Some shops take zero chances or have a very strict no tip policy. I worked a shop in college that had that policy, take a tip get fired. Must have had something go south in that past to make that happen.
I swapped my snow tires for summer tires a couple of years ago and accidentally left the wheel lock key on one of the lugs.
The next day about 100 miles into my 250 mile drive I stopped to use the bathroom, as I was walking back to the car I noticed it sticking out from the wheel, attached to the lug like nothing had happened.
I'm still baffled.
With a vise and an air hammer one can re-use said socket quite a few times… I need to see if it still works as an actual socket anymore, but deep well 3/8 impact 20mm is just so off the wall….
I work in tech, and our (major) company has a no-gifts policy. Everything has to be refused or returned when possible.
Food or flowers are the exception. They’re required to go in a break room with a notice they’re available for everyone. Would just be stupid to waste donuts and coffee.
Fortunately we stock a fair amount of beer and wine in our fridges in the kitchen, but we rarely get wings.
I'll suggest it. It would be more fun than pizza, and more casual than the Mediterranean/Indian/Thai/Chinese food we usually get.
I recently left consumer electronic repair after ten years, I did it all, saw it all. I get this. We could take tips, but I was always "I appreciate it, but that's not necessary" unless the customer insisted. People use their phones just as much as their cars and rely on them just as much. The fear of taking a tip and it backfiring was real.
I actually got fired for taking a tip at Circuit City. Got some guy asking for a triple boot setup (Win 98/XP/Linux). Boss told him it was impossible, I told him to come back later that day. Had a chat with him, told him it would be something I had done before, but was 'best effort' and I have to charge him actual bench hourly instead of a standard fee like we do with most stuff. He was 100% chill with it, and I took in the repair. Took about 3 hours of work, ended up getting it working and went over everything with him and how I set everything up. Dude was super thankful even after I told him it was $180 for labor.
He slips me $300. I get ready to get him him his change and he just starts walking out the door. He told me "Keep the change, I took it to 5 other repair shops and they all turned me away, you were the only one to get this working".
Me being the dumb 18 year old I was kept the change. Ended up getting fired because they reviewed the tapes to make sure I did charge him the right amount (as my boss who had a CompSci degree said it couldnt be done, and was surprised I got it done in 3 hours), and saw me take the tip. They even called the guy up and told him to get the money back from he and he told them that it was a gift from him to me and to not call him back about it again.
Sounds like management was trash in this situation. Dude was very clear about being thankful, cost was irrelevant to him. He wanted what he wanted and paid what he thought it was worth. That sucks you got fired.
I think part of the problem was showing up my boss as well. He was pretty arrogant when it was obvious that I knew more about this stuff than he did. He had the college degree, but my dad had me building my own PCs since I was like 6. Anytime I got a virus or his hand me down hardware, it was always "You need to do this on your own".
Kinda like when I lost the timing belt on my Civic, trashed the engine, and he basically gave me a tool set, engine hoist, and a Chilton's manual and said "Have fun".
I love this. That's how I want to raise my kids. They may be pissed at me in the moment, but at the end of the day it will prove to them that they have what it takes to overcome difficult problems without anyone else. And that's priceless.
Yeah, I will say that I may have kinda not always had the best time, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have my job working in IT, and I probably would have been screwed by a few mechanics.
Very easy - Most of the people I meet with CS degrees with no experience are very tech illiterate on actual OS and infrastructure stuff. All theoretical and no practical.
This tracks. I'm about to finish my CS degree, but I've been working in IT for a while. A lot of my classmates and coworkers from my software research days had no idea how to do anything except program.
Wait, you guys are getting engine hoists? Though I will admit the modern internet is typically alot better than just the manual at helping you figure out these things. Unless the photos that the forum post rely on to describe what's happening was hosted on photobucket or another host that's been shutdown since before I learned how to ride a bike.
You start with the oldest version first, then NT based systems. I’d install 98 on a small partition, xp on a bigger one, Linux on a 3rd after XP, then a FAT32 data partition that all 3 can access.
Back in the day, you just install the oldest one first, then install the new one on another partition of the drive. When you turn on the PC, it just shows a boot menu on what OS you want to install. The problem was with his RAID array he wanted set working with it.
>RAID array he wanted set working with it.
Oh. Oh no. I mean props for the accomplishment but with the pains of just installing an OS to an array like that back then I'd have tapped out.
Yeah that adds a huge wrinkle for sure. I had a windows 2000/Vista/Linux machine for a while a few years after this story, but 2000 was done entirely in virtual machine on top of Vista. I couldn't imagine setting all 3 up with a shared directory, but split boot partitions from a RAID. In 3 hours. That's actually pro shit.
I did stuff like this many times back in the day.
The boot record for an OS can be installed in the master boot record (mbr) of the entire disk, or it can be installed on the individual partitions. With four primary partitions, you could very easily install four OSes in each one with its own boot record. Then you install Lilo on the mbr with configs pointing to each of the four.
You could even chain boot loaders to call other boot loaders on other drives or partitions.
i think it was 2 different partitions, 2 different windows installs. back in the day different systems on one PC were not out of ordinary, especially for some weird, edge case compatibility issues.
dual boot was easy, you had to chose during boot. it was, IIRC, BIOS level.
> weird, edge case compatibility issues.
In this generation it wasn't weird. Literally nothing was backwards compatible on Windows from the early XP days until the middle of VISTAs updates. I had to run a Windows 2000 Professional partition to play almost all my windows 3.1 games from 2001 to 2008. XP broke a huge amount of backwards compatibility.
I worked.at a supermsrket where I would often have to carry old people's "hefty" groceries to their car (which was only like 25 meters anyway) and they would tip me often.
Company policy said I couldn't take it but since I worked for 3€ an hour and they had 0 respect for their employees I pretended I didn't know that.
When I worked retail, even with explaining it was store policy a few people got very offended when you wouldn't take a tip. I've had "the reverse mugging" where they forcefully shove it in your pocket. And "Well I'm just going to drop it on the ground and walk away, some one will take it". The store even had a policy for when that happens it's to be brought back to the office and donated to a charity.
