Colorado Unemployment Question

[HunterCO]

Thanks for all the advice. Like I said I am thinking about moving on and am weighing different options. I like to consider all my options before I make a job change. Have you ever tried to move a 2000 pound tool box?
It takes a flat bed tow truck.

I don't live paycheck to paycheck and am not head over heels in debt so I don't have to take a job that I don't like. I've been twisting wrenches for over 20 years and have not had a job out of the auto and motorcycle repair industry. I am a professional mechanic/technition and not a parts replacer. I grew up on a farm in SW Nebraska and am not afraid to work. Believe it or not I can read, write, and comprehend a service manual. I do like to get paid for my skill and experience. I probably have a least $50,000 worth of tools. You never stop buying specialty tools to keep up with the harder to work on cars.

I may try to get a service adviser/writer job somewhere but I will not work for less than 25k a year plus insurance. Working on a commission basis doesn't pay the bills when there is no work and you can't get your co-workers to sell the job and get the right parts in a timely matter.

Thanks again for the advice and opinions. Hopefully the weather is good enough to go to the north shoot on saturday. Have fun!

Your co-workers can't sell jobs because nobody has any money just ask me how I know. [wink]

Or it could be your shop sold people all the $hit they never needed and Karma has caught up with them.

The auto industry got so crooked in the last ten years it makes me want to puke. It is coming back to bite everybody in the A$$. I never push anything.... I give my customers my professional opinion and let them make the choice I never push it. The ones that don't take my advice regret it the ones that do are happy that is life. The next problem is 99% of the so called techs out there I would not let work on my lawn mower. In the end the customer pays for inexperience.

My shop motto is "Where honesty is brought back into auto repair" I can not tell you how many customers are thankful for that. I can not even tell you how many times a day new customers tell me that I was recommended because I was "HONEST" the games are over shops have screwed people too long.

I did not start my shop to get rich and I never will but I will be damned if I ever screw people like most shops do. The game is up, too many shops and techs have screwed people and it is coming back to bite them.

I started my shop for one reason and that was because I was tired of seeing people get screwed and shop owners getting rich. I make less money now but at least I can sleep at night. :cool:

Craigs380 nothing I said is directed toward you personally. Your boss will not lay you off because if he does he will have to pay a percentage of your unemployment. Might as well only pay you for what you do instead of pay you for what you don't. Times are tuff and the auto repair industry brought it upon themselves.

Hope to see you at the north shoot weather permiting.... [postal]

[Recon]

[quote="7idl"]

unemployment is NOT government assistance, it is money paid into an account by your previous employer.

This is true. And you could also say the money is paid by the employee, in a way, because if I, as an employer, were not required by law to pay unemployment insurance on behalf of employees then I could afford to pay more in wages. People think that is "big brother," but how many folks would actually set that increase in wages aside for a safety net in the event of unemployment? At minimum wage, most people couldn't afford to do so.

I agree you shouldn't draw it unless you need it, but it is yours and you did earn it in lieu of wages.

Workers comp is another animal altogether.

I had a dirt bad work for me who tried to get me to fire him so he could draw UE. But I knew his game so I kept documenting his errors and giving him a second, third and fourth chance. Finally, it got so bad that I sat him down and told him I knew what he was doing, I had documented his actions in writng to him in advance, and that if he screwed up again I would fire him for cause. He would then be ineligable for UE. I also told him that I suspected the next thing I would see would be a slip and fall for Workers Comp. I documented that to him also.

Low and behold, two weeks later: Slip and fall and a Workers Comp claim. I gave all the documentation to the insurance company, including the anticipatory slip and fall information. They cut him a $5,000.00 check just to get rid of him. :roll:

But my premiums did not go up.

[craigs380]

HunterCO. I agree with you that the auto repair business has gotten a lot more crooked than when I first started in 1980. The customers have brought a lot of it on themselves. They want the absolutely cheapest repairs and parts that can be found. They get suckered into the $99 dollar brake job then end up spending $800-1000 before they get out of the door. Then they show up at our door wondering why their XYZ+ brake repairs are squealing, pulling, rattling, falling off, or worn out in 10000 miles. We are supposed to fix it but they don't want to spend any more money on it. "I just put a $1000 dollars in it, why are you going to charge me to do it again?" (Actual quote)

How many clueless customers do you see every day? The only thing they know about a car is how to turn the ignition key. They don't want to know a thing about the car they are driving. Consequently they get ripped off and don't even know it! One guy brought an Infinity in with the oil light on, "I put a quart(of oil) in but it (the oil light) didn't go off so I drove it over to your shop" Turned out Quickley Lube had put the wrong oil filter on. He couldn't see or smell the oil pouring out as he drove it over. New engine time. His insurance company total lossed the car.

