Thread: Never EVER am I going to a dealer again!!!

Originally Posted by DazzaTD5

IMHO...

*Acording to a recent report by the ACCC over 60% of new car dealerships profit is from the service department.
*Yet new car dealerships service departments seem to crap up their relationship with the customer so often.
*A new car dealership service department will often have a lubey (boy/man/woman), which is simply someone that has been deemed competent enough to do the single task of changing oil on a car.
*Small to medium workshops may have one or two non trade qualified people on the floor assisting mechanics as needed. Large workshops, the trade assistants and others will out number the tradesman 2 to 1 (or whatever the max allowed is).

*One thing that peeves me off sometimes is this belief some have with regards to being charged a supposed rate tradesman rate and having an apprentice or trade assistant working on their pride and joy. The hourly rate is NOT a whatever person rate, its a workshop rate regardless of whom works on your vehicle.
*The workshop foreman/supervisor or team leader (if we get all group huggy etc) is what makes or breaks a workshop.
*Average trades people and others require good supervision to steer them in the right direction as needed.
*A workshop with good trades people need only a average supervisor to give them the next job or handing over parts.
*When you have a high turn over of staff, generally you are going to get neither a decent trades person or supervisor.
*There are also the nasty practice of trades people getting a bonus for job loading, the most common one was, it needs brakes doing.

*At the end of the day, if you are only being paid an average amount and its not your business, how much of a **** are you really going to give?
*There are exceptions to this and most end up leaving and working for themselves.
*For me it got to the point the only dickhead worth working for was myself

Ok,i see your point,although we will have to agree to disagree

If we all agreed on everything,the place would be boring..

So the two different dealer invoices that i have in front of me that have 'technician' labour rate,may actually not be technicians.
They could be apprentices,TA's,or whatever.

Originally Posted by scarry

Ok,i see your point,although we will have to agree to disagree

If we all agreed on everything,the place would be boring..

So the two different dealer invoices that i have in front of me that have 'technician' labour rate,may actually not be technicians.
They could be apprentices,TA's,or whatever.

The problem with that is, you are expected to be aware that an apprentice is under "supervision". Be grateful you did not have to pay more.

Originally Posted by johntins

The problem with that is, you are expected to be aware that an apprentice is under "supervision". Be grateful you did not have to pay more.

Thinking more about it,they should probably just put 'labour' on the invoice,then it would cover anyone.

For those among you who have not worked in the metal trades and are not aware of industrial practices.

An apprentice is supposed to work under the supervision of a qualified tradesman. Labourers and Trades Assistants likewise work under supervision. Qualified tradesmen are assumed to be competent and are given work to do and are minimally supervised by a leading hand or foreman.

Why motor mechanics are now called "technicians" is beyond my understanding. In my time on the tools technicians were workers who had taken Certificate or Diploma studies at a technical college. Such qualifications were regarded as being between a Trades Certificate and a university degree. They commonly wore dust coats in the shop whereas we greasy fitters wore overalls.

Originally Posted by scarry

Ok,i see your point,although we will have to agree to disagree

If we all agreed on everything,the place would be boring..

So the two different dealer invoices that i have in front of me that have 'technician' labour rate,may actually not be technicians.
They could be apprentices,TA's,or whatever.

As the term "technician" according to a dictionary doesnt mean a tradesman or anything, so its just a sales bull**** term.
Its a play on customers assumptions and covers their arse as its not in ref to a "tradesman" or "mechanic"

Originally Posted by DazzaTD5

As the term "technician" according to a dictionary doesnt mean a tradesman or anything, so its just a sales bull**** term.
Its a play on customers assumptions and covers their arse as its not in ref to a "tradesman" or "mechanic"

I’d think the Armed Forces May beg to differ on your definition...

And I think much of the time it does cover the modern tasks -> someone working in a field of technology, proficient in a relevant skill or technique.

Over the years I’ve come to appreciate that Qualifications are evidence of some type of formal study, not evidence of capability or proficiency.
I’ve come across many who meet these a acronyms...
NAMA, NAEA, NAFA, NABA etc!

The good ones are hard to find!

I’ve even seen tradespersons who as apprentices go through their time, with only minimal exposure to certain components of their trade.
Not unusual to find someone for example, who has a Fitters Trade but never worked on specific types of pumps, or can barely machine...



Of interesting note: in several Western countries Trades aren’t a revered culture like they are in Australia and can not charge like they do here for their certifications.

Originally Posted by scarry

Sounds way to much for a minor service,as you can see from my post about the minor service on the van.In fact the majors are never over $500.

But yours is a 4WD so there will be more costs for majors.

It will also depend exactly what they are doing on the minors.

One GV is a 4WD and the other is a 2WD. Both run very close in the service costs.

The minor services are basically an oil and oil filter change with a lot of "Check this" and "Check that" boxes to tick. There are also a lot of ancillary charges and workshop charges for both cars.

Well it appears that they've finally fixed it.

Within the hour we're off towards Alice so we'll see how it goes.