scorpiao

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear it Dave. Just yesterday I rec'd my first package from you, and everything was as we discussed. It was a pleasure. I already mentioned your name to some friends of mine. Please let us know the moment you get a new job (hopefully at another Nissan Dealership)

Good Luck!

Cutler

iTrader: (3)

I just sent an email to both the GM and Parts manager. This is a disgrace, Dave is the smartest parts guy I have ever talked to and he is by far one of the nicest Nissan guys I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know.

To Dave personally: I wish you the best and I will support you wherever you may land. I hope you get a new job soon, try Infiniti they could use a guy like you!

Best Regards,
Jason

PartsPeddler

Wish you the best Dave. I am sure you'll find a good spot.

Steve

Shaydz

iTrader: (2)

Dave, your PM box is full, so I sent you an email (Hope it's not to a dealer account). Anyway, the Raleight dealership wants to talk to you. I called the Parts Manager and explained. He would like you to call or email him. If that email address is defunct, email me with one that's valid and I'll give you the particulars.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Dayyymn...Shaydz.

Get me a job while your at it. I'm looking for something in sunny CA making a cool 6-figures. Think you can handle it?

Shaydz

iTrader: (2)

I'm sure I can but the 6 figures might be 012,000?
Think that'll work? Oh, it's for oiling down muscle heads on Ventura beach? There's also a position for Prostrate inspection assistant in San Fran for $014,000.

Seriously, It's an easy business case to present. Built in customer base. There might be some start-up overhead, but not much.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

TimW

iTrader: (6)

the email address daveb@adpub.com is not tied to the dealer. you should be able to reach him that way.

vqman

cliff notes....anyone?

-vq

Y2KevSE

iTrader: (13)

Hehehehehe..... don't worry. They will get an official .org email soon enough.

Shaydz

iTrader: (2)

Sorry.....

Sometimes I think I need professional

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Why? You've got Maxima.orgY. It's better than ANYTHING professional help can offer.

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

Dave,

Sorry to hear about what happened... I have made a few purchases from you and every one of them was perfect. Even my coworkers (one owns a 2k2 Altima and the other a 2k1 Pathfinder) have gotten parts through you. You have always been courteous and go out of your way to help... I am sure you will find an even better position. Wherever you go, just keep us all informed

DAVEB

iTrader: (133)

Wow! Once again, I am amazed and flattered at this incredible display of support. I am truly grateful to each of you for taking the time out to put in a word in for me. I will probably end up at another Nissan dealer within a few days, I plan to hit the ground running!
Thanks again!
David Burnette

chinaonnitrous1

iTrader: (12)

Hey Dave :wavy:. So sad to hear about what happend. Honestly..they shoulda moved you into another department. You've got too much knowlege and people skills to just let go. Or are you making WAAY TOO MUCH MONEY?!?!??!? hahaha J/K. I'll actually mail in a letter, everyone seems to disregard e-mails so much. Its harder to throw away a letter. I know ive only ordered from you twice...( stupid MAF sensors ). I really appreciate the effort you spent asking your manager if we could warantee the one I had purchased a few months earlier. I didnt even inquire about warantee..but you thought of it anyway. Please shoot me a E-mail or PM when you get into another (hopefully nissan) parts dept. I need....2k2 Bumper, brackets to hold the bumper...2k2 Grille...2k2 washer fluid tank...2k2 passenger front fender.... I need soo many parts. So im sure you already know, youve got alot of support..and i'll be waiting for some good news!


~Larry Lim~

~Maf Killer~

Maximum Velocity

iTrader: (3)

Hey Dave,
I sent you a reply PM, let me know if you got it or not. I didn't get a PM box is full message , so if not I can email you. It's relatively important reply.

Jeff2k1GLE

iTrader: (3)

Dave.. I can't believe this!! They don't know what they lost over there, I mean I know myself I call you like 10 times a month haha but good luck with finding another Nissan... they're really gonna regret it when they realize the loss of all the business you bring in. I have no doubt you'll find a new place soon though.. i'll DEFINITELY be talking to you soon


-Jeff D.

