sales advisor

delivery driver

branch administrator

warehouse worker

parts advisor

Euro Car Parts

My training took 1:30 hrs then I was set loose on both the phones and trade counter on my first day. If I needed help it was a grunt and point, If I was lucky. 

I was also given a list of customers to try to sell too, trouble was these customers had been messed around to the point of hating the company. I would be told, by the sales manager, to phone my customers to see if they need anything from us, which I wanted to do, but then told by the branch manager not to phone them unless there was an offer to offer them... They have offers that revolve around every so often. 199ltr barrels of oil at over £300 and you have to sell these to the same customers. An average customer would need roughly 10 weeks to use this barrel, Like above every few week you would need to sell one of these again... Not going to happen!! 

At my branch it was one rule for one and one rule for another, one guy was told to wear a shirt, but then there was another in the office that wore tracksuit bottoms and nothing was said... Doesn't make sense. 

Obviously with a sales job, which I did there, there was targets to hit each day individually, and these individual targets counted towards the branch daily target. The branch I was at was struggling to hit these targets, but instead of the reps going out and getting new customers on board they went round to existing clients... There has to be a balance there. The hard thing to comprehend about this target situation is that instead of getting new customers, this branch was reducing the area by giving to other branches, or just not bothering to deliver to the more rural areas. Not good when targets are involved. 

Also, Two members were in a relationship, something I don't generally bother about, but in this instance these two people, one was the ops manager and the other was a sales advisor... The ops manager was putting through credits and surcharge items under his name instead of his partners name, which obviously made a positive impact on his partners sales/returns targets. I mean one item would be sent out wrong and then the replacement item sent out was sometimes the same as the first... Wrong again!! but this sales advisor was in the green for returns!?!?! The advisor had her partners login details so she could alter prices below what the rest of us could... Regular customers would phone up and ask for her and sometimes put the phone down on others, because we couldn't give them the price they brought an item for previously, making it even harder for the rest of us to hit targets. 

This ops manager did pretty much want he wanted. I would have one of my customers phone up about a refund, I would go to the ops manager to chase it up and he would just sack it off, one particular instance was going on for about a week, it only became resolved after I told the ops manager the whole telephone conversation I had with the customer. The conversation involved the customer saying he would "come down and be physically abusive to him if it wasn't rectified that day". After I told this to the ops manager He said "let him come down I'm not intimidated by anyone". Ten minutes later I overheard whispers in the office about this. Turns out he was intimidated without the customer having to come down and the problem was resolved. Sometimes, I also had customers come to the trade counter with "credit notes" they would have there original invoice with penned on writing. They had returned an unwanted item but instead of giving them a refund he would write on that invoice this customer is owed such and such amount and then just give them want they wanted without doing an invoice. The invoice process reordered that particular item back in for the next day. One day this happened, a guy came in with his old paperwork with an "i.o.u" The ops manager authorized the transaction and we gave him the parts he wanted... The next day the guy came back because one of the items was labelled up wrongly, so he actually took two of the same items, because no invoice, no items were reordered and the ops manager didn't reorder them manually... nothing on the shelf to replace his wrong item, or the other scenario would have been another customer wants those bits, on the computer system they are there when in fact they aren't. Showing to the customer Euro Car Parts is incompetent. The customer had to travel to the next nearest branch to collect the items himself. His car was taking up a ramp at a garage in bits, not an ideal situation!! 

Further to this you could order an item from a branch or the distribution centre and it doesn't even get put on the van to arrive when it should, or it is on the van but the driver doesn't leave it. I had a customer who wanted a clutch... Ordered one, never came, ordered another never came... I had to order every clutch in the country we had for this vehicle in the hope one would turn up. This car was also in bits waiting four days for the part to arrive. Very funny the first day of ordering this. My sales manager was telling us to rebuild the bridges that hadn't been burnt by us as an individual but by someone else or the company as a whole. This clutch customer was one I was rebuilding bridges with, only to be let down half a day later by the company. 

