Please do not apply here. I got a degree in English Literature and didn't know what to do so I ended up here. As a trainee I would work 50+ hours a week for pay that is not worth it. If a customer makes a booking you can't turn them down even when you don't have enough vehicles to provide (this happens very regularly!). This means that after the branch 'closes' you have to travel to different location after hours. I can be fair and say that the company is trying to work on this, but the drive for money underpins everything and there is little care for employees working ridiculous hours.
What made me leave was how they treated their staff. I worked in the North West and the city manager at the time was a bully. In my training for my new and current role, I explained my experiences in my last roles to colleagues and management and it was defined to me as 'harassment'.
The booking tool will let customer book vehicles when the branch is closed. You can come into work on a Monday at 7.45am to see a reservation has been accepted for a customer at 8am, for a vehicle you don't have and didn't plan for you as you were at home. This happens all the time and the business model means that the phone center and trained to say yes even though they know the branch probably won't have the vehicle! I don't want you to have the stress of coming into work worrying that you will have a customer waiting at the gates for a car you won't have and have them shout and scream at you (yes this has happened to me on 10+ occasions over 2 years).
On one occasion the phone center told a customer we had a specific make of van waiting for him at 8am Monday morning (he called over the weekend while my branch was closed). We had to call him at 7.45 on the Monday to tell him the bad news. He was angry, not at me, but the people who promised him a van that wasn't even at my branch. He put in a complaint, and my city manager called me, screaming down the phone that I always treat customer terribly and say no to providing vehicles. This happened all in the space of 45 minutes. How is this my fault? That's how they make you feel and it is sickening in an age where mental health is of such high priority.
On another occasions I had a phone conference call with other managers, my area manager and city manager. Despite a different topic of discussion, the city manager interrupted my area manager and decided to berate me over the phone call, for all other manager and assistant managers to hear. I was treated like dirt. This is not an isolated incident and it is saddening to know colleagues who left for these reasons.
Honestly, if you are reading this do not join this company. There are plenty of places where you can earn good money and be treated like a human. Do not let the temptation of money blind you as although I have taken a pay cut for my current role, per hour I earn more as I have reasonable working hours. I have a better work/life balance, I am treated with respect and the management do not have a mentality which belongs in the 19th century.
