosing even the simplest things such as a noise or coolant leak are difficult for him to diagnose. Last week he wrote a vehicle up to replace the transmission. He replaced the transmission and the vehicle is still doing the same thing. My lead technician had to step in and show him the proper steps to diagnosing the vehicle . It very well could have needed the transmission but it needs a pcm as well. Now I'm stuck holding the bill. My dilemma is my lead tech will be leaving in April I'm very concerned that this technician will not be able to handle diagnosing without direction from my lead tech. Question to all of you is do I cut my losses now or continue on with trying to lead the tech in the right direction?