Another day, I was always on the counter, I needed the toilet, so went. When I came back from the toilet I was told the branch manager is looking for me. I carried on serving the counter, as there was some people there. I had almost finished serving the customer when the manager came along and asked me where I'd been, I told him and his look of disgust was unbelievable. Turns out he needed me to serve the customer that was almost walking out the door with his parts that the manager himself couldn't find. This happened at almost five o'clock just as the drivers were clocking out. No need to say he was mocked by the drivers for being so disgusted about me having to go to the toilet, but not only by the drivers, also by the other customers that were in the shop. Some stating sarcastically that this must be a good place to work. 

I could go on but I'm getting bored with typing and you are probably bored of reading too. One more thing I will add. The contract I was given and the hr website contradict each other... 

You could be lucky and get a better managed branch that what I was working in, but I doubt that very much... Neighbouring branches are worse than where I was (I probably should use past tense, but I know the issues this company has will never be resolved). Pay peanuts... 

Whatever the role you go for in this company, use it as a stop gap. At the end of the day it is money in your pocket. 

Honesty though, it is has not been added to my CV, I feel slightly ashamed of working for such an incompetent business.

I honestly have never encountered a company as badly run as Euro Car Parts. This company is built upon a foundation of lies. Over 65 staff members out the door in the first 18 months of opening at this particular branch tells it's own story. The further up the chain people are the more ridiculous the passing the buck mentality becomes- rather than working as a team the general attitude that seems to prevail is self preservation. 

The lying culture begins at the interview- after starting there I found out the "half day Saturdays" I'd been told about at the interviews were actually 4 PM finishes! At no point during this interview was it said that you are not allowed to book off Saturdays unless you arranged a switch with a driver on an opposite Saturday, which basically means you work 17 days with only 2 off or you are expected to pay a casual driver out of your own pocket to cover the shift. The fact anybody who ignored this was never penalised coupled with the fact that the company's own hand book makes no mention of this plus the booking system has the option to book Saturdays led me to believe this was another complete fabrication on the companies behalf which they cannot legally enforce.

The holiday booking system itself is ridiculous, you log in to book a day off- providing  you can get on that day- then you send a request which has to be okayed by your manager and e-mailed back to you- a process that in the past has taken 2-3 days despite the fact said manager is a 10 second walk from you. 

The most annoying aspect is that although the company treats you like rubbish, the delivery driver job is actually quite good fun.  As with most public facing jobs you get to meet the best and worst kinds of people but overall the good outweighs the bad and generally it's a good laugh . The main irritation you will encounter in all likeliness will come from within your own branch, due to the target orientated business model you'll find yourself dealing with the fall out of sales staff chasing figures rather than focusing on customer service. This can range from delivering parts to customers who only asked for a quote on an item thereby making a wasted trip, sales staff making deals with garages and not informing you of the details which in turn leads to a 3 minute drop escalating into a near 30 minute drop in some cases when all it needed  10 seconds making a note on the invoice, to sales booking wrong items out on purpose to try and cover the fact it's not in stock and is being sent from another branch to buy a bit of time! You will get your ear chewed on occasions as most customers are wise to these tactics.

Ultimately ECP as a company is a positivity drain-after so long of pushing yourself you realise that it's never really going to be appreciated and if you do extra then it comes to be expected as the norm so you don't feel like bothering anymore. What you end up with is staff who become demoralised with no motivation and in the end it shows. The most ridiculous thing is that the people who do sod all from day one seem to be allowed to get away with it whilst those putting the extra effort in are treat with a harder line.

In conclusion-ECP is a bit of a joke in all honesty, it seems to be a firm that genuinely believes it has some kind of prestige to work for and as such it needs to decide which route it wants to follow- either pay the wages necessary to make it appealing for long term staffing levels, or continue being that amateurishly run operation hiding behind a veneer simply because it can undercut it's competitors with a constant revolving door of people and therefore a poor standard of customer service. The saddest part of all this is that with a shift in overall management attitude it really could be as good as it lies to you about being at that interview.

Make no mistake about it, save for a few select positions this is not a company within which to build a career- this is a job that at best is a stop gap if you genuinely have designs on building one .

