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So I was having a conversation with my coworker on Thursday and the topic of school came up. I mentioned I get financial aid for school and my coworker went off on me calling me a “system sucking lowlife” among other things. I had only been at this shop a month. The next day he continues by saying “I can’t believe you had the nerve to f&&$$ even show up today, your a piece of s$&@ and don’t deserve this job” I went and told the boss what was going on and two hours later I got fired. Just earlier that day my boss was giving me a pat on the back saying how good I was doing. He took the side of my coworker to make him happy because he’s been at this shop for 18 years
This is such bs!! I’m so lucky my snap on guy was willing to take back the tool cart and another Item I got on my truck account. I’m also glad I put my payment to soc at 16$ a week.. Otherwise I’d be screwed. I still owe 2500$ on my principle.
I think I’m done with this career.. It’s impossible to find a reputable shop that A: is willing to be fair to all employees B: a shop where there isn’t some 40 year veteran making the new guy feel like a dumbass all the time and C: to take the time to allow a new employee get in the groove of things.
This really sucks… I spent years in school for this and spent thousands on tools, took my ASE’s and even bled for it!!! I just don’t have the experience of a 40 year vet so shops look at me like there’s 10 more like you lined up at the door.
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[quote=”1979volvo244″ post=133203]So I was having a conversation with my coworker on Thursday and the topic of school came up. I mentioned I get financial aid for school and my coworker went off on me calling me a “system sucking lowlife” among other things. I had only been at this shop a month. The next day he continues by saying “I can’t believe you had the nerve to f&&$$ even show up today, your a piece of s$&@ and don’t deserve this job” I went and told the boss what was going on and two hours later I got fired. Just earlier that day my boss was giving me a pat on the back saying how good I was doing. He took the side of my coworker to make him happy because he’s been at this shop for 18 years
This is such bs!! I’m so lucky my snap on guy was willing to take back the tool cart and another Item I got on my truck account. I’m also glad I put my payment to soc at 16$ a week.. Otherwise I’d be screwed. I still owe 2500$ on my principle.
I think I’m done with this career.. It’s impossible to find a reputable shop that A: is willing to be fair to all employees B: a shop where there isn’t some 40 year veteran making the new guy feel like a dumbass all the time and C: to take the time to allow a new employee get in the groove of things.
This really sucks… I spent years in school for this and spent thousands on tools, took my ASE’s and even bled for it!!! I just don’t have the experience of a 40 year vet so shops look at me like there’s 10 more like you lined up at the door.[/quote]
I feel sorry for you man, I’ve never been fired but due to my previous trade there were times where I spent months without any work. It’s a debilitating feeling. For you though there is hope — you have the tools, you have the qualifications, I’m confident that you can, and you will find work in another shop to work in. There is an old saying even a newbie like me knows “our boxes have wheels for a reason”. I’ve known technicians who have found themselves in the same situation as you only to be rehired in a week or two, including the infamous individual at my work that has been fired and rehired a grand total of three times!That being said, this field definitely isn’t for everybody, even I as a lowly lube tech know that. Politics always play a huge role in the way most shops operate — though politics DO play a role in almost every job you work. You have to decide whether or not its right for you. As you said though, you already have a lot of money, and certainly time invested in auto repair. Just know that riding the new guy always seems to happen with any skilled tradesman I’ve worked with when I was a painter. It was really a right of passage to get your balls busted.
But yeah, politics do seem to play a bigger part in this job than most. I think a good rule of thumb is to mind your own business, and get a good feel for the people that you work with before you start talking much. I know I tried to see who the managers favorites were, and I tried to find out if there was anybody related to the manager, or business owner when I first started. I tried to find out their likes, and dislikes, I tried to make note of what these individuals disliked, liked, etc. I have a notebook where I kept all of this information and I studied it. Messing with the wrong person, no matter who they are can have sad consequences, nepotism is alive and well in this industry.
Somebody that I worked with did not pay attention to the shop dynamics, and I’m expecting him to be canned in the near future. The manager is having him do meager work. He hardly works in the shop, and his hours have been cut dramatically. This all happened because he got in an altercation with one of the shop owners favorite employees (though to be fair my coworker was totally at fault).
Basically what I’m trying to say is that playing politics sucks, and it definitely is not something everyone can put up with, certainly not for YEARS. I would give it another try as you have the tools, and certifications and the time invested. It may be something that you can thrive in, and some people do. Good luck you Volvo, sorry for my ranting.
That co-worker is a disgusting POS and I have to suspect that the co-worker may have enhanced anything they said to the boss by piling on some lies. Maybe this co-worker had heard some good things about you and felt threatened. In a shop setting there’s a lot of politics and egos involved.
Financial aid for school? So what; that’s none of the co-worker’s dxxxxx business unless he’s the one having to pay it back. Moron.
On the positive side it sounds like you’re qualified and could find another job easily. I’ve gotten the axe few times and through no fault of my own. When some BS is being piled on and management gets called out on it their options are to admit it and fix the problem or shoot the messenger. Shooting the messenger is generally the easiest way out…….
[quote=”Bluesnut” post=133210]That co-worker is a disgusting POS and I have to suspect that the co-worker may have enhanced anything they said to the boss by piling on some lies. Maybe this co-worker had heard some good things about you and felt threatened. In a shop setting there’s a lot of politics and egos involved.
Financial aid for school? So what; that’s none of the co-worker’s dxxxxx business unless he’s the one having to pay it back. Moron.
