Car salesman fired for sporting a Packers tie
stevek
Posts: 29,034 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Sports Talk
Car salesman fired for sporting a Packers tie
Man says he wore neckwear to honor his late grandmother
January 24, 2011|By Dawn Rhodes, Tribune reporter
John Stone said that when he went to work Monday morning at Webb Chevrolet in Oak Lawn, he decided to wear a Green Bay Packers tie he's had for years to honor his late grandmother, a huge Packers fan.
Little did he know that the seemingly innocent gesture would cost him his job, Stone said.
Stone said that when he showed up at work, general manager Jerry Roberts called him over to his office and then ordered him to take off the Packers tie or else he would be fired. Stone said he thought Roberts was joking and went back to work.
An hour later, Stone said, Roberts came to the showroom floor and again demanded he take off the tie. When he didn't, he was fired, Stone said.
"I didn't know you could get fired for wearing a tie," said Stone, 34, of Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. "I'm supposed to dress up. I'm a car salesman."
Stone's grandmother died recently and was buried on Friday, two days before the NFC championship game, he said.
Asked by a WGN-TV reporter if he'd fired Stone for wearing a Packers tie, Roberts said, "Correct."
Roberts said the dealership had previously done promotions involving the Chicago Bears. "I don't feel that it was appropriate for him to go directly in contrast with an advertising campaign that we spent a lot of money on," Roberts told WGN reporter Judie Garcia.
But Stone said Roberts' reasons for firing him were never made clear to him, nor did he get a chance to explain the tie's emotional significance. Roberts told WGN-TV he didn't know that Stone's grandmother was a Packers fan.
"I don't know why he did it, I really don't," Stone said. "That's hurtful. I thought I was a good salesman."
cdrhodes@tribune.com
Man says he wore neckwear to honor his late grandmother
January 24, 2011|By Dawn Rhodes, Tribune reporter
John Stone said that when he went to work Monday morning at Webb Chevrolet in Oak Lawn, he decided to wear a Green Bay Packers tie he's had for years to honor his late grandmother, a huge Packers fan.
Little did he know that the seemingly innocent gesture would cost him his job, Stone said.
Stone said that when he showed up at work, general manager Jerry Roberts called him over to his office and then ordered him to take off the Packers tie or else he would be fired. Stone said he thought Roberts was joking and went back to work.
An hour later, Stone said, Roberts came to the showroom floor and again demanded he take off the tie. When he didn't, he was fired, Stone said.
"I didn't know you could get fired for wearing a tie," said Stone, 34, of Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. "I'm supposed to dress up. I'm a car salesman."
Stone's grandmother died recently and was buried on Friday, two days before the NFC championship game, he said.
Asked by a WGN-TV reporter if he'd fired Stone for wearing a Packers tie, Roberts said, "Correct."
Roberts said the dealership had previously done promotions involving the Chicago Bears. "I don't feel that it was appropriate for him to go directly in contrast with an advertising campaign that we spent a lot of money on," Roberts told WGN reporter Judie Garcia.
But Stone said Roberts' reasons for firing him were never made clear to him, nor did he get a chance to explain the tie's emotional significance. Roberts told WGN-TV he didn't know that Stone's grandmother was a Packers fan.
"I don't know why he did it, I really don't," Stone said. "That's hurtful. I thought I was a good salesman."
cdrhodes@tribune.com
0
Comments
<< <i>I can almost guarantee you that this was not one of the dealership's top producing salespeople. No way a top salesman gets fired over something so trivial. >>
I agree with ya! LOL
My sales manager once told me, "If ya have a great month (meaning great sales month) I don't care if ya do my sister"...only he didn't use the word "do". LOL
Tabe
<< <i>According to the local news, he had 14 car sales last month. >>
Wonder how the ranks him in terms of his dealership? My first thought (like others in this thread) was that he was not a top producer. I'm in sales and can verify what others have already posted - if you're brining in the bucks, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want. But still, fired for wearing a tie?
<< <i>
<< <i>According to the local news, he had 14 car sales last month. >>
Wonder how the ranks him in terms of his dealership? My first thought (like others in this thread) was that he was not a top producer. I'm in sales and can verify what others have already posted - if you're brining in the bucks, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want. But still, fired for wearing a tie?
I've never been in auto sales, but I'm fairly certain 14 cars in a month is very good...however...what was the profit margin and what was behind the sales...IE: did the salesman "throw in" too many freebies with each sale, make "verbal promises" the dealership couldn't adequately keep and thereby aggravating the service department and the customer...and possible other negative things as well. There are "good sales" and there are "bad sales" and despite the pretty good number of 14 total sales, just a feeling that too many of those sales were bad ones.
I know this...if my boss told me to remove the tie, I'd remove it and not ask questions. Ya wanna sell cars and be your own boss, and wear any tie ya want, then open up your own car lot. Ya wanna work for a car dealer and get paid, then ya listen to what they ask for and ya simply do it.