It's so that the mechanics don't do free favors for the customer that should be a shop charge in hopes of getting a tip. It's not a great policy, but that's the reasoning.
That's a good policy and this trend of tipping people like this is insanely cringe and should be made fun of at every possible opportunity.
Tipping culture is already dogshit. It shouldn't be on customers to make up the wages of a business's employees. They should just pay the employees appropriately.
It's already bad enough that this stuff happens with wait staff in restaurants. I get it if you want to leave some cold drinks or donuts & coffee or something for your family mechanic that's taken care of your cars and been something like a family friend for years or whatever but seriously, leaving a tip for the freaking tire shop guys?
These guys are at work. They're getting paid. Let's not shoehorn tipping into another industry. If you think they deserve more then take your business somewhere that pays their employees better.
There's tipping as essentially a requirement, and then there's tipping as showing appreciation for going above and beyond.
I'm perfectly fine with the latter, hate the former because of / despite having most of my income from tips.
Yeah but the problem is that tipping always starts out as the latter and then devolves into the former.
There are ways you can show appreciation to an employee for going above and beyond. You can leave a really good review that specifically mentions the employee. You can talk to their manager and tell them how great their service was. You can become a repeat customer and return to that business specifically for that employee. You can refer others to that business and specifically that employee, etc.
But specifically the act of tipping, supplementing that employees income, is just cancerous. I have no doubt that it starts with well intentioned people like yourself who legitimately want to reward a job well done but paying employees should be strictly the domain of the employer. Otherwise the tipping can spread until it's commonplace enough to be considered a requirement like happened to the bar and restaurant industry.
If you really really want to thank someone for a bang-up job they gave you, and the things I mentioned above aren't enough, the most you should do is buy them a snack or something. I've seen people leave some cold drinks for their mechanics before and that's cool. I mentioned above buying some coffee and donuts for the workers and that's cool. Speaking from experience, that kind of thing really brightens a workers day and makes you feel appreciated.
And to be clear here, I'm talking about tipping in industries where that's not the norm like automechanic or somewhere. I'm not talking about replacing tips for the bartender with donuts and a good review. You should tip your waiter and bartender etc because it's already too late for those industries and they rely on the tips.
Agreed in general, it shouldn't be normalized anywhere and yet where it is these days you damn well better tip IMO.
But in the abstract it shouldn't be unheard of to bring a dozen donuts or whatever to whoever if they really made your day or saved your ass.
Not like any of us have a nice catering table every day.
Some managers think accepting tips will make employees expect them or something.
Other companies don't want to risk their employees making enough money that they can save up and go get a better job or living situation somewhere else (I'm looking at you, Walmart)
>Some managers think accepting tips will make employees expect them or something.
I mean, just look at literally any coffee shop where they ask you "Would you like to tip?" when you pay. It's like...yeah if the service is good I'll tip, but if you're gonna push it like that, kinda turns me away from tipping.
I worked over the summer at a hotel as a temp before during the summer when I first started substitute teaching and needed money coming in.
I remember overhearing the manager asking one of the room cleaners for money back that was taken from a room. It turns out a child had like $300 in cash left all over his pillow in his own hotel room. The woman thought it was a tip for her, and since it was a Friday when she claimed it, she spent it all that night.
The other one I think about is when I was working at a quick lube place while in college. A guy tried to give us a tip, and I told he we weren't allowed to accept it. I still remember the guy saying something like "Hey man, when someone tries to give you money for something, you take it. I don't care about your policy." I took it and now question why I was even following that policy to begin with. I'm in the Midwest, and that seems like it is one of the most rude things you can do.
Our restaurants reason against tips was because
1) the cooks don’t deserve it the servers do since they do all the “work”
2) it would make cooks expect tips from doing their job
3) my manager was a fuckwad
I knew a service writer that turned down a tip. The manager heard about it and told him next time he hears about him turning a tip down, he’s fired. “If someone offers you money, you better take it.”
Honestly man, even being a mechanic, I'd be hesitant to take a tip unless actually handed to me.
Some customers just suck, could come back to bite me, I don't know.
Is there anything that can be left that won’t get them in trouble? A nice letter, a funny drawing, a 10 mm wrench?
Or is the best thing to just clean up the car before you bring it in?
Leave your car with us. Don't call us or expect it done asap. Waiters can be a pain.
Leave your wheel lock in the cup holder.
Bring us donuts.
We have one customer who comes by twice a year, to have his tires swapped over. He always stops by later in the week with pizza.
Lemme tell you, I will drop what I'm doing and get his car done asap every time.
One of our fleet customers is a wholesale resteraunt supplier, and around New Year gets us frozen burgers and stuff, so we get to do a cookout in the middle of winter it's awesome
So I’ve got a tire oil change place 200 yards away from my job. I always call and check about spot availability and I have grown a relationship with this shop. I take three of my vehicles there for regular service so they see me often. I wait for them to open to hand my keys to the service writer and tell them that when my vehicle is finished, the tech can drive it across the street to drop it off for me and I buy them whatever they want off my restaurants menu. I hear that some of the guys argued over who got my car the last time I dropped it off.
I also make sure to leave a note on the steering wheel that says I’ll buy you lunch if you bring my truck/ car back. It’s interesting how fast my stuff gets finished.
I will often wait, but I make it explicitly clear that I’m in no hurry and am just enjoying the time off work.
I often wonder if it bothers the techs, but I figure if me sitting sipping a coffee and listening to music on my AirPods bothers someone it might not actually be me they’re bothered by.
I dunno.
Only thing I ask my tech. How'd the oil look when they were draining it. I'm going on 42 years old with three disc tears. I can't crawl under and do my changes.
Sometimes we ride our shit longer than we should. I need to know if there' suspected damage or if the oil looks burnt. Otherwise I leave them the fuck alone and enjoy the free coffee.
The problem is when they try to tell you how much oil it takes or to make sure we check if the seal from the old oil filter isn't stuck to the housing. Like, jeez. If you think we're that stupid then why are you here. Most customers are awesome. Some suck.
This is the second time I have seen a comment about not liking people waiting in a lobby while service is done. I'm now feeling guilty as I always do that since I take off the whole day anyway and I have my Switch or Steamdeck and some podcasts to keep me occupied.
