What is a well known 'public secret' in the industry you work in that the majority of outsiders are unaware of?
What is a well known 'public secret' in the industry you work in that the majority of outsiders are unaware of?
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661 comments
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Most automotive technicians in the US are paid 100% commission. The idea of being sold something you didn't know you needed is how we make our money. Also shops will employ more techs than they need because it doesn't cost them if we're sitting around, waiting for the next job.
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Fun fact: that's illegal in many jurisdictions
Another fun fact: most places in those jurisdictions do it anyway
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Its only illegal if you don't pay for the "license".
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Many states and regions have minimum wage laws that require minimum wage to be paid regardless of anything else. Commission has to be on top of the hourly wage.
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Wild. I worked directly with techs at a dealership, they were paid estimated time like postal workers. If a job was estimated at 8 hrs, they got paid 8 hrs whether they finished it in 16 or 4.
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I have two friends that are auto techs and they've never had a job that pays like this. Where do you live?
Like another guy said, they get paid based on the estimated time it takes to repair. I think there's a specific term for this but I forget. One friend recently switched to getting paid a minimum of 45 hours, but could still end up collecting much more depending on how many jobs he can finish.
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SRT=Standard Repair Time. There are entire guides for each component that are even built in to work order systems that say how long things should take. It's honestly insane. All those estimates are taken as if there was no time to move between computer and truck, trace a wire, etc.
Then again most people in the fleet repair industry are paid by the hour, so when I was fixing their computers they were happy because theygot a break.
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The term is flat rate.
Basically if the book says a brake job takes 30 minutes you get paid for 30 minutes and charge the customer 30 minutes + parts, regardless of if it takes you 15, 30, or an hour.
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Yep, that's it. Thanks.
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661 comments