That is the difference between shops is the space available. Our waiting space is the parking lot. For half the year I worked outside in it on every job I had. It kind of killed the motivation. I don't know what I would have done if I had two bays assigned to me, probably celebrate.

Never having owned an MB, I guess I don't understand.

Why do waiters get priority? Every dealership I've been in makes it seem like the waiters aren't the priority over an appointment.

My business model is to have two bays for each of my techs.  

 



Currently I only have one tech...  But hopefully!

It's been that way for my 16 years there and will continue to be.  

I shared these thoughts with the service  manager who seemed overjoyed at what I had to say.  Waiters are always a headache.  Looking at the situation and the resources we have, I see a very simple and obvious solution.  Sure it will need some refinement, as no plan survives first contact intact.  What  looks good on paper doesn't always translate into reality.  But having, and effectively communicating a policy and consistently enforcing that policy while being firm yet fair seems to be the best way forward.  

I believe very firmly that this policy will absolutely piss people off.  I also firmly believe that the company and the employees both will benefit financially and that the customer will be more satisfied.  Eventually the techs may choose to see the benefit, or they can continue to complain while making more hours.  The option to do nothing will be eliminated.  

I'm at a tool show this weekend. Here are a couple pics I took today. The torx bits on a stick are tiny as hell. They have a diamond grip coating to help keep them from coming out of the screw when using. Cutaways are the 2235Q and the 35Q super stubby impact. The green and red are ingersoll 231s that's been around forever.

That stubby one looks handy for breaking off hard to reach fasteners.    then you can buy some trick shit to drill and tap in hard to access locations.

Srsly I don't know why they make anything other than the titanium guns.  They are unbeatable.  It took a decade to kill my first one.  It  replacement is considerably more powerful and just as light.  

That Milwaukee tho....  built a junkyard longblock in to a motor today.  Is there nothing that tiny gun can't do?  And it had been a month since the battery had been charged.  

the stubbys are nice. 1/2 has 625 ft lbs and is shorter than the 3/8" timax. Works great for suspension,brake,engine work. 3/8" is the same gun, super short. 425 ft/lbs on it.

I won a $3500 Amex trip voucher! Hell yea!

Fords aren't the only ones you do this to.






 

hell yeah



 

Got it right where you want it now.



 

It has been announced.  One week from now I shall assume my new role as team leader.  I got congratulated by several techs who said it was overdue.  I've been practicing while my team leader is out.  He returns early from school due to hurricane evacuations.  I'm working more closely with my team and so far I'm proud of how I've handled things.  

Had a guy ask for help with an intake leak.  I kindly advised him to get the shop's smoke machine and utilize it.  He found the problem right away himself.  I reiterated that I will not be fixing his problems.  I am only to guide him to his own solution.  

I'm looking forward to this.  I also realize that it comes with some challenges and its own drawbacks.  

We did a new Saturday schedule.  I'm leaving sprinter behind.  With our new sprinter trainee ready to go on the line, he will be covering his own saturdays.  

I spent some time with the trainee in our shop today and believe that he is ready to start going on his own.  The foreman agrees.  

I hope to have a discussion with on  of the newer guys in the new shop soon and convince him to come over to my shop and be a part of our team without him feeling like it was something he is being forced to do.  I think I can sell him on it.  Actually I believe it will be pretty simple to do.  

2017 gle 350.  Mbrace doesn't have sound.  (Think onstar).  Someone looked at it, ran out of time and it left.  I got it a couple weeks ago and after dissecting  a poorly written repair order and checking history I figured out the complaint.  Diagnosis showed it needs a control unit.  Ordered it and waited a week for it.

Installed new module.  It programs but will not code.  Try multiple computers and stuff, no go.  Opened tech support case.  After several days they conclude that I should reorder the part, but specify the original part number and not the substitution I was sent.

Installed that part.  It takes over an hour to program then tells me that programming is not compatible.

Resent tech support case stuff.  Now it has to go through Germany.  I've got eight fucking hours in it so far.

I still don't have a torque converter to complete my engine swap either.

We are having a ton of computer programming issues.  We can't get anything programmed after it  been replaced.  

I spoke with the guy I'm bringing over to the old shop and got him on board.

I helped out a  couple of guys with various issues.  

Did about four services that didn't pay much.  