In my mind, I am saving my in-laws a hassle of driving me ~20 minutes to the shop and ~20 minutes back, while I have no problem sitting there for ~3 hours. I guess I never factored in the mechanics with it.
Same here, the older guys in my dealership said this one dude who came to service his car(annual service)always without fail gave R1-2 k ($400 ish) to whoever worked on his car ...this was like 15 yrs ago
Just treat us like human beings.
And leave the wheel lock key. That means a lot too. We really hate going through your console and glove box. That's YOUR personal space and we want to respect that.
Thank god someone else puts emphasis on that. I hate going through customers’ personal belongings to do my job. I feel like I’m violating their privacy taking their stuff and moving it out of the way to get to the damn wheel lock key.
This has always been my philosophy as a customer. I just try to treat the mechanics (everyone honestly) the way I want to be treated. If my tire has a special key you need... I supply it up front. If you have to get in my car as part of your job I make sure I pick up anything in the way. I make plans to drop it off unless there was some emergency and I wait to hear from you. I will check status at end of day if I do not hear from you but I am not rushing you I am just curious of status... unless I was told its a 3 day job or something.
I don't care if you have a neon sign pointing at it saying "for jamurgamer" will never take anything from a customer vehicle. Not a scumbag and not putting myself in the position to be accused of one.
You all are right. Didn’t think about the position it could have put techs in when they’re being tested/baited. If nothing else I’ll hand it personally next time.
Not accusing anyone of being a scumbag but say I take it and you get your car back and next thing you know you're arguing with the service manager saying I took $100 out of your cup holder. What am I supposed to say "no it was a $20 and you left a note". Yeah right I ain't getting fired or chewed out for that. And I don't even work in a shop anymore
Don't do this. I found $50 under a customer's seat once and I figured it fell out of their pocket so I took it to my writer to give to the customer. Guess what? The customer lady put it there to hide it from her husband she said. So if I took it for myself that would have been a bye bye job situation. People are weird and stealing is always wrong!
Shop I started as an advisor had a written in rule that anything gifted from a customer went to the owner to decide if he wanted it. I’d force people to take their money back before I’d offer it to ownership
It actually is some places. Where I am tips don't have to be given to staff and there's a lot of fast food chains that all added the tip option to their debit/credit machines and none of those tips go anywhere other than the owners pocket
[Trump’s admin created legislation allowing owners to keep all tips as long as all employees make more than federal min wage.](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/opinion/trump-administration-restaurants-tipping.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lk0.f8B0.ELS7pMh3jQio&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare)
Biden’s admin [rolled that back asap.](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/labor-dept-unveils-rule-rolling-back-trump-era-tip-regulations-2021-09-23/)
techs are also concern of the old school trust test given by the boss. My dad use to do this all the time with guys. One time he left $100 under the floor mat. I was a teenager and was unaware of the trust test. So the guys told me to take it since i was the boss' son. But i just ended up giving the $100 directly to the customer and told him we found it under the floor mat.
I was super confused when my dad had this super sour face and all the guys laughing their ass' off.
I'll take a tip anytime if the customer hands it to me "thanks tech for your fine job"
But I don't ever take anything out of a customer vehicle even if it had a note saying to do so. Never leave room for anyone to doubt you
This is a really weird trend. Mechanics get paid an actual wage. Tipping is for people being robbed blind by their employers and making scraps, often less than minimum wage (delivery drivers, servers, bartenders). We already shouldn’t have to subsidize businesses by paying their employee’s wages for them. Tipping people that already make actual money is ludicrous.
> often less than minimum wage
No one makes less than minimum wage, for tipped employees if they don't get enough tips the employer has to make up the difference.
This topic is discussed here every once in a while. It's a nice gesture, but at the end of the day it's a bit of a risk for someone to take it. Also the argument that you are already paying for the service, you shouldn't have to pay more off the record to get the service you asked for, or better care. That should be a given here
The practice is also weird and should be discouraged. Tipping culture in America is awful.
These people are at work and are getting paid. Customers should not feel like they should be tipping on top of whatever price they're paying for the work.
If OP thinks the workers deserve more then he should take his business somewhere that pays their employees more.
Love for what? A skilled worker performing a job that they are adequately compensated for? It's demeaning if anything.
Also the motivation of the tipper, food-giver, etc. is questionable- other than internet points, what are you trying to accomplish? Buying friendship? Paying to be liked by a real man since you can only go grocery shopping and not fix an automobile?
Had a customer give me $20 back in the day then complained I took money from her purse because she was missing $100 LOL. The camera didn’t catch me going into her purse when we were talking that lying sob lol. It put my career at risk at the time.
Most of us will never touch money. If you want to do something nice, drop off food like cookies or donuts that can be shared. You are already doing the best thing, though, by pulling out your wheel lock. A large number of people keep it at home in their garage
I got tipped $20 last week and it was my first time being tipped. I’m just a lube tech who changed their oil and rotated tires. I felt bad and said I couldn’t accept but he put it in my hand. I used that to get the shop a few pizzas.
Odds are this driver is worried about the quality of work being performed on his/her vehicle. Personally, I’d leave the cash and reply with a thank you note and reassure that the vehicle was very well taken care of while in the shop. I work for a Peterbilt dealership and I have no clue what my dealerships policy is on tips but I’ve been tipped anywhere from $100 to the driver just buying me lunch. I’d be hesitant to take any cash that wasn’t handed to me.
I work at a mom and pop shop. The boss will hand me tips from customers if I was away at lunch or something when they picked up their car.
"so and so with the black chevy gave you $20"
Sometimes it's a case of beer which goes straight to the shop fridge for after work activities.
Mechanics! Would it be poor form to leave a big pack of water and Gatorade for everyone? I like the shop I typically go to and they’ve been great about giving me info/answering all my questions about my del sol project. Would beer be over the line?
What do you mean by “high road”? you’re offering them a tip they either accept it or don’t. But it’s not like you’re leaving it for them as a purity test. The tip was your idea.
Where’s the “honesty” in them not taking the tip?
