Quotas and commissions

Auto repair, specifically.

Every once in a while we hear that cops have quotas to fill, and that’s what reminded me.

I’ve also heard that at many garages, that mechanics get paid a commission on how much work they do.

So, it’s to their advantage to “find” all sorts of problems with your vehicle.

I do know one mechanic personally who told me that at their garage, they “were expected to turn over twice their gross pay each week.”

Here’s a case I’m familiar with.

My SO had a problem with the AC/heating fan in her truck. The compressor was working (you could feel cool air coming out), but the fan wasn’t. So, the cool air just “oozed” out.

She took it to a garage, where she was told that she had a bad compressor, and the repair cost would be $800!

That sounded suspicious to me, and when she got it back–the fan was working, but not the compressor.

We took it to a different garage, where she was told that the compressor was only out of coolant, and that (some doohickey) relating to the fan had recently been replaced!

So, apparently, this is what happened:

Fan doesn’t work, but compressor does.
After the 1st garage sees it, fan works, but compressor doesn’t.
Second garage says that “fan system” has had a part replaced, and the compressor is out of coolant.
Second garage replaces coolant, and everything’s OK.

Anyone familiar with any similar stories–where you know there was some skullduggery–or know any mechanics who have told you about their quota/commission system?

They are paid by job hours, I believe. Which means each job has a general amount of time associated with it. If you finish sooner, you get paid for the time allotted, plus you can get started on something else. Basically the same way lawyers get paid. You can work eight hours, but bill for twelve.