Carmax brought me an ac inop on a 2012 e350.  I figured they had already been through it before throwing in the towel.  Pulled faults, it had a bunch.  Every sensor fault went to the same connector.  Pulled the module, plugged the connector in, collected 1.5 for roughly ten minutes of time.

Had a 95 geo tracker come in with a failed harmonic balancer that jacked up the timing belt. So there is at least one left on the road.

Congrats on the promotion

After more than a month with little progress and no approval I figured since I had the time and I want my bay back I kicked over the seized engine and ripped the oil pan off.  I tore off the balance shaft assembly and fucked it all up, saw the number four conrod bearing was squeezing out and unbolted the rod cap.  Bearing was trash, crank had light damage, but was now free.  I snatched the converter and flex plate, and dropped the junkyard engine in the car.  Wiggled the tranny around a bit and got the torque converter bolted up.  I can finish it whenever and flag ten hours more.  

So the  Saturday  schedule is fucked and I am somehow scheduled for every Saturday this month.    welcome to leadership?

I put my notice in at the shop about a week ago, this upcoming Friday is my last day.  I should have probably found a different job first before putting my notice but it will work out.  I have some pennies saved up so I think I am going to work on some of my project cars first before I get back to fixing cars for other people.  Anyone need a BMW tech, lol.

Yeah. I have two bays, it  has been slow, and the noob next to me doesn't use his bay very often so I do.  It's not at all difficult to have a job down for a long time under these circumstances.

Got the engine job buttoned up and shipped.  

Did tons of diag work and made almost no hours because it is all tied up in diag that hasn't been approved.  

Bunch of complaints on an old clk cabriolet that were "accident related".  Except none of them are.  It's all typical failure stuff for that model.  Tell me how having a minor rear end collision causes the convertible top cylinders to leak?

Working on an older s class now that has rear end collision work done at a body shop and it has a lot of strange issues with the pnuematics on the trunk lid.  I already see that someone put in  a control unit that is not coded correctly.  I'm missing voltage to a switch for the latch.  I'll find it tomorrow.

I have a meeting with the SM about my promotion tomorrow, which is good because I start in like two days.  

Found on Facebook. Too good not to share!

 
I do have to talk with customers about it though.  



I swear they all have it diagnosed before it even shows up.

Tomorrow and Friday the big shift occurs.  I'm excited.  I've had some solid conversations and identified areas of concern and developed solutions.  One of which is simple.  Alignment guy wanders off and doesn't answer the phone.  So I ordered a cordless phone.  After I work with him for a week we will sit down with the SM and have a talk about expectations.  

I believe the techs need to manage their work load more efficiently and will counsel them on the methods I use.  Since I turn more hours than any of them, it's irrefutable that my techniques work.  

I now have a major interest in them turning more hours.  My pay is partly based directly on shop hours turned.  We are nowhere near what we are expected to produce.  I will do my best to ensure that we not only meet, but exceed those goals.

The SM told me that I am officially in as of Monday.  I  am waiting for the computer magic to be turned on, and tech support also.  We have a few guys to shuffle around.  I think my team leader is a bit put out by this but I'm certain he'll cope and come out with some advantages.  

I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and some guy called in to our dealership wanting us to open tech support case for him because he has a poorly repaired vehicle and it has issues from being rear ended at 50+ mph.  I started off with "we will be willing to make an assessment but not attempt repairs" and after a fifty minute call it escalated to do not bring it here we cannot help you but will forward your information to someone else at the corporate level.  Guy is getting fucked by his insurance company and somehow feels MB should help.  Apparently at this point four other dealers will no longer work with him.  I can see why.    

Some of us sat out back for an hour and had cigars.  It will be the last time I get to do that.    It's state fair week and traditionally our worst time of year because it's so slow.  That will hopefully help me transition to my new role.

My service manager and our engine/transmission guy both got shit-canned today out of nowhere.  Reason given was that they were doing side work.  Literally everybody in the shop does side work.  Granted, the tech that got fired did more than anyone, and his stuff tended to hang around for a long time, but still.  Not sure why they went on a witch hunt all of a sudden, but apparently the decision came from high up.  We were told that they had been watching the cameras for a few weeks.  I feel rather lucky because I certainly do my share of side work as well, albeit small in and out jobs.

I have been working with these two for 11 years.  Over 1/3 of my life.  It was a big blow.  Having trouble processing it at the moment.  

