automotive technician

auto body technician

body shop estimator

car sales executive

automotive service advisor

Ferman Automotive Group

New GM of the store had visions of everything turning to digital and wanted to use that to the stores advantage.  He created a new department for Video marketing.  In the beginning there were 3 people hired.  After 8-9 months, I was the only one left.  Other two left for other opportunities.  

The environment overall was great and culture was good even through they were in the middle of a culture shift with the new GM.  My role was mainly to utilize video to take videos of the cars and send to the guests when they inquired online.  Easy enough and everything went great for a while.  But then it started to get to a place where everyone was expecting to get steak like quality with ground beef prep.  I'll explain, Just making simple videos, were all were using our own personal phones to make the videos, filming and editing.  Well The company did provide some phones after 2 months, but they are a couple generation old and were not even to to the quality of phones that we all had personally.  But we couldn't use our personal phones because a.) there was not a strong wifi signal where they put us b.) were were having to upload those videos and it was eating through out personal phones plans, in which we were not being comped for.  Along with that, because of my background in dealing with all things media and graphic design, I was asked to do a lot more than just those simple videos.  I was asked to create some other graphics and more complicated videos, again, which I was not being paid for.  Towards the end of my portion, I was being asked to use my personal professional camera equipment to take photos for the website and other things.  Again, not being paid for.

Overall, Ioved the store and the people (most of them, like any job) but there was no real vision for the new department and no way to advance or do anything next level position wise.

This is a weird situation because it was a new position that, to my knowledge, not a lot of stores have.  I have heard that the sales positions and management positions are great, but I can't speak into that.  I can only talk about what I experienced.  If I had the chance to go back and do it all over again, I would have to seriously think about it in regards to ways to advance to take on new roles, but I probably would not do it again.

I don't know what the other review is talking about.  They do offer a base pay if you don't make commission, however you have to pay that base pay back when you do make commission.  So in essence you aren't really getting paid a base pay.  They are essentially loaning you money.  This basically means if you have a slow month you will be making minimum wage that you have to pay back, resulting in you literally making zero dollars for that month.  It is like working for free!!  In fact not only are you working for free but you are paying them to work there as you now owe them money.  

Don't get me wrong, there is potential to make great money here, but not for everyone.  I made good money at Ferman, however my co-workers didn't all fare as well.  

Management tends to get very abusive, so much so, many people quit when I worked there because of it.  Any complaints falls on deaf ears.  

Lastly there is ZERO balance with your personal life.  Plan on working "bell to bell" if you don't have eight cars out.  You read that right!  8am - 9pm every single day.  I don't even know how that is legal.  They know the job market is down and you have to deal with it so they take advantage of the situation.  Eight cars is usually attainable however it often takes three weeks to get to that number.  That means for the first three weeks of the month you are expected to work from open to close every single day of the week.  Does that sound like a fun environment to you?  

I don't think they fully grasp that a rested workforce is an effective workforce.  If you wear your employees down it is hard to stay positive and sell.  You would see the morale of everyone nose dive because of these hours.  I think if they understood that people need to have a life outside of Ferman they would see much better performance and it would result in better profits.  Unfortunately they are set in their ways and they have key people in management that are old school that have no intention of opening their mind to the changing times.  

This is a great job if you are single and have no life.  If work is your life there is great financial potential here.  If you have any other thing in your life besides work plan on that taking a back seat while you work here.

First of all, I'm a GREAT salesman, who decided to give car sales a shot. I can't believe a business of this size has survived being so poorly run. The "minimum" deal, a "mini" is $150 at this dealer. If it isn't a Raptor, Cobra, or custom jacked up pickup, it's almost definitely going to be a mini deal. You'll be lucky to get 3 a week. However, this is enough to get a bonus, which brings your pay to roughly $13/hr computed at straight time. You'll be working 60 hours a week for $2k a month. And because they don't care about you, you have almost ZERO shot of bonusing your first two months due to training.

The people working there are awful. I've worked in bail bonds, strip clubs, and the rent to own industry. They were wonderful compared to the staff at Ferman. The hiring and training manager lied to me about the numbers in my first interview. The secretary, who handles onboarding, and some training, treats you like you're absolutely the last person on Earth she wants to deal with. One of the finance guys lied to my prospect about a credit pull. When an alert showed up immediately on his phone, it made things a little awkward. Each of the sales managers, two of which I actually liked, said things to me that would have gotten them beaten into a coma in other circumstances. The GM "motivated" us by telling us we needed to sell more cars so that he could afford to repave the lot.

