Grim Outlook

Ok here is the situation. I have been working for this company for 1 year now. When I was hired last January I was offered a wage $2.00 less than what I was making but told that after my 3 month review and then my 6 month review I would be back to making what I had been before I started. Also I am a G2 gas fitter with my ODP certificate. I can work on equipment up to 400,000 btuh and can handle refrigerant. I was told that they would start me on my Residential air condition certificate. Well a year has passed and I am at the same wage that I started at and no start to my residential air condition certificate. I had a sit down with the GM today and he is all fidget and talk but still nothing offered. I am a service technician with 2 years experience in the field and 22 years working with refrigeration with General Electric as a test inspect and repair in appliances. I have been to night school at college getting my AC for HRAC. Also the company has sent me on 2 different course last year for 1 week each down to St.Louis.
I am expected to do the same work as the guys that have their full tickets and are getting paid allot more than me. I am in the on call loop and have not taken one day off in a year sick. I have picked up extra shifts when asked and done allot of OT when asked. At the Christmas dinner they thanked me for bring in the second highest amount of tech leads and income for repairs out of the 10 service techs. Yet I can not get a nickel out of them. I am getting kinda of dishearten about this situation. Am I expecting to much from this job and company.

It is a sad but not uncommon situation in not only the HVAC field but in every field. A lot of people only want to pay you what it takes to keep you there, not what you are actually worth. They do this because they think that you are either unwilling or unable to find another job.

If they told you that you would get a raise after you reveiw and they didn't, I would ask why. It sounds from the way that you talking you are doing at least as good as the other techs that make far more then you but they still refuse to give you a raise.

If they can't give you a good reason for not giving you a raise, maybe it is time to start looking for another job. Maybe putting in your notice would make them rethink about what you are really worth to the company. If you are a hardworking employee with a good attitude and you make the company a lot of money it is hard to believe they would want to take the chance of losing you for a couple of bucks an hour, especially when they told you from the beginning that you would get it.

Whatever you do, don't just threaten to quit unless you get a raise. This might just pi$$ them off and they might not want you working there anymore.
But if you put in notice and they offer you a raise, just remember what it took to get that raise. Any company like this is not too willing to part with their money and any future raises are going to be few and far between.

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Originally Posted by bruce campbell

It is a sad but not uncommon situation in not only the HVAC field but in every field. A lot of people only want to pay you what it takes to keep you there, not what you are actually worth. They do this because they think that you are either unwilling or unable to find another job.

If they told you that you would get a raise after you review and they didn't, I would ask why. It sounds from the way that you talking you are doing at least as good as the other techs that make far more then you but they still refuse to give you a raise.

If they can't give you a good reason for not giving you a raise, maybe it is time to start looking for another job. Maybe putting in your notice would make them rethink about what you are really worth to the company. If you are a hardworking employee with a good attitude and you make the company a lot of money it is hard to believe they would want to take the chance of losing you for a couple of bucks an hour, especially when they told you from the beginning that you would get it.

Whatever you do, don't just threaten to quit unless you get a raise. This might just pi$$ them off and they might not want you working there anymore.
But if you put in notice and they offer you a raise, just remember what it took to get that raise. Any company like this is not too willing to part with their money and any future raises are going to be few and far between.

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He Is wright, you sound like a money maker for the company, and $2.00 hr Is only $4000.00 a year.
All the back slapping don't mean squat, If you think you got a future there, then stay the course, cut back on your selling skills, reduce the number of hours you work, when ask..Tell them you have a second job to go to, but no thanks on the ot???...When they see that less money Is coming In, some one might turn on the light switch.
Redo your resume with the added experience you have, remove your last name and start job shopping, sounds like you are young enough, the more jobs you have the more different experience you will get.
Make up a resignations notice, just a couple of lines, no long draw ed out thing, remember If they offer you more money to stay, I feel that Is a ploy to keep you there until they find your replacement, they had to opportunities to pay as was your hiring agreement, just some Input.

I had a very similar experience about 16 years ago... I calmly walked in and told my boss that what was promised and what I was receiving were two totally different things..He said to just hang in there, but I replied that this would probably force me to start looking elsewhere...He repeated with well, ones gotta do what a mans gotta do...So two weeks later I summitted my resignation with a two weeks notice (out of courtesy)... He offered me, a 4 dollar raise to stay...I told him it was too late and I had already made a commitment to my new employer...( even though my new employer I actually took a 2 dollar cut to start, which I made up in a jiffy..)... He was right a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do...Good luck

ddcfan is right ,myself have just turned my two eek notice just the other day . When i started with the company a year and half ago i started at $2 below what I was making they told me it would be 90 dyas and I would be making that again, well 9 months later i turn my 2 week notice in and they give me my $2, now I have worked there and I am on salary, working 6 to 7 in the evening later sometimes just doin PM's ya no If your were getting paid by the hour you wouldn't be out there doing that !!! so I didn't give him a chance to make me an offer this time, told him i was getting out the business I am done with broken promises

I don't think I would ever consent to being a salaried service tech in this business! Sounds like a recipe for taking advantage of the service department!


CW.

For real. I cannot even amagining being a salaried tech. You could be ran up one wall and down the other every day time wise. And they got ya! Yes unfortunately there are some employers who continuously promise wage increases, training or other stuff and keep dangling the old carrot to get people to stay until they finally leave. It catches up to them eventually business wise.

I have worked for companies that did the "We will give you an evaluation in 90 days" only to see it come and go. So after that I started requesting my normal wage. I received responses like " We have hired techs at higher wages only to find out they didn't know what they were doing." and my response became " I have worked for companies for a lower wages to start only to find out they don't keep there promises, Start me out at my normal wage and in a week if I am not preforming, fire me" Usually the companies that are paying a low wage with a promise, hook you with a promise and keep you because the next employer thinks, "ABC A/C" doesn't think he is worth more and he has been there X amount of time so we aren't going to pay more to start. It is a hard cycle to get out of in some places.

I've never been one to threaten an employer with leaving.
If I know I'm delivering more value to the company, I've been known to ask for a raise.

If I like a job, it's usually partly due to a good relationship with my boss. I should be comfortable going to the boss and addressing any concern in a positive, non-confrontational way.

If I don't get any satisfaction, it's time to look at my situation in depth, decide what I like & don't like, then decide what I'm willing to settle for - or not.

If it's a "not", it's time to look for another job.

You have two separate issues here: broken promises from when you were hired and your high productivity not being appropriately compensated.
Which is more important to you, the promises, or getting paid for your superior work? Since you have been publicly praised for your work, they can't dispute that. They can weasel out of the hiring promises more easily...your word against theirs.

You may want to put it all together in a package...this is what I was promised (list), these are my qualifications (list), this is my performance (list) and this is where I think I should be. ($ figure). You know your situation, so you can decide whether you put any negotiating room in your figure.

If they take it, fine. Just keep in the back of your mind how hard this was.
If they don't, start looking. And by putting your performance info together, you've already prepared yourself for your interviews.

Good luck-

sad but true everywheren in this industry.

Edison Source made it clear that the only way to get a raise was to show test results. Take the test, get a raise... simple and strightforward. No fooling around or empty promises.

We have a fairly difficult test, which weeds out the smacktalkers, I almost always hire in $2.00 an hour lower than asking, I almost always get the guy $1.00 an hour above what they asked for within 30 days. That's just me.