Deac

Sorry about this Dave... I just spoke with you the other day after you got my old alternator back. You have always bee a great help and a great guy... If theres anything we can do... Let us know. Good luck.

Donovan

PartsPeddler

I think the Nissan dealer Dave worked for realized how capable and qualified he was as a counterman and representative to the company. The parts director made it clear that the costs of doing business were higher than the profits generated. The dealer is a for-profit organization first. The dealer had to make a difficult decision and profit wins over prestige.

Steve

Larrio

iTrader: (10)

I thought in the email message that I posted on page 4 stated that we asked to not email the GM, but rather the parts manager for inquiries regarding dave? He even listed his email address at the bottom.

As Dave Burnette's immediate supervisor as Parts Director the decision made was mine. If you wish to comment further, please address them to me at kgriffing@maxwellauto.com and not to Mr. Worfe.


Kurt Griffing
Parts Director
Maxwell Town North Nissan Mitsubishi
Nissan Dlr 2304 Mitsubishi Dlr 44085

foodmanry

iTrader: (15)

Hmm....yes if Dave really wanted to he could sue the dealer for wrongful termination. If, of course, the company policy was violated and he was not warned, and there was no statement in the company policy of not warning in advance prior to termination.

I'll be cooking up a letter to the Parts Director this weekend and mail it out by Monday or Tuesday.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like Kurt is getting HEAT from the GM and our emails to the GM are doing EXACTLY what was intended.

I say send them to BOTH and mail in hard copies. Kurts' response was clearly covering his azz, because he is getting slack from all the email.

Boo..hoo.. I feel so sad.

95emeraldgxe

that is seriously horrible news - isnt there a higher authority that you can talk to about this matter?

Colonel

This is a TOTAL copout answer that I would expect from a Nissan dealer. Money over service and loyalty. Don't take into account customer base or other info. But we don't have that information and Kurt did not provide. Kurt did not provide any additional information, which if he really wanted to clear the air he would have. But at this point, I bet there are reasons as to WHY the air was not cleared.

What question has not been answered, but from Dave reaction this was out of the blue, meaning that the dealership probably did not have the "courtesy" to let him know that things were being evaluated and numbers need to be turned around or else. I mean geez. If the day-to-day operators of the organization are not privy to the financials (which happens more often than not) proper decisions cannot be made. There may not have been any recovery of this program at Maxwell, BUT it would appear that Dave had no opportunity to adjust it.

Yes we all know that the almighty dollar rules, but there is a tad more going on here than meets the eye. So please don't insult "our" intelligence trying to hide a bad "political" decision underneath the common PC garbage.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

not really.. they cut the department.. not much for Dave to do at that dealership any longer.. So, at this point they only issue is that we don't think that dealership made a very good decision (from our standpoint) on many levels (to drop our discount sales and the wisdom of dropping such a great salesperson).

jjs

You don't seem to grasp real business decisions. Admittedly the dealer is for profit, most of us are. However the decision, whether you try to rationalize and accept it or not, just does not seem to make sense. Costs higher than profits??? Please! What, Dave was at work whether there were internet sales to be made or not. Internet sales, by definition, do not require showrooms, lobbies, or any real overhead (let's face it, the dealer didn't even spring for a decent website), and truth be told these are overwhelmingly OEM parts they have in stock at a dealer anyway...not like a huge inventory had to be established and carried.

In short, where are their costs? As for profit, it has been well stated that MANY of his sales are sales from people well outside Town North's area. To be trite, a $10 profit on a part sold over the internet is better than no profit at all 'cuz we would go elsewhere. Hell, they can't even hide behind shipping costs, since we pay to have parts shipped.

Difficult decision??? The only difficult decision I see here is (given the opportunity) whether Dave would even want to be associated with these business school dropouts.

