THIS NOT A COMPLAINT. Just a curious observation. So in September my bike is due its annual service and MOT. I live in Cheshire, but like to take my bike back to where I got it for its service, Youles in Blackburn (A 2hr ride). I know that sounds mad (Youles Manchester is very good and a lot closer) but I've found that Youles Blackburn staff are just as good, they gave me a great deal and went the extra mile in sourcing my dream bike and went the extra mile again in resolving a loom issue under warranty. Anyway I'm going on a residential course (Tuesday to Thursday) an hour or so further north and east of Blackburn in September, and I thought here's an opportunity to get paid to ride my bike and get it serviced at the same time. So I confirmed with the course venue that I could extend my stay to include Monday night, and then called Youles to book in for a service on the Monday to be told "Sorry, all our technicians are off on Mondays." So that idea went out of the window. They're probably ensuring that their technicians get a proper two days off per week, which IMHO is absolutely excellent, there are few employers that thoughtful these days. But I'm not sure its wise to have no technical staff in on a weekday. Oh well back to the diary.
It must be a common thing as I rang Ducati Preston today only to hear their answerphone message telling me they are closed on a Monday
Mick the head mechanic and the rest of the workshop staff work Saturday's so to enable them to have 2 consecutive days off the workshop is closed, everything else is operational, such as parts, accessories and sales. Phil does look after his staff and hence the dealership has many long serving staff with progression upwards. It is also a family based dealership, that have Triumph, Suzuki, Honda and smaller capacity Aprilia's. Ride safe all from an ageing Rocker.
All the local dealerships (whatever the brand) around Tucson--and most throughout Arizona--are closed on Sundays and Mondays. And I mean closed completely, not just the service department. There are a few big dealerships in Phoenix that are still open every day but it's definitely become the exception to the rule. The two Harley dealerships in Tucson used to be open daily but that changed right around the time Covid hit. I've been told that it's primarily due to staffing, both in terms of being difficult to find and retain good people and, relatedly, wanting to assure that the staff they do have can have a consistent two days off each week. I was also told that being open only five days a week makes the whole dealership far more efficient if everyone works full time and and they just all work on the same days. I'm sure they bring in less $$ but I guess they also save money not paying staff. I do miss being able to swing by the dealership after our Sunday rides. And Monday is one of my own day off so I can't bring my bike in on Mondays which narrows my available service days by 50%. However, for me it's still more of an inconvenience. I know many of you out there live a decent distance from your dealerships which makes it more problematic for you. But I do understand the position the dealerships are in.
It used to be normal practice in this country that car and bike workshops and dealerships would be open ~8:30 to 5:30 Monday to Friday and ~9:00 - 12:00 Saturdays with showrooms open ~9:00 - 5:00 Monday to Saturday with staff working rotas that included two days off to enable this. The car dealership I use still works this way. As a former engineering support manager it seems to me that working a rota so that workshops can be open when customers are likely to want / need work would give both good customer support and look after staff. But I guess that would mean needing one or two more staff to fully cover the rota and annual leave and hence increase operational costs and pension commitments. As someone who's work diary is variable, always open ended (whilst working 3 - 6 six months ahead) and who's employer only guarantees one day a week off, I completely understand the importance of giving staff a proper weekend off and I would not want that principle to reduce. Especially because the staff at Youles are so good. The flip side for me is that whilst I can relatively easily fit getting my car serviced within my work commitments, this Sunday Monday closed system limits me getting the bike serviced, unless I lose a chunk of the one day a week I have to spend time away from work with Mrs RevPaul. But then only a couple or so years to go and I'll retire and it'll stop being an issue.
SMC in Sheffield and CMC at Clay Cross are also closed completely on Mondays but open all day Tues to Sat. The nearest Triumph dealer is open 7 days for sales but servicing and spares is closed on Sundays. Sat is a popular day for servicing with owners who are working full time or have other commitments during the week.
I think it is great that folk get two days off a week. Our 24/7 society has for a long time been eroding people’s quality of living, with more and more pressure being put on folk to work longer hours/days. Rant over
Couldn't agree more. For many workers in retail and other 7 day a week industries Saturday and Sunday are considered "normal hours" and do not pay overtime rates and I feel for them. A few years before I retired I was forced to accept one Saturday a month as normal hours and I hated it. I was fortunate enough to not need the extra £ overtime brings so never worked any voluntarily. I opted for a 4 day week for the last 2 years working and was contamplating 3 days but thankfully had a decent pension waiting so just thought feck it, I've had enough, retired and bought a Street Scrambler. A very fortunate position to be in I'm the first to admit.