Not sure how things are going to work out.  We have 10 Sonatas waiting for engines at the moment.  He was the only one that did engine/trans work.  He liked it, he was good at it, and nobody else had any interest because heavy line Hyundai work doesn't pay shit.  Nobody in the shop has had any current Hyundai engine training.  Hell, when I went to engine class, we still used timing belts.  

SM was also our warranty administrator.  I have a feeling my paycheck is going to drop SIGNIFICANTLY in the weeks to come.  

Been thinking about getting out of the field, but no clue what I would do.  An associate's degree doesn't mean much these days.  I don't want to just bounce to another shop, they all suck from what I see on FB and here.  I have made insanely good money here, so I will stick around for the time being, but I think I will begin trying to work on an escape plan.

Bad day.

My last week as a technician.  I have been a technician in training, technician, certified technician, master technician, master diagnostic technician, busted back to technician because my job code was eliminated, and now skipped over that to code 812 team leader for Mercedes Benz and commercial vehicles.  

I flagged 70+ hours this week.  Now I'll be limited to forty.  I get a shop hours bonus.  At our current rate, which is well under our capabilities, I'll make the same money as my average during the last two years.  We start popping off 1100 hour weeks and I'll be a happy man. I need every man to turn ten more hours per week.  From the flag sheets I've seen that shouldn't be too hard.  

I've been given the keys to the facility.  My computer magic has been activated.  We had our first meeting as a management team.  They seem excited about the change and how well we anticipate that we will work together.  I'm all in.  I am going to win.  

We settled on not moving as many techs around.  The stability we have will be monitored and fine tuned as needed.  

I put my saved tires for the ML350 that I salvaged in the shed out back (because now I have a key) and cleaned up and organized my work area.  I closed some big jobs that got finished and spent some time  observing and assisting.  I have the tire guy in our shop emptying all the tires he has stacked up on the back wall.  We aren't allowing that any more.  Any tech who fails to remove the old tires immediately after finishing up the job will lose all their tire work for 30 days.  Likewise we have an issue with theft labels not being installed during PDI.  Our new GM is adamant that this be done.  So another 30 day penalty on PDIs is being instated for failure to do this.  

I am going to have a daily meeting to bring problems to my attention and address or escalate as necessary.  I am communicating to my team that this shift in leadership is also a shift to a firmer and more aggressive stance from the SM.  The time was right to implement different policies and its all coming together.  

I've been through a lot of changes in the last sixteen years.  I've seen several management styles.  The hardest to accept were outsiders hired to be in a leadership role, or a much newer person.  I've been there longer than all but two techs.  One has four months on me, the other started the year I was born.  It's been well received by everyone so far.  Me losing my competitiveness and being more open to sharing my success will only serve to strengthen our team.  I don't get to laugh and walk away anymore.  I'll be asking questions and steering towards solutions.  I'll be promoting efficiency and self sufficiency.  

I know that it was difficult for them to be able to put me in this role, so I'm going to make sure I give them a return on their investment.  I hope they never doubt this decision, only wonder why they didn't make it sooner.  They are stepping up and paying for the best they have and I'm stepping up and learning to master this role while maintaining a positive environment for everyone.

War86, the sudden major changes are always the most shocking. You'll get through this.  I've been there several times.  You see, you have yet to meet their replacements and they could be better than you've ever imagined.  Perhaps the upper management already has their replacements chosen and was looking for the trigger.  

Give it a little time to see how it all shakes out.  I was devastated when the thirty year veteran I was trained by was pushed out.  But after the hurt wore off I simply got better and better until it got me noticed.  Then doors began to open.  

Yeah it might be the same shit everywhere, but then again it's not.  Change is inevitable.  We get comfortable with where we are and our environment.  A sudden shock is upsetting.  But while for some reason change makes us uncomfortable and makes us resist... We simply want to stay in our comfort zone... change brings opportunity.  You will have a chance to prove yourself to a different manager.  He may decide that you are capable of more than your last manager.  He may give you those training opportunities that you haven't been getting.  

I turned my last crushing disappointment and embarrassment in to a rage that got me two of the most profitable years I ever had.  I channeled everything in to productivity and perfection.  I eventually became content with not being the team leader because it meant I could stay where I was comfortable and dominate the flag sheets.  But as time wore on I still crave more.  Change is good.  Moving out of stagnation is good.  

Good luck to you.  The sting will wear off.  I hope that the new manager will present you with some good chances to excel.

