ERAC reality vs Real world reality

this is all true

erac reality:
newly appointed out of state ARM "We're killing it! Six rival stores have shut down! Ahah! ERAC is awesome."
me "damn, that sucks, I feel sorry for the community, losing all that business"
arm "fuck them, they can work at erac if they want!"

Real world reality:
The closing of these rental branches was in group 20, detroit area. Erac is not killing it in this area, the complete opposite. The economy is stagnate, people are leaving the state, business is waaay down. Nothing to celebrate when your rivals close down due to lack of business, doesn't bode well for the future.

erac reality:
arm "ERAC treats their employees awesome! They just changed their vesting policy from 7 yrs to 5."

Real world reality:
Nobody stays at erac for 5 yrs. As a matter of fact, most stay for under a year, rendering a 5 year vesting policy as null and void to reality.

erac reality:
after answering the phone in my simple and concise method "Enterprise rent a car, this is bob" this ARM overheard me and pulled me into his office.
arm "All erac employees must use the same voice answer when called. It's what our customers want and it makes us look professional. Here's the script I want you to study tonight, tomorrow I will quiz you with surprize practice calls."

real world reality:
People think you are a douch/clone when you answer the phone in the exact same fashion time and time again. Omitting "it's a great day at ERAC" has no bearing on being professional or creating business.

erac reality:
arm "Wearing a suit and tie seperates us from the rest, it makes us look professional."

real world reality:
most customers don't give a fuck if you have a tie on or not, they just want their car ready and waiting. If anything, wearing a suit and tie makes you look less professional, considering the working environment.

erac reality:
30k is a good wage, college kids now in days expect 40k right off the bat with no experience.

real world reality:
30k is a barely decent wage at 40 hours a week, terrible wage at 50+ hours a week. College kids should expect at least 40k upon graduating, most of my friends made more than that with no experience and a BS.

[Popper1977]

Couldn't be summarized any better than that. Good post.

Im not disputing the crappy hours, and the basic expectation that you give up your life to erac. But at least they are upfront about it. Ive worked at enough companies to know that most of them expect 60 hours a week when they say they expect 30. And as far as 30k is concerned, its a damn site better than i have made for the past two years since ive been out of college. Last year i made 11,000 dollars. and i graduated from CU in 2005 with a 3.5 GPA.


Its not perfect, but at least i no longer have to live on 800 dollars a month.

Originally Posted by hello day

Im not disputing the crappy hours, and the basic expectation that you give up your life to erac. But at least they are upfront about it. Ive worked at enough companies to know that most of them expect 60 hours a week when they say they expect 30. And as far as 30k is concerned, its a damn site better than i have made for the past two years since ive been out of college. Last year i made 11,000 dollars. and i graduated from CU in 2005 with a 3.5 GPA.


Its not perfect, but at least i no longer have to live on 800 dollars a month.

keep looking solider, i make 40k with no experience in my field straight outta erac

[iluvEcars]

what did u do to make $11k? gamble or something???? i can make more than that working at McDs

nice post...

[EracRapedMe]

it is a joke to have these people at enterprise come on this site and tell us that 30 k is good. 30 k is good if you are a fuckin millionaire already. but to work your face off for 30 k is absurb. i hate erac.. the people who are the suits in the company are such pieces of shit

[ver44sace]

working 60 hours for 30k is good for some junkie with a GED.............

[golightlyeddie@yahoo.com]

The job should be for anyone, you shouldn't need a college degree to do the bullshit they want. And the uniform is a crock of shit. If you work at erac, go to wally world to get some cheap clothes. otherwise you will waste your money.

[theycameandgothim]

Most customers I came in contact with said: "Why do you have to wear a shirt and tie for this?

Truth is no customer expects you to wear that kind of attire for that type of job. Furthermore a polo and khakis is a more casual "friendly" atmosphere, which is the angle ERAC is going for anyway, right? The shirt and tie doesn't make you look professional, it sends a message that "I want to look important so when I fuck you up the ass royally, at least you will have known it was coming."

[JGATZ]

Originally Posted by theycameandgothim

Most customers I came in contact with said: "Why do you have to wear a shirt and tie for this?

Truth is no customer expects you to wear that kind of attire for that type of job. Furthermore a polo and khakis is a more casual "friendly" atmosphere, which is the angle ERAC is going for anyway, right? The shirt and tie doesn't make you look professional, it sends a message that "I want to look important so when I fuck you up the ass royally, at least you will have known it was coming."

The function of the suit serves two purposes. For one, it helps the company stay within its conservative roots. It is also well established in the psychological research world that appearance is linked with liking and trustworthiness. In other words, the better dressed and more attractive the salesperson is, the more likely the customer is to like, trust, and ultimately buy from them. The suit also gives the ERAC employee an air of authority/credibility over the customer as most are not dressed as well. It does make sense in this respect to dress salesmen professionally. However, ERAC fails to take into account the other side of the coin. For one, the long hours, skipped lunches, fast food, and happy hours does nothing for their employees' attractiveness. Most look just plain out of shape and exhausted. Also, their suits are often dirty or worn out from washing all the cars and not having enough money to replace them. In summary, whatever credibility the suit gives is lost once the employee bends over to vacuum a car in front of the customer. I could see wearing a suit to go marketing but not if it involves donut drops. I am talking about REAL marketing, but sadly ERAC will never learn. They take on the attitude of, "Well, it's always been done this way, so why change now?" All they really need is a consulting firm to run a few test studies to show that the suit really doesn't help sales, and they would probably change. However, consultants cost actual money not to mention Joseph A. Banks would be upset that ERAC would give up their "Dress for Success" program.