Workplace reviews and discussion: 非常機車有限公司

1. Labor and health insurance + 6% labor pension contribution (not provided during the first month)

2. Leave is slightly better than at other companies in the industry: semi-skilled technicians and above start with 7 days; accountants or apprentices start with 8 days (additional leave is provided for holidays in the same month, but the system keeps changing)

3. Paid annual leave is provided

4. Compared with the notoriously bad bosses at other companies in the industry, it is slightly better—but it is still several centuries away from being legal

5. Music can be played for listening

6. Meager bonuses (really extremely meager, unless performance is exceptionally good)

1. Long working hours (basically 11 hours or more)

2. No meals provided (most companies in this industry provide meals). Note: They claim to provide a meal allowance of NT$70 per meal every day, but in reality, the amount is deducted from your monthly salary (a scam!)

3. Parking is difficult; the locations are generally very hard to find parking at

4. No break time (you have to start working as soon as you finish eating)

5. Low pay, few bonuses, many demands, and an excessive number of rules

6. They claim to subsidize professional certifications, but only provide the three holiday bonuses (even those depend on performance; if performance targets are not met, there are no holiday bonuses). Unlike some auto shops, which simply add several thousand dollars every month

7. Everyone has to do morning exercises every day?

8. Daily customer volume is roughly 30–50 people or more. It is very demanding and exhausting

9. There are more and more rules, and violations inevitably result in salary deductions. There are more penalty rules than bonus rules, and money is deducted at the slightest opportunity (e.g., NT$5,000 for using a mobile phone. The standard is that each technician must install at least 30 extremely obnoxious advertising boards on vehicles every month. If you fall short, NT$100 is deducted for each missing board; even if you meet the target, you only get NT$10 per board. A real rip-off. Also, every recorded deficiency results in a deduction starting at NT$100.)

10. The environment is filthy and chaotic... and the air pollution is especially severe. When you get home, even wiping your face with a tissue leaves it black

11. You must provide your own tools

12. Performance is extremely important (everything is based on performance. If you do not meet your targets, they nag you every day until you eventually have to resort to deception. With a base salary of NT$25,250, you need at least NT$180,000–200,000 in monthly sales, roughly 14–15%, before you receive performance bonuses. If you do not meet the target, you can only receive the base salary, and money is also deducted at the slightest opportunity.)

13. You have to work against your conscience (they constantly teach you how to rip off customers: even if something is not defective, they insist on replacing it. A repair that should cost a thousand dollars gets turned into nearly ten thousand)

14. Days off must be scheduled

Overall, I strongly advise against working here, unless you start as an apprentice (or genuinely have no other choice) and then resign once you become semi-skilled. Otherwise, the combination of performance targets and rules will become unbearable.

If you fail to meet performance targets, you receive only the base salary and may even have money deducted. Staff turnover is extremely high, and they are seriously understaffed. Be careful: the technical skill of each mechanic is not necessarily consistent; everyone can mess things up, and everyone can quote prices arbitrarily.

Also, from a car owner's perspective, absolutely do not come here for maintenance or repairs—especially not to replace your oil with their private-label engine oil (the cheap one is too poor in quality, while the expensive one has too high a profit margin. If you really want to change the oil, choose the manufacturer's original oil).