This company took me in at 18/19 worked throughout my early adult life very hard putting in 110%, as i worked at a "hub"  the management system was ruined because there was no stability, if you combine, ops managers, sales & branch managers in my 3 years i have worked under at least 15. no lie. 

if you had a passion for cars like myself you will not enjoy it, sadly the company now would much prefer to hire humongous amounts of random casuals, which in turn had caused all the full-time staff to jump ship to either competitors or completely give up on their dreams. 

the regional manager decided to give the brach managers job to an ex boss at Comet. see where this is going? since taking over he has slowly employed his family, friends and all old Comet workers who really  have no passion for Cars or how they work, this is a Purley sales based company now, all they care about is making the number. 
they made this mistake before by employing a halfords manager and it didnt work because they are mainly retail focused, i dont agree with TV sales staff running a motor factors one bit. 
 
if you have been there years it is irrelevant, they preach internal progression but only sales staff recieve incentives and rewards.  

i worked mainly as a warehouseman and gave sales a shot, it is atrocious!  your lucky to get your poxy 40 minutes lunch! they frown upon lunch breaks and consider you an enemy for losing sales and leaving the desk. 

the employment schemes is appalling, they hire anyone from anywhere with no brains or experience in any fields or the motor trade or experience on vehicles. 

the uniform is a nightmare, you will only receive a t-shirt or two and thats it, everything else you have to supply yourself, throughout the year if your work clothes get ruined. 

staff discount on parts is pointless because if you dont drive the manager doesnt let you buy for a close relative, even though its allowed but managers discretion. 

when i became  a sales Advisor i had no advanced training atall, they give you a big module pack of which you will never complete because the management have no training time put in place. 

you ended up with a call list and repetedly told to call everyone all the time, constantly cold calling customers pushing promotuons and sales. 

the warehouse organisation was non existant, parts not found where very common, expensive parts not found where hardly investigated, 

try having to tell customers we have failed continuously because our stock is missing or we cant manage to send the correct part number to a customer 

 i completed a first aid course, never received a certificate and never received a payrise for holding this certificate and being responsible for all staffs safety. 

any overtime you done would not be paid in the same month, you would receive half of a months overtime in the next month because of cut off dates etc. 

there are so many bad things about this company they need to iron out. 

this company could really go beyond further but needs to pick up the bread crumbs its leaving behind. 

after 3 years of hard work with nothing to show for it i am happy to say good riddance.

It starts with a lie, "Any Part for any Car," a slogan which must have been thought of by someone with the IQ of a turnip because that, like much else within this company is simply not going to happen.

A typical day at work would be 8am until 6pm, working every second Saturday from 8am until 4pm, with a contractual 40 minute Lunch Break.  Did I say Lunch Break?  Silly me, I forgot.  ECP are apparently exempt because in 6 months I only managed one full 40 minute break.  The culture frowns upon Lunch Breaks so you feel obliged not to take one and you end up cramming a Double Cheeseburger down your throat with one hand and answering the telephone with the other.  I kid you not.

What I learned.  Well the list is huge but the highlight was, "How to screw over all your Trade Customers by selling parts directly to their customers, on the internet, for less money than they can buy them for at trade."  Groundbreaking.  Only a complete genius could have come up with that one.

Management.  Perhaps one day they will have some.

Co-workers.  Mostly a great bunch of people who compensated for the otherwise shambolic work experience by having a great sense of humor.  It's a real shame that the staff are so undervalued and receive so little training.  ECP fails to understand that investment in people is an essential part of their business.  I've never seen so many young people with so much potential being so disregarded.

The Hardest Part of the Job.  Probably trying to figure out where all the missing stock goes to.  Everything from brake discs to light-bulbs to huge Commercial Batteries just seem to vanish into this Bermuda Triangle of missing car parts.  It's quite amazing but even more amazing is the way in which they compensate for the missing stock.  This is a cracker.  What they do is order in whatever is missing from another Branch or Distribution Centre and when the part arrives, the item is, "Shorted."  This means the computer is told that the part didn't arrive, even though it did, and then the part gets put on the shelf to replace the part that was missing.  It's brilliant.  With over 180 branches all stealing each others parts I can't begin to imagine the overall stock deficit.

Another hard part of the job was explaining to Trade Customers why the company apparently is incapable of picking the correct part, putting it into a van and delivering it from A to B.  That was a very common thing to have to do.

