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Post the things that really drive you up a wall. I will start.
Mr. drops his second set of wheels off to have winter tires swapped on and then decides when he comes back to have you put them on. You already flagged the job and got paid for it. Now you have to take your place out of line for a new RO with more work to earn a living off of to pull this jackasses car in, for free, and take his old wheels off and put the ones you just put tires on and then pack up the ones you just took off all for free. All the while watching a nice gravy RO go to the guy in line behind you. It’s even worse when you are actually working on a car and have to stop while you are on a good pace to make money to do it.
I also hate when you are working on a car that is paying out 14 hours of work and it’s a Saturday and you need that 14 hours to make a week and you are down to the wire and someone comes in for a waiter oil change that pays 0.3 and 0.3 for a rotate and you end up not finishing the good paying job for a measly 0.6.
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So which finger did they loose? They must have had to work one handed after (I assume you slammed the drawer shut on their hand) trying that.
[quote=”CATFieldMech34″ post=90472]Customer comes in and walks up to my boxes and begins digging though my tools because they need ______________________ for “just a second.”
Fastest way to lose a finger is go through my boxes without asking.[/quote]
OMFG! Please, *DO* tell the rest of that story!
Wait! Wait! Wait! Lemme go get some popcorn first!
A customer came in and was renting from us a Sullair towable air compressor. He backed up too far and ran over/dropped something on the trailer side electrical connector. So I was replacing/rebuilding the wiring connector so he could drive down the road and be “legal.” Simple enough
This is where the digging through my tool box comes in. I never was one of those techs that bought the big fancy Snap On/Mac/Matco/Cornwell/etc. I have two Craftsman rollers and the partnering top chests, plus the tool box built into my service truck. Lets say my pattern for my tools is known only to me, because everything is spread out.
I am looking for the customer to tell him the harness is all fixed and I can’t find him. So I am walking around and looking around and all I can find is the customer’s buddy. He tells me they need to fix something in the dash. SO, I’m thinking whatever we aren’t a car shop do what you want. So I walk back to the my service truck and I look into my shop bay, and there is the customer hands deep in my main box digging through it.
SO I run up to him, and get right in his face and tell him he needs to leave now. He told me he needed a torx screwdriver to take his dash out to replace the gauge cluster lights that burned out. I told him again to get out, when he slowly walked out I went to the boss and told him that the customer is not allowed back near my bay. My boss is cool, he has 39 years in the industry (30 of which as a CAT mechanic).
If they get into my toolbox, I take my battery cable cutters and I aim for the thumbs. 👿
[quote=”CATFieldMech34″ post=90622]A customer came in and was renting from us a Sullair towable air compressor. He backed up too far and ran over/dropped something on the trailer side electrical connector. So I was replacing/rebuilding the wiring connector so he could drive down the road and be “legal.” Simple enough
This is where the digging through my tool box comes in. I never was one of those techs that bought the big fancy Snap On/Mac/Matco/Cornwell/etc. I have two Craftsman rollers and the partnering top chests, plus the tool box built into my service truck. Lets say my pattern for my tools is known only to me, because everything is spread out.
I am looking for the customer to tell him the harness is all fixed and I can’t find him. So I am walking around and looking around and all I can find is the customer’s buddy. He tells me they need to fix something in the dash. SO, I’m thinking whatever we aren’t a car shop do what you want. So I walk back to the my service truck and I look into my shop bay, and there is the customer hands deep in my main box digging through it.
SO I run up to him, and get right in his face and tell him he needs to leave now. He told me he needed a torx screwdriver to take his dash out to replace the gauge cluster lights that burned out. I told him again to get out, when he slowly walked out I went to the boss and told him that the customer is not allowed back near my bay. My boss is cool, he has 39 years in the industry (30 of which as a CAT mechanic).
If they get into my toolbox, I take my battery cable cutters and I aim for the thumbs. :evil:[/quote]
LOL That’s a great story. I don’t have many about people getting into my tools. I guess they all see that MATCO sticker that says something like “Touching my tools may be hazardous to your health.” With a picture of one guy beating another with a wrench.
I know what you mean about your tool layout only making sense to you. I bought my 52″ wide Craftsman roll cab back in Spring 2012. I half-assed the organizational layout during work hours intending to finish later. I still haven’t done it. When I buy new tools, I find room in a drawer and in they go.
I worked with a guy once who had an ancient, home-owner’s sized Snap-On roll away with matching top. He kept all of his SAE stuff in there along with odds and ends that you don’t need anymore. He works out of 3 or 4 service carts now. Plus, he got an 8 foot Harbor Freight steel work bench and put 4 swivel casters on there to use as a mobile bench/parts carrier.
It sucks when that guy sees you walking buy and asks you to hand him one of his tools cause GOD only knows where he keeps it!
[quote=”conorem1″ post=90741]Leaky air hoses that management never manages to replace.[/quote]
While I do agree with you, every place I’ve ever worked has made it the Tech’s job to replace his own air lines, fittings, connections, etc.
“Manager” is an old Native American Indian word that means “Manage to avoid all physical work.”
I say you can keep your management positions. I like wrenchin on stuff. 🙂
I had at one time on one of my boxes a sticker from whichever tool company that read “Lets make a deal, you keep your fingers out my tool box and I’ll keep my fingers out of your wife” It’s long since worn off but if I ever find that sticker I’m going to buy two.
When I started in the industry my tools were all layed out super nice and straight. All my wrenches were in size order and doubles were placed next to each other. My sockets were all in their proper drawers. Now everything goes back into the drawer. Nothing is organized anymore. I am always running around I don’t have time to place them out. The only thing I take the time on with them is cleaning them.
Ah. I’m pretty new to the field so I’m still earning lol. I wasn’t the only one who used my bay since I was only part time since I’m going to school to. So I figured it was something they’d get with ther other little things they’ve given us.
I can not agree with your father anymore. I am a lube tech for Nissan and my god when those oil change tire rotations come in with the wheel locks, I swear to you I cuss like crazy.
I don’t know if anyone else here has this but I am getting more of people wanting me to price match parts/tires off of the Internet. There is no way I can match Tire Racks price for tires when their selling price is lower than my buying price.
My part suppliers are wondering why I don’t call them like I used to and I have to tell them that customers are bringing in their own parts (cheap import POS parts). Then the people complain to me when their dime store parts don’t last.
I just thought of this one
Trying to Align a truck with a lift kit installed on it.
I actually had a guy want me to align his truck with only the front end of a lift kit installed telling me he will install the rear later. I told him to come back when it was done then I will align it.
Or the guy I had who had me align his truck then later he put a lift kit on it with monster tires came back months later to complain that his tires were shot because I did a bad job on his truck.
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