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Auto Repair Shop Mechanic Shares How He Lasted Just 4 Hours At A New Job Because Of How Unethical The Manager’s Business Practices Were
Auto Repair Shop Mechanic Shares How He Lasted Just 4 Hours At A New Job Because Of How Unethical The Manager’s Business Practices Were
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Auto Repair Shop Mechanic Shares How He Lasted Just 4 Hours At A New Job Because Of How Unethical The Manager’s Business Practices Were

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How should a new employee behave during their first day at work? Hundreds of articles and books have been written about this by the most experienced HR specialists, so you can collect a whole encyclopedia. But in general, most of the advice boils down to the fact that you should be as loyal as possible to corporate rules, listen carefully and follow the orders of higher-ups.

And if the newcomer fundamentally disagrees with what is happening in the company? Literally from the first hours at the new workplace? Then, probably, any recruiter will tell you that this will not end in anything good for the newcomer. However, there are always pleasant exceptions.

One such exception is the story of this auto mechanic, who now runs his own auto repair shop in Auburn, Washington, but left Firestone a few years ago to look for a new challenge. The story, told by the author in his TikTok, went viral, gaining nearly 2.3M views and 269K reactions.

More info: TikTok

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    The Original Poster quit from Firestone several years ago and found a new job at a car repair shop

    Image credits: dirty2dreamyllc

    So the Original Poster quit from Firestone and got a job at a local repair shop. The OP admits that he was expecting an assistant manager job and didn’t want to do mechanical work again. During the interview, the owner asked the applicant various questions about his expertise, and the OP answered in such a way that at the end, he was sure that he was not expected to perform any mechanical work.

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    Image credits: dirty2dreamyllc

    The owner needed someone to sell parts and run the front shop – with no mechanical work

    In fact, the owner needed someone to sell parts and run the front shop – and the OP, with his experience as a front-end mechanic, was a good fit for this position. However, when the OP came out on his first working day and the owner told him to diagnose the very first client’s car, he was a little surprised.

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    Image credits: dirty2dreamyllc

    OP’s first client had a mass airflow sensor code in her car

    The owner explained that he would like to see what skills the newcomer had. He was satisfied with the explanation and went to inspect the car. The client had a mass airflow sensor code, so the OP decided to check what was the reason. He suspected that after a visit to Jiffy Lube, their specialists simply forgot to plug the mass airflow sensor into its place.

    Image credits: dirty2dreamyllc

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    When the OP shared his thoughts with the owner, he just told him to sell the customer a new mass airflow sensor. But the employee insisted on checking – perhaps it was simply not plugged into place. That turned out to be the case – and when the OP put the sensor back in its place, the code was gone.

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    Image credits: dirty2dreamyllc

    The OP fixed the minor issue manually, though the owner insisted he sell a new sensor instead

    The OP told the owner that the issue was fixed, but he still insisted that the employee sell the sensor to the client. Then the OP approached the customer, asked her to step aside, and explained that he had manually solved her problem – because the Jiffy Lube service center workers probably simply forgot to plug the sensor back in place.

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    Image credits: dirty2dreamyllc

    The OP told the customer that he was going to quit after just 4 hours at the new job as the owner seemed to be a shyster

    However, according to the OP, the owner of this store still required him to sell her a new sensor, which she did not need at all. Therefore, the OP continued, when the client left, he left after her – because this guy was a shyster and he did not want to work with this kind of person. The OP admitted that it was his first day on the job and that he quit four hours after starting it.

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    Image credits: dirty2dreamyllc

    The woman sincerely thanked the mechanic for his concern and then gave him her business card and asked him to let her know where he’d be working next in order to continue servicing her car directly with him.

    Image credits: Nenad Stojkovic (not the actual photo)

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    When the OP started his own business several years later, he succeeded as clients followed him themselves

    That is why, as the OP said, when he started his own business a few years later, he succeeded. Because people themselves follow him, and an honest and humane approach to the customer always resonates in the hearts of people.

    @dirty2dreamyllc#answer to @tiktok_qna I couldn’t believe what this owner actually asked me to do. It was a no from me and I left 4 hours after I started #smallbusiness#autodetailing#cardetailing#detailers♬ original sound – Dirty2DreamyLLC

    People in the comments told the OP that he is an awesome person and that they really share his beliefs

    People in the comments massively praised the OP for being so principled and wished him continued success in business. Also, as it turns out, a lot of people share the OP’s beliefs. As one of the commenters admitted, he has owned his repair shop for 37 years and has always tried to do the right thing and take care of his customers.

