This forum and youtube has given me some confidence to do quite a bit of regular maintenance on my vehicles. I am a Tool Designer by trade so I have some technical background. I consider myself a novice at car repairs, not a hack.

BUT, I have found that there are people that I work with who are:
1. unmotivated to do a good job,
2. unable to search out answers to their own questions.
3. unable to read manuals and instructions, then put information to use.
4. high on Pot or Alcohol during working hours
5. disinterested in doing the best job for the customer that they are capable of.
6. unwilling to put in an extra 1/2 hr to make sure the customer gets what they expect, when they expect to get it.

This leads me to believe that the unemployment rate of 7.5% is BS, because 7% of people working seem like they would rather be unemployed.

Anyone else run into this? How much of a problem is this in your workplace?

 

Not much of a problem in the places where I work, even the functioning alcholics (or other substances) seem to do a pretty good job when they're on the clock. That said, there are a very few individuals that, drunk, stoned, or sober, are pretty much useless; the good news here is that this group doesn't even make up a tenth of one percent of the workforce in my client base.

I suppose some environments are more prone to sloth than others.

 

To go along with my theme, if I take the car to a dealer or franchise for an oil change/tire rotation, shouldn't I expect: "the correct weight oil"; "the filter put on properly" "the lugs torqued to the correct spec".
I know I shouldn't expect a Golden Goose in a $30 oil change, but shouldn't I expect that the wheel studs aren't broken because the tech doesn't know how to set the torque wrench?

 

Sounds like you had a bad experience...? Yeah, I'd be pretty dissapointed if they broke my wheel studs, especially on your car where that leads to a wheel-bearing replacement.

 

Oh, I've had some fun at my local Thiesens...

Back when I had a '90 Buick Century, I went in for two new tires. Not only did it take them 3 friggin hours to do the job, but the guy broke TWO of my wheel studs.

Next year I got 4 new tires on a '93 Accord and they put two passenger side tires on the rear, so the driver side tread was reversed.

Last time I was there I got an oil change for my dad's '00 Malibu and it took them an hour and a half.

Needless to say, I've yet to go back for anything automotive related.

 

Well, yes. Not the Honda, the Town & Country.
A couple of months ago, a "reputable" independent tire retailer, with 6 large stores and a lot of TV commercials, broke 5 wheel studs, 2 on one side and 3 on the other. They charged me $40 per axle to replace them, they blamed it on the previous guy. A winter tire change over ended up costing $145. After I complained loudly on Google Reviews, they gave me a set of Chrysler lug nuts to swap out with the generics, and promised 15% off my next set of tires.
All I really wanted is for the manager to say that they needed to train their people better, or adjust their equipment.

But, at work.... I just can't understand how some people just don't give a $**t and still get paid.
Somehow, this all fits together.

 

Well I can understand your point of view on the lug studs........

However I worked at dealerships for a solid 18 years and I can't count the number of times cars came in with stripped out lug studs that I had to replace from stripped threads and stud breaking trying to back off the nut.

There really is two sides to the coin

 

There is somebody I haven't seen in a long time.....hope things have been good for you recently.