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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

GM Problems Are About To Hit Home


It has been reported that Barrett Chevrolet in Berlin and Courtesy Chevrolet in Salisbury will be closing their doors in two weeks.

This is a serious problem here on the Eastern Shore as this will cause the loss of literally hundreds of jobs.

We're not sure if either of these two Dealerships have broken the news to their Employees, (we certainly hope so) but we have received the information from a good source and no one else seems to want to make any comment at this time.

The decision was made by General Motors and not the independent Dealer, just for the record.

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel bad for the good employees who will lose their jobs, but Courtesy should have been shut down a LONG time ago!

Anonymous said...

Man our economy here on the eastern shore , has gone to ----.
This is really bad for the shore ,everything around here is closing except the jobs that pay nothing.
Well those who have money look for more homes for sale , at bargain basement prices.
Look for the rest or us out on the street begging for food.

Anonymous said...

I was leaving the parking garage "B" at PGH this afternoon and counted 15 aliens working on the sidewalks and roadways. Amazing!

Anonymous said...

Everyone... it's a GM thing not just an Eastern Shore problem.

Anonymous said...

6:24,


How do you know they were aliens? Did they have big tags that said "aliens". I'm sure you'd put me, a Hispanic born in the US, under that alien moniker if you saw me. Ah, racial profiling at its finest.

Illegal immigration is wrong, but bigoted comments like that don't help those who want a strong border and US laws enforced.

Anonymous said...

It may be a GM thing to you but business all over Maryland are shutting down. You can thank the greedy democraps for that as this state has been run by them for more than 40 years.

Vote Republican.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Courtesy should have been close LONG ago, and so should it's so called Parent store Midway in Pocomoke. Preston (Sho-Wil) is another that is the does not do GM any good.

Anonymous said...

Well, I recently bought a new saturn from Saturn of Salisbury and i took my car to Courtesy to have warranty work done to the car. Well I find out that only a saturn dealer can do the warranty work. I was always under the impression that any GM dealer could do the warranty work to the car. Now, I have to drive from Salisbury to Dover DE or Glen Burnie MD to get work done to my car. This is a serious issue.

Anonymous said...

Great opportunity for those few remaining new and used car dealerships that will be able to jack up the price on their inventory without much competition.

Anonymous said...

I here ya 6:08, I hear ya.

Anonymous said...

Dont listen to him 6:24.

Anonymous said...

NOT SURE WHEN YOU VISITED COURTESY LAST. BUT THERE ARE ALOT OF NEW FACES AND THEIR STAFF SUITS THEIR NAME "COURTESY" GREAT GROUP OF PEOPLE. GO SHOW THEM YOUR SUPPORT. AN EMPLOYEE TOLD ME THAT THEY ARE NOT CLOSING THEIR DOORS AND ARE OPTIMISTIC THAT THEY MAY BE ABLE TO KEEP THE GM FRANCHISE.

Anonymous said...

Ever try to report illegal aliens? What a joke! Call homeland security...they are over 4months behind in investigations in this area. They dont do field investigations, nor do they go out and look at job sites I've reported. There are several companies in the Salisbury area in construction and landscaping that win bids and contracts with illegal employees, they arnt paying taxes, insurance or ss on them. They bid jobs cheaper by breaking the laws while legit companies suffer with no work. There are also many with fake ss cards. Why is it those that are paid to uphold the law have determined these laws arent important.....they are stealing our jobs, our money, our food. Maybe if we expose the companies that are doing this? or do we All start breaking the laws in order to survive?
JnD landscaping, Legendary Landscaping...

Anonymous said...

Hows that "change" workin for ya?

Anonymous said...

Maybe the aliens were green with elongated heads and large egg like eyes.

Anonymous said...

There are also rumors of Sensata Technologies (formerly Airpax) in Cambridge closing in August or September. They used to employ over 2,000 people, now there are less than 80 thanks to outsourcing to Mexico, China, and India. Thank you US government! To the corporations, what comes around goes around!!!!!!!

Ironshire said...

Yeah, 6:24 was out of line unless they were green and had antenna sprouting from their heads...

And as for Barrett... A lot of good people work there and a lot of bad people own it. Bubba Barrett left his stamp on this county and it stinks.

