An American mechanic has used his TikTok account to urge people to stop asking their mechanic friends to work for free.
Chris, aka @dieseltechchris, was responding to a question from a fellow TikToker who asked if mechanics are the only people who are expected to work for free when one of their friends needs help.
Chris said: “I don’t think that mechanics are the only trade that get it; I think all trades probably get it and all trades are taken for granted.
“But I do think that mechanic trade is the number one trade. That is the number one taken for granted and overlooked. Naturally, I might be biased being a mechanic myself, however, I feel like I probably have some good insight as to why.”
Chris continued: “I have friends that are in other businesses, as well. I have plumber friends, electrician friends, even auto body friends.
“Any time I need a favour, I don’t just assume that they’re gonna do this, especially for free. Lot of times if I need a favour I’ll reach out and I’ll ask, ‘hey when you have some time would you be able to help me and I’m glad and happy to pay you for your time.‘”
He added: “But mechanics are absolutely taken for granted, every day of the week, all hours of every day. For some reason there’s this misconception that because we’re mechanics we’re just supposed to answer your questions any time.
“We’re supposed to have all the answers to your questions and we’re not supposed to charge for it, either because it should just be free, right? We should just give that info.
“Any time a friend goes on a test drive – or even a family member for that matter – they go test drive a vehicle, they wanna call you up. ‘You know, hey man, I’m out test driving this vehicle what do you think about them? Hey man, I’m out test driving this vehicle, I heard this about these what do you think?‘ It’s every time.“
Chris’s video has been viewed 1.1 million times since he uploaded it at the end of November. A whopping 4,200 people have left a comment, so Garage Wire wants to know: are car mechanics taken for granted? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Daily Dot
Mike
Well I’d agree…. Especially where so called family is involved !!!!
Russell
hell yeah!
graham+cox
we have some highly skilled staff who train and keep up to date and the customers semm to think we can work on there cars for low costs
the trade needs a full refresh and increase all its prices across the board to match plumbers,gas fitters etc etc
Les Asquith
If someone suffers a financial loss because of your advice you can be sued.
As an employee you will not be covered by your employers insurance away from the workplace.
Before I retired from my garage I would say to people asking for advice, book it in and I will check or repair your problem.
Regards
Les
simon
Mechanics have been taken for granted for years. low wages compared to other trades. working conditions have been bad especially outside the dealerships. customers attitudes towards mechanics too. mechanics are just looked at lower workers compared to managers etc in the trade.
randeep reehal
Yes they are! Technicians are not respected the same way as other trades and car owners do not respect or understand the investment made to serve them. This is why there is a shortage too!
Andy H
One of the first bits of advice I give to work experience or trainees is “be careful who your friends are”
You will only see or hear from some “friends” when they want something.
mark mitchell
try being a mechanic / mot tester you have all the friends in the world but when you need a hand nobody is there to help you
mark mitchell
my mate who is a mot tester/ mechanic has just left the trade he is know a park ranger ie he pick up dog s*** in the park etc gets payed more for this than at his trade so that tells you all you need to know about our trade
Eddie Pascoe
Well…. certainly expected not to charge for all our time when jobs turn out the wrong way. I tell people that they should scrap their car and go and buy another one unless they want to repair it properly. It’s amazing how a £4,000 job then gets accepted when they think that another car might cost 15 to £20,000 pounds
Adam
100%