 
What is the book to swap an engine?

this screams theft/fraud and they just used "side jobs" as an excuse to get them out while saving face (allowing it to go on for so long).  Either actual parts or somehow flagging/falsifying records for labor.
Esp if the guy was the warranty guy too.

I assure you there was nothing like that going on.  I spent more time with these guys the last 11 years than I do with my wife if you exclude sleeping.  Neither one of them are crooks and neither one of them would ever do anything like that.  Apparently the higher-ups (who are 100 miles away) think that nobody should be able to use their skills to make any side money apparently.  It has always been one of those "don't ask, don't tell" type things.  Like I said, there is not a single person in the shop who DOESN'T do side work, but these two did more than most and the tech especially had a lot of cars hanging around.

I think the recall engines pay 9 hours.

 
Fuck.  That.

 
I keep telling my apprentice this.  She has a knack for this.  Another 2 years of working at this and she is going to be beating me up for some serious money.  And can go anywhere and get above average money.  I figure in 5 years she is looking at 100k pretty easily.

Now you know why nobody had any interest in doing this shit.   Before the recall,  you had to do a short block and a head.  Only way you could get a head was bare.  Paid 11 hrs total if I remember correctly.   DCT trans in a 16 tucson pays less than 3 hrs.  It's retarded.

I know several "good" guys that have been able to work some sweet deals for themselves to stay at a dealer. A nissan tech turned in his 2 weeks notice and was bumped to $35 with 40 guarantee. Flipping nissan tech making $35. Pretty common for GM and Ford guys, blows my mind the nissan guy got it.

I have three broken tools @ $840each.  We are going to try a machine shop to repair them and maybe reimagine how they are used so they don't break again.  

I got good feedback from my team and so far things are going smoothly.

Hours are terrible right now but we will get them up.

I accepted a temporary adjunct instructor position at the local community college teaching automotive tech a little over a week ago.  So far so good; I really enjoy the teaching side of things.  And I also make more money than I did as a tech.  So it's a win-win for me.

I stay so busy dealing with issues I can hardly pick up a wrench.  And I still turn more hours than some of the techs.  Fuck me I didn't know their hours were so bad.  

I spent most of the day enhancing my skills dealing with technician fuck ups.

First, an air filter got installed that was not part of the service.  It caused the service price to increase by $100.  Technician wanted to blame parts for giving him the filter rather than owning it and putting the old one back in.  This required me to reiterate the importance of following the maintenance sheets.  It is the technicians responsibility to ensure that the services are performed per the sheet.  Not just throw on whatever parts they are handed.

A tech left for a while and had his name on the list for work.  It was brought to my attention, I made a phone call and the tech did not answer.  At that point I had the following techs take the next jobs.  We do not hold up work as a matter of convenience for anyone.

Next was a vehicle that was picked up that had to be towed back immediately and left the client stranded.  The technician had replaced the coolant expansion tank and neglected to ensure that the hose clamps were secured.  The hose blew off.  It was another in a string of comebacks due to careless mistakes.  I discussed how I would handle the issue, then when the vehicle arrived I inspected it and determined the cause of failure, photographed it and shared the information with those involved.  I then took the tech outside and showed him the results of his carelessness.  How it affected the service advisor, the client, and the dealership.  He has been referred for a write-up by the foreman and will be docked for the tow bill.  He is a prime target for termination should he lack the ability or desire to correct his course.  This is only my third day on the job and my first encounter with an issue of this magnitude.  The tech responsible has created a difficult situation for himself and I hope he can overcome it.  We have not terminated for this reason in many years and I do not wish to see it happen now, although I understand the necessity from a business perspective.

I have received positive feedback from my advisors and my former peers.  I try to be fair, consistent and firm.  I communicate expectations and am keen to be reasonable with them.  I try to be the team leader I would want to have.  I do whatever is needed, and already that leaves me no time for lunch.  I'm there early and leave late.  I make decisions and give advice.  I attempt to provide perspective and wisdom to the best of my ability.  I thank every person every day for their contribution.

That doesn't sit too good with me, not that I have any say in this, it just doesn't seem right.  The dealership should be covering the cost of the tow, yes the tech fucked up but shit happens.  If the dealership wants the tech to start covering the cost of fuckups then they need to start paying more than 20% of the labor charge.  All that extra money in the labor rate goes to pay for things like power, shop tools, rent, etc... but it also goes to cover shit that goes wrong.