K Pazzo 6

iTrader: (6)

Dave, sorry to hear about that. I sent you an email but no response.

My question is: I made an order w/ you on 03/06/03, is that order automatically canceled b/c your no longer there?
I'm the one who ordered the back of the driver side seat cover & some other things...

asu174

iTrader: (11)

I've gotta disagree with you to some extent. If a department is not turning a profit, then it should be axed. Also, take into consideration:

- Dave's salary
- The potential for local buyers to buy on the internet- NOT through the local parts dept.
- The potential for parts that could have been sold for retail price being out of stock because someone bought it at wholesale.
- The headache of shipping and the cost of returns, etc.
- The fact that you and I have no idea what the profit margin REALLY is on wholesale parts.

There is an old economic term called "opportunity cost", which questions the amount of work involved versus the return yielded. Lamen's example: Is it worth it to drive 10 miles out of the way to save $1/lb. on ground beef at the grocery store? The wholesale department could very well have been turning a profit, but were the headaches involved worth it?

I love Dave Burnette, but I can see their rationale behind the cutting of the entire department if it is not maximizing the revenue for the dealership.

Colonel

I dont disagree with you really either. But the point I try to get across was did they even bother to make changes to better the program?

There is a business point and a personal point to the .ORG on this issue. Profit is profit and if it is not turning a profit then its up for axing. Yes we dont know the true cost/profit per piece.

Now the personal part: Was Dave given opportunity to correct this situation or was he high enough in the chain to even make any changes?

How many times did you call and get to talk directly to Dave?

asu174

iTrader: (11)

I fully agree with you. You would think a simple price increase in shipping and/or parts would have solved the problem. I don't think they ever gave Dave the chance......which sucks.

I spoke to Dave 10+ times over the past year. I'm not sure where you're going with that one....... It has been very well established that he provides the best service possible.

Personally, I think they should have transitioned him into retail parts and let employee atrition naturally cut the department down. But I'm not the GM of Maxwell Nissan, so I don't know the whole story.

jjs

1. Still don't see eye to eye with you on this. According to Dave's own business card, he was with 'Nissan Parts Sales' 'Specializing in Wholesale & Internet Parts Sales'. To me that means he also did counter work, not just wholesale, etc.

2. Really, how many people do you know of who would wait for parts and pay shipping if they had a local store (with the same pricing)? A whole lot of Dave's business came from people nowhere near Austin.

3. And how often does this really occur? If they have a need for a part to sell retail, dealerships can often call each other and send a runner out for the part. No lost sale there (maybe part of the profit gets eaten up, but not the whole transaction).

4. Relatively little headache of shipping. Just need the proper packaging. UPS DOES come out and pickup, not like they have to deliver these parts to a courier of some kind. Let's also be aware that many businesses don't pass on their full UPS discount to the customer so a few % are made there. Cost of returns? How is there any cost other than restocking? And how is that any different than over the counter transactions?

5. Right!!! Nor do we know if the department was truly losing $$$ or if this is just another BS management play to cut headcount. As I have found in many business environments, the least competent managers ALWAYS blame headacount first and dont have the slightest idea how to compare it to prodcutivity. Educated managers find ways to utilize headcount in different ways, then if all else fails start laying off, etc.

I am well versed in business concepts including opportunity cost but I don't see its applicability to this discussion. I do no see where the cost of this service is so prohibitive to its continuation.

Also, you do realize that, as a wholesale department, dealerships will very often sell their products to outside bodyshops, etc. I don't really believe any GM worth anything scraps that side of a business simply because (as Dave's original e-mail stated) "Apparently the new General Manager isn't interested in the Wholesale/Internet parts business." I don't see where there was a whole lot of discussion as to profitability, etc. there. More a power play by a self serving moron.

Colonel

Nothing personal on this one. What I was getting at was when I called the number I would ask for Dave. He was usually so busy that he would call me back. I think out of all the times I called I had him pick up once...MAYBE twice. Thats pretty doggone busy to me...

