Interesting conversation.

[5.4MarkVIII]

A topic came up on a Facebook page I’m a part of for Appliance techs. Just a networking help each other out kind of thing. I gave my take as both a tech and an owner. And was surprised at the reaction. Lol. It’s relevant to other industries especially trades. Was curious of others takes.

Basically a younger guy asked about ear pieces and headsets both to take calls and to listen to music.

My take was. No, when in a customers house, that customer and their appliance deserves your undivided attention. Headset for in the truck if you don’t have a hands free set up. But taking calls while on the clock for a job is rude and unnecessary.

The first push back was the right to listen to music. Which caught me off guard since our job is diagnosing a big part of that is being able to listen to both the customer and the appliance.

The rest was along the lines of it’s hurting business by not answering calls. My take is that’s what answering machines are for. Customers don’t want to pay you to take calls from other people. And most understand that.

Just curious about other peoples take on this. I thought at first I was being too old school but I caught some serious flack from some other tech older than me.

So you take the calls or leave a message?

[ZR]

Was in a mech shop a few weeks ago, surprised, make that shocked owner was ok with mechanic in the shop completely tuned out with ear buds in.

[5.4MarkVIII]

Was in a mech shop a few weeks ago, surprised, make that shocked owner was ok with mechanic in the shop completely tuned out with ear buds in.

Yeah. Every shop I worked in. Radio was okay. Headphones a safety hazard. Tuned out can’t hear anything going on around you.

[ZR]

Exactly that.

[92redragtop]

I'm not in the trades but my motto is that the "customer" (ie. this could be a co-worker, employee, customer) in front of you right now (so to speak-IRL or virtually) gets your time and attention. Anyone else can take their turn in line.

[ChickenLips]

Astronauts aren't listening to tunes on their buds when taking off.

Pilots aren't listening to tunes on their buds when landing.

White knuckle driving in a blizzard has the radio off and passengers silent.

Music or any content consumes some amount of mental energy.

Is the employer paying for part or full attention?

[True Blue]

My take was. No, when in a customers house, that customer and their appliance deserves your undivided attention. Headset for in the truck if you don’t have a hands free set up. But taking calls while on the clock for a job is rude and unnecessary.

100% it's rude. In my field most times I work solo, I can easily get away with wearing ear buds. I choose not to wear them, as I want to be aware of what's going on in my surroundings.

[ChickenLips]

Courting customers isn’t much different from courting a date. In the case of a customer you’re seducing them for their $$.

I know how I’d react if I had a date in front of me that was taking calls. I know how I’d react if my date insisted on listening to ear bud music while with me.

Try leaving in ear buds with music when your wife is talking to you.

The only way a customer, date, or spouse will “tolerate” this is if your time is highly valuable and a scarce commodity. The keyword being tolerate.

[Laffs]

No issues with my guys wearing headphones/pods. If you are doing your job and it doesn't inhibit the ability to work safely (ie so loud you can't hear hazards) enjoy your music or podcast and make your day more tolerable. Listen at a volume that if the customer has a question you can answer, but half the time having those ear buds in makes the customer who would normally stand 1' behind you making small talk or asking a million questions go back to going about their day. Likewise if myself, another PM or a another tech calls you to ask timelines, location, needs, or pick you brain on an issue by all means, pick up. Don't cuss or be disrespectful and don't be on a personal call the whole time but a quick "hey, yes I'm at XXXX, we have about an hour to finish, materials are good" or "hey, yeah I've seen that before what can cause it is XXXXXX so make sure to check XXXXX first" has never made anyone mad.

We've never had a Google review state "Service tech was on time, solved my problem immediately, billed me only for the time they were there, left the site clean, but wore headphones and therefore I'm leaving 1 star". Likewise I'd take a tech in my house who comes in, says hello, pops in his buds and knocks out the task in an hour vs chatty cathy who comes in, starts telling me about his day, his ex wife, his buddies, then wants to do the song and dance to justify the call (that I booked) and why he's the supreme lord tech and winds up taking up 2-3 hours of my day.

[Laffs]

Courting customers isn’t much different from courting a date. In the case of a customer you’re seducing them for their $$.

I know how I’d react if I had a date in front of me that was taking calls. I know how I’d react if my date insisted on listening to ear bud music while with me.

