putting all the cards on the table
After alot of thinking, the best thing i can come up with is to put all the marbles on the table and see where they fall. You have to remember this is a tough position for me because if i sit back and say nothing, people will think i have something to hide, and if i attack BG, it will be because im a disgruntled ex-employee which is not necessarily the fact.
The Setup
I started work at Batlground in June of 2007. I was approached by both Topspeed and Batlground at the same time. After meeting with both, it seemed, at the time, that the better opportunity existed with BG.
I had some concerns that needed to be addressed prior to starting at BG:
1) Take a substantially lower salary so that i may be able to PROVE myself over time. I took only what i needed to SURVIVE. This was $300/week or $7.50/hour. BG offered me 10% commission on profit of new parts sales and 5% on used part sales. i agreed to their offer.
2) we agreed that within 6 months i would either receive a part-ownership or profit sharing in the company, both of which never happened.
3) I wanted full control over posting and sales and customer service
I came to Batlground with some of my own vendors, sales associates and clientel. I was happy to pass those contacts and "deals" off to my current employer , BATLGROUND.
Around september of 2007 i was approached by a person (we will call him Mr. X) that had a good deal on some Honda products, they were Replica headers. This contact approached me through a vendor of mine. I asked Dan if he was interested, after a little convincing Dan let me purchase the headers through MY CONTACT.
I sold these headers on IA and on HT and other forums. I came up with the idea to sell on EBAY as well, after several WEEKs of pestering my bosses for access to ebay accounts, i finally decided to do it myself. I created a name and started selling headers on ebay along with OTHER BATLGROUND USED PARTS.
ALL MONIES MADE BY ME WERE PAID TO BATLGROUND VIA CASH. I HAVE ALL RECORDS AND RECEIPTS ALONG WITH SPREADSHEETS.
Around September Scot Siegel came to work for BG under the same premise. Work an prove yourself to later become a a partial owner or partner in the business. After 45 days, he quit and went to Topspeed.
I stuck it out and made Batlground a substantial amount of money by moving new parts to existing customers, new customers, and some of my past customers. i also sold their old parts on several different forums.
In january we started out using Quickbooks as an accounting system. I spent several HUNDRED HOURS setting the system up, using it, screwing it up and fixing it , etc. Up until the time i left, it was still not 100% accurate but i would feel comfortable saying it was 99% accurate with some bugs to work out.
By the middle of February, i started wondering what was going on with the "partnership and Profit sharing" that i was promised in our original discussions. After several DEAD END conversations with Dan, i became frustrated and upset. My bills were piling up, i was in a financial bind because what i was making was just barely enough for me to SURVIVE. I felt after 7 months, i had brought in enough business, been loyal enough and done enough to prove that i was worth a "raise."
The Problem
Around this time (mid feb) i sold out of all the replica headers we had. I also ended up selling my silvia for a substantial amount of money. I was approached via email by "MR. X" again about possibly purchasing some headers and new products. Rather than cut BG out and use my own money, i again passed this deal onto Batlground.
After the initial 6 months had passed, several attempts to obtain a raise, get some form of profit-sharing, or a part-ownership deal going and nothing coming from it, i was left with no avenue but to make extra money one way or another. At this time i was approached again by "Mr. X" about doing another buy in for a different product. I decided to purchase REG B series headers OUTSIDE OF BATLGROUND.. I had all my headers shipped to an outside party.
I Gave the outside party access to my paypal and my EBAY account an told him all i wanted was my money back plus $30 per header he sold.
In hindsight this was probably not the most ethical thing i could have done. I realize now it was probably a bad decision and in the end i was only hurting myself. i wasn't competing directly with BG because i was selling headers that they didnt even carry. however, in hindsight, i do recognize the fact that i could have found another stream of revenue w/o it being a conflict of interests. I should have quit at that time , but i tried to just keep everything going for as long as i could. again, hindsight is 20/20.
I want to reiterate that i NEVER STOLE BUSINESS NOR CUSTOMERS FROM BATLGROUND. All labor and installs INCLUDING tuning were ALWAYS run through Batlground. I simply invested some of my PERSONAL money in some products that they didn't carry in order to help alleviate some of the financial burden i had incurred while "proving" myself to BG.
At the beginning of my employment, the responsibilities i agreed to included: sell parts, run the Batlground Parts Store (which i spent 3 months working on and we NEVER USED, http://parts.batlground.com/). I was also supposed to book and schedule appointments. that was our original agreement and that was what i was paid for. however, many additional responsibilities were added and i was never compensated for the additional workload.
below is a list of some of my additional duties:
Marketing
Advertising
Accounting
Consulting
Paying Personal and business Bills
Shop Operations
Sometimes yes, i EVEN WORKED ON CARS. While Dan and Tracy were off at SEMA, i PERSONALLY did Lawrence Starks GSR swap in his EG. I also did various labor things like pull and remove parts while brandon was busy, electrical diagnoses on cars. So this notion that i never worked on cars is again, simply false.
Now, i NEVER TOOK CREDIT FOR ANY WORK THAT BRANDON OR DAN DID AT THE SHOP. I have nothing but respect for Dan and Brandon in regards to the tuning and labor they perform. as far as im concerned i went above and beyond what was initially asked of me and i did it with professionalism and respect. If people considered me to be "the face" of BG, it was never my intention. my only intention was to provide a service to our customers that no one could look back on and say anything negative.
On Monday dan asked me about a header that was sold outside of batlground and at first i told him it was none of his business, then i finally told him the truth. I also had a 4 hour heart to heart with him and basically at the end of the conversation i came to 3 conclusions
1) I was never going to be paid what i think im worth
2) I was never going to be a partner unless i invested a substantial amount of money into the business
3) I was better off walking away and cutting ties than lying to myself and staying at BG
I decided to QUIT. I walked away on my own terms, i even settled peoples bills that were outstanding to HELP BATLGROUND tie up any loose ends.
I ran a forum for Batlground (they paid for advertising on K20a.org) and i have since emailed the owner of K20a.org an told him to take down the forum and put it in batlgrounds name. I had my name and my threads deleted.
I want to take responsibility for the actions i took, any damage i may have caused myself or others, and i want to come clean so there is NO SPECULATION. I have always been honest and upfront, people that KNOW me , know that i have a great passion for my friends, my customers , and my family. at the end of the day, i just wanted to come clean and let everyone know where i may have done something wrong and why it happened.
im not going to get into specifics. in the next few days im sure many fine details will be released and some of it may be true and some of it may not be. BG was fully aware of all my actions and responsibilities. Dan was my boss and was "on top" of me 24/7. tracy, on the other hand, has not been in the shop more than handful of times in the last 9 months. so take what you hear with a grain of salt. i wish nothing but the best for BG and its staff.
at this point in my life, i have realized that i can't count on anyone but myself. If i want something in life, i have to go for it. i can't count on someone else to help make me successful. i have to go do it for myself.
this will be my only post concerning this situation NO MATTER WHAT IS SAID.
again, best of luck to BG... and cheers to a new chapter in my life.
- mike corvey aka vteckidd
Originally Posted by AlanŽ
Though I can't help but wonder like others if this is just an alaborate april fools
