RV technicians on Commission

[Isaac-1]

Without details it is hard to say much else, though I would like to say some up-selling may be in the customers best interest. For example, the customer is having broken part A replaced, the technician suggest changing part B which is still good though has some wear while they are doing the work on part A as part A has to be removed to get to part B and it may save the customer added labor charges in the long run.

Some people will see this as reasonable preventive maintenace others will see it as changing out a part that still has useful life left in it.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by fritored1

I am trying to find out if RV technicians are on commission to sell extra work to customers. I recently had a very bad experience at Redlands Truck and RV in Redlands, CA and I can't understand the hard sale, not only from customer service but the technician too.

He didn't want to talk about the repairs I asked for but just wanted to sell me stuff like stronger valve extenders and nitrogen in my tires.

Of course I can't understand paying for work they didn't do either but I've come to expect getting screwed at RV repair shops.

Who's money is the tech spending? It's yours of course, it's up to you whether or not you take the bait.
Blaming Redlands is IMO dodging responsibility.

[Rickeoni]

You go into buy a suit, they try to upsell a tie and shirt, you go buy a new laptop, they try to upsell you a printer and a warranty, you go to any restaurant and they try to upsell you desert. Retailers do it all the time, we do as consumers to to down sell. Ever pay full pop on a car? Ever use a coupon? Like my farther always said "it doesn’t hurt to ask"

[happycamperz]

A good part of my job is up selling. I supervise a branch of a midsize pest control company, and I train my technicians to upsell other services to current customers. However, they will be in trouble if they are upselling for the hell of it and not because they see a problem that they believe needs to be solved. Sometimes the customer sees it differently and says no, and that’s just fine. At least now they know about the situation. But many times, they did not know about the situation, or even that we offered that service until we tell them about it. There’s a right way to up sell and a wrong way to upsell. In this case, many mechanics see people bringing in vehicles all day and asking for the one biggest problem to be fixed and ignoring the other 30 small problems that could soon become big problems without proper maintence or attention. So I appreciate when a mechanic lets me know about something on my car, along with the proposed solution. Sometimes I say no, sometimes I say yes, sometimes I say thank you for the info and do it in my own garage. Information is usually free. That’s my 2 cents.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by fritored1

I am trying to find out if RV technicians are on commission to sell extra work to customers. I recently had a very bad experience at Redlands Truck and RV in Redlands, CA and I can't understand the hard sale, not only from customer service but the technician too.

He didn't want to talk about the repairs I asked for but just wanted to sell me stuff like stronger valve extenders and nitrogen in my tires.

Of course I can't understand paying for work they didn't do either but I've come to expect getting screwed at RV repair shops.

I wish you would elaborate a little more on your particular experience.

I've been there several times. I've never had a tech 'up sell' like a car dealer would try to sell me.

I have had them 'recommend' additional work, and usually it was justified. A couple times I said no, but at least once, I told them to do the extra. No regrets and I never felt like the tech was working for an extra commission. If they see something that I need to be aware of, I'd appreciate them telling me so I can make an informed decision.

I honestly don't know however, if they are commissioned or not.

[Glenn and Kathy]

I've only been there once, but was very happy with the experience. The only upsell was suggestion to reweld a bracket on the exhaust and that cured a rattle that had been bothering me for several thousand miles. They did a 4wheel weigh in gratis.

Glenn

[Gary RVRoamer]

There may be bonuses for upselling a certain item - that's a fairly common incentive from either the manufacturer of the item or store management promoting high dollar sales. Techs may also work on flat rate compensation and selling an item they know they can install with less hours of labor than the book rate can be very profitable for them. Especially if it s something they are working on already, like using nitrogen instead of air when changing a tire.


Upsell promotional bonuses are very common in retail businesses of all kinds. Specialty desserts or a bottle of wine in a restaurant, accessories for clothing, auxiliary gadgets for electronics, and yes, tire & wheel accessories too.

[Bamaman]

The service departments of dealerships are not normal operations. They charge approximately $150 per labor hour, however many dealers and managers will tell you their big profits are in the parts departments.

Car dealer service departments often charge between $90 and $110 per labor hour, which I consider too much. Auto body shops charge around $60 per base rate labor hour, but their bodymen book many more hours per week on average than car mechanics. I can find good independent auto technicians for around $40 per hour.

Even though the base rate at RV dealerships is extremely high, I can promise you that they are not paying their mechanics $60 per hour--or even $40 per hour. They seem on paper to be pocketing huge profits. But I really expect that RV dealers are not well enough managed to keep 100% track of the time spent on every job ticket. They probably are giving away some time working on trailers and equipment they're not booking out.

I'm always suggesting that anyone have a good independent mechanic that can do work for them--autos, boats or recreational vehicles. I'm sorry, but I'm simply not going to pay $150 an hour for RV mechanics.