Brad Clayton Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 What is this topic you ask? It's kinda like teen pure pressure in high school situations. You wouldn't think it could happen with grown men in a work enviroment where people are trying to turn out a service and provide for there familys. But it does and it can be an ackward situation for young techs. They can fall victims to older techs who tend to intimidate and or bully. This might sound crazy but I have been thru it myself and saw it firsthand again just the other day. Can't remember the exact situation. An older "tech" we'll call him tech A, comes over to nose around in tech B's business. Keep in mind he wasn't over to chit chat about sports or things such as that, he came over purely to see if tech B was making more money than him or doing something that might go against the grain. Side note: I am the one that bucks all the trends in the shop. You want to see some strange stuff going on, come over to my bay. Now tech B is distracted and completely stops working and doesn't want to continue until tech A leaves. He listenes to what tech A has to say which is completely wrong. His unwarranted advise goes against the shop manual and is about as backyard fuckin' shortcut shit as I have ever heard. The problem here is alot of young people grew up learning to respect their elders. Unfortunately this situation requires the tech to tell the old fart to take a fuckin' hike. And not wanting to do this he is now left with this horrible advise in front on him. For a young impressionable mind this can be very bad for this and future situations. It can lead to a negative trend toward future repairs and a whole different atitude when around tech A. Luckily I am not one of the tech A's. I saw what was going on and put my presence in the situation and tech A wandered off. I then instructed tech B to disregard his advise. So advise given, "Thank you for your input tech A, but this is my first time doing this job and I am going to go by the book on this one". Believe it or not I still get badgered by these types. "what are you doing and why are you doing it that way". Of course I am older and don't care about most poeples delicate feelings. So I say "because I want the job done right, now get the fuck outa my face, BIOTCH". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Yep. You see it all the time and as a foreman/team leader it is something I must deal with on occasion or at least pay attention to and monitor. I currently have a young tech on my team that I am impressed with in that he has natural ability AND he sticks his nose in the manual most of the time as needed. I also have a "tech A." When "tech A" is near I need to watch with care as many of his methods and "shortcuts" have proven disastrous - repeatedly. I am fairly confident that "tech B" has identified "tech A's" flaws and sees the bigger picture. I have his back. We also need to make sure that we don't over police our coworkers as well. You need to see guys that work together - working together - identifying that fine line between being helpful and being distractive (destructive) is important. My new approach in life is to find the good in people and not emphasize the bad in them and I have been applying that to my profession too. Therefore I encourage "tech A" to be helpful when necessary as I do any of my coworkers. If a shop full of guys cant work as a team they are destined to struggle in finding success. I just need to be aware of potential problems before damage control is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shlep Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Yeah I see it everyday, I have one guy that wanders around telling people that they're doing it all wrong, and in reality he can't fix anything on his own.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Since we have, every one of us, a common goal (or we should have), this question <should> be considered very strange.... However, human nature and society being what it is, there ain't nothin' strange.... Our ultimate goal is (or should be) satisfied customers... we identified and repaired their concern in a timely manner, for the amount quoted (for warranty purposes, Ford will be one of our customers) and without leaving a trial of destruction in our wake. Trail of destruction... dirt on the steering wheel and door handles - shit on the seats, the radio turned to some idiotic station and the volume cranked high... the repair process is traumatic and frustrating for the customer.... and here we are - fucking with his personal shit.... Without customers, we are nothing and we will have nothing.... if the guy in the next bay is busy doing his best to rape the customer... you will be known as a rapist - simply by association... It is never "that" asshole at Ford.... it is ALWAYS "those assholes" at Ford... the Stealership, remember? Where I live, we have what they call "neighbourhood watch"... If we see something that ain't right, we call the cops... We pray like hell that, if we aren't home and the neighbour sees something that ain't right, that HE will call the cops.... So.... here I am at work.... and I see something that ain't right.... Do I shut the fuck up? If the customer is unappreciative, the "best" that will happen is that we will never see him again (hmmm, somehow I think this isn't real profitable)... the worst that can happen is that he will get loud and in the "right" face... and if I allowed bad shit to happen while remaining silent... well - I'm the author of my own doom... Peer pressure... are any of us going to sell our soul for something we see as wrong? Or can we stand up as men among men and demand that our associates show a true measure of honesty and integrity? Peer pressure.... this is something that works two ways.... It is the "alpha male" that exerts the peer pressure.... We are left with an obvious choice... we can either be the alpha male... or we can let someone else be the alpha male.... WANNA DISCUSS IT????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Yeah I see it everyday, I have one guy that wanders around telling people that they're doing it all wrong, and in reality he can't fix anything on his own.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabfoes87 Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 So I say "because I want the job done right, now get the fuck outa my face, BIOTCH". Ya Brad that pretty much sounds like you. All gangsta and thug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 Wow, I didn't even realize I used the word "pure" instead of "peer". Funny how the mind of a simpleton works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchan68 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Kinda reminds me of a situation where a 2003 Thunderbird (The "two-door Lincoln LS" version for those of you who aren't in the know") was brought in for regular maintenance (one of which included a coolant flush). The said "tech" completed the service, and as he was driving the vehicle out of the shop, I saw a blood trail of coolant following the vehicle as he drove it out. I then heard the cooling starting the scream its lungs out as he drove it out as well. As he walked back into the shop I pointed this out to him, and he ignored me. Later on, I walked into the service area and asked which one of the three advisors was the one involved with this vehicle, at which point I reported my observations. Later on in the day, the vehicle was parked up against a fence, with the front fascia pressing into the fence hard enough to put scratches on the fascia. When I noticed this, I reported this to another advisor to pass onto my SM the next day. I figured that this regular customer was NOT someone that our service department should want to piss off, by having his vehicle returned to him with scratches that weren't there before (along with a coolant leak that wasn't there before too?). The next day, I get "confronted" by this tech completely denying any wrong doing. To add insult to injury, he goes on to accuse ME of driving a truck into the shop and accidently "pushing into the back of this car into the fence" (He knows that I'm the only tech at our shop that works on "diesels")!!! That day, I heard other techs in the shop referring to me as a "rat". This by the way, was the same tech referred to in paragraph #3 of this thread: http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=17904#Post17904 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabfoes87 Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Hey Brad, about tech c and d. Whistlen dixie and noisy Nancy. Hahah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasgasman Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 We have a tech that severly over charges customers. He did an ignition coil recall on a Lincoln LS. Then charges the customer 4 hours for a tune-up{saw this on vehicle's repair history}.I brought this up to management and nothing came of it. Same tech got an additional 9.9 hrs M-Time to pull the cab on a 6.4L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixturbosix Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I think about the situations described in this thread all the time.I often wander if techs were not on flatrate and paid a good salary would they do a better job repairing vehicles or would they just fuck off and pull a pay check.Or,if the labor times were better on warranty or cp would a flatrate tech take his time and do a better more thorouh job.The answer I see is the lazy greedy techs will always hack and claim more time than they should no matter how they are paid and the respectable hard working techs will go the extra mile to make sure a customer is happy even if they are losing money on a job.What it all boils down to for me is RESPECT because without this you are nothing and these guys will never know what it feels like to have a customer come in and say.I heard you are the best around and I would like for you to work on my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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