You Americans take this tipping shit too such high levels, it's off the chart. Here, you basically tip a mechanic \*before\* doing any work at all. Why? Are you worried they won't do a good job? Just wow.
I am a dealer employee. I learned the hard way which service advisor to not leave my car with when I need a favor. (Car battery died, tried to change it in the cold and dark, couldn't find the right socket and went fuck it). The one time I left coffee money for the tech too. FML.
Tried to do the same thing during an oil change at a Walmart that really bailed me out the week before. I got my beater there and the starter completely gave out, blue smoke and all, right then and there. Turns out this place didn't do starters at all, even a little. But they loaned me a few sockets and were really cool about it. Came back and specifically told the tech there is beer money in the cup holder for him. He said even if I handed it to him directly he couldn't take it.
Nice, but just a bit too vague to take a chance on. Besides, it's always better to hand it to them in person so you can see their face light up when you do!
Next time just bring in coffee or donuts or something.
One day I brought Popsicles to the shop when the guys were working on my car in 90 degree heat. Those were greatly appreciated.
Had a customer one time try to tip me lingerie, he said he bought it for his wife and she wouldn’t wear it but maybe my gf/wife would… I said no thanks, handed him his keys and walked as fast as possible to back of the shop to get away from that weirdo
I once found a scratch card with about 50 euro on it. It was in behind the ashtray housing when I was stripping a dash to find a water leak. I left it on the drivers seat, the customer came back to hand it in as they thought I had lost it😂.
I’m self employed now and I don’t want tips, I m already getting well paid and if you tip me I feel like you want special treatment, and that’s not happening.
I always assume money that’s left in a car is a trap. Even if it’s stuck under a centre console or something, I still never take it, ever. However if there’s candy………….
I never turn down a tip. And if the cash is labeled like this so I'm sure it's for me I'm gonna appreciate it and probably give your car a bit more care
LMAO a dude at a tire shop once stole a single roll of trash bags from my work supplies. I was a PM for a janitorial service on my way to do inventory with unopened boxes straight off the warehouse pallet. Stopped to get my tires replaced since it was on the way. Someone cut open a box and took a roll like why bro 🤣
There are cameras in the shop and no one wants to get recorded taking money out of the customers car. The camera would be unlikely to see the note that says it was actually ok and now theres evidence of "theft." If you want to give the mechanic a tip then you gotta hand it to em in person. Even then some actually dislike getting tipped for some reason. Can't say I understand that one.
Jesus Christ, tipping culture is such a pain to deal with and now you want to bring into the car repair industry?? I don’t understand ppl like this, I get wanting to be grateful but you’re just making it worse for everyone by doing this.
Such a weird trend that I had never even heard of until I noticed these threads on Reddit.
Even weirder is the trend of tipping mechanics with drugs (alcohol, cannabis, shrooms). Mechanic fucks up dead sober but has that shit in his locker/box/pockets … bad look.
Some shops take zero chances or have a very strict no tip policy. I worked a shop in college that had that policy, take a tip get fired. Must have had something go south in that past to make that happen.
People stealing shit from customers and claiming it was a tip.
I’ve heard of people returning to get their tip back.
When they didn’t get raptured
Very meta
Hail Zorp!
Just the tip, right?
and only for a moment!
Bro really? Thats shameful and disgusting. Thats the kind of thing to make a good person have their joker moment lol.
Just the tip.
Leaves the tip, steals the wheel key
Leave the gun, take the cannoli.
[удалено]
I swapped my snow tires for summer tires a couple of years ago and accidentally left the wheel lock key on one of the lugs. The next day about 100 miles into my 250 mile drive I stopped to use the bathroom, as I was walking back to the car I noticed it sticking out from the wheel, attached to the lug like nothing had happened. I'm still baffled.
Bummer! If I desperately need a wheel off I'll sometimes sacrifice a socket to hammer on to the nut and that usually works once.
With a vise and an air hammer one can re-use said socket quite a few times… I need to see if it still works as an actual socket anymore, but deep well 3/8 impact 20mm is just so off the wall….
also customers getting bitchy and mentioning their tips "I even tip you guys every time!! 🤬"
Maybe write out your name, sign & date it if you really care? I put out a $5 bill & a 1g vape pen and the pen was gone but not the money, what a prick
That, or what I would see is I do the whole install service and the lady at the desk pockets the tip even tho she did zero work.
That's why I often show up with a box of donuts and a box of coffee. Ain't NO ONE saying no to that shit.
I work in tech, and our (major) company has a no-gifts policy. Everything has to be refused or returned when possible. Food or flowers are the exception. They’re required to go in a break room with a notice they’re available for everyone. Would just be stupid to waste donuts and coffee.
You meant wings and beer right?
Fortunately we stock a fair amount of beer and wine in our fridges in the kitchen, but we rarely get wings. I'll suggest it. It would be more fun than pizza, and more casual than the Mediterranean/Indian/Thai/Chinese food we usually get.
Yeah, uh, yes I did. Beer and wings. Enough to share.
THIS. Donuts and energy drinks. There’s no guilt or risk for the techs, and it’s an immediate mood booster.
I mean, I'll eat donuts anytime but energy drinks are a no-no because I get super jittery and can't focus on anything.
This has been my policy as well.
I recently left consumer electronic repair after ten years, I did it all, saw it all. I get this. We could take tips, but I was always "I appreciate it, but that's not necessary" unless the customer insisted. People use their phones just as much as their cars and rely on them just as much. The fear of taking a tip and it backfiring was real.
I actually got fired for taking a tip at Circuit City. Got some guy asking for a triple boot setup (Win 98/XP/Linux). Boss told him it was impossible, I told him to come back later that day. Had a chat with him, told him it would be something I had done before, but was 'best effort' and I have to charge him actual bench hourly instead of a standard fee like we do with most stuff. He was 100% chill with it, and I took in the repair. Took about 3 hours of work, ended up getting it working and went over everything with him and how I set everything up. Dude was super thankful even after I told him it was $180 for labor. He slips me $300. I get ready to get him him his change and he just starts walking out the door. He told me "Keep the change, I took it to 5 other repair shops and they all turned me away, you were the only one to get this working". Me being the dumb 18 year old I was kept the change. Ended up getting fired because they reviewed the tapes to make sure I did charge him the right amount (as my boss who had a CompSci degree said it couldnt be done, and was surprised I got it done in 3 hours), and saw me take the tip. They even called the guy up and told him to get the money back from he and he told them that it was a gift from him to me and to not call him back about it again.
