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#1
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Moonlight mechanicing...
Oh.. things are too quiet here..
http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322 Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics. I'll post my feelings in a few days if the thread lasts that long, but first I'd like to see what people think. Motor Age magazine is home to one of my favorite automotive writers.. Mitch Schneider. Regards, Jim |
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#3
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> wrote in message oups.com... > Oh.. things are too quiet here.. > > http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322 > > Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by > mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics. > > I'll post my feelings in a few days if the thread lasts that long, but > first I'd like to see what people think. > It's a rather one-sided view of moonlighting. The author seems to be implying that all moonlighters do shoddy work - there's quote after quote from auto repair place owners castigating moonlighters. But then he turns around and implies that most moonlighters are auto repair techs by day. I'm afraid I don't see how this is reconciled. If the tech is ASE-certified during the day, that certification doesen't go away at night. I think the facts are that the shop owners know that if their techs do a lot of moonlighting work and build a client base, that there's a chance the tech may say 'to hell with working here' and simply open up their own auto repair shop. End result: Auto repair shop now shorthanded, and a brand new competitor down the street. I would wager that a large number of existing auto repair shops that are aside from dealerships got their start this way, and I would bet that at least one of the quoted auto repair shop owners got his start that way. I sense a large amount of hipocracy among the quoted people. I also noted no quotes from techs actually doing moonlighting. I frankly see nothing whatsoever wrong with the practice. A man's skills are his means of earning a living, they belong to him, not to whatever shop owner he works for when he's not on the job for that shop owner. It's a free country and he should be entitled to do whatever he wants on his time off as long as he declares his additional income, pays taxes on it, and otherwise follows the law (ie: no dumping antifreeze into the drain, oil down the sewer, etc.) The only time I see this crossing the line is if the moonlighter does one or both of 2 things: 1) Uses employer-owned tooling, such as diagnostic machines, etc. for his moonlighting business without the employer's consent. That is, it's wrong to 'borrow' the shop scanner 'to use at home', it's wrong to bring your own customer's carburetor in 'to work on during lunch' etc. 2) Uses work time during the day to solicit business for his moonlighting business, unless he has an arraingement with the shop owner. For example, if a customer comes in with a car that's got a Blue Book of about $500, and needs $1500 worth of labor to get it running again, once the shop has quoted the customer and the customer has rejected it, I can see where it would be fair for the shop owner to turn a blind eye to a tech making a side moonlighting deal to get the car running. Ultimately I see most of this boiling down to proper customer management. An auto repair shop owner with a bunch of techs working for him (as opposed to a 1 or 2 man shop) should be greeting the customers when they come in to get quotes or have work done, and ringing them up when they come to pick up their cars and leave. He should be acting as a filter between the techs and the customers so that expensive tech time isn't burned up on time-waster customers, and so that if the customer has a problem with the repair the owner is going to know about it and can nip an escalation of the problem in the bud. Unfortunately I think a lot of owners of repair shops that get that big figure they are too puffed-up important to deal with customers any more so they end up hiring service managers and service advisors to do it for them, then when something blows up they cannot understand why. Ted |
#4
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On 2005-01-10, > wrote:
> Oh.. things are too quiet here.. > > http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322 > > Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by > mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics. > The main thrust of the article seems to be that if repair shops charge higher labor rates they could pay their mechanics more and the mechanics would thus have less desire to work after hours (since they are doing it for the additional money). While this is true, higher labor charges are going result in customers going elsewhere for repair work. The bulk of repair work does not involve complicated electronic diagnosis-- instead it is simple parts replacement--something you don't need high-priced fancy repair shops for. -- Jonathan Grobe Books Browse our inventory of thousands of used books at: http://www.grobebooks.com |
#5
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> It's a rather one-sided view of moonlighting. The author seems to be > implying > that all moonlighters do shoddy work - there's quote after quote from auto > repair place owners castigating moonlighters. But then he turns around and > implies that most moonlighters are auto repair techs by day. There is little likelihood that a moonlighting mechanic would expose himself by doing shoddy work if he wouldn't do the same at a dealership. The accountability is a bit more direct. I think there may be a perceived ethics issue. If you are paid to be a mechanic at a garage, you might be seen as competing with your prime employer by taking in moonlight work. (I was not allowed to compete with my prime employer, up to my retirement in October. Different industry, however) People would normally come to a moonlight garage because it is cheaper, or is more convenient, or because they know their car will be handled by a specific and qualified mechanic. Those are issues that a dealership or independent garage might handle differently. |
#6
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"Jonathan Grobe" > wrote in message ... > On 2005-01-10, > wrote: > > Oh.. things are too quiet here.. > > > > http://www.motorage.com/motorage/art...l.jsp?id=96322 > > > > Article is about repair work done outside a 'repair shop'.. either by > > mechanics after hours, or by non-mechanics. > > > The main thrust of the article seems to be that if repair shops charge > higher labor rates they could pay their mechanics more and the mechanics > would thus have less desire to work after hours (since they are doing it > for the additional money). While this is true, higher labor charges > are going result in customers going elsewhere for repair work. not if everyone charged the higher rates. What the author is basically saying is that all the repair shops should get together and all of them jack their labor rates up about $25/hour. It is like the record companies all getting together and agreeing to move to digital music formats that only allow you to play the song once before you have to buy it again. Both of these are industry wet dreams. Ted |
#7
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> Both of these are industry wet dreams.
> > Ted > Absolutely correct, Ted |
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