Try leaving in ear buds with music when your wife is talking to you.

The only way a customer, date, or spouse will “tolerate” this is if your time is highly valuable and a scarce commodity. The keyword being tolerate.

I've never had my HVAC guy try to take me to bed after he repaired my furnace, but after reading this now if I see him without head phones on listening to me intently I'll know it's on like Donkey Kong.

[Frankie]

I've been to customer sites all over the world as a travelling tech.

I never wore earbuds or took other calls while i was on the clock for the customer in front of me.
If they're paying $250/hr to have me there, I'm giving them my undivided attention.

As the saying goes - treat others as you'd expect to be treated.

[Gabe]

I don't think anyone is agreeing that you should have the headphones in and music playing or taking a call as you get to the site and introduce yourself to the customer, discuss the fixes etc, but if you are going to be fixing something for a couple hours I don't see why there is an issue with it as long as you are completing the task. Yes, agree calls should be short and to the point and only taken if necessary (ie phones all have call display).

I started cycling with these bone conduction headphones so that I can continue to hear road noise/ traffic and have conversations with other pedestrians/ cyclists if need be (such as I am passing another cyclist or someone at a traffic light) since they are not in your ear they do not hinder hearing everything else that is happening around. Been very pleased with them.

https://ca.shokz.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAqt-dBhBcEiwATw-ggOCOANGskarUz-OYlihlvbdzcS0YSu3AACw2JnZwWOUA7MeV5hdSCBoCoA8QAvD_ BwE

[5.4MarkVIII]

I don't think anyone is agreeing that you should have the headphones in and music playing or taking a call as you get to the site and introduce yourself to the customer, discuss the fixes etc, but if you are going to be fixing something for a couple hours I don't see why there is an issue with it as long as you are completing the task. Yes, agree calls should be short and to the point and only taken if necessary (ie phones all have call display).

I started cycling with these bone conduction headphones so that I can continue to hear road noise/ traffic and have conversations with other pedestrians/ cyclists if need be (such as I am passing another cyclist or someone at a traffic light) since they are not in your ear they do not hinder hearing everything else that is happening around. Been very pleased with them.

https://ca.shokz.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAqt-dBhBcEiwATw-ggOCOANGskarUz-OYlihlvbdzcS0YSu3AACw2JnZwWOUA7MeV5hdSCBoCoA8QAvD_ BwE

Don’t disagree. For my line of work most calls are 20 min or less. I know a very common thing in my industry is for guys to dink around so they can extent the time and charge more. And I’ve seen this stuff start out innocent and then end up taken advantage of.

I do have a set of those bone conducting headphones but they are great but mine only work for listening. Not phone calls

[5.4MarkVIII]

No issues with my guys wearing headphones/pods. If you are doing your job and it doesn't inhibit the ability to work safely (ie so loud you can't hear hazards) enjoy your music or podcast and make your day more tolerable. Listen at a volume that if the customer has a question you can answer, but half the time having those ear buds in makes the customer who would normally stand 1' behind you making small talk or asking a million questions go back to going about their day. Likewise if myself, another PM or a another tech calls you to ask timelines, location, needs, or pick you brain on an issue by all means, pick up. Don't cuss or be disrespectful and don't be on a personal call the whole time but a quick "hey, yes I'm at XXXX, we have about an hour to finish, materials are good" or "hey, yeah I've seen that before what can cause it is XXXXXX so make sure to check XXXXX first" has never made anyone mad.

We've never had a Google review state "Service tech was on time, solved my problem immediately, billed me only for the time they were there, left the site clean, but wore headphones and therefore I'm leaving 1 star". Likewise I'd take a tech in my house who comes in, says hello, pops in his buds and knocks out the task in an hour vs chatty cathy who comes in, starts telling me about his day, his ex wife, his buddies, then wants to do the song and dance to justify the call (that I booked) and why he's the supreme lord tech and winds up taking up 2-3 hours of my day.

For sure all depends on the guy, appliance stuff is usually quick

It drives me nuts when the supplier truck shows up. They are responsible to deliver blood out the back of the truck. And then my guys take it from the dock. We always get the drives that have the phone in their ear and are clearly on personal calls they just Lilly gag around more concerned about their call while the guys I’m paying are standing their waiting for the stuff to come off the truck.

