Jim Tarbox is not a man who suffers in silence. Since New Chrysler handed his Jeep dealership its walking papers, Tarbox has been a man on a mission. “I was a top performing dealer,” Tarbox told me. “The executives terminated my dealer out of spite.” Tarbox ain’t just whistling Dixie. The video above features audio from U.S. Bankruptcy Court testimony from Peter Grady, Chrysler Director of Dealer Operations. Tarbox’s lawyer, Len Bellavia, confronts Grady re: a letter that says, in no uncertain terms, that New Chrysler shit-canned Tarbox because of a prior territorial beef. “He is a belligerent combative dealer who litigates and protests any new Jeep franchise in the Provo [Providence, Rhode Island] area. So management made decision to cut him. He has not operated in good faith.” Uh, what about selecting dealers to cull based on an objective, performance-related formula? Grady agrees to the idea, in principle. In practice . . .
“You would agree that the decision to reject a dealer should only be on the merits?”
“Yeah,” Grady says. “Like this one was.”
So Chrysler is admitting that it dumped Tarbox based on his attitude and previous litigation, rather than performance. A vendetta. Tarbox may never receive a dime out of this deal, but he’s clear that his protest reflects his belief in fair play. “They stole my livelihood,” he says. “I can’t believe this happened in America.”
So here was a guy who was arguing that there shouldn’t be any more Jeep dealerships… who gets canned when the company finally discovers that he’s right… there were already too many Jeep dealerships?
I think there is a saying about a dog and the hand that feeds it…
Or the short version.. Well Duh…
“He is a belligerent combative dealer” ya, we need LOTS more of those..
“I can’t believe this happened in America”. Why the heck is this so amazing? The days where brilliant men in powdered wigs debated the things on their merits and came up with fair solutions are long gone…if, in fact, they ever existed in the first place. They’ve been replaced by Jerry Springer, Jeff Beck, and an endless supply of lawyers advertising on Fox.
+1 MidLifeCelica – when a fair, objective decision is made based solely on facts, I am amazed. Like that judge who ruled that a driver couldn’t be given an enormous for speeding through a construction area when there was no construction taking place.
As for this dealer, well, no one likes a prick.
“Jeff Beck”? What does the legendary guitarist and former member of the Yardbirds have to do with the U.S. legal and / or business systems?
Glenn Beck, perhaps?
CamaroKid
He’s belligerent towards a supplier who demands he carry car and parts inventory to meet their needs (not his), make improvements to his store per their requirements (not his) and then does its best to dilute his market area with competition. Sales managers all like the idea of lots of competition amongst dealers, but it appears that they don’t understand when too much competition leads to dirty dealing and end customer dissatisfaction. Too few dealers and its a take it or leave it attitude, but too many and its we’re out to fleece you because we have so few sales that we have to pile all the crap we can on each successful sale. When you find the sweet spot, let me know. I’d guess its a transitory occurrence at best.
The purpose of BK is to clean the soul of a company, if the guy was preventing them from moving forward in the direction they determined was needed (a unified Chry., Dodge, Jeep in one dealership, is more than likely what he was blocking), by hiding behind state franchise laws written by political donations (and off the record gifts), then so be it.
So Chrysler is admitting that it dumped Tarbox based on his attitude and previous litigation, rather than performance.
There’s some sound business logic for this. If Tarbox was the kind of dealer who litigated competition out of his perceived territory and acted in bad faith as a franchisee, there’s a good chance he (or someone like him) was probably a bad dealer in terms of customer experience.
If he was such a top performer, why was he suing competitors to maintain that ranking? Should he, a top-notch salesman, not be able to compete without resorting to the courts?
It’s akin to being a employee with good performance, but a terrible attitude. Holistically, that employee is less an asset than someone who doesn’t perform as well but plays better. I’m sure there’s all sorts of politics involved in this, but I don’t think that a guy who sues at the drop of a hat is going to garner good customer-service metrics.
If he was so pissed at ChryCo why does he care? This guy no doubt would have fought every reorganization and consolidation move.
As psarhjinian said, lots of companies have employees who perform well, but feel that because of it they are entitled to come in late, eat all the donuts, grab the secretary’s a$$, etc. They end up getting canned and are the first to whine about unfair dismissal.
Performance has to do with a lot more than just monthly numbers.
psarhjinian
He’s suing a supplier who knew the rules of the game as well as he did. He’s not suing a competing dealer.
There are all kinds of franchise and dealer arrangements. When my company sold CAD software, the required investment was low – sales guy base salary and expenses plus an application engineer to work with customers. I had no expectation of a protected territory. Performance was what bought me some territory protection. Compare that to the mandated capital investment in a car dealership and its pretty clear to me why dealer franchise protection has been legislated. Again, that protection may not at the sweet spot level, but it’s understandable.
