People Last

As most of you here know, I work at a Saturn dealership. I think you might
find this interesting on how Saturn treats thier employees and thinks of
people.

Last Wed night while driving home down a dark I95 southbound, I drove into a
very heavy rainstorm. In a second's time, with no time to react, a wheel
came out of nowhere and smashed in the front of my 94 SL2. The wheel came
off a car going northbound on the highway, crossed a deep grassy median,
struck me with such velocity that it bounced on my hood and flew over 3
lanes of 95. I found the driver and the wheel the next day. My car is
totalled. The saturn saved my life. Seems the driver didnt have lug bolts in
his tire and the entire wheel came off while he was speeding. He has no
ins., is a ghetto bro and the car is stolen. I reported this to the FHP and
they said they cant do anything, nice. At least I am alive, one more foot
higher and it would have been the windshield.

I had the car towed to work. My ins. came out and declared the car totalled.
I asked my boss for a loaner until I can get another car. (remember I sell
cars?) He saw this as an opportunity to sell me something instead of helping
me out and tried selling me some of the most expensive cars on the lot. our
dealership is doing poorly and I am damn nearly broke, espacially due to the
hurricanes, so I cant afford much.

My boss and the GM refuse to give me a loaner car to get to work. To make
matters worse, I am borrowing my wifes car to get to work which she needs to
get to her work, so I am displacing her. Her car is on its last legs.

Saturday, my boss took ing a beautiful used SL and tolfd me I could have it
for $3K. I was finally relieved and happy that he was finally going to help
me like he promised so many times. An hour after promising me the car, he
sold it. Then and only after me telling him how upset I was, he came up to
me and said:

"Retail comes before people"

This must be Saturns new logo. Then the General Manager called me and told
me that "I" have a bad attitude????? And offered me an unsafe used car to
drive for "a few days" I drive 65 miles a day on the hwy, no good. I told
him I need a safe car to drive and would like the car checked out , his
reply was " I drive used cars all the time w/o checking them out" and "you
can look at the car and tell if it is safe".

In the meanwhile they are working me to the bone and wont give me any time
off to look for a new. I am one of the top salesman there but I can tell you
now that I came there with a love for Saturns and the company and now feel
deeply betrayed and insulted. I am so tired and upset and so is my family
(who all own saturns). My next car will not be a saturn.

"Retail comes before people"

I guess they are no longer "a different kind of company" when they treat
people (especially thier employees) as bad or worse than any other car
company.

 

Please don't take this as a nasty remark, but Saturn and your boss are
not responsible to have you get to work. That is your responsibility.
I don't think others here have to rely on their boss to get them to
work unless its in a car pool.

Now having said that I would like to touch on the $3,000.00 auto and
how you got screwed out of it. Question? Did you place a retainer or
binder on the vehicle he (The manager) offered you. Would you not
expected the dealership to do the same to any customer that came in
and wanted that vehicle? I would have. You could have placed a few
bucks on the car to hold it and then worked out the details later
which would have been the smart thing to do.

I am glad to hear that you can still type in the group after such a
crazy accident. Does not your insurance have "Uninsured Motorist
Coverage" or similar coverage's as they do in New York? (We have that
stupid No Fault) and if the car was stolen as you said I can hazard a
guess that the cars owners insurance still is held responsible for
your damages since many times the loser of the car left the keys in
the ignition. Then we have that "what are lawyers for" and they can
sue the people and insurance company since it was not your fault.

I had many years ago a similar situation with a tire on I-90 which as
a miracle to just roll over the car from the hood on back. But it
scared the hell out of me so I am as I said glad you survived.

You could also take a rental car with your company (dealership) as a
work around, since people obviously don't come first and money and
profits do, I am sure they can give you a good rate and maybe cheaper
than regular customers if your such the great salesman you claim and
they need you. Put a positive spin on the situation and see if you can
rise to the top of a bad situation and I would remember the attitude
of the dealership and look for another job.

Elector

 

Isn't it amazing how quickly your life can change? I am glad you are
physically okay, now you have the fun (not) process of getting over all the
emotional stuff - I was surprised how much loosing my SL-2 affected me.