I was working Monday to Friday in the Magistrates Court then Crown Court for remand cases on Saturday, I was full on writing report after report, I then went to a 4 day week for a while, then reduced this to 3 and then 2 and finally just the 1 day a week, although this was 2 days worth of reports, after 30 years I decided to retire having made the transition gradually. The leave was exceptionally generous so allowed me plenty of time off to enjoy life. I recently received a letter asking me if I would consider returning with negotiable days, thank's but no thank's, life is now a permanent holiday thankfully.
My dealership here in Michigan in the states is also closed Sunday and Monday. I think that's great. They are open on Saturdays for people that have to work during the week and I think that is very accommodating for the customer and the staff. It's great that they give their employees 2 days off. I wish it was that way for me, but corporate greed has me working a lot of Saturdays. 1 day off doesn't give much time to take care of chores around the house, grocery shop and find some time to relax and rest up. Retirement in 4 years..........
Hi Rev Paul.....I'm Nick also in Cheshire...Runcorn. Sounds odd closed mondays....but what do I know....not heard of it before. Cant think of any legal req for tech guy to have a certain break time....like truckers do. But I imagine they thought hard about the idea or they would not do it....but still odd. Got my T100 from Bill Smiths Chester by the way....who for some reason lost the Triumph franchise. What bike have you?
Quite a few dealerships close on a Monday. I think it's because sales have been working all weekend and service probably Saturday as well so they close Mondays as it's a quiet day. Saves costs I guess.
It's my belief that no one should have to work 6 days a week to earn a living. It's all about balance and having a life. If the dealerships are open on Saturday when most people are off then it's a good thing to take Mondays off, that's balance.
Yep, in my experience, this is the norm. My local (excellent) workshop is shut on Mondays as they are open all day on Saturdays. It's the same in France - I once got caught with a puncture on a Monday morning, missed my ferry home and had to wait until Tuesday morning to get it repaired. Yes, I now carry a puncture repair kit so the stable door is now shut...!
Hi Nick, I'm located south and east of you near Northwich and if you seek out my other threads and responses to threads (and look at my avatar) you'll see that I pootle around on a lovely yellow 2018 Street Cup (bought from Youles; Blackburn for a very fair price when I'd given up on even finding one) and I absolutely love it. Talking to the staff at Bill Smiths it seems that when they decided to move all their business to their Honda site (where they're building a two story extension) Triumph wanted the whole of the ground floor, but Smith's couldn't justify moving their biggest source of sales off the prime sales floor, so the two groups have parted company. Shame really I used to enjoy drooling over the Triumphs as I drove into Chester and had to stop at those two sets of traffic lights. At least their moving will improve my attention to the road! Also I expect the new Triumph Chester dealership (who must be closer to you) will be a good one, Ive met the staff a few times from when I was searching for my Street Cup and this year's Chester DGR and they come from a good family run business in North Wales. I'm not sure what if any employment laws apply to staff hours, leave and time off these days. But I'm very impressed that Youles are ensuring that their staff are having a full two days off a week: I also know that they make sure that their staff use their full annual leave allowance, because that affected when I could get some work done on my bike a the Manchester branch last year. That level of staff care will be why Youles do such good work at both branches; when companies recognise that their staff are their best asset (and treat them accordingly), you generally get much better work and loyalty from them. And will also be why I continue to use Youles while I live in this area. I started this thread simply because I've got used to the model of workshops only open for a half day on Saturdays and closed all Sundays. Its how every garage that I've used for my cars work/have worked and how (I thought) Bill Smiths, Youles, & Staffordshire Triumph work. If things are changing to give staff better hours and working conditions, then that's a brilliant change and long overdue in the UK. But just wondered if there isn't a way of offering customers a Monday to Saturday service whilst also giving two consecutive days off to staff, but I think that's only possible by employing more staff and therefore higher overheads. Cheers @RevPaul
Got it, It's a bummer that Youles Blackburn doesn't have techs on Mondays. Have a great time on your residential course!