I expect all Tarbox will get out of this is the satisfaction of subjecting some of the BKChryco players to death by deposition….
MidLifeCelica –
Leave Jeff Beck out of this. He’s awesome. Plus, he’s a huge car guy. He might like cars more than guitars!
As TexN said, Glenn Beck. You can do whatever you want with that crazy guy.
[regardless of the number of times I fully agree with him, he’s still a whacko]
Leave Jeff Beck out of this.
Why, when you can bring him into it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFi94V3jIUg
Sometimes some customers are not worth the revenue they bring in. Chrysler came to that conclusion about this bozo.
So this bozo wants the government to intervene in a private business decision. Yet, I am certain that if the government decided to intervene in HIS business, he would be screaming bloody murder. For example, if he decided to fire a vendor, and the government said “No. You have to use them.”
Typical hypocrite.
+1 yankinwaoz
New Chrysler can, like anyone else, do business with whomever they choose. If they think Tarbox is a jackass, they’re free to cut him out. The fact that Tarbox wants the government to intervene is un-American.
this bozo wants the government to intervene in a private business decision. Yet, I am certain that if the government decided to intervene in HIS business, he would be screaming bloody murder.
But the government did intervene in his business when they bailed out Chrysler. Maybe he just wants them to complete the job. As it is things are just f’d up. Maybe he wants the total FUBAR.
In this “everyone’s a winner” nation we live in, we are no longer allowed to fire someone for being a flaming a$$hole. There has to be a solid business reason and a gigantic paper trail.
Chrysler (and GM for that matter) gad every right to cull dealers that did not have a history of playing nice. I can guarantee that’s why others, like Mt. Clemens Dodge in Mt. Clemens Michigan, was chosen. This guy inherited the dealership from his dad and did the bare minimum as long as he was turning a profit. Everything was a battle with what Chrysler wanted.
Having a dealer franchise is a privilege and not a right. The dealers that get there walking papers deserve what the get. It’s just unfortunate they had to take down the hard-working employees with them.
+2 yankinwaoz
Sorry, this makes perfect sense to me. A manufacturer and its dealers are business partners, in fact, if not in name. Business partners always have disagreements; it’s inevitable. There are two ways to resolve them. One way is to sue.
I know; that’s how I make a living.
Would anyone here want to partner with (or employ) someone who sued them?
I didn’t think so.
So basically, he got shitcanned because of a pesonality dispute. Is there anyone on this board who hasn’t been in a similar situation?
It is a story as old as time itself. Doesn’t make it right, but that’s the way it is. I’m sure he’ll win some money off Chrysler and move on with his life.
All I know is that the two Chrysler dealerships that folded in my area were weak, and there were two high-volume dealers within a very short drive (20 minutes max).
So basically, he got shitcanned because of a personality dispute.
It’s sounds more like a series of business disputes. Those aren’t free of charge; they take time and money to resolve.
Some people are a PITA and need to be cut; they aren’t worth the time suck, resource drain, etc. that comes with the relationship. Honestly, is anyone really surprised to hear about a car dealer who is allegedly a jerk who plays games?
TexN:
“Jeff Beck”? What does the legendary guitarist and former member of the Yardbirds have to do with the U.S. legal and / or business systems?
Glenn Beck, perhaps?”
Except that it’s not Glenn Beck’s job to “debate the things on their merits and come up with fair solutions”, nor is it the job of Jerry Springer or Fox News, or to be equitable to the other side; Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, CNN, or MSNBC. These are not government institutions (although I am sure there are those with in government who like to bring them into the fold). I think the posters beef is with the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, not his favorite personalities or organizations to bash.
BTW Jeff Beck – one of my all time favorite guitarist/musicians.
I don’t know when the last time was you watched the Jerry Springer Show. It’s still on, they’re still making new episodes.
Anyways, Jerry’s a reasonable guy. It’s his guests that are irrational.
chuckR
He’s belligerent towards a supplier who demands he carry car and parts inventory to meet their needs (not his), make improvements to his store per their requirements (not his) and then does its best to dilute his market area with competition
So you are saying that he has a problem with reading comprehension too… Did he not take a read of his franchise agreement before he put down the cash?
If he has SOO many issues with his supplier maybe he should try selling something simple… maybe selling shoes will be easier for him. If that doesn’t work there is always “Welcome to Walmart, can I check your handbag”
Yes Competition is SO anti American… Where do they get off trying to encourage THAT!
Chry(sler) me a river, James Tarbox.
