Complaint Review: Bob Lembke Truck Service - Spring Grove Illinois

Oh, where to begin.

I also worked for Mr. Lembke, and I had a job when I came to work for him.  I got promised $20 an hour, and I asked if it would be hourly or not, because, unlike he states, most heavy truck mechanics do NOT work on commission.  That is generally something left for the automotive world, because their jobs are much more straightforward.  Now that I've been on both the clerical and service side of the truck industry, I know that any truck mechanic would lose everything if he were forced to work flat rate.  I was promised hourly, then sorely surprised after I had left my job, that there was no time clock.  His record keeping system is, literally, Microsoft Word. 

Now onto how the man deals with his flat rate.  Book time on a service on a heavy truck is 2 hours.  Having been in both fleets and dealerships, I have my service times down to an hour and fifteen minutes.  Pretty sweet deal on flat rate, right?? Wrong.  If you come in with a service sheet under 6 hours, you get sent back out and told that you didn't finish the service.  I guarantee that he's billing 6 hours to a customer for it.  I wouldn't know what he's paying out, I never got a dime out of him.  The flat rate antics don't stop there.  Any time saving tools you may have are not permitted.  For example, all cooling systems have to be pressure tested dry by his rules. Completely empty system.  And you're only permitted to use a hand pump. I own a quick pressure checker that runs on shop air, that would have aired up the system and checked it in a tenth of the time of using a hand pump.  But I was told that if I was caught using it again, it would get taken away from me and broken.  That's right, by his standard, the only way to check the seal of that block heater you just replaced is to hand pump up a system that's designed to hold 12 gallons of water, up to 15-30 psi of pressure.  How can you ever make book time like that, or even beat the book??

The last part of this man's little scheme is that you'll be doing all of his shop maintenance for donated time.  If you're not on a customer vehicle, you're not getting paid.  That was expressly told to me my first day.  Not that I ever got paid, but when that is told to you first thing, just walk away.  Even car shops that are flat rate have a ticket to bill time to so you get paid when you're taking THEIR trash out, cleaning THEIR shops, and maintaining THEIR shop equipment. 

Now add all this to the fact that in the month I worked there before I found a new job, the bank was in the building 7 times looking for Bob, ready to forclose on the business, and I woke up afraid every day that my $10,000 toolbox was gonna be locked inside with chains over the doors when I came in the next morning.  I Hope this business gets shut down and never re-opens.  I've talked to his former biggest client, and they think he's a hack and worthless.  They are now a big client of my current job.  Also keep in mind that this man was having his 10 year old daughter working on vehicles out in the shop.  I may be against the Labor union, but I should have never quit my union mechanic job to work for this joke.  Last I heard, he moved his shop somewhere else.  I hope he got shut down after that.  And all the rest of you are lucky you even got paid

Bob,

I did work for you for four weeks. What I saw was a disgrace to your employees and customers on every level I could think of. Everything from a general lack of respect to bold face lies to us as workers and customers. I have never seen anything like it before and after working for you.

What you failed to mention on your rebuttal, is that how you lost two contracts with major outfits due to your lack of integrity with them. Evey thing from using their own equipment to work on other trucks, to talking down about other customers in front of them. This was an issue LONG before I got there, as you stated how I was "bringing the shop down".

I never suggested for the customer to pay $10,000 for a used truck engine. You also forgot to state that engine was a junk yard engine that had sat in the back of the same truck for 9 months uncovered. Finding wiring harnesses ruined, bolts stripped/broken, nests of wasps, and other various bits wrong with a JUNK YARD item, that it will take more  than 19 hours for that. But I take it that you forgot due to how much 5 hour energy drinks you are hopped up on.

Or what about that funky paper work you had me rewrite on that Ford box van? The brakes went from drum to disc. That would lower the amount of hours you would have to pay me. Fishy fishy.....

And how many weeks did it take for you to get my final check to me? I found it odd too, your secretary stonewalled me from coming in or talking to you. Again, the sign of a shakey company.

The customer on the rear axle never authorized the $100 in the words you put it in. I had found him a few weeks later in town and asked him about it. He claimed you stated it needed more parts than you thought. He was a nice elderly man that you blanetly ripped off.

Bob, you are a legend in your own mind. You are what make great mechanics look like scum of the earth due to your policy of no morals or grounding of workmanship. You are also wrong, I am not studying to become a police officer. I am now in the field of insurance fraud working as an investigator. You and your ways are becoming a thing of the past, there are more and more laws in place to protect customers and employees from people like you.

I also worked for Lembke and was told of all these great opportunities until I started working there. Bob is a backstabbing con artist he talks about his employees behind there backs and blindly rips off the customer. Take a look on craigslist some time he's always hiring people, treats his emplyoees like s**t and will get rid of them for bogus reasons especially if you have more knowledge than the great Bob Lembke or if you have a problem taking people's money for repairs that were never done and or not needed.

Greg is not Greg. His name is Johnathan but he does live in McHenry. Johnathan is not a mechanic as he describes himself.

One of the two jobs Johnathan describes are an axle replacement where the supplier ; a junk (yard because the customer did not want to pay to have his axle rebuilt) sent us the wrong axle. When they sent the correct axle it was $173.82 higher. I only charged the customer $100 more and I paid the rest out of my pocket. I contacted the customer and told him the price increase and told the customer it was my fault we quoted the axle to him, he approved it.

The second job Johnathan worked on was replacing an engine in a 2002 Ford F-150. The job only takes 19 hrs to replace the motor. Johnathan took over 53 hrs to complete a job that should have been 19hrs.

Johnathan worked on commission as do MOST mechanics. In other words, if the book says the job pays 12 hrs and Johnathan does it in 11 hrs, he gets paid the full 12 hrs. Johnathan took 53 hrs. This is where I realized he was not a mechanic. Johnathan thought we should have charged our customer about $10,000 for a used engine in a 2002 Ford F150. I can't do that. My head mechanic and another approached me about letting Johnathan go because he was dragging down the shop.

I had to let Johnathan go from that position. I explained why and he agreed. I did offer him an hourly position as a parts counterman in our parts department. He said he would think about it and declined. He is studying to a police officer.

I have several long term employees and found that all the good mechanics have a job and are not looking as Johnathan was.

I also have several long term customers who are very happy with our company.