Hey David,
I spent a few years as a GC tech prior to opening my own shop, and years before that in their sales and management. I think after having my own shop it would be incredibly difficult to conform to that environment again. Each district is different, mine was pretty strict in keeping their techs on the same retail schedule as sales associates, but I’ve known some to be much more lenient.
There are some pros and plenty more cons. The work comes to you, and you get to clock out and leave it all there. The work itself is primarily setups. They incentivize you to be constantly selling their “platinum setup” and not necessarily prioritizing the overall well being of the instrument if it is a more involved or time-consuming repair. They want it turned around fast, and you’ll get pressure if something is there for longer than a week, even if it is waiting for parts. As far as pay, you would be hourly, almost certainly not more than $15/hr, I think they finally got me up to $13.50 before getting out in late 2022. There is a commission as well, it works on a sliding scale between .5-3% of your total repair sales, based on your “repair revenue per hour”, or RPH. I was at a particularly high-volume location, and would usually knock out something in the realm of $8,000 in repairs myself each month while working with another full time tech. That maths out to just under $250, before tax, which is heavier on commission than hourly (something like 20-30%). There are benefits available. The employee purchase program is a big attractor for many, but I rarely found myself with enough extra bucks to actually utilize it the way you dream about.
Some of the most challenging parts of the job have absolutely nothing to do with repairing instruments, but rather navigating their different point of sales systems for in-store and online transactions. Their techs are also responsible for fulfilling pro-coverage claims under a certain threshold, which presents a number of mind numbing logistical issues which will fall onto your plate. They’ve also drastically reduced the number of hours each store is allowed to assign to sales people, so be prepared for short-staffed sales floors and getting conscripted into ringing out customers or whatever else needs doing.
I’m finding it difficult to prevent my personal feelings about my time there from influencing how I describe the experience. It was a great place for me to get a wide variety of practice under my belt while I was still pretty green, and I wouldn’t have been ready to operate the shop that I am now without my time there. It was a great incubator for that. I was there in my mid-twenties for whatever that is worth. I found I still needed to supplement my income with repair work on the side, that is when I wasn’t too busy drinking away any memory of the day I had just endured.
I would be more than happy to elaborate further or answer any other specific questions as honestly as I can regarding my time there and what you may be able to expect that you certainly won’t be told about the job during the interview process.