Complaint Review: O'brien Chevrolet

On February 27, 2006 I accepted the position of Finance Manager as offered by Mr. Mark Drews, who represented O'Brien Chevrolet as their Finance Director. I was offered and accepted a commission structure of 18% of the gross profit of any and all finance products sold by me, plus 5% of all finance reserve created on all the deals which I contracted. In addition I would be provided a company car (demo) after I completed 12 months of employment with the firm.

On April 10th (payday) I received a check for commissions earned during March 2006, which did not reflect the agreed-upon payment. When I asked Mr. Mark Drews about the shortage, he explained that on March 10th O'Brien Chevrolet had upgraded their computer software, causing all deals written prior to that date, to be archived, which in turn created a problem for the payroll department. He requested that I be patient, and promised that within a week or two I would receive the monies due.

May 10th. The April 2006, commissions check again was less that the amount due. I again approached Mr. Mark Drews, who in turn went to the General Manager for O'Brien Chevrolet, Mr. Kevin Wildman. They both came into my office assured that it must be an oversight by the payroll department and that would address the issue ASAP and assured me that I had nothing to worry about and that the firm which employed us was ethical, and financially sound.

During the second half of May 2006, it was somewhat shocking to find-out that Mr. Drews decided to part-company with O'Brien Chevrolet because his pay-plan was suddenly changed by upper management.

On June 5th I met with Mr. Richard (the Managing Partner of O'Brien Chevrolet) Hauke and Mr. Kevin Wildman on an effort to try to clarify why I wasn't receiving payment for my commissions as promised. After various telephone calls to several different departments of the O'Brien organization it was surmised by Mr. Hauke that payroll was only paying me 15% instead of the agreed 18%, but that he recognized the original percentage as being was had been approved by him and by Mr. Mark Drews when I was hired. Therefore for the month of May a check for the correct amount was issued at that time. It was further agreed that Sharon in payroll would research the months in question and a check for the difference would be paid to me ASAP.

On June 15th I was escorted by Mr. Kevin Wildman up to Mr. Richard Hauke's office, where they presented me with a new pay-plan. The new pay-plan reduced my commissions from 18% to 15% on the sold product, maintained the 5% on finance reserve but made no mention about the promised company car. After some negotiation, it was agreed that in addition to what was established in our new pay-plan, and in consideration for what I was giving-up, I would receive a bonus equal to the average gross profit per deal for each month.

Mr. Hauke and Mr. Wildman explained that the way in which this bonus was to be paid was thru an affiliate company known as JM&A and that Mr. Paul Brady would be our liaison. Mr. Paul Brady visited my office that week and confirmed his knowledge of this agreement and we establish a viable procedure to follow.

During the second half of June, Mr. Hauke announced his departure as Managing Partner from O'Brien Chevrolet. When I went to his office to wish him well, he assured me that prior to his departure he would make sure that I received the monies due to me for March and April and that our new agreement would be respected by Mr. Wildman.

July 10th the commission check was off by about 40%, I asked Mrs. Dana McCray (the new Finance Director) to explain, she said that she did not understand it but that she would speak to Mr. Kevin Wildman (the new Managing Partner), she returned and said that Mr. Wildman would get back to me about it.

July 14th. I again asked Mrs. McCray about my money, she said that she sympathized, but that she had done all she could and that I should speak to Mr. Wildman. I requested an audience with Mr. Wildman thru his administrative assistant and was told that he would get back to me, I waited until 5:00 pm and when I inquired about him again, I was told that he had left the building. I explained to Mrs. McCray that when they paid me I would return to work.

On July 17th I sent a certified letter to Mr. Joseph O'Brien, Senior Partner and Dealer Principal explaining the facts. To this date I have received no reply.

On July 25th I submitted a claim to the State Labor Commissioner, and await their response.

To this day, I have not been paid the monies owed to me for work performed during March, April, June and July 2006, totaling $ 9,779.19.

The lack of timely payment of these wages, which my family and I depend on for sustenance, has caused us a tremendous financial burden and many unnecessary expenses which are completely attributable to O'Brien Chevrolet, their owners and management staff and I believe they should be made responsible for repayment of the same.

This company is under such turmoil, that since the time I resigned, Dana McCray was replaced by a "Laura", who also is no longer employed as finance director and Kevin Wildman (the latest general manager) was fired.

Needless for me to try to explain in this rip-off report how all this is affecting the poor b*****d who buys a car from o'brien chevrolet.

Francisco
La Quinta, California
U.S.A.