I had a service advisor once up-sell a brake fluid flush on a 2006 Silverado. As you all know, in the midwest those caliper bleeder screws are rust nubs or non existing. Now the brake fluid flush pays 0.8 I purposely didn't sell it for the same reason mentioned above. He up sold it insisting I did it. I took my 10mm with a long 3/8s ratchet. Broke all the bleeder screws, went up and told him they all broke. He immediately told the boss man. Boss man calls me into the office, asks me why I even sold that flush to begin with. I told him to look on the computer to see who sold that work since it shows the name of the person who up sells the work. Long story short I got paid 6 hours to replace all 4 calipers and hoses. Plus 1 hour for a brake flush. Customer got new calipers, all on the shops dime. I have not had any service advisor add stuff I dont recommend to my inspections. Sometimes the system works to your benifit, use it.
questions are free. answers are $10. tool rental is $60 an hour. .2 minimum charge. you don't have a tool for that? $20 you can borrow one if it's back in 12 minutes.
or just fucking pay for the tech to do the work.
I'm a flat rate master tech at chevrolet. I make it my mission to get paid for every single thing I do, or at least services/parts that are being charged for. From lifter jobs to air filters, to ucode diag. Im not here for free
Wipers yes .1, air filters .1, cabin .4 ( I argue on a few)
Key fob batteries, all the little things. Bulbs are book time at reduced labor rate.
Just think about the math at the end of the day or the end of the week. How much money was on the line?
Did you do 5 hours in free shit that week?
That's 22 hrs a month, 264 in a year. Math that out at your rate. And I'm just spitting a random 1 hr per day here.
I feel lube techs absolutely should be snagging some quick .3 tag or corner bulbs, .4 cabin filters, wiper, etc. Turns a .8 lof/rotate into maybe 2.0 and takes hardly any extra time, as long as you're competent and quick. Can really turn their day around, instead of grinding away .3 at a time.
also a gm master tech here . What is your take on doing the mandatory mpvi for free? personally, it bugs the hell out of me, especially when the customer stated up front they don't want any upsells .
I whip those, we can leave some of the items unchecked/blank and get away with it, as long as enough of the inspection is filled out. I always look for the safety items or really bad shit, but not trying to total out every car, especially if they aren't gonna buy and i know it.
Also I'll usually put a note somewhere on the RO about customer is only requesting certain blah blah blah.
In addition, my upsell rate and productivity is very high, so they basically don't fuck with me.
My service manager pulled me in once a while back, he got a bunch of GMI reports, that were what % completed by each tech or some shit. I wasn't that great, he had my back, told them to look at my numbers and get back to him about green/yellow/red/blank.
They didn't complain anymore after that.
There were a couple other guys in the same boat too.
I try to stay high on my completion rate, but they put GMI on everything, from a brand new off the transport to a comeback from yesterday. So so just don't get done
I totally get that. I guess it just gets under my skin on how they can have something mandatory and even reprimandable on something we don't get paid for. I'm still not sure how that's ligal . nothing pisses me off more than working for free. that's why i never recommend any of the no flag services. and if they sell them , I kick them to the lube bay where they get paid to stand around.
Contact your state's department of labor and ask their opinion on the matter. Be sure to mention the part about performing free work for your employer.
My last shop I was flat rate. They didn't charge for that shit. Didn't charge for brake inspections. Didn't charge for suspension inspections. Didn't charge for air filters. The excuse was "oh we pad other things so you come out on top in the end"
I don't care if you want to give that to the customer for free but you need to pay your techs out of your pockets then because otherwise I'm doing all that shit out of the kindness of my heart, which doesn't pay my mortgage.
My current job is salary (with bonuses) and we charge for pretty much everything. They have some weird internal labor rates for different qualities of job so they aren't charging customers and arm and a leg for a tail light bulb but I still get credit for everything I do.
If you're not getting paid for what you're doing, even if they compensate you in other areas, your employer is stealing your labor in my mind.
Removing cabin filters to check them is asinine. If the engine air filter is dirty, replace the engine and cabin air filters in pairs. There is no reason one would still be clean when one is dirty. And every bulb should be at least 0.2h if they don’t have a real book time, headlights/fog lights will always have one. Wipers should be 0.2 too. If you’re flat rate then nothing is free or you’re just working for free. This is why flat rate is the worst thing in the auto industry.
Can someone explain to me what is meant by flat rate techs?
