"Bait-and-switch" is a deceptive sales practice that entails advertising a certain product at a certain price, getting a commitment from a customer to purchase it, then substituting a product of inferior quality. It's a commonly used term in the automotive industry, wherein one might advertise the newest model for no money down, then when the customer shows up to buy, after pulling in their financial information, informing them that the no money down guarantee only applies to last year's model.
Needless to say, it's highly illegal. Employing bait-and-switch marketing tactics can end with your entire dealership's sales license being revoked.
This post is not about The Company using bait-and-switch tactics. In fact, The Company goes above and beyond in being (relatively) straightforward and no-haggle. Our customers may not understand what the term "estimate" means, but the sticker price is the sticker price and the vehicles are exactly what they say they are. Rather, this post is about the employees.
A few months ago, my savings had dwindled to an alarming level after almost five months of unemployment, and the job hunt was on. I was intent on a job in the tech sector; entry level helpdesk, QA, or even cabling. Something to get my foot in the door while I continued studying. 50 or so applications, only a few bites, and all of them were "well, we really want 2-3 years of experience for this entry level position, so..."
I expanded my purview, hoping that even if the world of IT was closed to me, I could leverage my previous sales experience into something to pay the bills. Two sales positions with breweries and one with a distillery fell through my fingers--apparently even eight years of experience in that industry means jack shit. That's why I left.
I was on LinkedIn and Indeed daily, applying to everything I could, dodging scams, shady insurance sales, and plenty of bait-and-switch postings. (Looking for a marketing account manager! Read: standing on street corners for telecom companies.) Then finally, one got back to me: The Company. Used car sales. 25 minute commute, salary plus bonus plus benefits. 40 hours a week, regular hours.
Within two weeks, I was walking into the dealership, still not quite sure what to expect. A few weeks later, I've found out. "40 hours a week" is what you get when you round down. You don't work 9-5, you work 8:30-5. "Regular hours" means you generally work during the day. But your shift might start at 9:30. It might start at 11:30. It always changes. Good luck planning evenings.
But the biggest thing I didn't expect, is that the time to punch-out is merely a suggestion. Ephemeral. If a customer walks in 15 minutes before the dealership closes, someone still has to make the sale. This, on average, takes about three hours. So if you were planning to waltz out at 6 on the dot and make your dinner reservations at 7, it's just not going to happen. The sale comes first. You don't.
To be honest, this has disheartened me. I deeply value a work-life balance, and to me that means when it's time to clock out, it's time to goddamn clock out. But alas, after barely a month at this job, I'm averaging almost 45 hours a week, and that number keeps ticking up. Tonight, scheduled from 11:30-8, I didn't actually get home until almost 10:30. Factoring in an hour commute both ways, I'm comfortable saying I worked a 12 hour day. On a slow Monday, simply because a customer decided to show up 20 minutes before the dealership officially closed.
I'm not happy about having this particular rug pulled out from under me, especially since I was hoping to use my evenings to study for the job I actually want to do. I feel like I was lied to. I feel exploited, like my time is no longer my own if it can be better put to use making a sale. I was bait-and-switched.