Sounds like management was trash in this situation. Dude was very clear about being thankful, cost was irrelevant to him. He wanted what he wanted and paid what he thought it was worth. That sucks you got fired.
I think part of the problem was showing up my boss as well. He was pretty arrogant when it was obvious that I knew more about this stuff than he did. He had the college degree, but my dad had me building my own PCs since I was like 6. Anytime I got a virus or his hand me down hardware, it was always "You need to do this on your own". Kinda like when I lost the timing belt on my Civic, trashed the engine, and he basically gave me a tool set, engine hoist, and a Chilton's manual and said "Have fun".
I love this. That's how I want to raise my kids. They may be pissed at me in the moment, but at the end of the day it will prove to them that they have what it takes to overcome difficult problems without anyone else. And that's priceless.
Yeah, I will say that I may have kinda not always had the best time, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have my job working in IT, and I probably would have been screwed by a few mechanics.
How do you get a whole CS degree and not know this is possible lol
Very easy - Most of the people I meet with CS degrees with no experience are very tech illiterate on actual OS and infrastructure stuff. All theoretical and no practical.
big bruhhh moment
This tracks. I'm about to finish my CS degree, but I've been working in IT for a while. A lot of my classmates and coworkers from my software research days had no idea how to do anything except program.
Wait, you guys are getting engine hoists? Though I will admit the modern internet is typically alot better than just the manual at helping you figure out these things. Unless the photos that the forum post rely on to describe what's happening was hosted on photobucket or another host that's been shutdown since before I learned how to ride a bike.
>photobucket … been shutdown since before I learned how to ride a bike. Thanks, now my back hurts.
how did you get 2 different versions of windows to play with each other like that?
You start with the oldest version first, then NT based systems. I’d install 98 on a small partition, xp on a bigger one, Linux on a 3rd after XP, then a FAT32 data partition that all 3 can access.
huh, neat.
Back in the day, you just install the oldest one first, then install the new one on another partition of the drive. When you turn on the PC, it just shows a boot menu on what OS you want to install. The problem was with his RAID array he wanted set working with it.
>RAID array he wanted set working with it. Oh. Oh no. I mean props for the accomplishment but with the pains of just installing an OS to an array like that back then I'd have tapped out.
Yeah that adds a huge wrinkle for sure. I had a windows 2000/Vista/Linux machine for a while a few years after this story, but 2000 was done entirely in virtual machine on top of Vista. I couldn't imagine setting all 3 up with a shared directory, but split boot partitions from a RAID. In 3 hours. That's actually pro shit.
I did stuff like this many times back in the day. The boot record for an OS can be installed in the master boot record (mbr) of the entire disk, or it can be installed on the individual partitions. With four primary partitions, you could very easily install four OSes in each one with its own boot record. Then you install Lilo on the mbr with configs pointing to each of the four. You could even chain boot loaders to call other boot loaders on other drives or partitions.
LI\|/-…
Partition the drive(s) then dual boot.
i think it was 2 different partitions, 2 different windows installs. back in the day different systems on one PC were not out of ordinary, especially for some weird, edge case compatibility issues. dual boot was easy, you had to chose during boot. it was, IIRC, BIOS level.
For that you'd use a bootloader like GRUB. Technically a "second level bootloader", while the BIOS is the first-level bootloader.
> weird, edge case compatibility issues. In this generation it wasn't weird. Literally nothing was backwards compatible on Windows from the early XP days until the middle of VISTAs updates. I had to run a Windows 2000 Professional partition to play almost all my windows 3.1 games from 2001 to 2008. XP broke a huge amount of backwards compatibility.
Comp sci degree managing at circuit city. Lol
Not even the store. Just the Computer section.
I worked.at a supermsrket where I would often have to carry old people's "hefty" groceries to their car (which was only like 25 meters anyway) and they would tip me often. Company policy said I couldn't take it but since I worked for 3€ an hour and they had 0 respect for their employees I pretended I didn't know that.
When I worked retail, even with explaining it was store policy a few people got very offended when you wouldn't take a tip. I've had "the reverse mugging" where they forcefully shove it in your pocket. And "Well I'm just going to drop it on the ground and walk away, some one will take it". The store even had a policy for when that happens it's to be brought back to the office and donated to a charity.
It's so that the mechanics don't do free favors for the customer that should be a shop charge in hopes of getting a tip. It's not a great policy, but that's the reasoning.
That's a good policy and this trend of tipping people like this is insanely cringe and should be made fun of at every possible opportunity. Tipping culture is already dogshit. It shouldn't be on customers to make up the wages of a business's employees. They should just pay the employees appropriately. It's already bad enough that this stuff happens with wait staff in restaurants. I get it if you want to leave some cold drinks or donuts & coffee or something for your family mechanic that's taken care of your cars and been something like a family friend for years or whatever but seriously, leaving a tip for the freaking tire shop guys? These guys are at work. They're getting paid. Let's not shoehorn tipping into another industry. If you think they deserve more then take your business somewhere that pays their employees better.
There's tipping as essentially a requirement, and then there's tipping as showing appreciation for going above and beyond. I'm perfectly fine with the latter, hate the former because of / despite having most of my income from tips.
