Comebacks Techs creating accountability

[mbunch]

Looking for ideas on handling comebacks. How many of you charge the parts or labor or how you create accountabilty for poor workmanship.

[robc]

1 - Condition of continued employment.
I know that seems self-evident and not the answer of actually having the guys pick up their quality levels, but if there is an on-going (as in daily or weekly) issue with a tech they just have to go. You can't afford to have them working with you. If it is a once in a great while (less than monthly) then we progress on. In any case, have your in-shop comeback log and give the technician notification everytime an apparent comeback occurs.
2 - Allow the technician every opportunity to explain why it isn't his/her responsibility. Sometimes all evidence on the first repair pointed to solution X - if that is what the shop manual says to do, then that is what they should do.
3 - Ask the tech, frankly, how you can ask the customer or factory for more money for this issue given that they either broke additional parts or missed the boat on the first diagnosis. They work for free, I'll try to cover the parts.


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** Rob, Editor Dealersedge/WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[Old Irish]

For purely workmanship mistakes that can be easily avoided with more care, document each goof and what it cost to rectify, speak to the tech each time and *let him know* he is puting his job in jeopardy...and when enough is enough, cut him loose.

Comebacks relating to diagnosis are a lot harder to deal with.....

Cheers
DD

[mbrandon]

This is a little different take on the issue.

"Fix it right" is a process with several components. Make sure you look at everything for areas of improvment.

I would start by looking at my advisors process for collecting information from the customer.

To often advisors are giving incomplete or sloppy information to techs making diag difficult or impossible.

[cantfind12]

Incredibly complicated issue involving many dynamics. Chain of information, technical ability, training, inherent design defects, work ethic, customer expectation, pay programs and so forth. In my experience (which I will spare you) compensation incentive bonus (call it what you will) is the major culprit. I had a tech show me his hour sheets claiming 200+ hours/week. Do the math. Considering 40 available hours 80 actual hours is 200 percent productivity. Pretty darn good and very inticing. However, I had no idea if he was being penalized for comebacks which could have dropped him to 25 hours if he was backflagged. So the game begins. As unbelievable as it seems I have been in shops that have all salaried or hourly wage techs that produce more and higher quality work. Don't tell your dentist or doctor that. Standard in their industry is 20 minutes per visit. See we are not unique.

[Old Irish]

A complex, multi-faceted issue indeed.

Remember, though, the original question refers to workmanship errors.

The service advisors don't have too much influence on "hatchet job" type work--- missing fasteners, broken parts, cross threaded bolts, and so forth. Their job is to sell work, not supervise the techs.

But, the push for more production and the flat rate pay system certainly can...and often does....contribute to such problems. Controlling this is purely a management issue and, in fact, it is often created by management.

Frankly, when I see techs at a consistant 150% I get very suspicious. Sure, some really talented ones can pull it off...but more than a few times I've seen really sloppy work and/or outright cheating--- like ...um...not doing the work. Meanwhile the service manager is patting himself on the back for hiring such a great technician!

If one of our techs seems to be causing more harm than good I'll start charging him for some of the parts he breaks and, of course, the labor is on him. But, he gets several warnings before it comes to that.

Just my two cents
DD

[cantfind12]

Well put DD,

I was hoping my sentiment would be echoed by someone like you who I suspect has "practical experience" rather than theoretical sentiment. It is very complicated and can only be managed at the retail level because it exsists at that point. The manufacturer has a vested interest because their name is on the signage, however, since the business is a psuedo multi-level market they are handcuffed by many factors. My experience has only been in fixed ops or back end whatever you want to call it but I have seen lots of variations and keeping it clean and ethical has always been the long term solution. Manufacturers spend lots of time and money evaluating market trends, demographics, determining labor rates etc and second guessing at the retail level is just putting new air in an old tire. I can't speak for anyone else but I have seen people spend more time arguing to make money than making money. Your two cents are well taken.

CantFind12

[mbowers]

I realize that defining a comeback is one problem, but doesn't anyone back-flag technicians anymore? Back-flagging automatically adjusts productivity and holds the tech financially accountable at the same time.

Here's another idea: Track your shop's comebacks over the last 90 to 180 days. Are any techs responsible for a disproportionate share? Find out why and take the necessary steps.

I once worked with a shop that had a comeback problem. When they analyzed the results, they found that 3 "A" techs out of the 37 were responsible for 80 percent of the problems. A little prodding revealed that the other guys in the department already knew it.

Firing flat rate techs isn't an easy decision to make, but these technicians were fired and nobody in the shop had any complaints about it.

[Old Irish]

We don't back flag too often. If the tech flubs the job he corrects it on his time and flags nothing....so there is nothing to back-flag (unless of course you a referring the back flagging his *original* pay....which wouldn't be right).

Of course cases arise where the tech feels that the problem isn't his fault and is entitled to flag some time. This creates some problems but we handle them case-by-case.

I agree that, quite often, a small percentage of techs create the larger portion of the comebacks (or morale problems, or whatever).

Cheers
DD

[fburrows]

I agree with the others that normally a small percentage of the techs create most of the problem. If you let them get away with sloppy work or simply not caring if they fix the car or not, then this attitude can spread and then you are in real trouble. I was always amazed that when I really cracked down on the worst offender the message got across the shop and there was a big improvement in attitude and performance.

As the manager you have to demonstrate that you are interested only in quality work and that you will not tolerate indifference or sloppy work. Letting a bad situation exist, shifts the blame from the techs to the manager.