Matter of fact, can anyone name a car dealer anywhere that you can trust? IMHO, they're all a bunch of crooks!

Anonymous said...

This a part of Obama's requirement. This guy is more dangerous than even I believed at first!

No one can give a plausible reason why prosperous small businesses (dealerships) are being shut down, other than is a redistribution of wealth plan falling within the Obama model. It is and will create a domino effect.

6:34....15 Hispanics on the same job is at least worrisome and could be discrimination.

Anonymous said...

How true 6:49 as if the new and Used car dealers are not ripping the Public off now. The used car dealers are making more on a vehicle than the new car dealers now. They are making at least 50% profit on these new cars. That is why the car makers are losing money, pi$$ poor management means greed.

Anonymous said...

Not true that they're closing their doors...they're just changing.

Anonymous said...

It is not a GM thing for me.
It is an eastern shore thing.
I live and work here .

Anonymous said...

This is very irresponsible reporting. Unless your damn well sure that it's going to happen, you better be careful with what you post on this blog. Unbelievable.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why you would even post this if you were not sure the employees know or not. Doesn't seem very fair for the world to know first.

Anonymous said...

If you get a chance, check how much Courtesy charges for Labor to work on your car. The labor rate has to be approved by GM and that is what they pay them for warranty work. GM requires that they charge the customer the same amount. Last time I checked the labor rate at Courtesy and Midway was very close to $100.00 per hour !!!

DLT said...

Courtesy is not closing! They will not be selling new cars, but will still be offering service and parts. They will continue to sell used cars as well. You might want to find a more reliable source of information. I have a family member who works for the dealership, it doesn't get more reliable than that.

Anonymous said...

Vote republican, yes just what we need four more years of george bush.
Hell we will be in real good shape then wont we.

Anonymous said...

I will take George Bush's 4% unemployment rate for his 8 years...not Obama's now at 9.5% and rising to probably 12% Now that's change for u!!! Just not good change

Idiots who voted for Obama now get what they deserve.

Anonymous said...

7:17 I couldn't agree with you more! Well said and SOOOO very true!!!!

Anonymous said...

7:17 its new world era man and (WE) seem to be getting more obsolete every day.

Anonymous said...

More profit margin in used cars any way. Has been for decades.

Anonymous said...

maybe if more people had bought those new overpriced cars and trucks like they went out and bought the overpriced new and existing homes during the bubble, the car makers wouldn't be in trouble. Just more of mainstream America would be.
I am one that hopes even though this is a sad thing now, maybe you'll be able to buy a car or truck for what it's really worth without all the price gouging.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

I will take George Bush's 4% unemployment rate for his 8 years...not Obama's now at 9.5% and rising to probably 12% Now that's change for u!!! Just not good change

Idiots who voted for Obama now get what they deserve.

9:03 PM

BINGO!!

Anonymous said...

It would seem that the term "independent dealer" is not quite accurate. The fact that GM can close a dealer indicates that he/she is very much dependent upon the whims of GM. GM just goes by numbers of units sold rather than the size of the community and other factors. It would seem that an area the size of the Salisbury "metropolitan" area should be able to support a Chevy/Cadillac franchise. If we lose our Chevy dealership, then what?

Anonymous said...

Didn't the Hertrich family buy Courtesy? I'm pretty sure they are.

Anonymous said...

Ross Perot was right about NAFTA.All of our manufacturing jobs went south or to the Far East. The only ones left were car makers with high-priced union contracts choking them until we wind up where we are now.

Anonymous said...

7:17, you are right on. One of these guys pays his illegals with a check, then the next day collects back from them $30 to cover pickup and transport to their jobsites. The $30 (in cash) goes guess where?

Anonymous said...

To those who think losing GM franchise is not closing... you're an idiot. No way they can compete as a used car place with the Car Store and Delmar Auto Sales, etc.

I bought my Chevy there and tried 3 times to give them a chance at servicing it and they were horrible. I've been taking my Chevy to Price Buick GMC for 7 years and couldn't be happier with the work and what they charge.

