u/noqual87

Hey everyone, I’m currently working as a heavy equipment tech at a dealership in Korea, and honestly, I’m completely fed up with how management treats us here.

I wanted to vent a bit and ask how techs are treated at Western dealers.

For the past few months, our shop manager has been constantly gathering us around to micro-manage and complain.

He says things like, “If you need tools, stop asking for complete sets. Only request the exact individual piece you need.” He also loves to question our competence, saying, “Shop revenue and efficiency are terrible lately. Are you guys even working properly?”

To be fair, he’s not entirely wrong about efficiency, but the irony is he refuses to approve budgets for any actual Cat-branded tooling. On top of that, he frequently walks onto the shop floor just to give 20-to-30-minute lectures and backseat-drive our jobs with completely useless advice.

But here’s where the real drama starts. Recently, corporate headquarters launched a massive audit at our shop specifically targeting "engine repair re-dos (warranty failures)."

To give you the background: our engine department recently overhauled a 3508 engine for a 992D wheel loader, and the whole thing completely blew up after just 300 hours of operation. The dealer had to pay out roughly $125,000 USD (170 million KRW) to the customer in damages.

During the audit, corporate interviewed the shop staff and asked hard questions: Does the shop provide enough tools? Who are the good techs, and who are the toxic ones you want to avoid? What are your biggest complaints about the working environment?

As a result of that audit, the shop manager called an emergency meeting this morning.

Suddenly, he was acting all caring and concerned, saying things like, “I heard some of you are getting hurt on the job but paying out of pocket for the hospital because you're scared to report it,” and “I heard you guys don't trust the overhead crane safety inspections. If there’s anything that needs fixing, come talk to me directly.”

It’s so incredibly transparent. The guy realizes his ass is on the line because of the audit, so now he’s scrambling and pretending to care about our well-being.

I’m just so sick of this corporate culture where they treat skilled techs like disposable tools. There’s a lot more BS I haven't even mentioned yet, which I’ll save for another post.

For those of you working at dealers in the US, Canada, or Europe—how does your management handle tool supply, accountability, and tech morale? Is it just as toxic over there, or do they actually respect the trade? I'd love to hear your thoughts.