The most enjoyable part of the job.  For me this was certainly dealing with the Trade Customers.  I really enjoyed being able to do a good job for them.  Most of them were great to deal with in person and on the phone.

PS

On top of all this, they try and wriggle out of paying your sales bonus by hiding behind their, "Schemes," and "Terms & Conditions."  Their first move is not to actually supply you details of the, "Bonus Scheme," then tell you, "Oh you didn't hit target!" and by the way, "Here's a copy of the scheme."

So if you're thinking of working for ECP, I can only wish you the very best of luck.

Very quick to talk safety, but slow to put it into practice - trailers are rammed out right to the back doors (sometimes beyond - there have been occasions when the door won't close!) leaving drivers only the width of the tail-lift to turn pallets weighing 500kg+. Complain and the response is - "It's got to go, you'll be alright after the first drop is done".
Put it back on the bay and warehouse will then take an hour to sort any problem - even taking off just one pallet! They gamble every time that drivers will sort loading problems on the road as it's quicker than waiting, so continue to get away with poor loading practice. Company response to this - " Things will improve with the new loading system at the new depot". Not evidenced with the first loads coming out of there - the loading was considerably worse!
Under-rated ratchet straps (under-tensioned by loaders not familiar with the correct usage of them) used to secure roller cages instead of load-lock bars - "We'll make sure it doesn't happen again" - until tomorrow, anyway.
Then there is the load-lock bars which are not wide enough to hold in place - as you work your way down the trailer you find the bar on the floor instead of holding the cages in place, meaning that you now have cages able to move around. Not by much, but it is noticeable when you are driving, especially on corners. Warehouse issue again - wrong bars on the wrong trailer - "We'll have a word".
Tail-lifts that are not suitable for the job at hand - bi-fold platforms that angle downwards to touch the floor. Given the weight of some of the cages (200kg+), getting them off this type of tail-lift is by no means easy. Response - "Flat tail-lifts are fitted to the new trailers that are coming" (so is Christmas - place your bets). Better equipment should have been sourced as an interim solution.
Training? - Read this sheet, sign here and you are now trained, and therefore liable for disciplinary action if something goes wrong. Practical demonstrations were few and far between though, in fairness, that had started to improve.
The other bugbear is when you get back - trailers are tipped or swapped at a second depot. If you have to wait to be tipped it can take over an hour at times, especially on a Saturday. The situation is not helped by free-standing trailers being left on the de-kit bays and no prioritisation for waiting drivers. The last thing you need after 10+ hours into a shift is an avoidable wait upon return - something else that will "improve" when the move to the new depot is completed, management promise.

Why put up with it then?
In all honesty,the money. What they pay for 18 shifts on a four week rota is good money, and if you can tolerate the shoddy loading then overtime is always available.
Also, waiting for warehouse to make a hash of the loading gives you plenty of time to talk with the other drivers and compare stories of bad loading.
Likewise, waiting to be tipped at the other end of the shift gives you another chance to catch up with the other drivers.

Euro Car Parts have well established routines and process in place for the delivery of parts to their many varied customers. The use of technology and systems between the sales team, dispatch and drivers is clever and the system makes life easy for us all. Compared to our rivals who don’t have e-pods, I feel this is a big strength.

As a driver; the work isn’t too taxing, it’s usually straight forward and doesn’t require a great deal of thought or effort to complete tasks. However it’s repetitive, can be tedious, plus interaction with customers and colleagues is limited due to always being out on the road. You mostly deal with the delivery of parts, collections, returns, cash handling and making urgent deliveries. So there’s a small amount of paperwork involved, but nothing too difficult.

Generally the job offers a fair benefits package in the form of retail discounts and employee discount on car parts and consumables, which is more than generous and appreciated. But the wage of £9.5298 per hour (just less than 3p above NMW) isn’t great. Especially seeing as prices are rising faster than wages. Where yes, the job is straight forward - there’s also risks involved. Entering garages of all shapes and sizes with some leaving car parts everywhere, engines in pieces, loud noises and banging, cars on ramps and parts all over the floor that you have to step over at times. Plus traffic hazards and heavy lifting. This isn’t really compensated for or reflected within the wage. If you damage a van you have to pay up to £250 for the insurance excess, which comes out of your wages too. Not all garages / customers are disorganised as mentioned above, but a fair number are a H&S nightmare. And a lot of us are unsure if we’re covered if we have an accident whilst at a customer site which can be concerning for many. 

