auto rescue denver auto rescue watch out aurora , Colorado

I recently was employed by Auto Rescue Denver. Some of the above mentioned complaints can be true to an extent.

The issues with this employer that I encountered were the following:

Training - training really didn't exist. I drove around with one employee for 4 hours and after that period of time I was considered "fully trained".

Money up front / Removed from your check - Auto Rescue Denver will charge you for equipment that they provide you. You do get to keep some of this equipment. You are charged $200 for your battery jump box and some other misc. items such as a roof light. Your are also charged an addition fee per check for your phone service (nextel dispatch phone) and paperwork fee. You have to pay your gas, cell phone (you need to call clients) and addtional equipment such as a jack, air compressor, socket set, lug wrench, gloves, etc.

Auto Rescue Denver does expect you to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You may ask for time off (you're an independent contractor so they can't really do anything about you taking time off other then making you feel bad about it). All that they ask is that you give them 48 hours notice. You may also call dispatch and tell them to take you off the clock for an hour if something pops up. The issues with the work time requirements is that you never know how many calls you will receive on any given day. You are paid $10.50 per call and $5.00 per GOA (Gone on arrival). You are only supposed to receive calls that are 15 miles from your zip code. On occasion I have put close to 25 miles on my vehicle to respond to a call.

You will also receive tips, but you can not depend on these. All my pay checks showed up regularly, every Saturday. I would say my standard check was $350 a week. Considering the work, the pay wasn't too bad.

Here are the issues you will encounter if you choose to work for Auto Rescue Denver. Dispatch and Customer issues - unfortunately dispatch won't send you the correct information. You end up looking for the customer and speaking to the customer yourself. Some times the customer can't give you proper directions or assist you and sometimes you will have difficulty understanding the customer. Some dispatchers are very helpfull and understanding. Some other dispatchers are not exactly pleasent. On many occasions I was woke up from bed at 1:00am and notified that I needed to "hurry" to a call. Dispatch would then ask multiple times "how long do you think it will be until you're there". You will also get this when you have been sent multiple calls. It seems like there is a lack of communication at times.

I have also encoutered issues where 2 calls came in at one time. I then drove 9 miles to do call number one, only to have to turn around and drive 9 miles back to exactly where I was to work the 2nd call. Since it's your vehicle and gas, there doesn't seem to be much consideration for the miles and gas that you are using in your personal vehicle. I have been sent to calls that were 20 miles away only to be told that the call was a "GOA". On these occasions I actually lost money reporting to a call. If you figure out the amount of time you spend in your vehicle and amount of time it takes to do most calls you end up doing about a call an hour. So, you basically make $10.50 an hour working for Auto Rescue Denver.

Another odd thing that I encountered working for Auto Rescue Denver was that I never once met my "boss", the owner or anyone really in the company. You are truly on your own when you work for Auto Rescue Denver. I never knew any of the names of the dispatchers. The only person I was ever in contact with was the guy that picked up paperwork every 2 weeks. If I truly broke down the amount of money I made working for Auto Rescue Denver in one month I would say that I cleared $1500.00. I usually had $300 in gas that I used. I would say that on most days I would have my first call at 7:00am and would have a total of 4 by noon. I would then have about 2 calls between the hours of 12:00 and 5:00pm. On average you receive about 3 calls in the evening after 5:00pm. I would say you average about 9 calls a day and put about 100 miles on your vehicle.

It's hard to have any type of life working for Auto Rescue Denver since you're technically always on call. If you are looking for work and want to start right away they are a good company to work for. Considering the time that you put into it and if you already own the bulk of the equipment that you'll use you can make some good money. The biggest issue I truly encountered were the days that I only received 2 or 3 calls. On these days I more or less sat around at my home. Since you're on call you can't go out and get a second job or go out and get into anything to make some additional money. Considering that you're only paid by call there's really no way to know how much you'll make per check, per week and that unfortunately is the biggest issue.