dispatchers

[ga/oh-man]

Anyone else hate thier dispatcher?

[frank shelley]

No, my secretary dispatched me and the guys. Hot, blue eyed blond that was going to leave the company so I married her.
I do however got to remember this when I get sent to 3 diff towns on the opposite ends of the map all in the same day.

[airtoo]

The only tech that doesn't like this dispatcher is the lazy, whining, work dodging, tech that doesn't know how to do his job. The tech charges a unit off beer can cold, and typically diagnosis a unit from the front seat of his van. The one that spends more time whining about his work and trying to get out of it, then just doing it. The tech who's signed up for training and doesn't go. The tech that figures it's easer to have the installers replace the unit, than actually climb his fat ass up in that scuttle hole and figure out it has a dirty filter. The tech that brings back bad information to the office because he's to lazy to get the tape measurer out of his van. The one that can't take orders from a women, and is too stupid to realize that she can make your day good or bad.






All my tech's looovveee meeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

[frank shelley]

LMAO! Oh now that was good.
I had a tech come over from a very large shop. He went on to say it was very important to keep in good with the dispatchers or you might be the one working on the junk RTU's and Heat Pumps which is a bad thing in northren Indiana in the wintertime.

[bootlen]

Airtoo, very good. Very good, indeed!

Our dispatcher catches hell from every single person who has anything at all to do with HVAC...the boss, the techs, the install mgr., the sales guys, the office mgr., the boss' wife, supply houses, and the customers. She is in tears once a week, on average, talking on the phone. But she bucks up and presses on. My hat's off to her and those like her.

[amickracing]

I can't hate our dispatcher... we don't have one. There's 5 of us worker bee's, but no dispatcher. Our supervisor tries, but between his bids and sales work, plus occasional calls he has to go on, there's no way he can be a dispatcher too. It really sucks too, lots of $$ wasted on no organization. But, for what they want to pay someone, and expect out of someone, I can understand why they don't have one.

We did have one last summer. Man I miss her, she had a heart of gold, was so nice it was almost sickening, and was purdy nice to look at. That and she could tell me what to do next rather than me trying to figure it out. Jill, if you're reading this get back here! lol

[duc dowg]

dang airtoo let em have it lol

[R12rules]

A shop of five or ten guys can suffer without a service manger if they have a great, above average dispatcher.
Providing the guys are working together.

A dispatcher is mission critical. Especially if she goes out of her way to enable the guys to "get er done!"

A service manager though ... can be every bit just like a dirty diaper.


In 24 years .... I have met maybe four above average dispatchers. I have met a ton of great techs, but few who made a good service manager. Very few.
Great technicians though. And that is where most of them belong ... "in the trenches."

[seaboard]

I don't have one to hate. I decide who goes where based on logistics and the skill level of my techs. I currently have 8 guys. We had a secretary until a couple of months ago and she answered the phone, entered times, and handled some paperwork but never was able to step into the role of dispatching (partly because of irregular work patterns). It's not an easy task. You have to know everyone's abilities, what tasks they currently have assigned to them, keep track of jobs that are booked, jobs that might be booked, parts that are on order, etc.

[Green Mountain]

When I first started out I was chief, cook and bottle washer. But you learn that you can't do every thing and do it well.

I am not afraid to hire management people. We have a service manager, office manager, bookkeeper and myself in the office.

The State came down on us and is forcing us into some convoluted governmental licensing system that we must institude for all of our technicians. The problem was not being addressed because it was over burdening the office manager. Fortunately our bookkeepers son was looking for some parttime work so I hired him on as "training coodinator".

So far he has set up personal files on everyone. Got copies of every training seesion they ever went to. He arranges the training and testing. Hunts down all the State bureaucrats and pins them down as to what is required.
The State hasn't bugged us since we hired this guy. They love him. One inspector said,"I wish all companies were this cooperative." Good, you keep thinking that way, Pal.

I have instructed our men if questioned on the job about any licenses: they are to just tell the inspector to see our training coordinator for any license questions. This takes a lot of pressure off of me and the guys in the field.

[T Martin]

Learn to get along with your dispatcher(s)... They have a tough job. They have to listen to angry customers then listen to the techs complain about calls.

If you treat them well you will be treated well. if you think they have it easy then try doing their job for a couple hours