Well i worked at an auto body shop in my town and let me say what an expierence! I worked for of course family. Two brothers and the Dad. The Dad pretty much washed his hands working across the shop in his building on computer and estimate. Two bros one dominate and controling by the way work together. Working together is not the case. Anymosity big time. It was bad it basicaly blew up in my face. I guess i was a ploy to have the one brother get back his bro. Hiring me a young guy to do his work maybe he will show up more often. I know now who would wanna work for a brother like that? Even his bro said he dont want anything to do with buisness except some money working. So one day i remeber i was out throwing metal out in bin after fender or replacement job, and i overhear even with the shop door closed the bro and his main body man saying something. The main body man saying who is gonna do that job? The "head honcho" replied back to him saying guess who..... the nigger. So it was something i guess to me like ok he didnt say that im gonna stick this out, i love auto body work and im not leaving cause of him. I am still learning but i think i did well for a guy with 2 years vo tech. The dad said after 2 weeks ill be paid 8.00. Two weeks past and i was getting paid 7.00 still. So i had to say somthing and i did. I asked him y and he said come over and i will talk to you after shift. I went over he said i thought you could do more than i though you know thr run of the mill. He stated your a good worker the son and him liked me there blah blah... The dad told me about training he can send me. Then he went on and asking me if i would like too cause its something to take serious and would i. I replied Yes. In my mind i was so happy and wanted to keep profesional, like they were. He said i would get a 50 cent raise. Starting tomorrow. I didnt even care about the raise i was happy for training i really wanted. Then you know the clock hours are 8 to 430, 5 something. The guys including head honcho in shop pretty much cut out early and were hanging out across the street. Was being a pattern leaving me working. I didnt mind it was peace and quiet and felt good working in the shop all by myself. Untill i had to go to the bathroom. The shp didnt have a bathroom it was across the street in other building that we all use. I walk over and overhear them two in the back room saying you know we basically f'd up. All the work is done and we wont have any work to do. Well real nice i thought. I just remember the dad saying to me i thought you could do more to me. Basically i was doing great cause work was getting done! So needless to say i was told to come in for 10 am and they left me out early too. Then i was framed for stealing something that i dindnt even take. Plus when i got my last check it said in it -20 for the item. I remember the last week i worked the bro had a guy show up and he was showing him the shop. I didnt think nothing of it. I just thought great another guy maybe i could make a friend working. The last day the dad had me doing yard work and cleaning up a lot next to shop it was really cluttered and messy. I worked my butt off and it was a more than one man job but i continued to get it done so i could get back in shop and work on what i needed to get done for that day. I finished up early and the dad said to me let me put it to you this way we dont have no more work. I said huh? He said no more cars something like that and i felt like i was Sh88 on. So i just walked home like i always did. What an expierence. The brother who was part ownership was up my butt confusing me half the time i remeber him screaming in my face at the end when i was working there etc..... So i hope other people read this and share there expierences. Im now looking into a school so i dont have to deal with a shop like that

Man that sucks

that sux..

well if ur good, there is always jobs to do..
since the two brothers were too lazy to do anything, except **** all day, who'd want to bring their cars back there..

I say find another shop to work in.. you sound like you still have the passion for painting still..

and try find a shop with other motivated painters.. sounds like the old shop was just tieing u down dude

Just found out the other day on the local paper. The one co owner of the last shop i used to work, got stopped. They found him swerving all over the road. They found drugs and he was intoxicated. Hey now maybe he was the one who stole the tool and sold it blamed it on me LOL.

Sorry about your bad experience....

If you enjoy your trade, you will always have a job, and if you are good at it, any shop will hire you.

I've been at it for 33 years, and have not been out of a job for one day. When I left one job, I always had 2 more to go to.

--
Gordon

**Shareware Estimating Program**

Hey thanks for the comment. I am ASE certified now. So i guess i should make more money now. I am taking buisness courses in Marketing and management. Hi i am interested in your estimating program.

Hey thanks for the comment. I am ASE certified now. So i guess i should make more money now. I am taking buisness courses in Marketing and management. Hi i am interested in your estimating program.

A couple of my friends use to work in body shops. According to them, they were the best painter and helper team the paint and body world has ever seen!
They got paid by the shop hour, so they wanted to get as many cars done as fast as they could.
They said the body men were so lazy that they couldn't or wouldn't keep up at the pace of the dynamic duo. There was all sorts of problems there. They said their manager didn't have a clue how to fix/paint cars or even run a shop. The dynamic duo soon claimed that somebody was messing with their equipment because their paint jobs started to have all sorts of problems with fisheyes, solvent pop, etc...
They got so fed up with the place that one day they just picked up their tools and walked out in the middle of a big job.
Fortunately they got jobs at another shop that turned out to be 10X worse than the first one! They left that one too in short order.
Bottom line: It was a poorly managed shop where no one could get along with each other. It sounds like a common problem in body shops.

Yeah I hear you there. I am going to a business school now for Marketing and management. So hopefully I can be a good manager, maybe in a body shop? Id lke to open my own up one day. I dont know in my area what they pay certified techs now since i am one. Before that i as getting $7.00 an hour. Would you know? I am in Pa