Your honest opinion...

[joel2005]

Alright guys, here is my situation with my current employer. I have been working for my company for almost 4 years. I was hired on while still in trade school. I started out at 11 per hour with minimal experience. I was a trainee for around 2 months when I was put out on my own. Fast forward to this year... At 24 an hour I repair anything I am sent to; residential equipment, commercial, refrigeration, boilers, chillers, water heaters, etc. My call back rating is always under 2% and I am always trying to improve my game. In the last year or so I have been noticing a lot of things changing. The company is only concerned with the quick cash instead of the long term goals of business success. We used to sell Lennox only, now we are selling only Amana. As you could have guessed the Amana is an inferior product with multiple issues throughout. My boss/salesman refuses to do load calculations when biding a job. During the peak cooling season (Kansas), we have so many call-backs due to the unit not providing proper cooling it is unreal. So as the tech I am stuck trying to explain to the customer the best I can why it wasnt keeping up, all while trying to save my boss's ass. Another instance of his ignorance is a church we are currently doing an install in which I am helping the installers. We are twinning 2 110k btu furnaces together with heat pumps. My boss insisted they have 2 stages of cooling. His idea was to use each heat pump as a stage of cooling/heating. We are required to have 30% make up air. Being the furnaces are twinned the blowers will start together equalling 8 tons of air. 8 tons of air, 4 tons of heatpump, and 30% outside air...you guys do the math. It isnt going to provide optimal efficiency or comfort. I brough this to his attention, I was told to "not worry about it." I let it go, and decided that when I go back in the future I will do it correctly. Today, I was asked to help another installer install a 300k btu steam boiler, no biggie. Well when I recieved my paperwork for the install, I saw the quote to be xxxxx +VW. I didnt think too much of it until I arrived at the house and saw a VW bug being loaded onto a roll-back. Again, I minded my own business and proceeded to remove old boiler. Eventually the customer came down to watch, so we made small talk and eventually came to be talking about the VW that was being loaded as I arrived. Evidently, the bid was for almost 1000 dollar more than the current bid, but my boss wanted the VW so he knocked the price down for a trade. I find this completely unethical and somewhat a slap in the face to the employees. Business is rough during these times, we have a hard enough time as it is. We didnt recieve a christmas bonus yet again and the answer we recived in a letter was that business was off and it just wasnt in the budget. Normally this is no biggie, because we all are feeling it, but when I saw all this today it really hit me the wrong way. We used to do Commercial installls for one of the largest construction companies in the area until the boss decided to go against the prints and do things "his way". We are currently being sued over that whole deal. I could go on for days of things that have happened. I just really wanted your guys' opinion on this. Am I asking for too much or are my concerns justified. THanks
Joel

[allstar08]

small shops do that crap all the time. Get used to it, or look for another job. If he owns the company I don't see an issue with it. The question is will he claim it on his taxes?

[refer guy]

stop thinking like a sucker and start thinking like a company owner wich is to care about whos more important and that is numero uno. Either continue to be spat on the face or go somewhere else.

The VW deal would tick me off too, so now you know why there werent any bonus checks this year.

[Paul Bee]

Boy this sounds familiar. I lasted exactly 4 years at my first service tech job right out of trade school. 2 1/2 years at company #2, 2 1/2 years at company#3. The problem is you are too smart and you know too much. Now it is time to do your homework and start asking around to all the supply houses and your friends that also do this for a living. Find out about working conditions,pay etc. You can figure it out, you are a repairman! Don't be in a hurry and use your head. Good Luck!

[boom]

i was taught to watch out for those shady companies in school.. that karma will always come back and bite you in the a$$.

[artdavila]

Start looking for another job. Make sure you increase your hourly wage that way you are not dependent on ANY type of bonus.

Like my dad always said if you need overtime or bonuses to make ends meet find another JOB!