The only bit of anything in the way of positive energy I can offer, is that
when you feel like getting upset (doesn't matter if it's your boss, the
unfairness of it all, or the price of hamburger), it is really this other
stuff (the accident) that is bleeding into whatever you're current dealing
with. So when your boss, or situation (or price of hamburger) makes you
nuts, just take a second to acknowledge you are still basically
under-the-weather over the accident. And if you can't process or deal with
the BS at the moment, then don't. Don't react, don't get angry and don't
unload on someone else. If you still feel the same way the next day, then
decide what you'll say and to who.

And when you cool down some, I think you'll realize your dealer is not the
face of all of Saturn. And, Saturn is a business, and currently business
(IMO) is very much all about bottom line. Remember, the purpose of a
business is to make money.

So enjoy and appreciate your wife and family, look around you and see the
cup really is more full than empty, and just 'go around' the nonsense and
people who don't share your values. I don't mean to sound preachy - I just
hear how pissed and frustrated you are with the whole thing and am trying to
help.

Let us know how you make out.

PS: I signed up with Costco's car buying program and am looking at a pickup
(which Saturn doesn't make) this week. Things change, eh? (grin)

 

Was that "unsafe used car" from your lot and supposed to be sold to
the general public?

 

That sucks. My father in law sells saturns and right now he is trying to
help us get a car. Ours dies this weekend. My hubby and I dont have the
best credit and yesterday my husband heard his dad telling my mother in
law that his boss was giving him a hard time. I feel bad and if his
place is anything like yours then I would hate to see him get in
trouble. Most people in our family drive saturns too actually were the
only ones who don't. I'm sorry your work situation sucks and hope it
improves soon. Also glad you weren't seriously hurt in that accident.


Good luck,

 

Hmm, wonder if some or one of the respondents are or were car salesmen? ;-)
Anyways, its more than one issue that brought me to this, thats just the tip
of the iceburg.
Lots too much to say and some I wont and perhaps shouldnt while I am still
there. I have always had employers that showed thier appreciation, and they
had already promised that they would help me, then didnt. Accountability. If
you promise me to do something, youd damn well better do it or lose my
respect. What my boss said was disgusting and appalling to hear, althouth
considering the source, true.

Well, on a brighter note, went to a regional meeting this week and met lots
of other Saturn ppl, and they are different. Some actually do live up to
"People First".
If I do decide to stay, then it will be me that makes the difference with my
customers.

marx404

 

Wow, your story sounds familiar. 4 years ago, I was on the highway when
somone ahead of me in a
Jeep ran over a hammer lying on the road, and kicked it into the air. It hit
the front
fascia and hood of my SC2 and did around $1200.00 of damage.
You obviously had a lot more damage, but the one thing that will make it sting
a little
less is imagining what could have happened if that tire had hit the driver's
side
of your windshield. Just one of life's little reminders of how quickly it can
all end.

And I can sympathize with you on the work front as well. I used to work at
an auto group (auto mall, kind of ) that owned a Saturn dealership, among
others.
They were really quite ruthless when it came to dealing with employees,
particularly
sales people (I worked in parts). Sales consultants who hit a slump got fired,

plain and simple. The dealership owner is a decamillionaire (at least)
who lives in a mansion built
and formerly owned by one of the members of the Dupont family.
Hope things start looking up. Good news is, if you can handle auto sales,
you could probably move into a more lucrative sales line when you've
had enough of the dealership treatment.

DT

 

Marx if you know how to look a car over and inspect it for defects and
problem areas I think your best bet for a "deal" is to goto a Repo
Auction. I have never owned a car that came from anywhere else. If you
hit the right auction you can get a good car for less than half the blue
book value. I see good decent Saturns bring next to nothing at times.
I've also seen one saturn that had all the motor oil caked onto the
dipstick... The most honest car salesman is your own eyes, hands, and
ears. At a repo auction things are seldom cleaned up or covered up so
you can pretty much tell the cars history. But be prepared to put money
into fixing a unseen problem. I've also seen a few cars go through with
no oil on the dip stick.

 

Around here even the car washers get a demo vehicle to drive for personal
use.

 

i'm glad you are o.k.

you are in a bad situation and have to find a way out of it.

i don't understand why the anger at saturn, do they own your store, or
simply provide the product you sell?

you need to get a grip and focus on finding your own solution.

