Battlefield Ford

Battlefield Ford Battlefield Ford Manassas Cars Sales Manassas, Virginia

25th of May, 2011 by User479310

I was an employee with Battlefield Ford for 3 months. This was the worst job I've ever held. Between verbal abuse, shady business practices, daily violations of FTC consumer protection acts, shoddy merchandise, and the blatant lack of respect for the customers, it was simply impossible to stay employed there. From February 9th 2011 to May 9th 2011 more than 8 car salesman including myself had come and gone. If being employed here was a crazy idea you can only imagine what they tried to do after I left... If you're looking for employment, this isn't even a last resort. You don't get breaks. As the general manager there, Mike Nicholage would say, "Men don't need lunch, that's why we don't have women in sales". Clearly not an equal opportunity employer. However if you are looking for a job that discriminates against women and blatantly disregards work laws, you're going to love how you're always wrong at everything. Now I can see how this would sound like I'm just bickering, but let me explain. Sales Manager 1: "Do it this way"
Sales Manager 2: "Why did you do it that way?!"
Sales Person: "Sales Manager 1 said I needed..."
Sales Manager 2: "Shut the f*** up. You just don't learn. Get out of my site." That was just a broad example of a day-to-day occurrence. I was literally taught by the used car sales manager that the most important thing I could learn to do while employed with Battlefield Ford was "Shut the f*** up". The beautiful part was there was no such thing as "formal" training. Your first 3 weeks will consist of doing e-learnings at your desk while getting yelled at for not selling cars because you know nothing about them. It's a tight balance, so you need to be prepared to work all 45 scheduled hours and be reprimanded for not showing up on your days off, even if the building is closed. It's also important to be ready to handle customer complaints; a lot of them. Battlefield Ford has a couple of policies regarding customers. None of these are written, as with most of their rules like quotas. These are just a few I learned and some you need to know before you join the sales team.
1. Buyers are Liars
2. Keep calling until they get mad, and if they don't say not to call, call them back tomorrow. (even if they're on the Do Not Call list)
3. Are they here right now? Then don't worry about it.
4. Everyone has to talk to the boss before they leave.
5. Any PII or CPNI regarding customers was only kept in secure places IF they reached the financing office. With all of these amazing policies in place to ensure your success as a car salesman, I simply couldn't figure out why the average car salesperson only sold 6-8 cars a month. In all honesty, it may have just been our inventory. It seemed like every time I got someone in a car for a test drive, it had to be jump started, especially the brand new ones. Only about 1 in 15 cars had check engine lights though. With the used cars, the rule of thumb was that it passed inspection. Remember though, Battlefield conducts their own state inspections at their facility down the road where commercial trucks are sold. *Fun Fact: If a car has an accident, but does not have a registered owner, it doesn't show up on the CarFax. On more than one occasion we had incidents known as "Lot damage". If someone were to get into an accident in a new vehicle, we'd just fix it if the damage was worth less than $2500 (since that was the insurance deductible); Door dings, ripped off bumpers, busted headlights, etc. Confidence in your purchase ;). After 2 and a half months working with Battlefield Ford I was let go by a new sales manager who had been on the team for 2 weeks. Upon being let go, my reason given was "Because you didn't have a career mindset". I've never been fired before. Ever. In my life. In one sense it was a blessing, in another, I was unemployed. I called back the next day to get the facts on why I was let go. Due to not having any legitimate reason behind firing me, the following Monday I was back at my job. They told me I had to sell 8 cars in 2 weeks or I would be let go. On day 9 I had 2 cars out and realized how impossible of a task this was. In lieu of termination I resigned from my position as a car salesperson with Battlefield Ford and began seeking alternative opportunities. Note, when I resigned from this position I spoke with the sales manager who had originally let me go about the situation. I asked about the 8 cars and he agreed that it looked unrealistic. He then had the kindness in his heart to wish me well in my endeavors, and that if I needed a reference I could use him. It's been a little over 2 weeks of separation now and Battlefield Ford has contested my unemployment. Their reason being "I stopped showing up and said I wanted to go to IT school." I had a phone interview with the Commonwealth of Virginia to gather any and all facts. Being I have nothing in writing confirming this 2 week quota for 8 cars, I will be denied without legal representation (because I can afford all of that without a job). Needless to say, I got ripped off. I worked harder than I've ever worked for anyone there and have nothing to show for it and am looking at losing my car. If that's not irony I don't know what is.

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