Down the Road Motors

Unfortunately, turn over in our business is an all-too-frequent occurrence. We had a controller who worked for us for a number of years then suddenly announced one Friday that the following week would be his last. He was a popular employee with a great personality and conversed as easily with the dealer or upper management as he did with any other employee in the store. So, his departure was considered a loss by most of the staff.

Having been asked by his new employer not to reveal where he was going to work, he responded to everyone’s inquires with “Down the Road Motors.” When the day of departure arrived, a cake was ordered and served in the employee lounge. Good-byes and best wishes were offered by those in attendance, which included the majority of the dealership employees (all except those who were planning a special going-away surprise).

As the controller prepared to leave, the general manager wished him good luck and assured him that if he had left anything behind it would be forwarded to his new work location. The controller chuckled, waved and stepped out the door to find his car parked just outside.

While the party had progressed, the saboteurs had made a duplicate key to his vehicle, pulled it adjacent to the employee lounge, opened the sunroof and completely filled it with Styrofoam packing peanuts from the parts department. Attached to the driver’s door window was a mailing label addressed, “From: All Your Friends at the Dealership,” and “To: Down the Road Motors.”

Steve Sweitzer
General Manager
Fischer Honda