 
Shit happens.  The first time a shop makes me pay for something like that is the last.  My tool box rolls out the next day.


My apprentice has in one second of work cost me and my shop 600 dollars. I looked at what she did, explained the right way to do it, ordered the replacement part and went back to work. In the year she has worked for me she has maybe cost me 3k total.  On top of what I pay her.  If it's a common occurrence then the tech needs to be fired.  If it just happens every once and a while, fucking hell the shop should cover it.

The knee jerk reaction of the foreman was termination.  He keeps a comeback log, and its reached the end  of the road.  The decision to dock was on the part of the SM, not me.  I suppose if he decided to leave then it would be best for all parties involved.  

The $100 air filter mistake was corrected.  It was the technicians fault.  The maintenance intervals have been changing over the last few years and it is important to follow the sheet that we fill out during the service.   The client in this case had already required us to price match to get the job, so we reduced the service cost to get the job in the door.  We are not going to eat another $100 on a job we already took a hit on, particularly when the technicians have been repeatedly warned to ensure that they follow the maintenance sheets.  It was an easily correctable error, which I was tasked with correcting.  When he misses an interval for the transmission service and does it at 40k I stead of 70k, it's a $500 mistake.  When it happens several times it quickly adds up.  We are also not going to pay labor to a tech for doing work that was not approved.  These are controllable expenses.  It is part of my position to help control them.  My foreman handed me the maintenance sheet, gave me the situation and told me to handle it.  I explained how I would, and then did so.  

I don't feel a need to assert myself or make decisions about someone's future.  It  is my position to intervene where needed and communicate to the SM and SF.  They decide what to do with the situation as they see fit.  

The impact of carelessness can be far beyond what it initially seems.  We lose big, and we cannot afford to lose.  When we have a pattern of this, centered around one Individual then they are going to escalate their responses until they get a desirable result.  The advisors don't want him working on their cars, the customers are angry, and surveys suffer.  We also have to consider how the other techs perceive the actions taken.  When someone consistently fails to meet expectations without any consequence, it isn't long before everyone else begins to test the waters to see what they can get away with.  Shit happens.  Every single day.  You will get no argument from me on that.  It happened enough to me alone, and now that I see everything it is enough to keep me busy constantly.  This particular situation is not the norm for our dealership.

Performance Improvement Program(PIP) write him up, if he continues here is the action and then do it.  Also ask the parts guy to monitor what parts are being ordered.  Yes other techs are watching and it will impact morale if it continues.  If he improves, that's one path, otherwise cut your losses.

It's also impacting your time and focus, especially if you're already getting in early, skipping lunch and working late.

If a tech is expected to cover the "losses" then the tech should get a cut of the profit from the shop both labor and parts. Period.


If something goes to the point of talk of making the techs pay for something then they need to pull up their big boy pants and fire the tech for messing up.

You can't have it both ways.

The fact that management made the decision to cut the price of the repairs is irrelevant, what was discounted? The labor and parts prices or labor, parts and tech hours paid? Who was the dealerships prices compared to? Another dealership or a independent shop?


Mess ups happen at all auto repair shops, at all businesses. That's part of the cost of doing business.

My brother works for a very large food company. Someone didn't order the 1 fda approved grease that is used in the smokehouse to lube the track system and $3,000,000 worth of meat was burnt up. They didn't go after the employee for the loss.

The service manager has a policy of covering the first mistake, splitting the second, and making you fully responsible for the third.  The policy renews every six months.  He has historically been more than reasonable in his enforcement of this policy.  

Regarding the air filter, the service advisor had no more wiggle room left.  He had discounted price and the tech was still getting full pay.  However you are correct that in the end none of that really matters, it was simply part of the information I was presented with by the advisor.  The only thing that really matters is that the tech failed to perform his duty and was asked to correct his error and counseled on preventing it from recurring.  

As for the three million dollar mistake, well good luck getting anyone to pay for it.  The employee certainly wouldn't ever be able to cover it, and if it was a problem that caused that kind of loss then there should have been more oversight and you can bet your ass there is now.  That was not a failure of an individual as much as a failure of an organization and their procedures.  

For me, I'll likely step up my oversight of this technician because his quality of work warrants the extra attention.  I'm still learning and will continue to refine my tasks to address the needs of the shop.  It's definitely make or break time for this guy and my old team leader stuck his neck out too many times by his own admission.  He was relieved to not have to deal with the situation any longer and developed the opinion that some people just cannot be helped.  

