Pros: job security, good employee tire prices
Cons: no breaks, no advancement, low pay, high turn over, unobtainable goals
I worked for Firestone for 3 years. Advancement in my specific geographic area was very limited, as Store Managers all have been with the company for over 10 years. Most district staff had unobtainable goals set by men that haven't worked in a shop for 30 years. Being open on Sundays (and obviously Saturday) meant zero real family time.
In store management
– more... training classes, we were told to not hire people based on the fact they were single parents, as they would not be dependable enough. This was the very first time I thought of getting out of the company.
The technicians that were hired were extremely young and inexperienced and it was the service managers job to teach them everything and/or do it for them for a very small hourly rate. Firestone does not pay any technician enough money to obtain or retain a REAL mechanic.
Firestone does have good policies and procedures to follow, although these were rarely enforced. There is no accountability, as you could make mistakes multiple times without any repercussions. I guess that's good for job security, but bad for the customer.
Firestone has turned into something more resembling a Kohl's or J.C. Penny's. You are told to hassle every customer to open a Firestone card just like the Kohl's and J.C. Penny's folk. They are more of a retail outlet based on high turn around rather then employee retention and loyalty.
I did not get fired or quit for any negative reason. I left Firestone because I relocated and decided to not pursue a transfer.
This is a decent place to get your feet wet in the industry, but is a dead end job for the 95% of employees that work for the company. The other 5% must stay with the company 15+ years and let others retire before any real advancement is available. Knowing people in higher places helps too, as one store manager that was going to be fired in our district relocated to another district where he personally knew the district manager. He was promoted to assistant district manager within a few months.
No one was ever given or scheduled a lunch break, especially those selling team mates. The store was never staffed enough to logistically plan a lunch break. The store was always too busy to leave one person alone and be eaten by the wolves. You worked by yourself for 9-10 hours on Sunday with zero breaks. – less