Incentives and Auto Repair -- How is Your Technician Being Paid???
Posted by Brian England on Thu, Oct 21, 2010
It could be the tire store in Columbia, the Toyota dealer in Clarksville, the Honda dealer in Ellicott City or an independent shop in Laurel -- all four could have a pay plan called FLAT RATE that puts pressure on all employees to sell more than the vehicle needs.
What if I told you that the company that you took your car to sets targets on how many suspension struts are sold or how many shocks and alignments are sold? AND three times a day the corporate office checks in to the store to see that they are meeting those goals. On top of all this, if the manager of the store is not meeting these targets the manager's bonus would be reduced! The service writers at these companies have to sell what the corporation says or the company will want to know why a car that has 50,000 miles on it has not been sold shocks or struts!
Just imagine a technician working for a company like this; the pressure to produce is great because if they do not find work on a car they do not get paid. This is how the FLAT RATE system works. Pressure from the top down; put yourself in the position of any of these employees. It is a crazy system that pushed by people who do not understand how to maintain a vehicle.
There is a standard technician joke about a muffler store, “Hey the exhaust system must be part of the suspension system because every time you see a car with a [national chain] muffler on it has new shocks”!!
The terrible thing is that most of the service and repair shops and new car dealers work on the FLAT RATE system.
Some shops also ignore the wages and hours laws that require paying overtime when workers work more than 40 hours a week.
The FLAT RATE system is wrong and there is a temptation for a technician to be UNETHICAL.
This type of payment plan extends into many other industries and it has led to dishonest practices. Some say this type of quota system for home mortgages helped to fuel the recent recession. It also might be the reason you received that last traffic ticket for driving just a few miles over the limit.
Here at British American, our technicians and managers are paid on an hourly or salary system. They aren't rewarded based on targets or quotas! There are no paid incentives for doing unnecessary work!
Do you know how your auto mechanic or service manager is being paid???