There is a call center that actively endeavours to ruin your deal. They represent the worst elements of telemarketing, and are the reason no one wants to give their contact information. I had a prospect make an internet inquiry at 8pm. Before I showed up at 9 the next morning, they had been called, texted, and emailed five times, by an individual with no knowledge of the vehicle, other than the information available on the site. They are an unavoidable cancer.

I wanted to walk the first day. I regret not doing so.

Extremely Bad Management in accounting office! The office manager & her boss could not manage the overnight shift at a 7 eleven! No training, No structure, Bullying in the work place and so much more!
Neither of the two bosses know how to manage everyday operations and have zero people skills with employees! You are treated more like their servants than you are an employee!
They pile more work on each individual than anyone could possibly achieve then they will ridicule & Bully you if you cannot get it done!  Mind you, they expect things done with absolutely No Training. 
One of them was hired as reg employee and couldn’t handle the work load so she was promoted! The other sits back & brags about how she did 3 times the work by herself up north but when you ask for guidance & training she first looks at you with that dumfounded shore look then she calls you out and tries to bully you in the presence of other employees. All because she herself has no clue on how one person could achieve what she’s asking!
Bottom line is unless you want to be treated like a servant, over loaded with more work than any one person can do and be bullied & ridiculed beyond belief Don’t bother applying here! 
This of course is my personal opinion!

I honestly loved working at Ferman until JMNA group took over.  Before that I think for the most part they were a great company to work for, the only issue was they work on the 'good ol boys' system.  If they got rid of the few cancer sells (read sales directors and general sales managers) that hold them back and treat their employees bad, the company would be one of the best to work for.  Unfortunately they choose to keep poor management at the helm and drive away good employees.  

As of lately they are moving to scripted speeches.  Those of us in car sales know scripted speeches are not good!  Customers see right through it.  Ferman expects you to be at a training class every single day to recite scripted speeches in a class regardless of how well you produce or how long you have been in sales.  Be prepared to be treated like a kid.

Management will take complete advantage of you. The managers here can't even manage a cake walk. The pay is absolutely absurd for what they expect out of you. I learned to trust NO ONE. Most people here are stuck-up, self entitled, conceded but kissing back stabbers. The Fermans are stingy people. Below minimum wage pay. Money wasted so ridiculously that it's a shame. Maybe the Fermans don't know that this takes place? Hmmm.... They claim to "keep families and employees first and running an automotive monopoly always". Just not seeing it here. The expected culture that you must adopt is one of; comply with our one-way work atmosphere we conduct or things will be difficult here for you. Very weird and hard to understand sometimes.

The management in the department is very inappreciative and lacking in areas that are needed.   While other issues are vital or need more aggressive attention, they are swept under the carpet. The attitudes towards employees are unexplainable. The department took on an additional 5 dealerships of a different  operation/vehicles/procedures without notice or training and get an attitude if workload was not up to par and told that they need "to step it up". With that added work, there were not added incentives or any type of added compensation for the doubled if not tripled work load.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I worked at Ferman for 23 years. It is a busy shop even during typical slow times in the industry.  The pay is fair, benefits are fair, and the 401K is a must have. It was a good place to work.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I painted cars. Doing any kind of body work or paint work is a physical job and over time it wears on you. I believe it is a job you have to love to do.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Ferman was a good company to work for. I have nothing bad to say about Ferman.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Its work. And the better you are at your job, the more work you have the opportunity to do.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Wasn't a fan of this company honestly the sales manager hated me was out to get me so I left

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working for a sales manager who doesn't like you even though being new to selling car doing good and still being mistreated and have them stealing your deals and trying to sabotage you to other managers worse than high school

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible managers turn you on each other toxic work environment so glad I left

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
worse company to work for having to walk on eggshells

I thought selling Harley’s would be fun  and exciting.. boy was I wrong. Management was very slow to do the job they were hired to do.. anytime you had a deal working they were nowhere to be found and when you did find them god forbid you didn’t have your t’s crossed.. and the hundreds of leads they wanted you to call was nothing more than junk. Even the F&I guy was picky about everything, it would take him up to an hour or more just to load a deal.. the pay plan bites too.. no matter how much you made on a bike it was a mini deal.. run away as fast as you can.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Automotive technician 3 salaries reported	$90,000 per year
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