Packer fan car salesman at Chicago dealer won't remove Packer tie; gets fired.

Ding ding ding.

Insubordination as plain and simple as it can possibly be.


If the guy already has another job, who really cares?

 

The one point I haven't seen mentioned here is the dealership said they had some sort of financial arrangement with the Bears (could be nothing more than just advertising with them I guess) that led the manager to feel action was necessary.

But, I agree with BYM--if that's not in writing somewhere, forget it--company loses, employee wins.

And while the dealership might be getting some bad press right now, they are getting a lot of press. They need to figure a way to spin this to their benefit with future marketing efforts etc. If you think there aren't hordes of people in Chicagoland who a) wouldn't buy a car from a salesman in a Packers tie or b) would go out of thir way to buy one from a Bears supporter, I think you're sorely mistaken.

 

I probably would. Shit like that doesn't bother me.

 

I heard that on the news. There would be nothing wrong with him pulling him to the side and saying, "Look, we do work with the Bears, so can you lose the tie?"

If he says no, that's more than grounds to fire his ass.

 

Being asked and being told are two different things. If the guy asked me to take it off, nine times out 10 I would. If he just walked up and demanded I take it off because he doesn't like it, no way in hell. That sort of thing makes me dig in.

If I lived anywhere near there, just to be an ass I'd go test drive a car, let them start the paperwork and say "Aren't you the douchebags that fired some dude because of his tie? Naaaaa. I'm not going to buy a car from here."

 

Wow. Just ... wow.

 

According to the cashiered employee, the manager didn't ask him politely to remove his tie, including an explanation of any sponsorship arrangements with the Bears. He went off in a profanity-laced tirade Ozzie Guillen could be proud of, apparently so over the top that the employee thought the manager was joking.

In the Sun-Times, the firing manager said he would have been OK if the cashiered salesman had worn the tie the day BEFORE the game. So that seems to wash away the "sponsorship" argument.

Let's face it: the manager was pissed his team lost, saw the tie, and went apeshit. Now, one of his best salesmen is working elsewhere, and he and his dealership are a laughingstock expect to the hardest core of Bears fans, who may buy initially, but who will probably forgot about this a month -- while all the hammerings the dealership gets online will live forever. You just can't make snap personnel decisions as a manager. There are too many ways for things to go wrong.

Irony alert: the tagline for the dealership's advertising is "the whole town's talking about the Webb boys." Yes, yes, they are.

 

Fuck. I just read your post, Bob, and now I have that damn Webb Boys jingle in my head. I'm going to have to start humming the Empire carpet theme to remedy that.

 

One thing you have to remember: Car salesmen jobs are not like most others.

If you are fired, you do not lose a salary because there is no real salary. Just the "opportunity" to make the dealership and yourself some money if you can sell. Which you can do pretty much anywhere. It's not hard landing a job at these places if you have any previous experience, because it doesn't cost the dealer anything to hire you. Friend of mine works at a Lexus dealership and gets $450 a week . . . which comes out of whatever he makes on his sales. So if he sells three cars (at the $150-per-car the dealership grants him), he still has only $450 for the week, with $150 or so to come from each additional sale.

And they can pretty much tell you to do whatever they want. Especially if you have been there only a month and a half.

My friend works 6 days a week. Gets Thursday off (woohoo!) . . . unless, of course, Thursday happens to be the last day of the month, and then it's an all-day workday that you are "strongly suggested" to appear for.

 

My kids' generational stuck-in-your-brain-please-God-get-it-out Chicago ad is Luna Flooring (they sing the phone number like a prior generation sang the Empire phone number). Especially when the ad involves an actress with the biggest fucking nose I've ever seen in a TV commercial:

 

"Damn it!

How many times do I have to tell you people!

No cheering on the showroom floor!"