The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Truck and walmart

i agree but his attude toward me turned me around and sent me out the door i probally would have taken the 9 if he would have started there but when he started at 60% of my wage at the time i couldnt do it

the other chevy dealer offered 11.25 starting if they had opening

also i went to work at a hardware store for a month when unemployed at 7.50 without any experance or training

rh

Around here there is a shortage of trained techs, I spent nearly 10 yrs at dealerships,never went to one training class-in that 10 yrs ABS, airbags, traction control, you name it came out & I know nothing about it, neither does anyone else except the one guy who is best buddies w/shop foreman. When the shop foreman gets canned or leaves, the top guy goes w/him. I have worked w/some real yahoos, guy who dropped the new F150 off the rack, guy who blew the airbags & broke the windshield trying to replace the heater core, guy who didn't pack the axle brgs on a 1-ton van,tech who took a loaner car home & kept it , I could go on & on. Brian

RH,
11-12 bucks sounds right. Don't give up so easily!!

Fleetside,
I know what you mean. Had one of those guys at the shop. Didn't last too long. I also worked at a shop that sent us to "NO" training. Had to move on from that place. Technology is changing so rapidly, if you don't keep up, you're way behind in only a short period of time.

JS

I'm a former dealer tech...worked at three different Ford dealers over the years, and yes, always brought in myself and my tools in my Chevy pickups! Last place I worked, we had a pretty good lube guy get fired for leaving a drain plug off a customer's car. Never started it, corrected the problem, but the places I worked for didn't put up with that kind of thing. If you were really good, and made the dealer a lot of money, you would get one or two chances, then it was roll your toolbox on outta here, big boy!

NO problem with that, whatsoever.

Not much chance of leaving IR Bobcat prototype shop to go back to auto. The pay isn't that much different than if I was in auto, but there is no rush projects and no comebacks. The best thing is the fringe benifits of taking equipment home for personal ues. You wont beleve how useful a skid steer is for pushing old trucks around, I also don't stay in the shop all day I get to go play in the dirt or haul equipment from day to day. If this job hadn't shown its self at that time I would still be in auto repair

rh

I worked on other people's cars for 19 years...that's about 18 years too long. Still, it paid the bills (barely) and allowed me to finish college, long after I'd [censored] away my G.I. Bill. What was that old expression: I must be a son-of-a-gun, 'cuz I drink 'til midnight, and pis-tol dawn!

Piewagn the Service industry has changed. Find a Good Tech is hard but Keeping one is even Harder. It isn't just money either. Good owner, Good Manager. You need to have a Good team otherwise it just doesn't work. These shops are few and far between.

Nobody even knows how to DRIVE my truck, let alone work on it. They get in and grind the gears, stall the engine et.... That's why when I MUST take it to a garage to get tires or inspection, I insist on driving it in and out of the bay myself. But what the hell? It's not a damned space shuttle. lol..... Americans are getting soft. I'll bet that I could take this truck to Cuba or just about ANY "third world country" and they'd know how to drive it.

It would do this country good to get everyone behind the wheel of an old truck every now and then. Perhaps they'd learn to slow down and enjoy the ride instead of raging down the highway at 85mph with a GET-THE-HELL-OUT-OF-MY-WAY, attitude.

good point............Fred

fumblin46: For tires, you can't beat WalMart. Just last week, I ran over a long piece of 1/4" wire which punctured the sidewall of my tire and scraped the crap out of my quarter panel. I pulled over, removed the wire and installed a plug. Next stop, WalMart. The tire was replaced AT NO CHARGE. $0.00! . By comparison, one of the sidewalls on my tires blew a few monts ago. I took it back to the mom and pop outfit where I bought it. The owner kept trying to worm out of it. He offered me AN OIL CHANGE as compensation. I declined his, less than generous offer, and left. I'm only buying my tires at WalMart from now on.....

I too have been treated well at walmart on tires,not at my city house but at my small country town of about 2,500......Fred

Posted by Brian Moore:
Piewagn the Service industry has changed. Find a Good Tech is hard but Keeping one is even Harder. It isn't just money either. Good owner, Good Manager. You need to have a Good team otherwise it just doesn't work. These shops are few and far between.


B. Moore,
I agree. That's the point I was trying to make. Fortunately, I work at a shop with good owners & management. I mentioned in an earlier post that the good, experienced technicians are getting out of the business all together. The "new blood" coming in just can't cut it. They get frustrated & move on. Not to mention how disappointed they are when they learn the 80k per year their instructor blew up their but just ain't there!!
Gotta love that propaganda!!

JS

I have just got to add my two cents worth. First I found wal-marts in my area that their featured brand is the Castrol that I use. One day, in a hurry and no time to do my own, (like I've always done) I took the wifes car to Wally World for oil change. While there I said go ahead and put on new wiper blades...not refills but the entire blade....later that day my wife came from the airport,pouring rain, turned on the wipers and the drivers side flew off..... Wally World had to replace the deeply scratched windshield and gave me no hassle BUT I had to pay for the windshield then they turned right around and paid me out of "petty cash" ...that way they can "hide" the incident and not report it!!
Needless to say, I caught my oil on sale and now have several oil filters and cases of oil stacked in my shop!!!

Well that windshield wiper story was not the fault of WalMart, but some dip employee who was in a rush and didn't double check his work. The fact that they paid for everything says a lot about this company.

My Honda car had a front turnsignal housing busted by a rogue, WalMart shopping cart. The manager told me to get an estimate on the part which I planned to install myself. I brought it to them and they paid me out of petty cash. I was a happy camper. But my trip to the Honda dealer was not so pleasant.

I got a printed quote for the part at the Honda parts dept. The guy was not very friendly. After WalMart OK'd the purchase I went back to Honda to buy. It had gone up in price by about 10%. I told the parts JERK, that WM had agreed to pay the previous amount and may not OK the higher price. He said emphatically, THAT'S THE PRICE, YOU WANT IT OR NOT!. I took the part but went to the cashier to explain my situation to a more sympathetic ear, and asked to speak to another parts person. She went over and got the SAME GUY to whom I had just spoken. He was even more [censored] now. I told him that I knew how HE felt and that I wanted to speak to a manager. He then tried to take the part out of my hand but I held on. He became enraged, his face turning red and he glared at me like a serial killer. I had to prepare myself for a fist to cuffs. LOL!! Had I been on neutral ground I would have told him to *uck OFF! Instead I said, "you'r hostile". At that moment the Level-headed cashier took him by the shoulder and led him in back. She spoke to a manager and he understood my position and agreed on the lower price. Old red-face was [censored]. I later called the manager of the dealership and made a complaint about this guy.

I have never had such a hostile encounter at WalMart.....

My sister works in the cash dept of a local Supercenter. They had a tech just last week change the oil in Honda. Put the new filter on, did his checklist by the book. Everything except put oil back in the car. The guy made it more than 15 miles before it quit. Wal-Mart is paying for the tow & new engine, but that fella is no longer employed there. Brian

I wish they'd do that to my Honda. It could use a new motor. lol....