We have gotten some extremely high quality people from the MB training program recently.  They all have made good impressions on us and we have more available to us as well.  While we strongly value the contribution of every team member, it would be equally foolish to linger in a toxic relationship with any person and fail to recognize that they can be replaced.  We have been through a lot of low hanging fruit, and we've also netted some extremely good people.  You catch what fish will bite, and cull the smaller fish for larger ones when you need to.  Nobody has been let go for low hours or slow times, they get themselves fired for poor attitudes and shoddy work.  We carry a car line whose clients have extremely high expectations and we are tasked with exceeding them.  When we have given multiple opportunities for improvement and provided additional help and attention yet still are not having our most basic yet critical expectations met then I cannot fault management for doing what they feel is necessary for the good of the clients and the business.  I really hope this tech makes it.  I'm not the only one who feels he has potential.  He is likeable and seems to put in effort in some areas, then shows up late consistently and underperforms regularly.  At some point he will either improve or be removed.  Unfortunately events like what happened yesterday have the manager finding it more difficult to retain him.  

Virginia has a policy also.

Virginia Payment of Wage Law, § 40.1-29 of the Code of Virginia.
Employers must establish regular pay rates and pay dates, and pay employees all wages, salaries, and commissions on or before the established pay day. Fringe benefits such as vacation, sick, holiday, and severance pay are not required to be given under the law, and employers may establish any or no policy regarding these fringe benefits. Payment must be made in cash, by check, or direct deposit if the employee chooses, and, in limited circumstances, by payroll debit cards. The law prohibits employers from making deductions, other than for taxes or other items required by law such as garnishments, without first securing the employee's written authorization to do so. Even with written permission, employees cannot be required to forfeit their wages for shortages, errors, damages, etc. Employers can be assessed a $1,000 penalty per violation or face criminal charges for intentionally and willfully violating this law.


If the guy is that big of a fuck up that he can just be replaced by someone straight out of tech school then you guys should just eat the money, fire him and send him on his way to jiffy lube.

We aren't in Virginia, and it isn't MY decision.  It's above my pay grade

I'll let you guys know how it shakes out.  I don't do write ups and make decisions about disciplinary actions or hire and fire folks.  Hell I'm still figuring out exactly what it is I am responsible for.  Nobody was very clear about that.  I just do what needs doing and support the techs, advisors and company as  best I know how.  It's required rewiring my thinking quite a bit and thinking twice before I speak.  I've had to be a lot nicer to people, and rather than tell them what I really want to, I feel it's necessary to provide an alternative point of view.  Perhaps checking that tire pressure is an inconvenience for you and yes you are not being paid to do it.  But maybe that customer really can't do it themselves.  Maybe they are wheelchair bound.  Perhaps you don't realize that the customer has paid $120+ per hour for the other work that was done and giving them a tire pressure check isn't unreasonable.  They DID choose to come here instead of one of the twelve Indy shops that surround us or the other two dealerships.  So let's make sure that they continue to decide to come here.  They are already taking time out of their day to be here, and they drove past other places to get here.  We need to appreciate that.

Anyhow I took the day off and went to the fair.  So I could pay $15 to rent a parking spot.  $4-6 per person per ride, $7 for some fucking French fries, and whatever else they suck money out of your wallet with.  It didn't help that it was in the high eighties and crowded as fuck.  My favorite part were the new John Deere tractors on display.  $300k for a tractor.  Something like $58k per year, or roughly $5000 per month.  You'd need to harvest a whole lot of corn to pay the note on one of those.

My SM and SF will sit down with radiator hose guy and explain that this is the last time they are dealing with him.  Next stupid mistake gets him fired.  I will check his diagnosis and his repairs on every job.  

Air filter guy took three new jobs on a very slow day, in spite of him having two old jobs he never worked on.  I was given a very short but furious meeting by our ASM and given the details.  I explained that I have previously counseled him twice about getting more work before completing or progressing on old work.  I then took the tech aside, had him show me that he knows how to check his open repair orders and walked him through the process in full one more time.  I said that the advisors are angry that these jobs didn't get looked at, and there will be no further warnings.  They will turn off his locate function and manually dispatch his work.

I helped everyone that wanted help to pass an electrical fundamentals test.  You get one shot to test out, 44 questions and failure requires a mandatory three day training course.  You also lose certification.  So almost everyone wanted the help.