Now, for those of you who find that all service tech are thieves and untrustworthy and they are a dime a dozen, well you stop reading now and go Google something else. For the others, I want to start by saying that not all service technicians are thieves. It would be wrong to assume as much. Let’s compare this with a service mechanic. If you have a car, you will be able to relate to this. Your car, sooner or later will need servicing. That is the way because they haven’t invented a car that is service free. All things mechanic or electronic sooner or later need to be repaired. If you don’t want it to wear out, well, then stop using it.
You have a car and you know you will need to bring it to a garage; you can either wait until it breaks before you have to find a garage in a panic or you can start looking now. If you chose the later, you’re among a very small portion of the population. Should you go with a small or large outfit for service? There are good points and bad either way. The larger garage, mostly associated with the dealership, will have better resources for parts and labor. More than likely the service tech are better trained and work in a nicer environment. Unfortunately they work by the books. No freebees here.
The smaller garages are more personalized, easier to talk to. More than likely you will get more for the money. In both cases you will get good techs and bad ones. In both cases you will get the money hungry and those who do it because they like fixing things.
How do you find the good ones? Mostly by referral. A friend, a brother, a cousin who is happy with his garage is a good place to start.
Begin with a small repair, like tire rotation, oil change. Observe how they handle your car, how they speak to you.
For the restaurant industry it is the same thing for one exception, they will come to you. For example, if your restaurant is opened 24h/ 7days a week, you will need a service company that can offer 24 hour service. Small companies or “one man shows” don’t always give it. I know I don’t. My customers are aware that I will not answer my phone at night. Why? I am alone. Working 8 to 10 hours in a day does not leave a lot of free time, especially when paperwork is waiting at home.
The larger outfit, with many trucks on the road, can give you a quick response time and almost not wait time on the repair because they have access to the parts. This will mean a bigger bill because they have a bigger overhead to cover. One other eventual problem is you may not get the same technician all the time.
Smaller outfit are generally friendlier, easier to gain trust. In either case, make sure the company has liability insurance. Avoid a Jack-of-all-trades because they are master of none. I am referring to a guy that can fix any equipment including refrigeration system. I have always considered refrigeration field almost as an art form. Beside the fact that it requires an entire set of tools and supplies by itself, it also requires a specific set of knowledge and license. I don’t repair refrigeration equipment. I have just enough knowledge to make it worse.
Your service technician will be able to help find other more specialized tradesman.
As in a car mechanic, one the best way to find a good company is through referral. I know that some restaurant will ask for a technician by name.
And believe me; we all have our good days and bad days. Don’t be too quick to judge a technician based on one mistake. One more thing, if he is cheap you may end up getting what you pay for which is not much.
When it comes to paying the bill, don’t haggle too much or try to short change the guy. It is not a good idea to make a deal once the repair is done. You won’t be able to do it with the larger outfit. The small operator? If he is smart he’ll never come back. If he is bitter… You might need more work than you realize.
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