I believe some of you may be interpreting corporate backstabbing and "up the ladderisim" with poor management on the part of the dealerships. Just because there is a manager who will stop at nothing to keep his position does not mean its a bad place to work. You guys that are not happy sound like you just got out manuvered in the office. I know from whence i talk, I was that guy at a couple of places. Took me 22 years to figure it out. Now granted there are some cruddy employers out there, but if you are not happy everywhere you work, it's probably something you are doing to yourself that you dont even realize is happening. I was never any good at the office politics stuff, and when I finally figured out what I was lacking, I slept alot better at night and had a better outlook on my employment.

duodeluxe,

I totally agree with your last two posts. It is amazing that know one has every touched on the amount of $$ invested in a dealership to support the service functions - starting with building space, delivery vechicles, service van's, shop tools, supplies, diagnostic equipment, training, etc. etc. Certainly the dealership owner(s) do expect to get a return on these investments and expect personnel to support the objectives.

I see. You must be yet another perfect technician. Take a look at your last 2 post. Do you speak in anything but sarcasm?

duodeluxe,

I'm not sure what thread you've been reading but you might want to take a closer look at some of the credentials of some of the last couple of posters. One manager with 20 years and another Service Manager with I would guess at least 12-18 years to be in that position. Sounds to me like you've been drinking the Kool-Aid a little to long or......oh wait you must be in management, of course that would make sense.

Anyone ever heard this before: "Good People Leave Because Of Bad Managers"

Hmmm wish I could remember who told me that once ;o)

It's amazing to read so many of these posts that describe all management to be bumbling, dishonest fools and at the same time all of the technicians profess to be mistake free, honest people that don't let a second go by without worrying about what more they can do to help out their company.
A while ago I heard someone in a similar industry to ours had a layoff. I called to tell him that I was looking for a talented, good technician and if he could offer me a name of someone that he laid off so that I could contact him about my opening. His answer was simple- "I would never get rid of anybody like that!"
I know there are problems in all industries and all companies but my guess is that some, more than others ,contribute more to the problems than those that care to correct them. Most companies that I am familiar with want good employees who prove themselves and get rewarded. There are very few, who as a lot of you have suggested, that hire someone to see how much skin that they can take of your back. It's probably more of the opposite.

They not only instituted pay cuts, they cut quite a few of the benefits that attracted potential employees to come work for them and employees to stay with them. God knows the wages didn't attract them or keep them on board. They are expert at dangling the carrot and then nit-picking you to death before they give out a meager raise.(when they were giving raises). As long as tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee are running the branch service operations, this will be the case. Quote from them- "If they (employees) don't like it, they can leave". So I did. No respect or appreciation for years of dedicated performance

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Amen to that brother Jerry!
The Great And Powerful Oz does not want the little people to look behind the green curtain and see what's really going on. When you do find out keep it to yourself until something better comes along.

At this time I would like to quote one of my heros:

"America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve."

- Tom Morello -

Jerry from SAC- is that you?

I don't think the paycuts financed the C5 (which will be off the market in 5 years I bet) entirely, but as a manager I got a 11.1% cut, and other managers I know of got more cut. It drove me and at least one buddy of mine out of the company, so not only did the Dicke's save that 11.1%, but now they've dropped 2 payrolls.

I thought for years and years that Crown was treating me good, that what they were claiming about market conditions and the economy were true. Crown has done a nice job keeping as many people employed in the branch operations, but manufacturing is down by hundreds of people. Now that I am out on my own, I kick myself for not leaving years ago. It's simple; now I make more money and I have less stress, what's not to like?

Hey Ben, does the guy that used to be the service manager still a road guy for the low desert? Just curious.

that sounds like joyous news Ben, thanks for the good news, I hope (and pray) It keeps improving, we sure do need it, and I also hope it's not just Cat picking up work where some few others didn't have enough to stay in the business.

Sounds like nothin but rumors. I went to Crown to get parts and they are still slow and these are people I worked with for over 12 years and I was smart and moved on. I work for a CAT dealership and we are seeing a definat pick up in buisness as we are strungling to keep upwiththe work load and might hire 2 or 3 people now.

Pay, R&D as well as unit pricing are effects and results of "supply and demand", not so much what makes a person named Dicke happy.
Union's collective bargaining has the effect of constricting supply and so increasing demand for the available sources of workers. I am fairly sure the accounting offices in New Bremen, Ohio do not get to select a single source of income to finance any other single source.

"It is not the employer who pays the wages. He only handles the money. It is the product that pays the wages."--Henry Ford

The real point I wanted to make here is the other side of the coin of the same logic is that companies or bosses do not create jobs, customer's demand for goods and services create jobs.

the C5 has been out undercover for some years now being stress tested, so I've read on this forum, so I would think the r&d was done well before it entered service for testing. all this, while times were good in the industry.
the S*** hit the fan out here last year and the c5 was officially launched approximately one year later.

so no, I don't think pay cuts financed the c5s' r&d. But I would bet they are financing other things with the pay cut the crown guys took.

I worked for a factory branch as a service tech for quite a while. I hate to talk bad about a former employer, so, all I will say is that anything they do to their employees would not surprise me.

Sounds like rumors to me.