Workplace reviews and discussion: 國通汽車股份有限公司

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1. Four days off per month, with absolutely no compliance with the Labor Standards Act. You clock in when you arrive at work but do not clock out when you leave (so you have no evidence to report them). Anyone who has worked in the automotive industry knows that selling cars requires being on duty. Very, very, very often, even when it is not your duty shift, you still have to stay at the company until after 7 or 8 p.m. (working hours start at 8:30 a.m.). You are not handling customers either; it is simply that if you leave first, your manager will pressure you. ??? At the end of the month, they give you an attendance sheet to fill out, and it is all fake! Fake! The leaving time is always written as before 6 p.m. Except for duty days, every entry says before 6 p.m. They even make you write that you took leave when you did not, and then ask you to sign it. It is all fake, designed to leave you with no evidence to report them, because it bears your handwritten signature. Since you do not clock out, there is no record.

2. There is something called a customer-visit list. The company gives you customer information for people who previously bought Nissan cars, regardless of how long ago they bought them, and requires you to visit 150 addresses a month. That alone is not the main issue; the important thing is that you "must" find the vehicle owner or user. If you happen to reach a family member, after returning to the company you still have to contact the owner or user, and you must keep trying until you reach them. Often, because you did not notify them in advance and simply rang their doorbell to visit, the person will yell at you. Another situation is when you cannot reach the owner or user—for example, they do not answer their cell phone, so you call the landline and the person tells you they will inform the owner that your company called to check in. That still does not count! You still have to get in touch with the company’s so-called "potential" customer. At that point, you tell the family member that you must speak to the owner, and then you get yelled at again... In short, you absolutely, absolutely have to contact the owner or user. Often I would call one person more than a dozen times without getting an answer. What are you supposed to do? Waste your time! At the end of the month, the company randomly checks these 150 households by asking whether a salesperson has ever visited their home. If not, they deduct NT$1,000 from your base salary for each customer! Even if you did visit, if someone in one of those 150 households says no, the company believes the customer rather than the salesperson and still deducts NT$1,000. Simply put, this company’s system is truly extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely terrible!!!!!!!

3. There are countless situations where you lose money selling cars. In our minds, good performance = more money, because you sold a car—that is reasonable, right? In reality, that is not the case! The company gives you a minimum price. If you sell below that price and do not make the money back elsewhere, you lose money! Online information is now extremely accessible and transparent, so many customers look up information online before buying a car and then make you an offer. You have the right not to sell because you are already losing money. But in some situations, your manager pressures you: “You’re only losing NT$5,000; you can sell it,” or “You’re only losing NT$10,000; you can sell it.” Of course, you do not pay all of this money yourself—the manager contributes some—but in reality, selling that car still makes your own wallet get smaller and smaller. So, not selling is not an option!

3. Regarding the company’s system, you receive a bonus for selling each car. The bonus is calculated separately and is unrelated to the minimum price. The losses I mentioned above are after deducting the bonus the company gives you. As for how the company pays bonuses, there are two portions: one is included in your salary the following month, and the other is held as your year-end bonus. It is paid twice a year, at the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year, but! They only pay you half. For example, if I should receive NT$50,000, the company gives me only NT$25,000 and tells me that the other half will be paid at the next Mid-Autumn Festival or Chinese New Year. If you do not stay until then, you do not receive that money either. Using this method to retain employees is something I really cannot accept...

In conclusion, this company’s system has an extremely large number of unreasonable aspects. Unless you are naturally submissive, or truly have no other option because no company is willing to hire you, I genuinely recommend that you not waste your limited time there.

These are the stark examples I experienced while working there, along with my personal impressions.