Who is Golden Handcuffs?

This post was written by someone below level three...you are mad if you think your area manager is earning that sort of money!

Have you seen Gerardys house...not someone earning 120 a year believe me!He rented a house until last year because pay was so crap! I think the pay lie is the worst....no one is earning the sort of money you are made to believe!

The pay thing is not a lie. There have been quite a few making 100K after 5 years in the Heartland. May not be alot more based on current conditions but it absolutely was possible.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This post was written by someone below level three...you are mad if you think your area manager is earning that sort of money!

Have you seen Gerardys house...not someone earning 120 a year believe me!He rented a house until last year because pay was so crap! I think the pay lie is the worst....no one is earning the sort of money you are made to believe!

As stated in a former thread, you can't judge based on Gerardy's house. He is a goofball with no taste.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The pay thing is not a lie. There have been quite a few making 100K after 5 years in the Heartland. May not be alot more based on current conditions but it absolutely was possible.

My guess is that this hasn't happened in SOME time. I'll bet Kooken was the last one.

Hi All,

Dealer here. Sorry to disappoint, but I am not Golden Handcuffs (love the term, however - and the little picture is cool!) I actually just happened upon this site tonight for the first time after talking with a current employee who told me about it. I knew there were some "anti-ERAC" sites out there, but I had never been to one before.

After reading through alot of the GP 62 postings, I guess it kind of bums me out to see people I am friends with and people I respect being slammed anonymously.

I may post in a few more places, but I will always use my name - so the mystery of "Golden Handcuffs" still remains!

Dealer
"Big Pappy"

P.S. It'd be great to catch up with some of my former brothers and sisters of rental. Feel free to identify yourselves on the forum.

[Don Stevenson]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Hi All,

Dealer here. Sorry to disappoint, but I am not Golden Handcuffs (love the term, however - and the little picture is cool!) I actually just happened upon this site tonight for the first time after talking with a current employee who told me about it. I knew there were some "anti-ERAC" sites out there, but I had never been to one before.

After reading through alot of the GP 62 postings, I guess it kind of bums me out to see people I am friends with and people I respect being slammed anonymously.

I may post in a few more places, but I will always use my name - so the mystery of "Golden Handcuffs" still remains!

Dealer
"Big Pappy"

P.S. It'd be great to catch up with some of my former brothers and sisters of rental. Feel free to identify yourselves on the forum.

I'll believe it when I see it Big Pappy.

I also have to say, I looked at the real Golden Handcuffs posts, and he/she definitely was not a fan of Steve Thomas. I wasn't there long enough after Steve got there to be able to develop an opinion - though I did get in on the early stages of 2.2, of which I was not a fan. Applying a "catch-all" personnel solution to the myriad of different business mixes a branch could have was probably not going to succeed in the end. On the other hand, he came to the group as a successful GM in Canada. If something worked for him there, why not try it in 62?

There seem to be some embittered and tortured souls out there from 62. I sympathize with you. Personally, I know that it's much easier to look at someone else's flaws than my own, and to commiserate anonymously on a web forum is probably fun for some. However, as a person who errs every day, I would have a serious problem exposing what I perceived to be someone else's flaws on a public website for all to see.

I'm sure I upset my share of people at ERAC for one reason or another - it's the not-so-glamorous part of being "the boss" in the business world. I also hope I was able to help some people to be better businesspeople and better people in general. I know I truly cared enough about people I worked with that I still call many of them friends. And it wasn't because I could gain something by being friends with them, it was because I enjoyed knowing them as people. Looking at one person's "top 5", it seems that is probably the common characteristic (I am humbled to even be mentioned 3 and a half years out of the game).

Later,

Dealer

Dealer-

I was fairly new when you left so I never got to know you very well but always heard great things. I was talking to one of your old friends the other day and he told me you've done great for yourself, financially. Congrats and best wishes.

Thank you, unregistered, for your kind words.


Hey, as a brand new visitor to the site I have a few questions:

1) does anybody know why people use initials all over the site rather than just saying the people's names they are intent on dragging through the mud? Can someone put a "legend" up to make the site easier to read? I spend more time just trying to figure out who is being slammed than actually reading, and with 3 kids and a cat at home my time is limited.

2) I notice a few different types of attacks that seem to prevail - a) attacks on ERAC as a company - ethics, pay, customer service, culture, climate, etc. b) attacks on individuals that are business-related, and c) really personal attacks on individuals where even their spouse and families seem to be open to criticism. While the first 2 types of attacks are arguably fair game, what type of character or integrity does a person have to attack someone's wife, their weight, their looks, etc?