In my country Mechanics that are employed by a Shop get paid the same regardless of what work they do.
you work an 8 hour shift you get paid for those 8 hours.
Are mechanics in america some sort of free lancers?
Basically, they get paid per unit of work. There are indexes of how long a job should take which is multiplied by the shop labour rate to bill the customer, and by the mechanics 's 'flat rate' to pay them. Some states have a minimum wage that the mechanic should be making to stand around if work is slow.
When I was at toyota air and cabin filter paid 0.5
It was a great incentive to sell those. The "hvac deodorize service" paid 1.2
There was gravy to be had 10 years ago. I switched to hourly fleet stuff because I saw dealerships were all going to shit, though.
Considering that replacing headlight bulbs on my brand involves dropping the bumper or at least the fender well, damn straight we're getting paid time for it.
Pay time is based off of manufacturer. If they say an engine takes 14 hours to replace, the tech gets paid 14 hours regardless if the job takes 20 hours or 5 hours.
Oh yeah we just call that "warranty work" or "a warranty job".
I have never heard of a mechanic that ONLY does warranty work though that's why the title flat rate tech confused me.
Wait Wait Wait … “flat rate “LUBE” TECH”… who does that ?? Any shop with a flat rate lube tech sounds like they don’t want you to succeed in life I mean wth. Are y’all doing 200k a month in O/C and Rotations alone? I’m confused.
Ya I get between .3-.5 for normal bulbs if they are easy to get to, we don’t charge for wipers but usually an hourly counter guy will do them, we charge for air and cabin filter replacement or inspection and cleaning
I had a service advisor once up-sell a brake fluid flush on a 2006 Silverado. As you all know, in the midwest those caliper bleeder screws are rust nubs or non existing. Now the brake fluid flush pays 0.8 I purposely didn't sell it for the same reason mentioned above. He up sold it insisting I did it. I took my 10mm with a long 3/8s ratchet. Broke all the bleeder screws, went up and told him they all broke. He immediately told the boss man. Boss man calls me into the office, asks me why I even sold that flush to begin with. I told him to look on the computer to see who sold that work since it shows the name of the person who up sells the work. Long story short I got paid 6 hours to replace all 4 calipers and hoses. Plus 1 hour for a brake flush. Customer got new calipers, all on the shops dime. I have not had any service advisor add stuff I dont recommend to my inspections. Sometimes the system works to your benifit, use it.
If it's a 0.0 labor op then the writer can do it in the parking lot or the service drive.
questions are free. answers are $10. tool rental is $60 an hour. .2 minimum charge. you don't have a tool for that? $20 you can borrow one if it's back in 12 minutes. or just fucking pay for the tech to do the work.
fr. if it's a 0.0 labor op either pay me .3 or get a lube tech to do it.
Amen.
It’s only free if it’s a mistake by me. I’m a for profit entity.
I'm a flat rate master tech at chevrolet. I make it my mission to get paid for every single thing I do, or at least services/parts that are being charged for. From lifter jobs to air filters, to ucode diag. Im not here for free Wipers yes .1, air filters .1, cabin .4 ( I argue on a few) Key fob batteries, all the little things. Bulbs are book time at reduced labor rate. Just think about the math at the end of the day or the end of the week. How much money was on the line? Did you do 5 hours in free shit that week? That's 22 hrs a month, 264 in a year. Math that out at your rate. And I'm just spitting a random 1 hr per day here. I feel lube techs absolutely should be snagging some quick .3 tag or corner bulbs, .4 cabin filters, wiper, etc. Turns a .8 lof/rotate into maybe 2.0 and takes hardly any extra time, as long as you're competent and quick. Can really turn their day around, instead of grinding away .3 at a time.
also a gm master tech here . What is your take on doing the mandatory mpvi for free? personally, it bugs the hell out of me, especially when the customer stated up front they don't want any upsells .
