what happened in Atlanta?

Employee: Where are you interviewing at?

Soon to be:
Who are your "sources" at HR?" Do you believe that they can really be trusted? I would think that consistent and deliberate enforcement would hold more water than selective, case-by-case enforcement, presumably based on the success of any startup or needle movement of a competitor? I guess it depends on the integrity of the select few who will now be swallowed up by ATC. Do you think that they will rat on their friends who they may be coming to soon for another opportunity anyway once their sacrificial mission plays out? I guess it depends on how brainwashed they got in Atlanta last week.
The other side of this is that COX has had no apparent problems or guilt in hiring sales people that came from competitors and the trade info that was asked for in that process. When I was hired up here in the North 2 years ago shortly after this "divorce" or whatever you all call it, I was not even asked if I had signed a non-compete with my former employer, and I was welcomed with open arms but was also "expected", (although not in writing) to bring my clients with me, which I did and they happily took the money with [again] no guilt whatsoever. Then all these good things I though were coming my way really started spelling the beginning of the end... AutoExtra lost the slick covers, went B&W and all the positions that I was told I could sell on the new display program during the big blitz went ROP to save money. Then, all of the ads that I took and promised to my clients would appear on AT.C at no charge got blocked, as well as the blocking by ATC of my 800 tracking numbers that helped my credibility with my converted clients as that all changed, and my promised level playing field became a sand box that resembled a badly abused cat litter box, and I became elevated to a position of ceremonial shmuck with my dealer advocates and confidants. So I got pretty much lied to from day one. Bitter ??? Of course not! I am finally liberated next week.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Dan, I think you sound sexy when you get so passionate, you must be very bitter. I think I like it.

I worked on AutoExtra.com for a little over a year. I was a developer on the website. It's no wonder this is happening when the entire web team is telling management the site needs to be redesigned and instead of allowing their own design and web teams do this, they hired an outside firm that charged around 2 million bucks. A lot of this money was for advertising and such, but why wasn't the in-house team allowed to do this? Some folks in upper management should've been canned for that, but instead, all of the hard-working employees are being laid off. Luckily, I jumped ship right after the first round of layoffs occurred in the Norfolk office.

Always in need of a laugh. Especially as next week approaches!
Wish me luck on my round two interview tomorrow.

First of all, my last day was Friday, and to all who are wondering the severance is 1 week of your average pay over the last year for every 1 complete year of service.

Getauto is dealer specialties, which is dominion, and NO getauto.com is not going to take over the print books. Your dealer specialty rep doesnt know what he is talking about.

As for the non-compete, yes its in place but there is really not going to be anybody around (locally) to enforce it.

Our market here is still VERY strong in the book. I would not be surprised if somebody does not come in and start one up again. Our publication here, like other cities, was started years ago and was a family owned and run business, then cox (trader pub) bought them out.

I have not heard anything about some cities continuing to put out the book, its a nation wide deal, they are not going to pick and choose what to keep and what to dump. They are dumping the whole thing.

According to HR at Cox - every no compete will be held on a case by case basis.They may not enforce it but will enforce the confidentiallity agreement. I think this is hillarious considering we will be sharing trade secrets that apparantly don't work.LOL. I think we should all focus on the main issue here - the girl that posted this is HOTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!

even if true do you really want to trust your future to a company that obviously does not care about its employees. At the first opportunity they will spit you out.

I don't understand, I got an Email from my manager this morning and he talked about some secret managers meetings and that some cities may be looked at to continue running the pubs. Has anyone heard any more on this?

I worked for Trader as a sales rep for 18+ years. Four years ago after loosing faith in Trader management, I joined 6 other disgruntled employees to start ZoomAutos.com Magazine in San Diego(Trader's strongest market). There is great opportunity for everyone who has just been dumped by Trader. Start your own Magazine! I am offering ZoomAutos.com as a "Production Hub" for anyone wanting to start a new magazine anywhere in the country. We can provide Magazine layout, Display page building, Website creation and management, Internal ad management site, Dealer feed processing, Distribution plan, and General guidance for an affordable rate. You just need Sales and Distribution teams (and of course money). Checkout our site and email me anytime if you are considering your own magazine. carmen@zoomautos.com

The key semantic difference in a non compete is "you will not provide services directly or indirectly, in connection with the marketing, sales, promotion, production, or distribution of any conflicting product in any conflicting territory. As marketed by Cox print has been a separate entity wholly different from the internet. It would be extremely difficult for a valid non compete claim to be enforced. Cox by their previous marketing in that they differentiated print and internet will doom their efforts to prevail legally. However that does not mean that they will not threaten and bluster. Consult an attorney if you have doubts and good luck.

Employee,

Don Stapleton is not entirely right. Non-competes are illegal in CA for the most part but not all cases.

There are a couple of circumstances of where they are enforceable and they have to do with selling ownership in the company.

Regardless of what state you are in, I would suggest you consult with legal counsel before making your own determination. It could end up costing you if you make the wrong decision.

I would check with an attorney about the semantics and specific language of the non-competition and non-solicitation aspects of the agreement that every regional director, general manager, general sales manager, sales manager, and sales representative or sales assistant signed as a requirement of their employment.
You will no doubt soon notice (if you have not yet received it) that a copy has been conveniently provided to you as part of your separation and severance package as a glaring reminder of how bad your life is really about to become.

The real issue is that COX has in fact abandoned print, but not dealer advertising and marketing per se and they know it.They have simply transitioned to a 100% online media strategy. The non-compete specifies that you will not provide services directly or indirectly, in connection with the marketing, sales, promotion, production, or distribution of any conflicting product in any conflicting territory.