I don't see a lot of good regular customers that try to form some sort of relationship with their auto repair shop. I used to have customers that didn't need an appointment for car repair. They would drop off their car and I would give them a ride to work or to light rail. Some of them didn't even want to be called with an estimate, they trusted me and the shop to do what was needed and then call them with a total when done. We even got Christmas goodies from a lot of them.

I think the days of a good honest independant auto repair shop are numbered. It just takes too much money to keep the doors open. The cars have gotten so sophisticated that you can't keep up with all the upgrades in education and equipment. If you don't specialise in one or two makes how can you spend all the time to diagnose a problem, buy the extra tools, and fix it in the time the flat rate manual gives you. Then to top it off you may never see that problem again. Do you have the expensive tool to compress the cam chain tensioner on a V6 Audi/VW so you can remove the cams to remove the heads. Then you can fix the bent valves because the body shop missed the broken cam belt cover that damaged the cam belt just enough that it failed on the way to the airport. That was an insurance nightmare.

If I was just getting started in this day and age I would not spend $10,000+ to go to school, then invest another $10,000+ in tools to get started. Then it takes a while to get enough experience in order to make a living. Plus you get to be dirty and greasy 5 days a week :mrgreen: . Since I started wearing nitril gloves I don't get near the cooties from some of the nasty cars I have sat in.

No offense given or taken in this friendly discussion. If I wanted an argument I would not be on the computer. Actually I'm practicing my typing(qwerty).

[HunterCO]

HunterCO. I agree with you that the auto repair business has gotten a lot more crooked than when I first started in 1980. The customers have brought a lot of it on themselves. They want the absolutely cheapest repairs and parts that can be found. They get suckered into the $99 dollar brake job then end up spending $800-1000 before they get out of the door. Then they show up at our door wondering why their XYZ+ brake repairs are squealing, pulling, rattling, falling off, or worn out in 10000 miles. We are supposed to fix it but they don't want to spend any more money on it. "I just put a $1000 dollars in it, why are you going to charge me to do it again?" (Actual quote)

Yep I hear it all the time so how is that my problem I did not screw them so why should I care? Those are the people that become my best customers. They are tired of getting F@#$%D.

How many clueless customers do you see every day? The only thing they know about a car is how to turn the ignition key. They don't want to know a thing about the car they are driving. Consequently they get ripped off and don't even know it! One guy brought an Infinity in with the oil light on, "I put a quart(of oil) in but it (the oil light) didn't go off so I drove it over to your shop" Turned out Quickley Lube had put the wrong oil filter on. He couldn't see or smell the oil pouring out as he drove it over. New engine time. His insurance company total lossed the car.

That is my problem how? If I did the oil change and was that stupid then they would get a rental car while I installed a new engine. problem solved!

I don't see a lot of good regular customers that try to form some sort of relationship with their auto repair shop. I used to have customers that didn't need an appointment for car repair. They would drop off their car and I would give them a ride to work or to light rail. Some of them didn't even want to be called with an estimate, they trusted me and the shop to do what was needed and then call them with a total when done. We even got Christmas goodies from a lot of them.

I have a relationship with all my customers. Some of them drop their car off and it's an open ticket some don't. Everybody is different that is the way it go's.

I think the days of a good honest independant auto repair shop are numbered. It just takes too much money to keep the doors open. The cars have gotten so sophisticated that you can't keep up with all the upgrades in education and equipment. If you don't specialise in one or two makes how can you spend all the time to diagnose a problem, buy the extra tools, and fix it in the time the flat rate manual gives you. Then to top it off you may never see that problem again. Do you have the expensive tool to compress the cam chain tensioner on a V6 Audi/VW so you can remove the cams to remove the heads. Then you can fix the bent valves because the body shop missed the broken cam belt cover that damaged the cam belt just enough that it failed on the way to the airport. That was an insurance nightmare.

This is what I think yes it takes a lot of money to say the least to keep the doors open. Yes you need the tools, You can not do it with out them. On the other hand the biggest problem I see is techs who are not techs they are morons and the customer pays for it. That is the biggest problem DADC turns out nothing but morons I could teach a monkey to pass an ASE test. Either you have it or you don't.

If I was just getting started in this day and age I would not spend $10,000+ to go to school, then invest another $10,000+ in tools to get started. Then it takes a while to get enough experience in order to make a living. Plus you get to be dirty and greasy 5 days a week :mrgreen: . Since I started wearing nitril gloves I don't get near the cooties from some of the nasty cars I have sat in.

Well I hate to break your heart but my tool box alone is 12K then I have another 100K+ in tools that fill it up. If all I needed was 10K I would be rich but that is not how it works. This is what's coming in this industry, People must know what they are doing. The people who think they can buy a craftsman tool set and be a tech are done. If you don't understand Ohms law, If you don't understand a lab scope and what makes a wave form look like it does, If you don't undetstand sophisticated electronic components your done.

No offense given or taken in this friendly discussion. If I wanted an argument I would not be on the computer. Actually I'm practicing my typing(qwerty).

Not trying to argue just saying how it is. [pirate]