Everyone who hears the name America's Service Station usually cringes, turns and runs the other direction. Its the one auto repair facility that gives all auto shops a bad name. They are the reason that most repair shops end up on 20/20 and other news stations.
More than one of the "mechanics" in this particular shop consistently "forget" to install parts that customers pay for. They recommend parts for your vehicle, convince you that you need them then conveniently leave them off the vehicle. Other Technicians in the shop are truly only out to fix your vehicle, and they are the ones that do not make that company as much money as the other hack jobs do.
So the honest, hard working technicians have to suffer while the other ones continue to rip off every customer that happens to need a little work done to their vehicle. Everyone that has read any of these reports has no doubt heard of the program that auto shops use to figure out the labor time for repairing a vehicle. AllData has lists of all vehicles on the road and individually lists labor time to repair any component on said vehicles.
These mechanics "hack jobs" look up the actual labor time on your vehicle and take it upon themselves to "pad" the time to benefit their wallet. Not counting the absolutely ridiculous mark up on the bottom of the barrel parts that are installed on your car.
There has been more than on occasion where more than one mechanic has spoken to a customer after he or she has been given their quote to set up a time and place to do the work to their vehicle outside of the the shop for at least less than half the price. Keep that in mind next time you need your car repaired, after you get your quote ask to speak to the mechanic that looked at your car and chances are he will do the same for you.
Always remember to do your homework before taking your car to a shop to get repaired, there are several online recourses you can use to figure out what is wrong with your vehicle. There are several web sites that will give you step by step instruction on how to troubleshoot "diagnose" your vehicle before you take it to a shop. On top of that there are auto part stores everywhere that you can call to get prices on all parts needed to repair your vehicle.
Now i now that these shops need to make money, so in order to do so they mark up the prices of these parts. The problem is that they mark them up three even four times what they are actually worth. So a $4.00 part would end up costing you $15 or $20 when its all said and done.
Well I need to get back to the point. As my name states, i am an Ex-Employee I was a technician at one of these A.S.S. Shops, where not only the customer gets ripped off but so do the employees. Let me rephrase that, Most of the employees get ripped off.
We have two tiers of employee at this shop just like most shops. There are technicians and there are GS's which are hourly. Just as I didn't get paid for time I worked, it happens to the GS's as well. They are at the shop for a full 8 to 10 hours a day working on more cars than the technicians.By the end of the day or week, the manager "owner" decides that they have too many hours and just cuts their time as well. I have seen and heard of the days where the GS's had worked for 8 hours and only received 6 for the day. They punch a clock at the beginning and end of the day, and next to their actual time the boss writes in his own time for which they will get paid.
Most GS's are younger guys just trying to get their foot in the door for automotive work, usually live at home and just out of high school. So stealing money from these kids is also a shame. Their trying to get good jobs and move up with one certain company and the boss continues to make it harder on them to earn a living as well.
There is always at least one technician that the "boss" is either afraid of or best friends with that not only doesn't get ripped off but is given time and money for vehicles he did not look at or repair. I have been ripped off by said company on more than one occasion. Sometimes it gets fixed but more often than not they try to just sweep these problems under the carpet.
I will tell you about the most recent one. Two weeks ago or so, I worked on a vehicle that was supposed to get me roughly 6 hours of labor time. When I received my pay check it was well under the norm. I got to work and checked my work history from the weeks prior and found that not only was I not paid for the work that I had done, but also had other time taken from me as well.
This other time that was taken from me was on a vehicle that i had never seen or worked on, the time was then given to this other Technician in the shop to boost his pay check by roughly 10 hours. So not only was I not getting paid for work that I had done, but they were just taking money from me and giving it to someone else.
Last I checked that was just slightly illegal. I have already called the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as the Magistrate Court concerning this issue. When the manager "owner" John, was told about the money he owed me, instead of just paying me, he thought it would be best to just FIRE me. Of course he is not the one who fired me, he had one of the sales people do it for him. So not only is he a cheat and a thief, he also appears to be a coward.
I'm not sure how many people will read this, or how many people will respond to this, I'm sure i will get a rebuttal from the man who decided to fire me over money he owed me which is fine as well. I have already taken the steps to ensure that any repercussions from this letter can not harm me in any way. I have already spoken to a lawyer as well.
This will just be added to the other list of law suits against him and the company.
So to anyone that reads this, remember that there are reputable shops out there. America's service station is however not one of them. Most of the good shops are just around the corner from any A.S.S. You see. Most of these other shops have actual ASE certified technicians working there, as opposed to the above mentioned shop.
Ex-employee
Kennesaw, Georgia
U.S.A.
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