However, all it may take is a precedent somewhere in the country where a judge interprets the actions by COX of slapping a restraining order on a sales person who goes out and simply tries to make a living doing what they know best as unjust, unfair, and with malicious intent on the part of the big monster company that first lays off hundreds of loyal employees and then tries to prevent them from gaining employment in the 10% unemployment world that we are all about to experience first-hand. After all, the true intent of the non-compete was just to keep people from jumping ship and divulging secrets, or after they got fired for being lousy sales people who would not make it anywhere else anyway.
Interesting puzzle for them. If COX comes on too strong here, what will happen is that every [former] advocate of the organization is going to hear from their former reps on how their dear friends and consultants who made their ndealerships successful are being absolutely trampled over every which way by the huge company that now wants to cram 3 internet sites down their throats and ask for more money yet essentially telling them at the same time that the thousands that they have been spending up to this point on print was a huge waste of money? Good luck with that one!
While you should not make disparaging remarks about your former employer or make inaccurate statements, you are still allowed to speak your mind. Remember that the voice of one may be small and faint... I would hope that when the collective voice of the many afflicted who rise up and state their case honestly and without prejudice and simply and truthfully tell their story, that things will perhaps change for the better and people will be allowed to work in their chosen field of expertise.

Technically the company has not left the market. Just a division of the company. right?

all non competes are void. They never were valid in California as they are illegal in this state. No court in the land would be able to enforce a non compete when the company exits its business.

Does anybody know if we are employable by competitors or if our non compete agreement still applies even though the company is going under??

Thanks!

Sad days indeed. The classic signs of doom were all there for the last year and a half! Talk about used, abused, lied to, and let down.
But don't blame the RD's. In the end, everyone got played and tossed aside and the fat lady is just warming up for her act...

If you have your health, shelter, food, and someone to love, you are far better off than millions of folks out there in the world that are hurting even more, so make the best of it, keep your chin up and get back in the fight.

Kip, that is awesome - I will get your name and number out to my contacts from Cox in those states.

We are a family business that publishes weekly Auto & RV magazines in OH,IN,KY,TN,MI,IL & WI. We still have strong response to our print products and our web site autorv.com. We are always looking for strong sales people that can produce results. If you would like to talk call me at 800-733-4111 ext. 2328.

Never heard of it - and this is not the statewide pub I was referencing above (don't want to name the publication here because that is not the purpose of this forum) but it outperformed Auto Mart and is a FREE publication which is the only way a print pub will work in my opinion.

I will take a look at the getauto thing but it ussually takes many months if not years for a start up to gain traction - I have seen many come and go.

Good luck Cox employees!!!

The guy that takes car pictures for Dealers Specialty said the print books is going to be done by Getauto.com now.
I told my Auto mart salesperson to talk to them about a job, but she can't becasue theres a non-competing contract Cox had all sign.
I thought Cox and Getauto were the same, but after reading the posts here they're not, but were once??
What a cluster..... too bad for all the employess, i wish you all the best.

Ridiculous strategy!If you do an analysis in most every market - Print Pick up greatly exceeds Internet search results and leads. Direct navigation to the Automart site has increased dramatically - how does this happen ?? It comes from the print customers. I certainly am not bitter about the company's decision,I merely have a low tolerence for stupidity.Trader publishing could have set the standards for dealers and competitors this year but now will become just like the rest - nothing unique or different, but hey I do see a commercial about once every 6 months.I wonder if my 1000 phone leads a month from Automart print were better than the 20 e-mails we generated each month. Good luck to all former Cox employees.

I don't know if I am more suprised that they just killed the magazine or they would actually try to bring back auto trader as a paid publication in order for Cox to satisfy their distribution contracts???!!!

How can these "big wigs" come to the conclusion that print is dead. Most of our qualified leads came from Auto Mart and another free statewide publication here in Michigan (shall remain nameless here). Both pulled WAY more than autotrader.com. and both seam to do a robust business - we would have been screwed this year without these two magazines. Print may be dead in 10 years but for now I think this is a HUGE mistake for them.

I have a freind who owns a motorcycle shop and says Dominion is next and that in some Illinois markets they are eliminating cycle trader and pushing customers to their web sites because Cox wont deliver them!!

Pure stupidity!!!

I became a Cox employee when my city was acquired by them. I was thankful for the the generous severance I received when the original founder sold out and I decided to give my new employer a chance. It was fun to be a part of a very successful organization and I was well paid for my time. Everyone in the organization cared about the customers we served and we were one of the most profitable cities in the country. In my opinion, the company began to focus more on cutting costs than it did on customer satisfaction. I felt that the company did not want to listen to my ideas so I decided to quit about 4 years ago. It is sad to see so many people hurting because upper management did not adapt to the changing market conditions.

To all of those about to be laid off: The sooner you let go of your past and forgive your last boss for all the suffering you had to go through, the better off you will be in the future. Most of the middle managers I worked for at Cox were only guilty of carrying out orders from the top and the people at the top were just trying to keep their jobs. If upper management had been more responsible, the company could have been better off, even in a down market. Now more than ever, dealers need a decent place to advertise and it is too bad that something that used to be free as part of a print package now costs more and more every year. Good luck in your job hunt and make sure you get a job with a company that cares about you and the customers you will serve. I am glad I chose to quit on my terms instead of waiting for the train wreck but there are some good companies out there that will hire you as long as you put your best foot forward. Keep in touch with your friends and network as much as possible. When you are in a job interview, avoid bad-mouthing your last boss and you will soon be living the dream. Good luck with your job search.