This was posted on You Tube in November...

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Auto Mart - launching a new identity. Why would these people spend so much money revising and launching a new look when they knew they were going to close it all down 3 months later? Clueless leaders?

For those who choose to stay with Cox, you only prolong your termination, you are a dead employee walking. This is Cox we are dealing with. Save yourself and find another job now or you will be "stunned" when you too are shown the door.

Hey "drank some koolaid", set up an emergency account for yourself now, you know down deep they're going to throw you under the bus as soon as they drain you of your contacts/relationships. Get ready because as time goes on they will change up your commish plan/precentage as time wears on.

Does anyone know what it cost to print Auto Mart?? In a market with 30,000 magazines what did those magazines cost to produce and deliver??

interco Print is having big meeting dose anyone know how today went, I'm sure there were layoffs. I hear Fri there will be more.

Yes, Interco is getting ready to have the same meeting. All the production department is being let go. There will be no need for them anymore since there will be no dealer ads, display or otherwise. All the private party ads will flow in right out of Advisor so there is no production work to do. Im sure they will keep some of the illegals around to print the books, well at least until feb when the evaluate the situation.

went out on some sales calls today with the atc rep, and sold an upgrade to a very good print customer of mine. The rep says to me, wow you just made 200% commission on this sale, and I said to him, I thought that was on new business only? So, I called my manager and asked him and he said "congratulations! you just made 4400 bucks already this month" again, I said I thought that was only on new business and he says "Oh yeah, you're right, you each get 12 1/2 percent" Woopee!! that combined with that huge salary and I can buy a lottery ticket.

I think that they have dumped the text to take over the dot com market very quickly. In my opinion the only reason for doing this would be to sell the dot com while it is at its peak. Like it or not people are shopping the internet for everything, and a website would have to sell for more than a print company. With such a low overhead "in comparison to text" and pretty much forcing dealers to go to the site it is a great strategy. I personally hate it because about 60% of our business originates from the text ads. At any rate it is a shame that they are putting together such a weak severance package for the loyal employees. Our rep may not have gotten everything right all of the time, but it was not due to a lack of effort. He truly cared about his job, and was a great help when needed. This is a sad day.

I hear Interco Print is having big meeting. Anyone Heard of any Interco Print moves?

Any rep or manager in a market wanting to continue in this still great industry can. We are in this business as an independent and can offer design, customer service, print, distribution and a major national web feed for any territory in the US. This is your chance to have YOUR own book, we don't want to own it but can provide all the infrastructure for you to own your own at a cost per page you can make a fantastic living on. Email me if your interested and I can send you samples overnight of printed samples and we can more on the phone if you have questions. [email protected]

Longtime employee, thank you for the insight. It is much as I expected, but in these days, I would not expect 30 days from a company in such trouble. If they can treat their inside employees this way, I would not be surprised at all if they just cut us loose, when the time comes. Who out here, as drivers and delivery people, could afford to sue Cox? And they know it. Coming from a corporate background, I can say that Cox is not the only company to treat its people so badly.

The thing that bothers me is that we have received NO word about anything! I've had to do my own web research to find out what is going on. Even my emails to request changes to my accounts have gone unanswered. I am already invisible. I just know that, in my 25-stop route, I am only delivering books to maybe 5 stops now.

contractor, I have done contracting for newspapers for years, and also when my management position in Private Party was eliminated last year and I was moved into circulation, I can relate to what you are going thru. I can tell for in my opinion seeing what is going on from the inside, I dont see the books lasting more than a month or 2. I know for example, our lease is up at our location end of February and I cant see them paying to lease a new place. For whatever that is worth. As to your question of notice, our contracts state that either party has to give 30 days notice before terminating the contract. Thats not to say that contractors (drivers) did not quit on us all the time with no notice, but if Cox just dumps you without giving you 30 days, you have grounds to sue them. I guess the only loophole there is if your contract is coming up for renewal anyway, say, in a week or 2, then they could just not renew it and you would be SOL.

I have wondered what's going on. Being on the distribution side for the print mags, I have seen decline, decline, decline in numbers and editions. I wonder when WE will get the news that our jobs are no longer there? ... and as an independent contractor, I have no recourse for unemployment or any other safety net, since my state does not recognize me as an employee. Does anyone know if CAT has to give us worker bees any notice?

I knew of the "re-assignment" of some employees to ATC, hearing through the grapevine that the chosen ones had to actually re-apply for their own jobs.

Employee, how right you are. That's perhaps the most frustrating thing with all of this. With all the technology around, ie: cell phones, text msgs, etc., they chose to announce to over 4,000 hard-woking and very loyal employees that they would soon be out of a job!-Via email in the middle of the day, when reps are out on the road with no immediate access to a computer to read the announcement. While some companies would not even offer severance pkgs. and I'm thankful that I will receive one. However, I believe that a company of this size could have AND should have conducted themselves with a bit more class and shown more respect to those who were told their jobs are now gone. After all, this was supposed to be "The Year of The Rep". Everybody remember that one? Best of luck to those who are staying because it sure sounds like you'll need it, especially in this economy. Best of luck to those who were caught totally off guard on Jan. 5 with your job hunting, we will need it too!!