Colonel

Something else going on than meets the eye perhaps?

jjs

asu174

iTrader: (11)

Fully agreed. To some extent, I'm playing devil's advocate here... They definitely should have given the program a makeover before scrapping it completely.

asu174

iTrader: (11)

I wonder what the turnover rate of GM's at dealerships is. When I went car shopping, a local dealer had three GM changes in a matter of 4 months.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

That's because he was talking to me!!!! No just kidding. It's funny you mention that, because I do talk to him quite often and he ALWAYS has to put me on hold because other lines are ringing or another customer needs something.

It seemed like Dave kept quite busy, so that would mean there was DEMAND for his services, right?

My FEELING is that what REALLY happened was the same thing I've seen at work several times. The numbers were down due to the economy, ie slow sales, and pressure from corporate to improve the numbers told the GM/Manager/whoever to "tighten the belt" or "trim the fat" and reduce overhead. So, Dave's boss did what ANY boss would do and that is to look for something to cut with the SMALLEST impact on productivity/profit. This decision apparently ended up finding Dave's Internet/Wholesale department and the decision was made.

MY POINT/ARGUMENT ON THIS BOARD is that mistakes can be made when a manager makes a decision to help his bottom line withOUT all the information. So, I figured that we, MAXIMA.ORG, needed to express our thoughts/concerns on how Dave Burnette was NOT the right decision in our "limited" view. The manager may have made the BEST decision for Maxwell's bottom line, but that doesn't mean WE have to agree with it and go silently on our way.

Now if Kurt would have replied with something SIMILAR to this scenario than I would have understood and said ok that makes business sense to let DAVEB go. However, he pulled some BS about shipping costs or whatever that could have been EASILY corrected to still keep Internet Sales profitable for Maxwell.

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

you hit the nail on the head.

Colonel

I dont even think that is entirely accurate. How many companies make knee jerk reactions to "make the quarter"?

In our building this happened w/o complete analysis of the numbers and incoming work. Now management is asking for unpaid overtime in order to make deadlines promised. What I am privy to that management is not is the natural attrition of this game they play is going to cause even more people to go.

Companies think only 3 months or less at a time and think if they make those numbers, they are fine. There is no regard to "future", and in my case a bad situation is only going to get worse.

spta97

iTrader: (1)

First let me say that I've only had one transaction with DAVEB but it went very smooth. I'm sorry that all this happened and hope that you are working again soon....perhaps set up an internet dealership of your own for parts? Might be worth giving NNA a call, I think you would be good for about 200 letters of recommendation

Now onto the business. The thing that kills me is Nissan (and dealerships) are constantly using all kinds of techniques to get customer lists. By the length of this thread they gave up a very valuable asset...paying customers. I took this class once on how to treat customers. This particular example was if you ran a supermarket and a customer wanted to return some milk when you should let him. The answer was ALWAYS let him. The reasoning being that over the lifetime of a customer they can bring in tens of thousands of dollars of income and losing their business over an item that costs $1.50 is never worth it.

Now Nissan North America seems to want to build this type of customer base where people become "life-time" customers and buy many Nissan products. Unfortunately, local dealerships seldom see things that way. Most people who work there (including the GM) are on a "tour of duty" and will be gone long before your next purchase. Because of that, they are more concerned with the bottom line right now. Not that they have turned away paying customers. It's this type of attitude that will cause people go with the cheapest deal. The short sightedness of management will see the GM reduced costs and increased profit…they will not see how they lost long term business. This is why you see so many companies failing nowadays. You cannot base your business with short term goals and expect to be profitable in the long term.

The size of the .Org is growing (look at the "server busy" messages ) and everyone was reccomending to use DAVEB for parts. I'm not sure how long he has been doing this for, but the potential for growth in the future is huge. Hopefully a Nissan dealer will recognize this.