Incompetent worker problem

[SJhawkins]

Been in the commercial building engineering space for 30 + years, the quality of workman ship has slipped a long way.

It's just not one thing in my mind, it's a number of factors from lack of training, lowest bid always wins, etc. Not to mention the codes have tripled in 30 years and every Tom, Dick and Charlie are writing all these codes that contradict each other, it's darn near impossible to build anything without messing someone's shoes up.

One good thing about growing up poor I guess is you learn how to do everything yourself. Used to fix, build and do whatever to live now I just do it for fun to see if I can do it, plus I'm still to cheap to pay someone else, old habits die hard I guess.

 

[JoeWras]

$1k for changing two brake pads would be outrageous. But, is that all they did? Since your pads were actually missing or loose, other parts of the system, such as the calipers and rotors, likely needed to be replaced after being damaged. Can you look at the detailed bill and give us a list of the parts that were replaced?

Yes. Two rotors makes it more palatable, but still a bit sketchy.

I'm telling you, the dealers are out of control on these simple brake jobs. They use fear to sell.

Back to 'retire to nature' brake job. I believe the pads were completely gone. It is likely rotors were replaced and the calipers looked at since the complaint was metal on metal. $1k is still high, but not as bad if it were pad only. Hopefully rtn can respond.

 

[retire to nature]

$1k for changing two brake pads would be outrageous. But, is that all they did? Since your pads were actually missing or loose, other parts of the system, such as the calipers and rotors, likely needed to be replaced after being damaged. Can you look at the detailed bill and give us a list of the parts that were replaced?

I reviewed the bill. it was break pad and rotors too. so front and rear pad 80+80. 2 sets of front rotor and 2 sets of rear rotors.233+292 and labor. it was a shabby shop but i dont mind looking part at all in things. I didnt feel like they would charge me much. labor part was only 165. so actually it is 905. is it reasonable or ripped off? I live in Missouri.

So I googled and learned about those, and pad is supposed to change every 10-20k miles? this is my 3rd car and I dont think I never changed pad that often? my first car total loss after only 3yrs. 2nd car I remember changed break in CA about $500+ in 2010(but it was toyota dealer service and yesterday was a shabby local shop). mine now is third car but originally my sister's. so I got it 2019 and never was told to change any break pad at every inspection?? or how I could pass all the safety test? my mileage is 111200.

actually i googled each part price. and it seems like ripped off. i guess they doubled the part price.

 

[Koolau]

So I googled and learned about those, and pad is supposed to change every 10-20k miles? this is my 3rd car and I dont think I never changed pad that often? my first car total loss after only 3yrs. 2nd car I remember changed break in CA about $500+ in 2010. mine now is third car but originally my sister's. so I got it 2019 and never was told to change any break pad at every inspection?? or how I could pass all the safety test? my mileage is 111200.

actually i googled each part price. and it seems like ripped off. so they double charged for labor since the part price itself in the bill is already high?

Cars I've owned with manual transmissions, I've never had to change pads or rotors. Autotrans cars should last 50K or more depending on whether my wife is driving or not.

I accuse DW of taking her Drivers Ed in a Kiddie Car (children's pedal car.) She thinks it's not really driving unless you are pushing a pedal.

 

[Surewhitey]

I reviewed the bill. it was break pad and rotors too. so front and rear pad 80+80. 2 sets of front rotor and 2 sets of rear rotors.233+292 and labor. it was a shabby shop but i dont mind looking part at all in things. I didnt feel like they would charge me much. labor part was only 165. so actually it is 905. is it reasonable or ripped off? I live in Missouri.

So I googled and learned about those, and pad is supposed to change every 10-20k miles? this is my 3rd car and I dont think I never changed pad that often? my first car total loss after only 3yrs. 2nd car I remember changed break in CA about $500+ in 2010(but it was toyota dealer service and yesterday was a shabby local shop). mine now is third car but originally my sister's. so I got it 2019 and never was told to change any break pad at every inspection?? or how I could pass all the safety test? my mileage is 111200.

actually i googled each part price. and it seems like ripped off. i guess they doubled the part price.

Probably on the parts. I paid $107 delivered for pads & rotors from rockauto.com. I didn't have the grease & anti seize spray /cleaner, so an additional $30 there. Took me a whopping 1.5 hrs (first time) on my Toyota Sienna. YouTube had exactly my model...

 

[Badger]

This brings up a point. Sometimes it is us. My wife doesn’t always hear things well and answers questions not asked or gets frustrated because of what she thought she heard when in reality it was something different. When we point a finger at someone, remember four more are pointing back at us.

Your wife too? All this time I thought I was the only one.

Cheers!