Hello Fellow soon to be ex employees, the truth of the matter is we were told thru a mass email, that is what hurts, we worked in the heat, snow, rain, sick, you name it and we get told in an email. They have webinars, meetings every month for the vp's and the rd's, wine and dine them, and the people out there really giving there all for the most part find out like we are nothing. Or were we??

FYI, I was talking to the 2 reps here who "got" to move to ATC, they said it was for 60 days, then the company would evaluate if they were going to stay or not. These 2 reps are supposed to be moving as much revenue as they can from print to atc. You know what will happen in 60 days to those guys of course. They were making big bucks at our office, the atc job pays QUITE a bit less I have been told.

Hey Dan,

The Weather Channel was founded by John Coleman in May 1982, but he went to Frank Batten at Landmark with it, (not to COX) and Landmark took it, squeezed Frank out after about a year and developed it further and made it what it was until they recently sold it to NBC and the private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group.
As part of the TPC partnership, Landmark certainly helped make the company what it was before the split, and I don't think I can say enough good things about Conrad Hall. Without his incredible leadership over the last 18+ years, we would have nothing to be complaining about right now, because there would be nothing but little groups of publications here and there and a whole bunch of competitors. Without COX as a partner, we would have never had a unified brand such as AutoTrader, since they had bought the original publications from the founder in Florida.
It is unfortunate about what has happened and I sense alot of anger and dissappointment in these threads. It's OK to let it out and get it out of your system, but then take stock of your opportunities and move on.
Nobody likes having their cheese moved, and certainly this feels like the cheese was stolen, gobbled up and never to return, but it is what it is. Best wishes to my fellow comrades, I am out there looking just like you are.

What line of work are you in now?? I can't imagine life without deadlines and working for people who appreciate your hard work and dedication!!! Been thinking of a career move - any insight would be appreciated.

Mean people actually putting putting initials up of their RD and bad mouthing them on a blog like this. You might as well write out the full name as if we cant tell who you are talking about.
How about some may have little education, however you clearly have no class.

What was Auto Mart's top producing territory and what did the top producer in the country bill annually?? Does anyone know??

I know some markets offered sales assistants so the number might be higher in some markets but I am very curious to know the top annual dollar mark.

Carmen,

Intrigued by your post. 2 questions..

1) What kind of start up cost are we talking about for a 45,000 Free ciruculation...

2) Do you outsource your printing?

Thanks!

I am one of the so called "chosen few" that went to atlanta this weekend. I am very sad and sorry for all of my friends that I have worked with for all these years that are now out of a job. I don't understand the selection process, and they didn't brainwash us in Atlanta. They basically said "welcome to autotrader.com". Like we had a choice in the matter. Unlike those fortunate enough to be let go, we are not eligible for severance pay. So having made this career choice years ago and being a top producer for years because of automart print in a very depressed market, I thought that I would work for Automart forever. Or at least until I could convince my hubby to move to a warmer climate, and then I thought I could just transfer. Instead, Last monday, I get a call from one of my best friends who will soon be and ex-employee, and she is crying and asking me if I got the text message about us all being fired. How do you tell your best friend that you didn't recieve that text, instead you got invited to attend a conference call that was offering you another job??? My friend is a single mom and worked her butt off for this company, and I can barely stand to talk to her because of the guilt that I feel for still having a job. To all of you that are losing your positions, I am so sorry and I hope that better things are coming your way soon. And to all my dealers...I don't know what to say. We've laughed all these years about trader greed, well look who isn't laughing now. Good luck to all, and I hope that what some of you have said isn't true about them getting rid of us after they get all of our print revenue, but the way things have gone since the split I wouldn't put my money on it.

KNEW IT...

I am a former employee who chose to leave about 5 months ago. I served 9 years with Trader and Cox and believe me it was hard to do. About 2 years ago we were in a meeting in Ohio and all they could talk about was internet so I knew then that this would happen. Reverse market was my first thought and then closing locations.

I was one of the top reps in our office. It seemed about every couple of years they cut my territory when I had already built it up and paid my dues in cold calling. All of my managers with the exception of 1 or 2 were pure crap and only cared about themselves. Cox, I must say, was the worst company I have ever worked for. I was only a number to them and that's it!

After putting up with all the bull----, re-deployments, lying, and down right DISRESPECT. I finally said goodbye and have never been happier.

Thank God I found a company that knows how to treat there employees. My heart and thoughts go out to everyone that was wronged by this company who I am sure is sleeping well and not losing one ounce of sleep for all the pain and suffering they have caused.

Just remember Cox, "KARMA ALWAYS COMES BACK AROUND."

Atlanta is where the top tier of ATP sales reps throughout the country were invited and entertained offers of employment from Mr Chip Perry, CEO @ AT.com.

Anybody here want to cash my next paycheck for me?

Cox has a long history of screwing the business' that they acquire going back to The Weather Channel with John Coleman the original founder. It is poetic justice that they are now embroiled in a law suit with Dominion. Both companies have engaged in monopolistic tactics and have tried their best to stifle competition in any manner they can. I applaud you Carmen in your earlier post in offering help to any individual who wants to start an independent pub. I checked out your zoomautos.com site and its pretty nice.