<< <i>I was in the business for years. Traditionally, December is a great car sales month. It is not unusual for salespeople to double their normal sales in December. January is traditionally slow. 14 sales is not bad. But if this is a dealership in Chicago that endorses the Bears, it probably is not a small dealership. This means they move a lot of cars. 14 cars might put you in the middle of the pack. I can remember a few years ago finishing dead last one month with 12. Now, the ecomomy was stronger then, but still, in most dealerships, 14 doesnt even put you in the bonus. Plus, we don't know what the guy's personality was like. If he was a squeaky wheel this might have been him just trying to get under somebody's skin and tick off a sales manager. Believe me, if you are a great salesperson, you will have to do a lot more than that to get fired. Kinda like in sports: A guy like Terrell Owens always finds work. A guy like Freddie Mitchell never gets another chance. My guess is, this guy was Freddie Mitchell. >>
A salesman I used to work with, made a nice dollar sale one time, and in the next weekly sales meeting, I'm sure to make a point, the sales manager, on a chalkboard outlined how the company lost money on the sale, and that this salesman would not be receiving any commission money on the sale. The "chalkboard presentation" was unexpected, and the salesman not only got miffed at being embarrassed by that, but in the meeting started arguing with the sales manager that it wasn't his fault that the company lost money on the sale, and that he should still receive a commission on the sale.
This salesman didn't last much longer after that, getting fired...however I do remember him as an impeccable dresser with nice ties. LOL
Collecting:
Brett Favre Master Set
Favre Ticket Stubs
Favre TD Reciever Autos
Football HOF Player/etc. Auto Set
Football HOF Rc's
I don't think wearing a Jets tie to a dealership in metro Boston a couple of weeks ago would make many people happy. Same as wearing Yankee's gear after them whooping up on the Red Sox in say an ALCS series. Kinda dumb thing to do.
Now, if you were a Federal employee, sky's the limit...almost.
Lafayette Grading Set
HUH??? I worked for DoD for 35 years and don't understand....you couldn't exactly walk in with your underway showing.....there were dress codes that were enforced........worked Federal Building downtown Cleveland and if someone was wearing a Steelers tie they didn't get fired......but if you did something stupid you were asked to leave
Worked for the Feds myself for 35.6 years. I've seen some pretty bizarre stuff go on, including strange attire to work. Point is, if you pass the 3 year line, it takes near an act of God to fire anyone as is the case of the tie guy. You go to LMR (Labor Management Reltions), and the first thing they want to see is all your documentation. You spend untold hours/days, which turned sometimes well over a year before anybody that I knew deserved to be fired, did indeed get fired. The union was almost always in support of the employee. If however it was something really grevious like somebody punched somedbody, or threatened a manager with harm, that would lead to removal if they were under 1 year, when you could more easily get fired.
I've witnessed women coming in wearing tons of pink curlers, others in short, short, shorts and flip flops. T-shirts with various comments. It indeed was a pretty liberal environment, but some were asked to go home, and they just needed not to return.
I used to love the baby showers, which often times lasted over two hours in the cafeteria and not charged to personal time like annual leave. I thought it rather bizarre when somebody (not everyone) would have a birthday and the people whould somehow tape, one dollar bills to them. As they day progressed and the dollar bills continued, they began to look like they were wearing camo.
I miss none of that.
I found that there was a mentality within the IRS that I never witnessed in either the military or any ATC facility I worked at. It is difficult to quantify, but as a Federal retiree, you can read between the lines and I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. I spent much, too much time on poor performaning, tardy, sick calls of mind-numbing occurences and documenting volumes to have the leeches removed. Oddly, but not really surprisingly, the union would 99% of the time go to bat for their members and try to "save them". These were not rampant situations, but caused enough grief within my Section and Division to impact others. I rejoiced the day I moved on to become an "individual contributor" as a Program Analyst and only had to worry about me, my performance and pleasing my boss.
After the PATCO strike in '81, I worked for a very well known private sector company in Daytona Beach, FL. I was a supervisor of 21 women in a Word Proceesing shop. My boss used to approach one of my married employees, place a quarter on her desk from time to time and ask her to call him from the pay phone in the break room. He indeed had the hots for this lady...although everybody knew what was going on, superiors never took action. I could write volumes about that place. I had just completed my MBA at Embry-Riddle University and two weeks later I gave my notice, had no job lined up, but knew I could no longer endure (yet be blamed for) managerial actions, both personal and professional. So, I know how the private sector works also. When I had my exit interview, I had to rate my superiors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the best. I gave them all minus five in the 7 categories and never blinked about doing it. I also had a narrative area where I could make a comment if I wished...I wrote that my immediate manager was the worst, most ineffective person I'd ever worked with and added more, but you get the idea. I doubt it made much of an impact, but sure made me felt good doing it.
I miss not a nano-second of all that crap.
I am now free as a bird and do as I please, when I please.
Enjoy your retirement and freedom!!!
al.