3) Why do you think the creator of this site has turned from "I honestly want to help ERAC get better" to a "I am going to set up a resource to facilitate lawsuits against ERAC"? Do you think he just got on a roll and got carried away? Is he an unemployed bachelor (just keeping up with the discussion board would seem to take several hours a day) with a chip on his shoulder? Is he really an ex-employee that fits the above criteria as well? My opinion is it's probably the first one: he just was having so much fun and getting such an overwhelming response that he got carried away, and now he is sending postcards out to branches, facilitating lawsuits, and smearing level III employees through hearsay on his homepage.

4) Does Stufflebeam really think hiring and promoting Joe was an act of nepotism and not performance-related? And, where did he learn to write all crazy and nonsensical like this? http://www.failingenterprise.com/for...ead.php?t=2010

5) Why is this site so dang addictive and so unproductive at the same time?

Later,

Dealer

[unregistered2]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I also have to say, I looked at the real Golden Handcuffs posts, and he/she definitely was not a fan of Steve Thomas. I wasn't there long enough after Steve got there to be able to develop an opinion - though I did get in on the early stages of 2.2, of which I was not a fan. Applying a "catch-all" personnel solution to the myriad of different business mixes a branch could have was probably not going to succeed in the end. On the other hand, he came to the group as a successful GM in Canada. If something worked for him there, why not try it in 62?

There seem to be some embittered and tortured souls out there from 62. I sympathize with you. Personally, I know that it's much easier to look at someone else's flaws than my own, and to commiserate anonymously on a web forum is probably fun for some. However, as a person who errs every day, I would have a serious problem exposing what I perceived to be someone else's flaws on a public website for all to see.

I'm sure I upset my share of people at ERAC for one reason or another - it's the not-so-glamorous part of being "the boss" in the business world. I also hope I was able to help some people to be better businesspeople and better people in general. I know I truly cared enough about people I worked with that I still call many of them friends. And it wasn't because I could gain something by being friends with them, it was because I enjoyed knowing them as people. Looking at one person's "top 5", it seems that is probably the common characteristic (I am humbled to even be mentioned 3 and a half years out of the game).

Later,

Dealer

Dealer,
I know you pretty well. And no, I'm not going to identify myself, because that is what this site is all about. Whatever the originator of this site intended, it has become a place where current and ex-employees could come and get some stuff off of their collective chests. It is sometimes easier, especially for current employees, to say what they think when they are unidentified.

You said "Personally, I know that it's much easier to look at someone else's flaws than my own, and to commiserate anonymously on a web forum is probably fun for some. However, as a person who errs every day, I would have a serious problem exposing what I perceived to be someone else's flaws on a public website for all to see." Well maybe we are all just not as good and riotous as you are. Maybe we should all go to church with you this Sunday to pray for our poor, pitiful, loser souls. It's just like you to sugar coat your condescension , so that half the people reading this don't even realize that you are talking down to them.

I actually agree with you about attacking people personally. I have even posted on here a few times sticking up for my friends that I feel have been characterized unfairly. However, the majority of these attacks have been on reputations those people have built for themselves.

I pride myself on never having been talked about on this site, because I felt the same way you did about managing people. I truly cared about their carreers, I didn't blow smoke up people's asses, and I tried to treat everyone with respect. I wasn't perfect, but those were some of my goals. And I was lucky enough to leave ERAC with some life long friends. However, if I had proclaimed myself " the quarters king of 62" ...slept around...made a drunken fool of myself on a regular basis at business functions...lied to people....or fucked with their carreers at my own will....I guess I would be fair game on this site too.

You have to agree that the people making these personal attacks are probably very angry and hurt. I understand putting your blood, sweat, and tears into the dream you started this all for, only to realize the people you work for don't hold that dream in the same esteem. Do I participate in the personal slams? No. Do I understand the need for other people to do that? Yes. It's cathartic! I'm not going to come on this site and judge people for how they choose to get over the time they speant at ERAC. And I guess I'm just plain weak. I'm not going to lie, when someone calls TJ a midget, I have to giggle out loud sometimes. I tried not to be self riotous when I was there, and I'm not going to do it now that I'm gone.



I do agree with you also that this site is addictive, but I won't say it's unproductive. If it gives people the opportunity to let go of whatever shit they still feel for ERAC, or lets them know they aren't alone in that feeling. Then it's productive for them.

Sorry, Big Pappi...we all can't be as good as you.