Whilst drivers are only employed part time, it means that full time contracts are not available to drivers despite seeing several people ask for them, though I’m not sure who’s responsible for this, if it’s a branch issue or a decision made by head office. This leads to a high staff turnover and dipped morale within the driving team when people leave. Though overtime is available, this is paid the following month and there’s a cut off, so it’s difficult to keep track of your monthly pay. 

Overall I’d say driving for Euro is simple, straight forward and you can go home after work knowing the work day’s over and your own time begins. There’s not a great deal of variance to the job though and you see most of what the role has to offer fairly quickly, so it’s not ideal for anyone who likes a challenge. 

Both management and other team members are friendly, full of banter and are supportive, but due to being out on the road for your entire shift there’s not a great deal of time to get to know people. So you’re often on the outside looking in as there’s no time to chat and catch up with people you work with. And any chance you do get is very short and as deliveries need to go out as quickly as possible, and it feels like you’re discouraged from spending too much time chatting and are interrupted quickly if you are having a catch up. 

Euro Car Parts – Rayleigh Essex 2010 to date
Sales Manager,
• Responsible for 14 sales advisers, including 2 advisors that run the trade counter, whose experience range from one month to 10 years in the business .Who contribute to an overall minimum daily target of £26,950.00 sales per day and £11,883.00 Margin per day.
• Increased daily sales since January 12 from £22,460.00 per day coaching and mentoring. Implementing processes and systems that will generate higher productivity and revenues.
• Effective use of the 80/20 rule to structure and plan each working day so 80% of time is spent on coaching and team development and 20% on admin tasks.
• Communicate changes to processes and the business, to ensure all agents remain fully up to date with all policies and procedures.
• Seek new ways to ensure team daily targets are met, using incentives and initiatives. Maximizing the use of customer sales promotions to grow the business.
• Effectively lead the team to achieve all business objectives through effective coaching, communication and continually improving sales advisor capability, through regular 1-2-1 meetings, and supporting them with PDP’s, providing feedback, recognizing and rewarding high performance.
• Provide daily MI of performance areas for all agents, to encourage own performance awareness.
• Monitors call quality through effective use of 1-2-1 call listening, whilst sales advisors are in live call situations.
• Effectively deal with all customer escalation calls, written correspondence and complaints.
• Liaise with other branches, distribution centre’s, to ensure customers, have the parts they require.
• Apply all management policies, attendance, disciplinary and capability. Applying health and safety measures including DSE requirements, accident reporting.
• Work with Marketing Team to ensure that all advertising and promotional material are used to the full to achieve set campaign targets.
• Liaise with Branch Manager and Operations manager on stock availability.
• Report monthly to Branch Manager and Regional Sales Manager the performance of the sales advisors against agreed targets, highlighting strengths and weaknesses together with proposed action plans for improvement if required.

I've been working for Euro Car Parts Basildon (Formerly in Rayleigh but re-located) for 3 years now.

Before I started here I was extremely nervous and had a lot of anxiety. I was pushed by some who previously worked here to join, as it is a friendly environment.

I can wholeheartedly agree, our little firm is like a little family. We all look out for each other and muddle in. Anyone who says otherwise just simply doesn't ask for help, or express any concerns they have to others. I'm much more confident in social situations now than I was before I started. 

Management are extremely understanding and will help you as long as you ask for it, they're extremely busy for the whole work day, so it's understandable that they will not go to you unless you express you need them. However. if they see a staff member visibly distressed they will put aside what they are doing and invite them to a private room for a chat to see what is wrong. Which considering how busy they are, I think is very respectful of them.

The hardest part of the job is definitely the lifting for me, but it's expected working with car parts. That and the frustration with the Wages. I am under 25, and I will not be getting the 'Living Wage' but that is NOT down to Basildon Branch that is down to PayRoll. My Managers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the choice they have made and they do not agree with it at all.