 

This is one of the reason I am glad to work in a small town dealership.
If I need a car to use on the weekend I can ask my manager and he says
take one just put gas in it. Last week my old Tracker went down with a
broke clutch pedal. The Tow driver charged me a base call fee $25 for a
5 mile tow. The shop pulled the pedal out saw it was a broken weld gave
it to me so I could run and have it welded by a friend then put it
back in all in told $75 for a $200 job. I can feel for you I also work
in Florida and our sales were down but I have never heard something like
"retail comes before people" Good luck with that group.

 

Glad to here things might be looking up.......I got some good news, I
was approved for a 2004 ION sedan and I picked it up yeaterday. This car
is my husbands new baby....lol It is Black with grey interior.....as I'm
sure you already know....lol. I bet you have sold 50 of these this year
alone. I never realized how beautiful the ION 3 was when it is all
decked out in leather and all the luxury options....... Mine is just a
ION 2 but I love it.

I hope things get better, let us know how things are going,

 

Thanks for your post. If more victims like you would take the time to
post their stories on the internet- a great thing might have happened.
Saturn would be out of business and all their potential customers
would go buy a quality car from a reputable car company and all of
Saturn's employees would have jobs with that reputable car company!

 

To "Marx 404": Pay no attention to all the people saying it's your fault,
that the dealer isn't "Saturn", etc (it's all one big Saturn family in the
advertising, so you have a legitimate right to expect to be treated like a
member of that family -- otherwise it's all just hype and Saturn's no
different than any other big car company). I could tell you similar horror
stories about my local Saturn dealer. I left my 99 SC2 to be repaired, and
it was stolen overnight from their storage lot. They didn't want to spend
the money to install a security system AFTER THE PREVIOUS STRING OF ON-LOT
ROBBERIES, so the thieves were easily able to get into the building and pick
my keys off the board. Then after it was recovered there was marijuana
residue on the dash and in the seat crevices, burnholes everywhere in the
interior, but it took a lot of arm-twisting to get the dealer (who never
admitted liability) to so anything at all. Their solution: Wash it down
and air it out. Forget the seats, forget the back carpets, "it's all we're
gonna do so take it or leave it". Luckily (???) the car was subsequently
demolished by an idiot on the highway last summer, so I'm free of the whole
problem.

Then there's the "courtesy car wash" that's not used for customers anymore
(not for free anyway) located, I kid you not, directly in front of the
walk-up parts window so you're guaranteed to get wet if you try to buy parts
and do your own work instead of letting them do it. I could go on with
similar experiences, but why bother? Marx404, your employer sounds exactly
like the dealers around here. Quit! Life's too short to enrich people like
that.

I'd buy another 99 SC2 3-door coupe in a heartbeat (they're not exactly
thick on the ground around here) but I wouldn't take anything, ever, to a
Saturn dealership for service.

 

Well, heres the silver lining on this dark cloud. I have been missing much
work and personal time trying to find a new car on a shoestring budget. Had
a talk with my GM again and told him what I was going thru. I am one of the
top salesmen there and when I am not there, sales go down and I make no
money, both bad things for them and me. The GM got involved and talked with
the manager about helping me out.
Then I think a higher power stepped in ...

Tues afternoon an older guy with an '02 SC2 w/ 18k miles traded in. I
approached my boss. He sold me the car for 1k over what he took it in (still
not the 10% the employee handbook says I can buy for, but darn close
enough). It is still under warranty and almost mint except for a very minor
scratch.

Im sure you guys can understand my being so upset, any thinking man would
be. IMHO, Saturn is a great car, always has been. Just Saturn Corp. needs to
be made aware and to put under the microscope their retailers and start
strictly enforcing thier set policies on all dealerships so that both
employees and customers are treated fairly as was originally intended in the
beginning. What happened to me should have never happened nor should I have
been forced to take such a recourse to get this resolved ever. Yet at this
moment, I am content with the outcome.

marx404

 

Good news! Best wishes with the new acquisition.

I've always said that there is no fringe benefit from a job like being
appreciated (and rewarded) for a job well done. Sure, base pay plus
commission pay the bills (hopefully at least) but respect is good for the
soul. Not to mention that being a team player is easier when you are looking
toward a goal rather than avoiding a penalty.

Oppie

 

A serendipitous event - way to go. What color?

 

2002 Silver SC2 Level 3 package with every toy except TC. Grey Leather,
roof, enhanced audio, fog lamps, etc... All my mod SL parts fit too!

marx404

 

As the old said goes:

Everything is OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end.

 

Encapuchado please fix the date on your pc. For some reason your post
are coming up a day or two fast.