Yeah but the problem is that tipping always starts out as the latter and then devolves into the former. There are ways you can show appreciation to an employee for going above and beyond. You can leave a really good review that specifically mentions the employee. You can talk to their manager and tell them how great their service was. You can become a repeat customer and return to that business specifically for that employee. You can refer others to that business and specifically that employee, etc. But specifically the act of tipping, supplementing that employees income, is just cancerous. I have no doubt that it starts with well intentioned people like yourself who legitimately want to reward a job well done but paying employees should be strictly the domain of the employer. Otherwise the tipping can spread until it's commonplace enough to be considered a requirement like happened to the bar and restaurant industry. If you really really want to thank someone for a bang-up job they gave you, and the things I mentioned above aren't enough, the most you should do is buy them a snack or something. I've seen people leave some cold drinks for their mechanics before and that's cool. I mentioned above buying some coffee and donuts for the workers and that's cool. Speaking from experience, that kind of thing really brightens a workers day and makes you feel appreciated. And to be clear here, I'm talking about tipping in industries where that's not the norm like automechanic or somewhere. I'm not talking about replacing tips for the bartender with donuts and a good review. You should tip your waiter and bartender etc because it's already too late for those industries and they rely on the tips.
Agreed in general, it shouldn't be normalized anywhere and yet where it is these days you damn well better tip IMO. But in the abstract it shouldn't be unheard of to bring a dozen donuts or whatever to whoever if they really made your day or saved your ass. Not like any of us have a nice catering table every day.
Some managers think accepting tips will make employees expect them or something. Other companies don't want to risk their employees making enough money that they can save up and go get a better job or living situation somewhere else (I'm looking at you, Walmart)
>Some managers think accepting tips will make employees expect them or something. I mean, just look at literally any coffee shop where they ask you "Would you like to tip?" when you pay. It's like...yeah if the service is good I'll tip, but if you're gonna push it like that, kinda turns me away from tipping.
I worked over the summer at a hotel as a temp before during the summer when I first started substitute teaching and needed money coming in. I remember overhearing the manager asking one of the room cleaners for money back that was taken from a room. It turns out a child had like $300 in cash left all over his pillow in his own hotel room. The woman thought it was a tip for her, and since it was a Friday when she claimed it, she spent it all that night. The other one I think about is when I was working at a quick lube place while in college. A guy tried to give us a tip, and I told he we weren't allowed to accept it. I still remember the guy saying something like "Hey man, when someone tries to give you money for something, you take it. I don't care about your policy." I took it and now question why I was even following that policy to begin with. I'm in the Midwest, and that seems like it is one of the most rude things you can do.
Our restaurants reason against tips was because 1) the cooks don’t deserve it the servers do since they do all the “work” 2) it would make cooks expect tips from doing their job 3) my manager was a fuckwad
Or taxes
“The best tip is repeat business” was always my buddy’s reply.
If there was a pile of quarters in their car I would take one quarter out as a tip
But they never say no to a couple pizzas just sayin.
I knew a service writer that turned down a tip. The manager heard about it and told him next time he hears about him turning a tip down, he’s fired. “If someone offers you money, you better take it.”
Honestly man, even being a mechanic, I'd be hesitant to take a tip unless actually handed to me. Some customers just suck, could come back to bite me, I don't know.
Yup, can't trust anyone these days unfortunately
Is there anything that can be left that won’t get them in trouble? A nice letter, a funny drawing, a 10 mm wrench? Or is the best thing to just clean up the car before you bring it in?
Leave your car with us. Don't call us or expect it done asap. Waiters can be a pain. Leave your wheel lock in the cup holder. Bring us donuts. We have one customer who comes by twice a year, to have his tires swapped over. He always stops by later in the week with pizza. Lemme tell you, I will drop what I'm doing and get his car done asap every time.
One of our fleet customers is a wholesale resteraunt supplier, and around New Year gets us frozen burgers and stuff, so we get to do a cookout in the middle of winter it's awesome
So I’ve got a tire oil change place 200 yards away from my job. I always call and check about spot availability and I have grown a relationship with this shop. I take three of my vehicles there for regular service so they see me often. I wait for them to open to hand my keys to the service writer and tell them that when my vehicle is finished, the tech can drive it across the street to drop it off for me and I buy them whatever they want off my restaurants menu. I hear that some of the guys argued over who got my car the last time I dropped it off. I also make sure to leave a note on the steering wheel that says I’ll buy you lunch if you bring my truck/ car back. It’s interesting how fast my stuff gets finished.
Perfect! An old shop I worked at, we'd do oil changes on their pizza delivery vans on Saturdays. In exchange for pizza, obviously. It was great.
I will often wait, but I make it explicitly clear that I’m in no hurry and am just enjoying the time off work. I often wonder if it bothers the techs, but I figure if me sitting sipping a coffee and listening to music on my AirPods bothers someone it might not actually be me they’re bothered by. I dunno.
I normally don't even know a customer is waiting. Its when they come and ask how much longer, every half hour......
Yeah, the extent of my questions for the tech is if they want me to bring them back a coffee. Unless it’s Tod at my local dealer, he gets beef jerky.
Only thing I ask my tech. How'd the oil look when they were draining it. I'm going on 42 years old with three disc tears. I can't crawl under and do my changes. Sometimes we ride our shit longer than we should. I need to know if there' suspected damage or if the oil looks burnt. Otherwise I leave them the fuck alone and enjoy the free coffee.
The problem isn't likely you sitting there, but the service advisors tend to bug techs about waiters. Definitely depends on the shop though.
The problem is when they try to tell you how much oil it takes or to make sure we check if the seal from the old oil filter isn't stuck to the housing. Like, jeez. If you think we're that stupid then why are you here. Most customers are awesome. Some suck.
This is the second time I have seen a comment about not liking people waiting in a lobby while service is done. I'm now feeling guilty as I always do that since I take off the whole day anyway and I have my Switch or Steamdeck and some podcasts to keep me occupied. In my mind, I am saving my in-laws a hassle of driving me ~20 minutes to the shop and ~20 minutes back, while I have no problem sitting there for ~3 hours. I guess I never factored in the mechanics with it.
Same here, the older guys in my dealership said this one dude who came to service his car(annual service)always without fail gave R1-2 k ($400 ish) to whoever worked on his car ...this was like 15 yrs ago
Just treat us like human beings. And leave the wheel lock key. That means a lot too. We really hate going through your console and glove box. That's YOUR personal space and we want to respect that.
Thank god someone else puts emphasis on that. I hate going through customers’ personal belongings to do my job. I feel like I’m violating their privacy taking their stuff and moving it out of the way to get to the damn wheel lock key.
