Saturday, January 21, 2012

From franchise grind to independent

Tuesday of this past week I left Classic Suzuki of Birmingham, a franchised automobile dealership and went to Fultondale Auto Sales, a small independent car lot.  I just had to get out of the franchise grind where-in you may get to work at 8:30 am in the morning, but not leave until 10-11pm.  It was miserable.  On top of that, my old dealer had recently brought in a lot of managers from Atlanta.  They improved the number of units we were selling but started doing some of the most bogus stuff imaginable in order to sell vehicles.  And, the lenders are catching them a few at a time.  Funding of the deals that were being made has become a nightmare and yet the dealer, being blinded by the increase in money, does not realize that ultimately, these actions will cost him immensely just as it did last time when the dealership started screwing lenders.  After just a few times of being caught, the lenders will drop him as a trustworthy dealership and they will go out of business.  In the last month or so it had become misery just working there.  They fired me a week before Christmas with my wife in the hospital undergoing emergency blood transfusions and then re-hired me the day after Christmas.  They the promoted me to Used Car Director on one day and two days later told me what a piece of shit I was for taking the position/promotion. They also questioned my credibility and insinuated that I might be taking money on the side from wholesalers that I dealt with.  They then told me that I was just a clerk and would be paid a clerks wages (this past Monday)  I had had enough and on Tuesday, I took my keys into the dealer and told him to have a clerk do my job, as I was resigning.  I put up with a lot from that company.  I missed many, many off-days that could have been spent with my wife, I worked long hours and at times was the only employee that he could trust to do what I was supposed to do. But when he questions my credibility and honesty in the manner that he did, it was time to go.  My new employer appreciates the knowledge and drive that I have within me and is letting me push his dealership into new growth!