Smoking gun? Ha. So what if Chrysler took the opportunity to shitcan him because, by his own admission, he had always challenged everything the factory wanted him to do? Wouldn’t any of us, trying to turn Chrysler into a real company, have done the same thing?
The best thing about running your own business is you can fire your customers if they aren’t worth the trouble. Few corporate executives have that much nerve. I say brooming this guy sounds like one of the few smart things Chrysler did.
And as desperate as Chrysler is to move the iron, don’t you think there is another side to this story? So Tarbox blew out a lot of Jeeps. For Chrysler to give that up, he must have been a pretty horrid dealer in ways he’s not admitting.
As far as I’m concerned, Tarbox and all the other dealers busily lobbying the legislators (that they’ve bought and paid for) to rescind the terminations are just one more group of rich incompetent guys trying to get into my pockets. Drop dead.
CamaroKid
It would be interesting to find out if Toyonda, for example, has similar poisonous relationships with some of their dealers. Bet not, but then they didn’t try to flood the market with dealers, or cram crap cars down their throats.
Kid, come back when you’ve become a franchisee and pledged your entire net worth, maybe amassed over a couple of decades or more, only to find that your business ‘partner’ is trying to cut the legs from under you. If you had legal protections, what would you do? Then we can talk about this. And also discuss how you were today taking the side of some of the biggest public bailout rip-off artists ever.
disclosure – about 18 years ago, I bought a car from Tarbox Pontiac. Neither sales nor service was particularly memorable so I guess that’s good.
Neither sales nor service was particularly memorable so I guess that’s good.
LOL! So let me get this straight…
We are the land of the free,
The home of the brave,
and the place of “no competition”
What would I do? That is a two part question… Well, before I would pledge my entire net worth on a franchise I would actually read the agreement… And if it gave the supplier the right to dump cars, or cut the legs out from under me, etc. I might think twice about the pledge… Or maybe as you suggested I would sell for Honyota. As I posted before apparently Tarbox is not such a good reader or while the cash was rolling in it didn’t matter…(probably more of the later)
As the old saying goes… One the way up are all capitalists… on the way down we are all socialist.
Sure the Bush Bailouts are some of the largest public F’ups ever… but when the economy is on the brink what else are you going to do. I defended them then… I’ll defend them now.
If Bush hadn’t given the money then ALL of the dealers would be broke, as well as the part suppliers, wholesalers, repair shops, etc.
Back to Tarbox… (and this is the second part of the answer) Lets say that the supplier started to change the rules and make you miserable. Anyone knows that you don’t get into a pissing contest with what is essentially your boss…(bite the hand that feeds you..) You ever take your boss to court? You still work there? Once things got that bad Tarbox should have done what you or I would have done… Quit and moved on; or in their case… Cash out the dealership for a boat load of money and sit on a beach drinking PinaColadas.
I ask, who on this forum didn’t know 2 maybe even 3 years ago that things were going to end like this… We have been warning about the impending doom of Chyrsler, GM and Ford for years… A smart businessman would have “gotten out” while the gettin was good… If the dealerships around me are any indication… thats what most did… We had several change hands over the past 3 years more time then you change underwear in a week.
Kid
Franchise laws protect franchisees. But perversely, I think they also made it easier for the D3 to scrub their books of ‘toxic assets’ – like Sebrings, for example, by shoveling them out to dealers. Dealers knew that eventually they’d move them and the fact that they were, or felt they were, protected against increased competition while they were dealing with unloading these motorized gems made it easier to take that gamble.
If there hadn’t been strong franchise protection, then GM and Chryco might possibly have gone BK sooner. Or maybe gone to direct sales (+1). Even if they hadn’t added more weakened dealers – and they probably would have tried – the existing dealers may have dug in. Is BK a better solution than the payoffs to the UAW and the carco mismanagers? Yes, airlines have worked through BK and so should have the car companies.
You can’t cast the manufacturers as champions of free market competition against the commie dealers and state laws. The Feds should have let the BK laws and the market sort it out. Tarbox may have done worse in such as scenario, but it would have been a time tested scenario, not the government motors crap we have been saddled with as taxpayers. And as a commenter upstream commented, the senior debt holders wouldn’t have been screwed – which certainly doesn’t encourage people to offer credit. I have nothing but contempt for the business skills of the Wall Street masters of the universe and the captains of industry in Detroit and elsewhere, whose motto is ‘heads I win, tails you bail me out’. I think we do agree on that.
As an aside, you occasionally do get into pissing contests with your ‘boss’. Manufacturing is worthless without distribution, sales and support channels. If you outsource these activities, you have partners not employees. Smart companies understand that.