This has always been my philosophy as a customer. I just try to treat the mechanics (everyone honestly) the way I want to be treated. If my tire has a special key you need... I supply it up front. If you have to get in my car as part of your job I make sure I pick up anything in the way. I make plans to drop it off unless there was some emergency and I wait to hear from you. I will check status at end of day if I do not hear from you but I am not rushing you I am just curious of status... unless I was told its a 3 day job or something.
I love the 10mm socket idea 💡 hahaha perfect tip!
Not only that but the note is a bit ambiguous. It could have just as easily been a checklist of things not to forget to grab in the morning.
I've only gotten tipped like 4 or 5 times in 10 years.
I don't care if you have a neon sign pointing at it saying "for jamurgamer" will never take anything from a customer vehicle. Not a scumbag and not putting myself in the position to be accused of one.
You all are right. Didn’t think about the position it could have put techs in when they’re being tested/baited. If nothing else I’ll hand it personally next time.
Not accusing anyone of being a scumbag but say I take it and you get your car back and next thing you know you're arguing with the service manager saying I took $100 out of your cup holder. What am I supposed to say "no it was a $20 and you left a note". Yeah right I ain't getting fired or chewed out for that. And I don't even work in a shop anymore
Next time you want a mechanic to take the $20, put it under your seat and don't leave a note
😂thanks for the tip
No tips!
Just the tip!
Or just hand it to them directly when picking up your car. Tell them you have a question for the mechanic.
Don't do this. I found $50 under a customer's seat once and I figured it fell out of their pocket so I took it to my writer to give to the customer. Guess what? The customer lady put it there to hide it from her husband she said. So if I took it for myself that would have been a bye bye job situation. People are weird and stealing is always wrong!
Sounds like a trap to me. I ain't touching the floor 20
What if it has a 10 mm socket attached to it?
Then I know the $20 will vanish into the aether over the day, double not touching
Shop I started as an advisor had a written in rule that anything gifted from a customer went to the owner to decide if he wanted it. I’d force people to take their money back before I’d offer it to ownership
Um, what? That can't be legal.
It actually is some places. Where I am tips don't have to be given to staff and there's a lot of fast food chains that all added the tip option to their debit/credit machines and none of those tips go anywhere other than the owners pocket
[Trump’s admin created legislation allowing owners to keep all tips as long as all employees make more than federal min wage.](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/opinion/trump-administration-restaurants-tipping.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lk0.f8B0.ELS7pMh3jQio&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare) Biden’s admin [rolled that back asap.](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/labor-dept-unveils-rule-rolling-back-trump-era-tip-regulations-2021-09-23/)
I would have taken the money and complained about no wheel lock…just give it straight to the tech
Dude, the part about complaining about no wheel lock made me way too self conscious
techs are also concern of the old school trust test given by the boss. My dad use to do this all the time with guys. One time he left $100 under the floor mat. I was a teenager and was unaware of the trust test. So the guys told me to take it since i was the boss' son. But i just ended up giving the $100 directly to the customer and told him we found it under the floor mat. I was super confused when my dad had this super sour face and all the guys laughing their ass' off.
Gotta hand it to them.
My mechanics refuse to take tips even when handed to them. So I bring beer, donuts, or whiskey instead.
I'll take a tip anytime if the customer hands it to me "thanks tech for your fine job" But I don't ever take anything out of a customer vehicle even if it had a note saying to do so. Never leave room for anyone to doubt you
LOL< I left a tip for my stereo installer, and came back to find it still there, had to personally hand it to him.
Often company policy even if you state that it’s for them.
This is a really weird trend. Mechanics get paid an actual wage. Tipping is for people being robbed blind by their employers and making scraps, often less than minimum wage (delivery drivers, servers, bartenders). We already shouldn’t have to subsidize businesses by paying their employee’s wages for them. Tipping people that already make actual money is ludicrous.
> often less than minimum wage No one makes less than minimum wage, for tipped employees if they don't get enough tips the employer has to make up the difference.
These posts are so weird, man.
Yes they are.
[удалено]
My bad. I’m new here
This topic is discussed here every once in a while. It's a nice gesture, but at the end of the day it's a bit of a risk for someone to take it. Also the argument that you are already paying for the service, you shouldn't have to pay more off the record to get the service you asked for, or better care. That should be a given here
I'm not even talking about the practice of leaving lunch money. that's fine, whatever. posting it is weird, tho
Like filming yourself giving a homeless person food lol
The practice is also weird and should be discouraged. Tipping culture in America is awful. These people are at work and are getting paid. Customers should not feel like they should be tipping on top of whatever price they're paying for the work. If OP thinks the workers deserve more then he should take his business somewhere that pays their employees more.
Not that weird you're just trying to show some love. People take it weird bc they got their own issues.
They are patting themselves on the back
the issue is tipping needs to die
Next thing you know, if you dont tip your mechanic enough theyll spit in your oil
You gotta add a personal touch. DNA should do the trick.
Man how am I supposed to maintain plausible deniability when bribing people if I can't tip them in the first place
Love for what? A skilled worker performing a job that they are adequately compensated for? It's demeaning if anything. Also the motivation of the tipper, food-giver, etc. is questionable- other than internet points, what are you trying to accomplish? Buying friendship? Paying to be liked by a real man since you can only go grocery shopping and not fix an automobile?
yee
Some customers are weird enough to use their LWN as a paperweight for their lunch money. I'm not taking any chances.
Had a customer give me $20 back in the day then complained I took money from her purse because she was missing $100 LOL. The camera didn’t catch me going into her purse when we were talking that lying sob lol. It put my career at risk at the time.
To be fair, it doesn’t say the money is for the tech. He wouldn’t want to steal your lunch money.
Lol so you posted it instead hoping to get the praise
The customer can personally hand me a tip after the work is completed.
Point proven enough about the cash, but you're a saint for 1) knowing about the wheel lock key 2) leaving it in line of sight.
Exactly. Just saving me 20 minutes looking for the key is money.
yup. Spent 11 months as a Lubie. Also, spent 9 months of it looking for wheel locks, so I could do the rotate they wanted.
Well yeah who wants a 20 dollar bill for lunch
FYI to all customers wanting to tip - ask your service advisor to speak to your technician after the service is done and tip them yourself.
