Pros
Paid training. Free online courses. Free ASE registration and testing. ASE Certification bonus, currently at $200 per certification. Education reimbursement if you are in college for automotive technology. Average pay: No ASE, no experience = $13; no ASE, 5 year of experience = $15; with ASE and experience = $15-$24. Wages are cap at $24. I was told that we are not allowed to get pay raise after $24. In comparison, dealerships will often give $20-$40, which is why I am leaving the company.
Cons
Horrible health benefits. Currently, you need to cover $7,000 of the upfront cost before the insurance kicks in. Long hours, 12-hour days, 5 days a week. Complicated rules when it comes to holiday pays, like you need to be scheduled to work before and after a holiday to get holiday pay: simple fix, store manager will schedule you before the holiday and the other techs after the holiday. Store manager is a partner. He gets up to 10% of his income from the store's profit (or so he told us), which is not a good thing for technicians. Store manager won't provide gloves even when reminded that OSHA requires employers to provide adequate protection. I know a tech who was told to "pick you battles." Store manager won't provide shop rags but will instead provide you with toilet papers that we always ran out of. Reason being, the store manager says, shop rags are expensive, at $10 a pop. Brake cleaner is nonexistent at the shop. Shop also lacks engine hoists/cherry picker, transmission hoists (not even a jack transmission hoist), and other special tools that would normally be provided at other shops. Thus, salesmen are instructed not to take "BIG JOBS." Firestone book flag hours tend to underpay technicians. Example #1, Technician gets .1 (or 6 minutes if my understanding of flag hours is correct, .1 times 60 minutes) for doing a courtesy check, that is to check all four tires including tread depth, tire condition, and check for nails, and check a list of parts, like front and rear wiper blades condition, hoses for leaks, grab the battery tester which is always 15 feet away, and a bunch of other things, just like what they do at walmart and jiffy lube. This obviously have repercussions. Techs tend to halfass their work to get paid adequately. Example #2, installation of four tires pay the same regardless of size. You can get a 20" 50lbs F-350 truck wheel and your buddy can get a 16" 15lbs Civic passenger wheel, and both of you will get paid the same. Manager doesn't care whether you are a highly skilled certified technician or a 17 year old general service tech, anybody will get to put on tires and do oil changes. Example #3, winter/spring/summer/fall care packages are a rip off: you will get paid .3 for doing a CVI (complete vehicle inspection) and a tire rotation. All these shenanigans are being balanced out by state inspection, which pays a .6, plus a courtesy check of .1. If you can't get a state inspector's license because of previous convictions, you will have a hard time. Old timers gets big paying jobs by default, i.e., if a customer walks in for a cooling system flush (.8), transmission flush (.8), basic front brake job (.8), and brake flush (.6), the oldies will get it first. In the end, after everything has been said and done, every morning or every evening, whichever you prefer, you will need to double check your invoice numbers on the shop's computer. Managers get careless and pay the wrong tech. This happens regularly. And when I say regularly, usually once or twice every few days. Normal salesmen are usually more careful because they tend to buddy up with techs.