 

[Surewhitey]

Cars I've owned with manual transmissions, I've never had to change pads or rotors. Autotrans cars should last 50K or more depending on whether my wife is driving or not.

I accuse DW of taking her Drivers Ed in a Kiddie Car (children's pedal car.) She thinks it's not really driving unless you are pushing a pedal.

50k on fronts, who knows on backs. I have 60k+ miles on my back pads & I venture to guess they weren't new when I bought it @ 80k miles. Either way, 50k is a good place to start with a pad replacement, imo unless you are a heavy brake-r.

 

[Badger]

In the mid 80s I had a Toyota Tercel hatchback that needed breaks. At the time I was single and on a tight budget. Without any experience with breaks I thought I would give replacing them a try. The cost for break pads was really cheap compared to having it serviced. I followed instructions and it turned out to be easy. However, I don't think I would try it with a car today given that my body has aged too much.

Cheers!

 

[JoeWras]

I reviewed the bill. it was break pad and rotors too. so front and rear pad 80+80. 2 sets of front rotor and 2 sets of rear rotors.233+292 and labor. it was a shabby shop but i dont mind looking part at all in things. I didnt feel like they would charge me much. labor part was only 165. so actually it is 905. is it reasonable or ripped off? I live in Missouri.

So I googled and learned about those, and pad is supposed to change every 10-20k miles? this is my 3rd car and I dont think I never changed pad that often? my first car total loss after only 3yrs. 2nd car I remember changed break in CA about $500+ in 2010(but it was toyota dealer service and yesterday was a shabby local shop). mine now is third car but originally my sister's. so I got it 2019 and never was told to change any break pad at every inspection?? or how I could pass all the safety test? my mileage is 111200.

actually i googled each part price. and it seems like ripped off. i guess they doubled the part price.

$1000 pads and rotors all 4 corners is not bad in today's environment.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

For some reason unknown to me, IL said I needed a new license plate. So they gave me one with the yearly sticker pre-stuck on it.
Now I noticed a few months later the sticker is peeling up on it's own.
For decades when I stick on a sticker, I wash the existing one, let it dry and stick on the new one and it stays forever on there.
I can only guess, the worker that stuck the new sticker on the license before mailing, didn't bother to clean the plate, or had greasy fingers. As long as it doesn't fall off before it gets mailed they are happy.

Gone is Pride of Workmanship...

If you get north of the state line, you may have noticed a lot of Wisconsin license plates with peeling paint. Some of them are so far gone that the numbers are illegible.

I'd blame the workforce, but they tend to have a built-in morale problem that's hard to improve.

 

[Koolau]

If you get north of the state line, you may have noticed a lot of Wisconsin license plates with peeling paint. Some of them are so far gone that the numbers are illegible.

I'd blame the workforce, but they tend to have a built-in morale problem that's hard to improve.

And they w*rk for what? 37 cents/hour or some such?

 

[marko]

At least around here, there seems to be more job openings than people willing to fill them. I suspect that is the main reason for low competence. Employers stuck with whatever low IQ, low motivation, low interpersonal skills warm body that shows up at their door.

In the end, employees are expensive regardless of ability and, coupled to the new AI, will hasten the rise to more and more automation.

 

[jollystomper]

My only issue with Amazon is if they send something and it doesn't get delivered. They don't have an easy option for that, just for returns. You can't return something you didn't receive. But you can work your way through it, it just takes time and effort.

Interesting. That has not been my experience. When something is greatly delayed and not delivered, my order status has said something like "we do not know when this will be delivered", and I can select to request a refund on the web page. When something is running very late, on the order status there is an option to cancel the delivery, and they will provide a refund. The only times we have to call is when an empty package has been delivered.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

To quote the old management bon mot, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

 

[pacergal]

It doesn't help when tiktok, and others all have "Quiet Quitting" trending.
But that is not new, I have come across many in my day who did the bare minimum to keep their jobs.
Heck when your reward for doing well is to have more work piled on "because you are such a great, competent worker", who wants that??

 

[disneysteve]

At least around here, there seems to be more job openings than people willing to fill them. I suspect that is the main reason for low competence. Employers stuck with whatever low IQ, low motivation, low interpersonal skills warm body that shows up at their door.

In the end, employees are expensive regardless of ability and, coupled to the new AI, will hasten the rise to more and more automation.

This is the down side of record low unemployment. Too many jobs and not enough workers to fill them. Many stores and restaurants have trimmed hours because they simply don’t have enough staff to stay open.

 

[pacergal]

This is the down side of record low unemployment. Too many jobs and not enough workers to fill them. Many stores and restaurants have trimmed hours because they simply don’t have enough staff to stay open.

True. My favorite Mexican restaurant closed early yesterday--no staff. And I so wanted their burrito for dinner!