I had my car for 3 days and had to put air in one of the tires each day, so I went back to Courtesy and they said, we don't work on tires... ok, but this car is 3 days old, i just want to know does the tire look low to you? or am I just crazy. LOOK we don't work on tires... ok, but it's 3 days old, is it covered under warranty? NO, it's 3 days old and you're going to tell me tough luck? YES. ok, so I had to go to Greir and they replaced it under Goodyear's warranty. (i didn't care as much they wouldn't cover it, but the fact they were so assinine about it and wouldn't even have a tech look at the tire and say yep it's low)

Then GM did a recall and i went and asked if my car was effected, they're like how are we supposed to know? Call GM. oooookay.. I got an oil change there first time and they had told me they had a Courtesy van (no pun) and i get there and they said it was broke down (great.. a car repair shop with a broke down car) you mean you can't use one of the used cars... so i sat and waited and waited, it took them 90 minutes to change the oil, and they were rude about it and it was like $32 back when it was cheaper to get changed like $17.95-22.95 everywhere else.

Everytime I've needed warranty work done on my car, I would just take it to Price, they in the GM system and no problems. The one time a Chevy dealer HAD to do the work and I told Price I wasn't dealing with Courtesy, so they had me bring the car to them and they took it to Courtesy for me!

If you're thinking of buy a Caddy, I'd say get a buick from Price instead, if you're thinking Chevy truck get a GMC from Price instead.

Chimera said...

Sounds like the stimulus package is really helping out folks-NOT!
I thought we were supposed to see change,but not for the worse.Where exactly are these people supposed to find jobs?Its almost like the government wants to punish people who have the audacity to work hard and live well.
At least we still have Ford......

Anonymous said...

9:03 you are the idiot, bush created what we got 8 years of it.
obama really had nothing to do with it. how dumb are you.really

citygoer said...

Anyone that thinks this is a GM problem needs to think again. The shores' job outlook is getting worse every month. Ppl here dont have options because jobs here have always been scarce. I've always wondered how the local apologists with the high "quality of life" lie that they spread about the area explain the lack of good REAL paying jobs. What is the area gonna look like once this recession is said and done? New Sonic restaurants and retail stores dont support families and pay mortgages. Where are these ppl going to go for jobs? Time to move to the big bad city where there are hundreds more higher paying jobs at any given time.

Anonymous said...

11:35
Just wait and watch. Obama will find some reason to make doing business for Ford impossible.m One thing already in the works is that the government is going to buy GM and Chrystler for their fleet vehicles leaving Ford out in the cold.
Just a matter of time and Obama will nationalize Ford too.

Anonymous said...

I hate to tell the guy who thinks Price Buick is so wonderful...word was that they got a letter before other dealers did....ask that dealership why they haven't told the truth!!!

smitty240 said...

Quote"Sounds like the stimulus package is really helping out folks-NOT!
I thought we were supposed to see change,but not for the worse.Where exactly are these people supposed to find jobs?Its almost like the government wants to punish people who have the audacity to work hard and live well."

You don't look at the BIG picture. With all these people out of jobs (think of the Detroit area), there will be an increasing number of people without benefits. What is one of the Annointed One's foremost agendas? You got it, national health care! So, when there are enough people out of work (no benefits, there will be a loud clamor for the government to help. Wow, we'll help by providing national health care to all the unemployed. Mind you, this won't just be the recently unemployed, but all the worthless, do nothing hangers on. How will it be paid? Those still working will be taxed on their benefits provided by employers, such as YOUR HEALTH CARE, just the same as though it were income.

The change for the past ~6 months sucks.

Anonymous said...

GM and Chrysler have been digging their bankrupt hole for 20 years. We bailed out Chrysler once, and Bush started doing it again before Obama. But, I keep hearing that it's is all Obama's fault. All the Obama haters will try and blame everything on him (just like Fox and the Rush groupies), even if it obviously stupid reasoning...they will never give it up.

Anonymous said...

JOE, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU NEED TO FIND NEW SOURCES!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Idiots... how is this Obama's fault? You guys didn't want him to bail out GM anymore, so he didn't. Now they're filing bankruptcy and need to reorganize. How is the unemployment his fault, too? He inherited 8 straight years of Conservative BS that led to this.

I do find all of your tin foil hat conspiracy theories fun, though.