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    Moreover, according to some people in the comments, any person should trust their auto mechanic in the same way as they trust a doctor – after all, the life of the driver and others largely depends on the car mechanic’s conscientiousness. And, according to most commenters, the OP is just an awesome person.

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    We must say that people often face such dishonest employers on their life path. For example, the owner of a small clothing store asked this woman to record a video resume, and this applicant was offered a salary significantly lower than advertised at an interview when the higher-ups found out he hadn’t worked for two months. And if you have had similar strange stories about employers as well, please feel free to share them in the comments to this post.

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    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

    Read less »
    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

    Saulė Tolstych

    Saulė Tolstych

    Author, Community member

    Read more »

    Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

    Read less »

    Saulė Tolstych

    Saulė Tolstych

    Author, Community member

    Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

    What do you think ?
    Fat Harry
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The thing about a garage or a mechanic is that when you find a good, honest one you keep going back, year after year. I've been going to the same garage since 2005. They're the sort of people who will tell you there's no charge because it just involved plugging something back in that had come loose, or they'll tell you you've got a good 2000 miles left on your tyres yet. And that honestly breeds loyalty. That pays much more in the long run than being a con artist.

    Brittany Copeland
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Lol a guy at Firestone tried doing something similar to me once, tried to convince me that my tires were five seconds from blowing and I needed a whole new set cuz of this one scuff mark when I went in for an oil change. Sucks to be him though, cuz he was new and my mom was his boss and just back from vacation. She stood behind him and the other guys got real quiet when he kept going. She ripped him a new one while explaining that those tires were 3 months old and he wasn't selling me anything. He didn't last long after that.

    Stannous Flouride
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Censoring shyster? shy·ster /ˈSHīstər/ A person, especially a lawyer, who uses unscrupulous, fraudulent, or deceptive methods in business. Mid 19th century: said to be from Scheuster, the name of a lawyer whose behavior provoked accusations of ‘scheuster’ practices, perhaps reinforced by German Scheisser ‘worthless person’.

    Kathryn Baylis
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well, my mind’s in the gutter then. I thought they’d censored s h I t s t e r.

    Load More Replies...
    Kathryn Baylis
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Note also that the customer was a woman. So of course the manager was banking on her not knowing anything about cars. Bastard. When I was younger, I had a VW Bug. Went into a place for an oil change. When they were done, and I paid the bill, I got my keys and went to drive home. Car roared and nearly jumped when I turned the key. It wasn’t doing that when I arrived there. Had a hell of a time keeping it still at stop lights. Got home, got out the manual, and went over possible causes. Found out it was the idle screw. Since the timing was so suspicious, I just know that, when they changed my oil, they decided to tighten the idle screw to make it sound like something big and expensive was wrong with the car, so I would come back and they could charge me out the yingyang for an unnecessary repair that they probably wouldn’t even do, because the actual repair would only take them a minute to fix. Got a screwdriver, loosened the screw, as it had been tightened as far as it would go, and readjusted the idle back to where it had been, all by myself. Then I passed the information about my experience the next time I saw a friend of mine, who happened to be a detective on the police department’s Fraud Squad. Don’t know if the shop was ever brought up on fraud charges, but I was satisfied. Found an honest shop after that.

    Zena Shirey
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I once had a mechanic that I trusted completely. No matter he worked for a big company (meineke) He always was honest in what he did . We had a 15 year relationship then one day he was gone ,broke my heart .A new owner had taken over whom was treating him unfairly, what a mistake. This shop went from being a top earning establishment to a ghost town overnight. Proof of an honest man's power ,still miss him.

    Bravo6Two
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Three generations of my family went to the same guy for close to 30 years until he retired because we could trust him to treat us fairly. And then some- he even loaned my grandfather his own truck a time or two so he wasn't stranded. Small businesses like mechanics live or die by their reputation.

    Scott Rackley
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Firestone is just as crooked. Girlfriend went to one for 100k tranny flush, mainly because I didn't want to do it. (Ended up doing it anyway) After they quoted the price (which was too expensive by a factor of 4), she called me and I told her to come back home I'll flush it next weekend. I get a call back from her saying the mechanics can't let her drive that car out of their lot. So I go down there and inform them they can hand over the keys to her or the police, but they're handing them over. I even saw one of them considering it, so I pulled out the phone and asked them, "Really?" After she got the keys and went home, I had a little talk with the manager.

