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Joe, how has Advance acquiring the Carquest group in hour area changed Carquest operations. Are the stores all still branded as Carquest?

Good one Gonzo. Recently, I had a woman who always fixes everything decline a repair. Unfortunately, she has a new boyfriend and he told her our price was too much. You know how these new boyfriends are always wanting to show there stuff and be the hero. It was a window regulator on a Lincoln Navigator. What this old boy didn't know was the box this regulator comes in is about the size of a 30" flat screen TV and cost $180 from Ford. It takes 2 hours to change. It is not your typical regulator.

That is a cool story. It makes me proud to be a part of this site. I have became acquainted with some really great people here.

I like job supplies. It is better than the Miscellaneous Shop Supplies I have used.

Good to have you join us.

Great new feature!

That would be great if that happens. The consumer and our shops would both benefit in my opinion.

I really need to install a security system.

Glad you are back!

I probably only have a situation where I really NEED a roadforce balancer only 2-3 times a year.

THat sounds like a good deal.

Sorry to disappoint but I do have my serious moments!

Arcelor-Mittal Steel, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO. The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers. On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business. He asked the guy, "How much money do you make a week?" A little surprised, the young man looked at him and said, "I make $400 a week. Why?" The CEO said, "Wait right here." He walked back to his office, came back in two minutes, and handed the guy $1,600 in cash and said, "Here's four weeks' pay. Now GET OUT and don't come back." Feeling pretty good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked, "Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?" From across the room a voice said, "Pizza delivery guy from Domino's."

A group of women were at a seminar on how to live in a loving relationship with your husband. The women were asked, "How many of you love your husband?" All the women raised their hands. Then they were asked, "When was the last time you told your husband you loved him?" Some women answered today, a few yesterday, and some couldn't remember. The women were then told to take out their cell phones and text their husband: "I love you, sweetheart." The women were then told to exchange phones with another person, and to read aloud the text message they received, in response. Here are some of the replies: 1. Who the hell is this? 2. Eh, mother of my children, are you sick or what? 3. Yeah, and I love you too. What's up with you?? 4. What now? Did you crash the car again? 5. I don't understand what you mean? 6. What the f*ck did you do now? 7. ?!? 8. Don't beat about the bush, just tell me how much you need? 9. Am I dreaming? 10. If you don't tell me who this message is actually for, someone will die. 11. I thought we agreed you wouldn't drink during the day. 12. Your mother is coming to stay with us, isn't she??

This is bad for all of us and for the consumer. First, how can anyone know what needs to be done to a car before it enters the shop. How often does the price shopper customer appear at our counters with a diagnosis based upon what a shade tree mechanic, a friend, Autozone, or someone on the internet said and they are wrong. Recently, I had a call from a woman wanting a price on an oil pan gasket and a valve cover on a 4 cylinder 1998 Toyota Camry. Both a tire shop and a quick lube had told her this is what she needs. I told her on the phone that we have rarely ever see an oil pan gasket leaking on this car but we had saw many of them with leaks from the oil pump area behind the timing cover. I convinced her to bring it in for us to check. We degreased the engine and adding dye to the oil. They drove the car one week and brought it back in. We confirmed that it was the oil pump leaking not the oil pan gasket. On a place like Repair Jungle they would have wound up with the lowest price on the requested repair and would still have the oil leak. Higher customer satisfaction? I don't think so. My experience is that the lower the price usually the poorer the workmanship and higher risk that the work will have to be done over. This whole concept pushed the consumer in the wrong direction and further erodes the trust factor between us and our customers.

$10k per month plus is pretty good nut to cover starting out. A guy I know is starting out in Atlanta and is at about $8k.

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A road force balancer for me is something nice to have but not something that I think would pay for itself. That was the same situation I had with a Procut on the car brake lathe. Something that at one time I thought it would be nice to have. However, now days I don't even consider it.

In our town our towing comnpany charges us $40 in tow and we charge the customer $50.

Coats is the only brand I will consider for a changer.

I think you are right. Insubordination is like a cancer. What do they do with cancer? They cut it out so it won't spread further. Then they use either radiation or chemo to kill the growth.

Here in Indiana we get our best results from CraigsList ads. The news paper is worthless and I do not think the Monsters, Career Builders, etc. are effective for techs. We also hire a lot of techs from someone having worked with them elsewhere.

Yes, but a mistake is a one time occurence not something that is repeated over and over again. One can do their best to manage a situation but you also have to be prepared to take action. In the instance that I was referencing in my previous post I did not fire either of the two parties that were the source of the problem but they both quit. The result was that morale improved immediately. When the biggest critique resigned he had the audacity to try to tell me what I needed to do to change things. I basically told him to shut up. He went to a competitor for more money and I was glad to see him go because not only was he a trouble maker but he couldn't produce. He lasted at the place he went less than 3 months and today he works in a factory because he is a "Master Tech" he has the paper but little else. The best advise he could have given me to improve the business would have been to fire him.

If someone is talking about you behind your back the only thing you can do is let them go and the faster the better. I had this situation a few years ago and our morale was terrible until the instigating parties were gone.