[5.4MarkVIII]

New angle.

Pull up to a house for a job and across the street are three houses being built. One crew working on all three in different stages of exterior being done.

Literally kids walking on the sidewalk and the job site radio is just absolutely blaring some kind away f rap and every other word is either the N word or the Fword.

Customer said multiple people have asked them to play something else. They absolutely don’t give a fuck.

Big city crew working in a small town. Lol.

[ChickenLips]

New angle.

Pull up to a house for a job and across the street are three houses being built. One crew working on all threw in different stages of exterior being done.

Literally kids walking on the sidewalk and the job site radio is just absolutely blaring some air it rap and every other word is either the N word or the Fword.

Customer said multi oil people have asked them to play something else. They absolutely don’t give a fuck.

Big city crew working in a small town. Lol.

you get bad behavior when there's no consequence for bad behavior.

[ChickenLips]

No issues with my guys wearing headphones/pods. If you are doing your job and it doesn't inhibit the ability to work safely (ie so loud you can't hear hazards) enjoy your music or podcast and make your day more tolerable. Listen at a volume that if the customer has a question you can answer, but half the time having those ear buds in makes the customer who would normally stand 1' behind you making small talk or asking a million questions go back to going about their day. Likewise if myself, another PM or a another tech calls you to ask timelines, location, needs, or pick you brain on an issue by all means, pick up. Don't cuss or be disrespectful and don't be on a personal call the whole time but a quick "hey, yes I'm at XXXX, we have about an hour to finish, materials are good" or "hey, yeah I've seen that before what can cause it is XXXXXX so make sure to check XXXXX first" has never made anyone mad.

We've never had a Google review state "Service tech was on time, solved my problem immediately, billed me only for the time they were there, left the site clean, but wore headphones and therefore I'm leaving 1 star". Likewise I'd take a tech in my house who comes in, says hello, pops in his buds and knocks out the task in an hour vs chatty cathy who comes in, starts telling me about his day, his ex wife, his buddies, then wants to do the song and dance to justify the call (that I booked) and why he's the supreme lord tech and winds up taking up 2-3 hours of my day.

in other words you're not paying for their full attention at that time, cool.

[ChickenLips]

I've never had my HVAC guy try to take me to bed after he repaired my furnace, but after reading this now if I see him without head phones on listening to me intently I'll know it's on like Donkey Kong.

Except the donkey likely wants a raise.

Suddenly the dog obey commands when there's treats.

[Spock]

Jeopardy Question...

What is the leading cause of Technician Miss-Diagnosis ?

Answer: Distraction

[Ponyryd]

I would feel disrespected if the tech had earbuds in while meeting/discussing the issue with me, but I generally leave people alone while they work, so I don’t think it would bother me as long as he wasn’t talking out loud on a phone call. Of course, if I was watching/asking questions I would expect him to be paying attention to me as opposed to his music/podcast.
To me it all stems from a general lack of respect and public decency, and it’s gotten really bad in the last 5 years or so. People walk in the park/mall/grocery store, etc…with earbuds in talking on the phone all the time-or worse-have a person on speaker or FaceTime while doing the same, holding the damn phone like a slice of pizza while everybody else can hear everything. To me this is very disrespectful and I never do it, nor do I allow my kids to do it.


Was in a mech shop a few weeks ago, surprised, make that shocked owner was ok with mechanic in the shop completely tuned out with ear buds in.


This is how it is at my shop, very strange, techs walk around all day with earbuds in while working in a dangerous environment…I don’t get it, and I would never allow it were I in charge. It does have advantages though, as those who have them in sometimes sing or talk to themselves, so I just ignore them even if they ask me questions from a few bays away, even though I know they’re talking to me. It’s a good excuse to tune them out, and I do it all day long : )

[ChickenLips]

Wear ear buds when having a convo with your wife. The reaction might be different but the respondents feelings on it will be the same.

[RedSN]

and it’s gotten really bad in the last 5 years or so. : )
LMAO
Your parents were saying the same thing in 1986

https://media.tenor.com/6BwlYNOW4BYAAAAd/sant-just-fever-retro.gif