    Glenn Schroeder
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I started going to a local shop because my father went to it. When the original owner retired his son took over, and he always treated my right. Now HIS son is running it. I'm still going there.

    Kalevra
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Did BP censor the word shy·ster?

    Barbara Gibson
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The mechanic my family has used for many years has treated us so well my eldest just bought their first used car and made a point of bringing it back from college so that he could look it over. Dad may be gone but the relationship he built with this mechanic and the shop he owns lives on.

    Load More Comments
    Fat Harry
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The thing about a garage or a mechanic is that when you find a good, honest one you keep going back, year after year. I've been going to the same garage since 2005. They're the sort of people who will tell you there's no charge because it just involved plugging something back in that had come loose, or they'll tell you you've got a good 2000 miles left on your tyres yet. And that honestly breeds loyalty. That pays much more in the long run than being a con artist.

    Brittany Copeland
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Lol a guy at Firestone tried doing something similar to me once, tried to convince me that my tires were five seconds from blowing and I needed a whole new set cuz of this one scuff mark when I went in for an oil change. Sucks to be him though, cuz he was new and my mom was his boss and just back from vacation. She stood behind him and the other guys got real quiet when he kept going. She ripped him a new one while explaining that those tires were 3 months old and he wasn't selling me anything. He didn't last long after that.

    Stannous Flouride
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Censoring shyster? shy·ster /ˈSHīstər/ A person, especially a lawyer, who uses unscrupulous, fraudulent, or deceptive methods in business. Mid 19th century: said to be from Scheuster, the name of a lawyer whose behavior provoked accusations of ‘scheuster’ practices, perhaps reinforced by German Scheisser ‘worthless person’.

    Kathryn Baylis
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well, my mind’s in the gutter then. I thought they’d censored s h I t s t e r.

    Load More Replies...
    Kathryn Baylis
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Note also that the customer was a woman. So of course the manager was banking on her not knowing anything about cars. Bastard. When I was younger, I had a VW Bug. Went into a place for an oil change. When they were done, and I paid the bill, I got my keys and went to drive home. Car roared and nearly jumped when I turned the key. It wasn’t doing that when I arrived there. Had a hell of a time keeping it still at stop lights. Got home, got out the manual, and went over possible causes. Found out it was the idle screw. Since the timing was so suspicious, I just know that, when they changed my oil, they decided to tighten the idle screw to make it sound like something big and expensive was wrong with the car, so I would come back and they could charge me out the yingyang for an unnecessary repair that they probably wouldn’t even do, because the actual repair would only take them a minute to fix. Got a screwdriver, loosened the screw, as it had been tightened as far as it would go, and readjusted the idle back to where it had been, all by myself. Then I passed the information about my experience the next time I saw a friend of mine, who happened to be a detective on the police department’s Fraud Squad. Don’t know if the shop was ever brought up on fraud charges, but I was satisfied. Found an honest shop after that.

    Zena Shirey
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I once had a mechanic that I trusted completely. No matter he worked for a big company (meineke) He always was honest in what he did . We had a 15 year relationship then one day he was gone ,broke my heart .A new owner had taken over whom was treating him unfairly, what a mistake. This shop went from being a top earning establishment to a ghost town overnight. Proof of an honest man's power ,still miss him.

    Bravo6Two
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Three generations of my family went to the same guy for close to 30 years until he retired because we could trust him to treat us fairly. And then some- he even loaned my grandfather his own truck a time or two so he wasn't stranded. Small businesses like mechanics live or die by their reputation.

    Scott Rackley
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Firestone is just as crooked. Girlfriend went to one for 100k tranny flush, mainly because I didn't want to do it. (Ended up doing it anyway) After they quoted the price (which was too expensive by a factor of 4), she called me and I told her to come back home I'll flush it next weekend. I get a call back from her saying the mechanics can't let her drive that car out of their lot. So I go down there and inform them they can hand over the keys to her or the police, but they're handing them over. I even saw one of them considering it, so I pulled out the phone and asked them, "Really?" After she got the keys and went home, I had a little talk with the manager.

    Glenn Schroeder
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I started going to a local shop because my father went to it. When the original owner retired his son took over, and he always treated my right. Now HIS son is running it. I'm still going there.

    Kalevra
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Did BP censor the word shy·ster?

    Barbara Gibson
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The mechanic my family has used for many years has treated us so well my eldest just bought their first used car and made a point of bringing it back from college so that he could look it over. Dad may be gone but the relationship he built with this mechanic and the shop he owns lives on.

    Load More Comments
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