 

[Yoheadden]

We have noticed his incompetence with the post office lately. Over the past 3 weeks, we received our neighbors mail 4 times. We called the Post Office and each time, they say they will pass the information along. Once we caught the mailman going back up the street and gave him a letter for a totally different street. Our #, but different street and he just said it’s the way they sort the mail. Yes, but you still delivered it.

 

[marko]

Interesting. That has not been my experience. When something is greatly delayed and not delivered, my order status has said something like "we do not know when this will be delivered", and I can select to request a refund on the web page. When something is running very late, on the order status there is an option to cancel the delivery, and they will provide a refund. The only times we have to call is when an empty package has been delivered.

Me too. I have something delivered from Amazon every single day. Right into my garage via Key Delivery. Not once in over 500 deliveries has there been a problem. (Next scene)

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

It doesn't help when tiktok, and others all have "Quiet Quitting" trending.
But that is not new, I have come across many in my day who did the bare minimum to keep their jobs.
Heck when your reward for doing well is to have more work piled on "because you are such a great, competent worker", who wants that??

To paraphrase the old Japanese proverb (this thread has inspired me), the nail that stands tallest gets hammered hardest.

We aren't alone in experiencing worker ennui -- China's millennials are often "lying flat" and "letting it rot." https://www.insider.com/chinese-people-letting-it-rot-social-protest-trend-2022-10

 

[retire to nature]

One more thing causing this issue is the salary system. My last job was for the top ranked hospital. So I was proud of being there. I was always hard worker. So all my supervisors crazily loved me. So MRI dept, I make everything smooth go things make fast. And I got so much compliment from coworkers because on my shift, they were so comfortable.

On the other hand, another RN was a total slacker. So on her shift all test were delaying, waiting room become so full etc. But on the first year for the raise pay time, every body got 2 % raise. So I was upset because I work 2-3 times harder than her.

And even though bullying at another coworker, the one was ok because he worked there long time.

that kind well famed work place, employees dont need to work hard, because they think the big company name is covering their incompetence.

So these days, ppl hear some others making good money in crypto or stock etc, with the salary is not matching inflation even. And since it was a big company there was at least annual raise. But small company sometimes hardly raise the salary.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

One more thing causing this issue is the salary system. ...

The mention of salary reminds me of my son-in-law's situation. A young guy, he was working for a large convenience store chain when they offered him a "promotion" to assistant manager from his hourly gig. It came with a decent bump in pay, but as a salaried employee. The bump was an increase when comparing 40-hour work weeks, but he NEVER saw 40 hours. More like 60, even 70. Turnover at the hourly level was huge, and whenever there was a gap in scheduling, he got the call to fill in. That's how retail often abuses the salary system -- find the rare bird who's reliable, and work him like a rented mule.

 

[retire to nature]

Probably on the parts. I paid $107 delivered for pads & rotors from rockauto.com. I didn't have the grease & anti seize spray /cleaner, so an additional $30 there. Took me a whopping 1.5 hrs (first time) on my Toyota Sienna. YouTube had exactly my model...

Yeah, I am a DIY person too. I have changed side mirror, window lifter, trunk latch by myself with youtube. I have detached my other seats except the driver seat.

But I am still glad and thankful to the shop. Money is for like this kind case. And if there is no service I cant use my money anyway.

 

[retire to nature]

The mention of salary reminds me of my son-in-law's situation. A young guy, he was working for a large convenience store chain when they offered him a "promotion" to assistant manager from his hourly gig. It came with a decent bump in pay, but as a salaried employee. The bump was an increase when comparing 40-hour work weeks, but he NEVER saw 40 hours. More like 60, even 70. Turnover at the hourly level was huge, and whenever there was a gap in scheduling, he got the call to fill in. That's how retail often abuses the salary system -- find the rare bird who's reliable, and work him like a rented mule.

Yeah, I felt all those manipulations in society, so that's why I planned FIRE even when I was a little.

 

[retire to nature]

The mention of salary reminds me of my son-in-law's situation. A young guy, he was working for a large convenience store chain when they offered him a "promotion" to assistant manager from his hourly gig. It came with a decent bump in pay, but as a salaried employee. The bump was an increase when comparing 40-hour work weeks, but he NEVER saw 40 hours. More like 60, even 70. Turnover at the hourly level was huge, and whenever there was a gap in scheduling, he got the call to fill in. That's how retail often abuses the salary system -- find the rare bird who's reliable, and work him like a rented mule.

Actually, thats why many supervisors are dumb people and cant manage well if they are keeping the job in the miscalculation. They fell for those misconception so thats why they tell their employees BS hoping their employee falling for that nicely manipulated language.