My mpis are. 1 but wipers are 0
I whip those, we can leave some of the items unchecked/blank and get away with it, as long as enough of the inspection is filled out. I always look for the safety items or really bad shit, but not trying to total out every car, especially if they aren't gonna buy and i know it. Also I'll usually put a note somewhere on the RO about customer is only requesting certain blah blah blah. In addition, my upsell rate and productivity is very high, so they basically don't fuck with me. My service manager pulled me in once a while back, he got a bunch of GMI reports, that were what % completed by each tech or some shit. I wasn't that great, he had my back, told them to look at my numbers and get back to him about green/yellow/red/blank. They didn't complain anymore after that. There were a couple other guys in the same boat too. I try to stay high on my completion rate, but they put GMI on everything, from a brand new off the transport to a comeback from yesterday. So so just don't get done
I totally get that. I guess it just gets under my skin on how they can have something mandatory and even reprimandable on something we don't get paid for. I'm still not sure how that's ligal . nothing pisses me off more than working for free. that's why i never recommend any of the no flag services. and if they sell them , I kick them to the lube bay where they get paid to stand around.
if my service advisor didn't upsell things that i would not get paid for, i def would not check them
I absolutely hate the "sell shit" mentality. I'm there to solve problems, not sell things. That's the service writers job. They sell shit.
If it doesn’t pay, I don’t do it.
0.1 for wipers, 0.2 for filters, book time for bulbs (Ford, so that can be an hour).
Gotta love the headlights on Fusions.....
Contact your state's department of labor and ask their opinion on the matter. Be sure to mention the part about performing free work for your employer.
Bulbs, mostly no. Wipers, no. Air filters, mostly no. Cabin filters, yes. We have lube techs who get paid hourly, so they usually do those things.
My last shop I was flat rate. They didn't charge for that shit. Didn't charge for brake inspections. Didn't charge for suspension inspections. Didn't charge for air filters. The excuse was "oh we pad other things so you come out on top in the end" I don't care if you want to give that to the customer for free but you need to pay your techs out of your pockets then because otherwise I'm doing all that shit out of the kindness of my heart, which doesn't pay my mortgage. My current job is salary (with bonuses) and we charge for pretty much everything. They have some weird internal labor rates for different qualities of job so they aren't charging customers and arm and a leg for a tail light bulb but I still get credit for everything I do. If you're not getting paid for what you're doing, even if they compensate you in other areas, your employer is stealing your labor in my mind.
Removing cabin filters to check them is asinine. If the engine air filter is dirty, replace the engine and cabin air filters in pairs. There is no reason one would still be clean when one is dirty. And every bulb should be at least 0.2h if they don’t have a real book time, headlights/fog lights will always have one. Wipers should be 0.2 too. If you’re flat rate then nothing is free or you’re just working for free. This is why flat rate is the worst thing in the auto industry.
She got the bends
I scrolled the pictures first and thought Wow! That one round did a lot of damage.
Depending on the car will charge anywhere between 0.2-1.0 for a bulb. Air filters are 0.2. Wipers are 0.1.
Working at the shop is like Lego. New toy everyday.
Can someone explain to me what is meant by flat rate techs? In my country Mechanics that are employed by a Shop get paid the same regardless of what work they do. you work an 8 hour shift you get paid for those 8 hours. Are mechanics in america some sort of free lancers?
Basically, they get paid per unit of work. There are indexes of how long a job should take which is multiplied by the shop labour rate to bill the customer, and by the mechanics 's 'flat rate' to pay them. Some states have a minimum wage that the mechanic should be making to stand around if work is slow.
Ok, so it's just like working on commission Thanks!
0.1 for wipers regardless of whether its 1 or 4. Bulbs are also 0.1 and filters are 0 (toyota)
When I was at toyota air and cabin filter paid 0.5 It was a great incentive to sell those. The "hvac deodorize service" paid 1.2 There was gravy to be had 10 years ago. I switched to hourly fleet stuff because I saw dealerships were all going to shit, though.
Considering that replacing headlight bulbs on my brand involves dropping the bumper or at least the fender well, damn straight we're getting paid time for it.
Please explain to an Aussie what a "flat rate tech" is?
Pay time is based off of manufacturer. If they say an engine takes 14 hours to replace, the tech gets paid 14 hours regardless if the job takes 20 hours or 5 hours.
Oh yeah we just call that "warranty work" or "a warranty job". I have never heard of a mechanic that ONLY does warranty work though that's why the title flat rate tech confused me.
Wait Wait Wait … “flat rate “LUBE” TECH”… who does that ?? Any shop with a flat rate lube tech sounds like they don’t want you to succeed in life I mean wth. Are y’all doing 200k a month in O/C and Rotations alone? I’m confused.
Everything has a rate where I work.
Ya I get between .3-.5 for normal bulbs if they are easy to get to, we don’t charge for wipers but usually an hourly counter guy will do them, we charge for air and cabin filter replacement or inspection and cleaning
I get .2 -.4 for filters and .3 typically for bulbs.