i used to work in HR for erac

here's the truth about working @ erac:

1. the hours are long. 7:30 to 6:00, but you are expected to be at work at least by 7:15 or your manager considers you late and you are expected to stay until the last customer is taken care of and that may be way past 6pm. oh, and let's not forget saturday - 9:00 to 1:00. and those are hours for a regular branch. the airport office is open from 4:00 to 10:00. airports have shift work but the same rules apply - get there early and leave late.

2. the pay is not what you expect it will be. during the interview you will be told that you will be paid a certain amount and you are told that the amount includes your base plus overtime. most people miss that part. so the amount they tell you is really all you will make for the year, provided that you work the overtime they have estimated you will work.

3. your clientele will consist of everything across the board, but most of them will be the dregs of society. don't get me wrong - you could be working at a great freestanding branch surrounded by upscale shops and better homes but the chances of that are highly unlikely. enterprise believes in getting as much market share as possible so your branch is probably going to be located in a strip mall in one of the worst neighborhoods around and you will probably have to deal with all the scumbags in the area.

4. you will have to go on sales calls to all the local bodyshops and dealerships in the area. this may sound great to begin with - getting out of the office is always fun - but for a young, attractive woman in a business suit and high heels, it can turn into a nightmare. need i elaborate?

5. the work, although somewhat physically demanding (you will be running around a car lot, washing and vacuuming cars, etc) it is basically mindless. as a fellow employee put it, "they could train monkeys dressed up in suits to do this job". i also heard this a lot, "i can't believe i got my college degree just so i could rent cars."

6. the product you are selling is basically an overpriced lie. you may not realize it at first, but the cars you are renting are making more money for the taylors than should be allowed! firstly, the cars are purchased in bulk at a huge savings. let's say a car has a monthly note of $300. an insurance rental at $30/day will pay that note in 10 days. so the remaining 20 days of the month are pure profit. that note gets paid even faster if you rent it retail. a person walking off the street may pay $50 for that same car (you are provided with a rate sheet but you are also encouraged to get as much as you can for every car you send on the road). let's not forget damage waiver! waiver is not where the money is made, despite what is said, but it does add to the overall profit of renting. the money is made in 'flip' - when the car gets pulled from the rental fleet and resold. so after all those months of making money in rental, the used car you just bought at your local dealership just made the taylors even more money.

i am sure i've missed quite a few points... more later.

The part you hit home with the most is the female employee that did calls to body/service shops. I was a manager and one of my female employees came back crying! Said that the manager of a bodyshop backed her into a corner and tried to kiss her. I informed corporate of the situation and, of course, they hushed it up. The bodyshop in question was one of the largest in my area and sent me the most business. NO reprocussions were given to the shop owner and I had a bitter, upset employee who thought I didn't fight for her. I still feel bad about it to the day.

I have a hard time giving a person who uses the word "firstly" too much credit.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I have a hard time giving a person who uses the word "firstly" too much credit.

I don't blame you, according to this "former HR person", the only cost a branch has is depreciation on the car. hmmmmmmn, I guess in HR land, there is no monthly rent for any of the branches, no money on office equipment or office remodeling improvements. No cleaning supplies....everyone knows erac does a lousy job cleaning cars so there is NO expense there! No utilities expenses, phone bills, no payroll expenses, no direct costs such as maintenance, gas, insurance, collision losses, uninsured losses, I guess everyone in HR land pays their bills in full since there is ZERO bad debt. Group costs such as, oh, I dunno, HR salaries, and all admin staff dont exist. HR land is awesome because there are no advertising and marketing expenses for branches either.

Assuming a 100/car OP month, The average profit/day day on a rental car is about $3.33, and that is AFTER you figure in CDW sales. THis HR guru would lead you to believe the last 20 days of a month is pure profit plus cdw????. You are LUCKY if you have a $100/car at the end of an entire MONTH (pay attention HR master, that means profit is made in about the last three days of the month, not 20)...Don't get me wrong, I hate erac, and Andy makes sick money when you consider a national scale, but I hate clueless HR people more. It is obvious this knucklehead never spent a day managing anything other than a booth at the local community college hustling new grads.

[offshorerob]

Outstanding response!!!!!