Overtime is always paid as long as you hand in Overtime sheets on at least a weekly basis. Anyone who says otherwise, again doesn't understand that the overtime is logged by ONE PERSON with over 100 Staff members to get through. Mistakes happen, we are only human. I have been left out overtime, it always gets paid straight in to the month after. 

There's a lot more I could type, but I think that will be enough for now. I just wanted to leave a good review for my branch as the ones on here don't show how great of a place it is IF YOU WORK HARD AND DO YOUR JOB PROPERLY. AND You get rewarded if you do!

Our whole branch once received Pizza for a week for hitting target!

head hunted, interview process was smooth enough until you actually start.

To start with I am a highly experienced Store Manager, Multi Sites, Cluster stores, big box retail for over 12 years.

Started as General Manager, was told for 6 months I would be training as a Sales Manager at a branch, this never happened. On my first day as a Sales Manager they openly introduced me to the new Sales Manager of that branch. 

I was greeted by a Area Trainer. I was handed a training document, told that he would be my point of contact for the first few weeks in the business, rest assured I never saw him again and never returned any of my calls

The training document was basic at best, openly told that it was out of date yet I was told to complete it, which I did.

For the first 5-6 weeks I had no contact with my line Manager, never asked how I'm getting on with the training, I was just getting on with it.

No health and safety was being used at any of the branches. i was at Euro Car parts for 2 and half months, Worst decision i ever made.

My line manager eventually made contact with me, instantly was told ''i didn't even know you are part of my structure'' Then after 1 meet was told there is no role for me and that he has had bad feedback about me, when I asked what about and by who the responses would have made more sense from a 5 year old. 

Shocking to say the least. i was doing 54 plus hours a week and mostly standing around doing nothing.

To all the great Retail Managers out there. Stay away, do not get tempted by the high pay they offer, it is not worth the head ache. Place is full of over paid 'sales Executives' who more or less run the place and owners that do not know what is going on within their brances. 

The General Manager population are only Managers because they are 'good guys' who have been there for a long time. FACT THIS DOES NOT MAKE YOU A SKILLED AND PROCESS DRIVEN MANAGER.

Even when I was asked to leave for no reason the HR team were not supportive at all, i eventually got a exit interview and is being reviewed by a legal team.

STAY AWAY PEOPLE

A typical day at work for me consists of 1 hour travelling, 10 hours of work and another hour home. 
I thoroughly enjoy this role as I am constantly challenged by customers and have a heavy involvement in the account management for my customer list.
I have learned a lot of motor trade skills and secrets but also a great deal about sales and how to get to your targets.
On top of this, being in a close office space, I have been able to appreciate how different behaviors and attitudes can have drastic and vast effects on the workplace environment and attitude between colleagues.
My management I cannot say I am the biggest fan of due to false promises that have been made to myself, hence one reason I am looking to get into a new company. Other than that, they have been very helpful in the past 14/15 months in getting me to the point I am at now where I feel comfortable that I am able to move into the next step of my career ladder. It is just unfortunate that I no longer feel that I can or want to achieve this within this company.
My co workers have varied over the past 14/15 months. Unfortunately there have been a lot of changes with management and colleagues on my own level since I have been here, so there has not been a very stable atmosphere. This has resulted in strong relationships with the few that have stayed and succeeded but a low morale in the workplace.
The hardest part of the job for me is probably the long journey to and from work as I leave home at 7 and get home at 7/8 depending on traffic. This leaves me with near to no personal time after work, and I feel I deserve a better work life balance.

The most enjoyable part of my role is dealing with the customers and being involved in an industry that interests me. In the past 6 months I have taken on the responsibility of looking after all performance part related sales and inquiries.
I have been aiming to become a Business Development Manager so I can get out and deal with customers face to face.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales advisor 27 salaries reported	£25,315 per year
Delivery driver 7 salaries reported	£25,000 per year
Branch administrator 87 salaries reported	£13,905 per year
Warehouse worker 3 salaries reported	£22,867 per year
Parts advisor 1 salary reported	£19,500 per year

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