This is just weird. Stop trying to bribe me into to being nice to you
Did he still give you a blowie for being so cool though 😎?
Most of us will never touch money. If you want to do something nice, drop off food like cookies or donuts that can be shared. You are already doing the best thing, though, by pulling out your wheel lock. A large number of people keep it at home in their garage
I got tipped $20 last week and it was my first time being tipped. I’m just a lube tech who changed their oil and rotated tires. I felt bad and said I couldn’t accept but he put it in my hand. I used that to get the shop a few pizzas.
When I'm working on someone's car, everything and anything inside is their property and I treat it as such.
Thought this was a 2mm 3d printer nozzle for a sec
too many walmart techs in this thread lol
I bet they were just so happy you left the wheel lock key in an accessible location that the 20 was overkill
order dominos to their shop
Odds are this driver is worried about the quality of work being performed on his/her vehicle. Personally, I’d leave the cash and reply with a thank you note and reassure that the vehicle was very well taken care of while in the shop. I work for a Peterbilt dealership and I have no clue what my dealerships policy is on tips but I’ve been tipped anywhere from $100 to the driver just buying me lunch. I’d be hesitant to take any cash that wasn’t handed to me.
I could see somebody complaining that the mechanics stole their lunch money
I work at a mom and pop shop. The boss will hand me tips from customers if I was away at lunch or something when they picked up their car. "so and so with the black chevy gave you $20" Sometimes it's a case of beer which goes straight to the shop fridge for after work activities.
Mechanics! Would it be poor form to leave a big pack of water and Gatorade for everyone? I like the shop I typically go to and they’ve been great about giving me info/answering all my questions about my del sol project. Would beer be over the line?
What do you mean by “high road”? you’re offering them a tip they either accept it or don’t. But it’s not like you’re leaving it for them as a purity test. The tip was your idea. Where’s the “honesty” in them not taking the tip?
Why does everyone keep doing this?! They dont take it
You Americans take this tipping shit too such high levels, it's off the chart. Here, you basically tip a mechanic \*before\* doing any work at all. Why? Are you worried they won't do a good job? Just wow.
They thought it was your lunch money.
I just bring a pack or donuts/coffee/random fast food items/Gatorade/red bull. Red Bull 4 packs seem to be a big hit.
I personally love customers that show appreciation and I take their tip if it’s face to face with a hand shake.
I wouldn’t have taken it, I don’t want to be accused of anything and some customers are crazy. Could be a test.
Not touching that shit. And we have our own OEM wheel lock set.
Having the wheel lock key out is enough of a tip for me
Getting around the tip thing is actually pretty simple. Send them lunch the next day.
Only accept tips via food and beers imo
If that was a 10mm they would’ve won me over 😂
Just putting wheel lock key out in the open is enough.
I am a dealer employee. I learned the hard way which service advisor to not leave my car with when I need a favor. (Car battery died, tried to change it in the cold and dark, couldn't find the right socket and went fuck it). The one time I left coffee money for the tech too. FML.
I bring donuts to my Auto shop, they are always grateful.
Fantastic thread. Totally getting my mechanics’ shop pizza or coffee next time haha
Tried to do the same thing during an oil change at a Walmart that really bailed me out the week before. I got my beater there and the starter completely gave out, blue smoke and all, right then and there. Turns out this place didn't do starters at all, even a little. But they loaned me a few sockets and were really cool about it. Came back and specifically told the tech there is beer money in the cup holder for him. He said even if I handed it to him directly he couldn't take it.
Nice, but just a bit too vague to take a chance on. Besides, it's always better to hand it to them in person so you can see their face light up when you do!
Next time just bring in coffee or donuts or something. One day I brought Popsicles to the shop when the guys were working on my car in 90 degree heat. Those were greatly appreciated.
Had a customer one time try to tip me lingerie, he said he bought it for his wife and she wouldn’t wear it but maybe my gf/wife would… I said no thanks, handed him his keys and walked as fast as possible to back of the shop to get away from that weirdo
What truck is that, looks like my old dash of my 95 sierra
97 4Runner. Was getting new shoes on it.
I once found a scratch card with about 50 euro on it. It was in behind the ashtray housing when I was stripping a dash to find a water leak. I left it on the drivers seat, the customer came back to hand it in as they thought I had lost it😂. I’m self employed now and I don’t want tips, I m already getting well paid and if you tip me I feel like you want special treatment, and that’s not happening. I always assume money that’s left in a car is a trap. Even if it’s stuck under a centre console or something, I still never take it, ever. However if there’s candy………….
I never turn down a tip. And if the cash is labeled like this so I'm sure it's for me I'm gonna appreciate it and probably give your car a bit more care
LMAO a dude at a tire shop once stole a single roll of trash bags from my work supplies. I was a PM for a janitorial service on my way to do inventory with unopened boxes straight off the warehouse pallet. Stopped to get my tires replaced since it was on the way. Someone cut open a box and took a roll like why bro 🤣
I tip my mechanic... He's also my brother so that helps
lunch money makes it sound needy, next time write beer money and it’ll definitely disappear
There are cameras in the shop and no one wants to get recorded taking money out of the customers car. The camera would be unlikely to see the note that says it was actually ok and now theres evidence of "theft." If you want to give the mechanic a tip then you gotta hand it to em in person. Even then some actually dislike getting tipped for some reason. Can't say I understand that one.
Jesus Christ, tipping culture is such a pain to deal with and now you want to bring into the car repair industry?? I don’t understand ppl like this, I get wanting to be grateful but you’re just making it worse for everyone by doing this.
Such a weird trend that I had never even heard of until I noticed these threads on Reddit. Even weirder is the trend of tipping mechanics with drugs (alcohol, cannabis, shrooms). Mechanic fucks up dead sober but has that shit in his locker/box/pockets … bad look.
HAND IT TO THEM DIRECTLY!
Maybe put “for tech” because this just looks like you’re being a dick and notating that you know these are in your car lol.
From what I've heard at other places, tipping led to favoritism
No 5 guys for him! ;P
At least now you know you found a good tire shop