On the positive side it sounds like you’re qualified and could find another job easily. I’ve gotten the axe few times and through no fault of my own. When some BS is being piled on and management gets called out on it their options are to admit it and fix the problem or shoot the messenger. Shooting the messenger is generally the easiest way out…….[/quote]
From what I’ve seen my manager always seems to side with the person with more experience, or the person that has a noted skillset that is rare. From what I’ve seen some of the older timers at my work also seem to look down at the people that went to trade school in general, especially if they are newer. Is that common in the rest of the field?Dude, it feels shitty, but it’s a blessing in disguise. Not every shop is full of assholes, which this ex-coworker of yours obviously is. Better to move on sooner than later. The longer you’re at a job, the more difficult a separation can be. Don’t just give up on your career over this. I’ve worked in multiple dealers where the old guys are happy to help any young guy that’s brought on, as long as he’s happy to listen and take their advice.
I spent 7 years trying to find a factory or desk job without an education that would pay a man’s living, but I couldn’t. This was the only line of work I could get into that leads to 50k/yr and $20/hr +/- as long as you progress normally. You do not have to be exceptional to make those numbers, you just have to be able to get work done ‘properly’ (so it stays fixed) and rise to the lever expected by your employer.
An example. Working a Kia and Suzuki as an A tech, they just replace transmissions as a unit. Working at Mitsubishi as an A tech, all warranty unit failures are torn down and the failed parts only are replaced. Both places I was an A tech with the same pay grade. There’s a few dollars/hr difference between them all, but it’s always similar ‘A level pay’ even though one manufacturer may test your abilities at a tech far more than another.
I’ll get back to this rant later, but in the meantime get your job hunt underway so you can see the color of the grass in a few different places!
I agree; they’re not all like that. It also seems that every shop has one or two mechanics who have been there a while and think they own 51% of the operation. The best thing to do is keep to yourself and do your job but remain cordially polite to anyone there.
It won’t take long to determine who the backstabbing weasels are and you’ve already rooted out one…….. 🙂Those are to be avoided like the plague.
A story about a dealer where I got canned. They carried multiple lines of new cars and I was the go-to guy on one of the Euro lines
Over a month’s time it seemed to have gotten to the point where we had to order almost every part we needed and being on flat rate this was really putting the hurt on me with shoving cars in and out and waiting…….and waiting,…….and waiting…..One day I bring the New Car Sales Manager’s new demonstrator in for an oil change, get the oil draining, and ditch the filter into the bin.
At the parts counter I find that we have no oil filters in stock. The parts manager then clued me in that all parts orders for that line of cars had been stopped per the owner. My orders then were to dig the old filter out of the bin and reuse it. So; dirty filter, new oil, pathetic way of doing something.The New Car Sales Manager was not aware of this and he was as hot as I was. I go up front and ask to be taken off of that line of cars and devoted fully to another line. (I was familiar with the other lines so not an issue.) It was “taken under advisement”.
A couple of weeks later I took my due vacation and came back to find they had canned me while on vacation.
The New Car Sales Manager left not long afterwards. Imagine trying to sell a line of cars and promising service after the sale…..
I would imaging that he got ripped into a lot by customers after being told there were not filters, spark plugs, brake pads, etc. to be had; franchised dealer or not.2 things I want you to know about the job I’m at now.
First is that my shop is unusually difficult to make hours in because of extreme inefficiency that nobody in charge will properly address. It’s absolutely maddening to work flat-rate here, and kids that come in here as their first dealer job have been ruined by us once they go flat-rate for the first time in their lives. They haven’t been around, and think everyplace is like this. I try to tell them it’s not, but their morale get crushed and a couple of them have quit this career because of working here even after going thru tech school.
Second is that I’ve been here almost 5 years, and there are 2 other techs who have been here longer. They never treated my like you were treated when I was new, and we have never treated any tech that has been thru here since like that, no matter what their experience is. Considering that every tech here spends at least half of every day severely pissed off, we still manage to be very nice to each other.
Just based on your post, firing you was way overboard in my opinion. Don’t give up. Not all shops have stuck up techs. Ive worked at a lot of shops in my 25+ year career and now own my own shop.
Couple things… First you have to have thick skin to work in this business. There is a lot of ball busting that goes on at shops. Its just a thing. It has always been. The key is to be able to take as much as you dish out. If you cant take ball busting then you will never be ok working anywhere really. Its just part of the business. Don’t be afraid to ball bust back. Some guys love to dish it out, but cant take it in return. Don’t be one of those guys. Also don’t be the guy that sits there and takes it but doesn’t dish it back.
Sometimes you have to ignore the ego heads and the guys that feel they own the place when they don’t. I would keep personal life out of shop talk until you have been there long enough to know who is who.
Shop owners will usually take the side of the 18 year vet. The reason is because its hard enough to find good technicians…its also hard to keep them. Like I said earlier… you shouldn’t have been fired, but if it comes down to a new guy that’s been there a few weeks or a guy that’s been with me 18 years… I am taking the 18 year vet in most, but not all, cases.
I am new to this forum, but I wanted to chime in because I hope you don’t give up on what can be a very rewarding career.
That’s sucks you lost your job. Trust me when I say its not just this field that has people like that. There are some good shops out there. Some shops.have techs that make everyone miserable, some places has zero leadership and zero training. And a few shops have good leadership, training, and a good amount of work. Ask around and talk to some people. Look for yelp reviews and Google reviews.
Ive seen and dealt with what you are going through. And to be honest telling everyone around you as little about you as possible is always the best thing.
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