Abusive leadership, toxic culture, no 401k match, unaffordable benefits, micromanaging to name a few!
I planned my exit gracefully and professionally. I gave a formal two weeks notice and attempted to assist in a transition plan. Professionalism just isn’t the PartsBase way.
If my review can save even one person from the soul sucking experience that is being employed here, it will have been worth it.
I am a senior defense sales professional and Navy veteran with over 20 years experience in industry as a remote worker. I was also a PartsBase client for over a decade. This is important to note as they consistently try to discredit the employees that leave honest and poor reviews. The gaslighting in the responses to reviews here are deplorable.
The recent positive reviews were bribed out of tenured employees that essentially have Stockholm syndrome and new hires that just don’t know any better- YET.
After years of demanding roles in emergent industries, I accepted a position at PartsBase for a change of pace. My background in industry and with the platform made me perfectly suited and many of the clientele are personal friends and long term associates.
I had some reservations after reading the reviews, but was assured the Government team operated differently and were not subject to the scrutiny described in the plethora of poor reviews.
I had no qualms about accountability or monitoring as I am a professional. I have always operated under the understanding that the company I work for can look in on me at anytime. I was naive to think that I would be above the crazy because I am an experienced professional.
Day one of onboarding quickly uncovered the madness. Within the first hour, the HR rep was insisting we set alarms on our phone to track clock in and clock out times. The installation of fear of losing your job was immediate. What a way to onboard employees who are eager, motivated and excited about their new role! Within the first few hours it was apparent I made a mistake and the culture of micromanagement and fear was real and not a facade.
I finished six weeks of training in two and was on the fast track to losing the training wheels. I enjoyed the job itself. The platform is a great tool and true time saver when sourcing opportunities. My background and experience allowed me to guide clients on the platform, strategy and quickly gain trust.
Overall not a bad gig if you can get past the time clock, micromanaging and utter lack of integrity and trust and respect for the work force.
PartsBase is a revolving door and in my short time here I saw five maybe six (I lost count) HR directors come and go.
The Govt team was great. We were consistently within the top ranks for all metrics (renewal, sales, customer engagement etc). And outside of the corporate red tape were left to be successful, and that we were.
In the early fall, customer engagement became an obsession for leadership. They decided to do account audits and set up one on ones with us individually. I asked my manager for insight to prepare and he made it clear they did not want us to be prepared or know what they were looking for. It was very apparent this was a witch hunt and they were looking for some kind of “gotcha” moment.
Bring on my first and only interaction with Robert Hammond.
I had heard the horror stories, but again was truly naive to think I was above the abusive treatment.
After consistently meeting and exceeding goals, being in the top ranks of all metrics and nine months as an employee and not to mention a client of over a decade, I got on a call with Robert to review my accounts.
My first impression was not a positive one.
He was slouched down so far into his chair that all you could see was his neck up. He had an angry scowl and made no attempt to hide his displeasure with previous calls they had been on throughout the day.
He was bad mouthing my teammate and one of his most successful, tenured and decorated employees.
As we started going through my accounts, he was visibly upset that he could not find an issue to berate me for. We finally came across one that had recently been transferred to me from another rep. To be fair, the account had not had a phone call in some time. But had we opened the notes, the history would’ve showed emails with the client from a few days prior.
Robert told me with strong conviction, that since I didn’t want to do my job, he could get a bot to replace me.
I was APPALLED. Before I could even defend myself, my supervisor jumped in to my defense and to diffuse. He stated that was not true and we all know I’m more than capable of doing the job, but actual physical phone calls were the new charge.
Robert said he’d seen enough and hung up on us.
I was ready to quit that day. When the abuse comes from the CEO, it is clear that the environment is not safe and or healthy.
All of the review responses that state how they welcome feedback and are always looking to improve are a bold face lies.
The culture is a direct result of the inappropriate, unprofessional and abusive behavior of Robert Hammond.
The responses that state you’ll do well here and advance if you are successful and do a good job are also a lies. You can be successful, highly regarded and respected by the customer base and be in the top rankings of the organization- and you will STILL be treated like trash.
The months after were rough. We were heavily micromanaged to do our jobs, tend to clients, gain renewals, sell new business AND make at least five phone calls a day that lasted five minutes or longer or they didn’t count. It just became ridiculous. 2-3 hours of meetings per day to talk about making phone calls, to pull up and review reports about making phone calls.
True leadership focuses on outcomes. Poor, insecure micromanagers focus on unproductive activity.
On a personal note, (but related to their inadequacies) I received a call from the state in early November telling me I was in contempt of my court order. PartsBase had been taking my support directly from my check but not paying the state. I contacted my manager and he connected me to the appropriate person. I was told by the accounting and compliance manager that she was on vacation and no one issued my support to the state in her stead. To her credit, she immediately cleared it up. I thought it to be a non-issue until it happened again!
Our manager gave his notice the week of Thanksgiving and they cut him off and ushered him out within minutes.
After seeing how he was treated, I assumed the same for myself when it came time for my notice.
I gave a formal written two week notice with the offer to assist in transition, the morning of Dec 5. I expected to be cut and frankly was looking forward to it. I received no response.
I completed the day and figured I’d be unable to log on Monday.
Monday morning came and I was able to log in. Confused, I carried on working with my clients and team to transition. I assumed that perhaps they were taking the two weeks given the losses to the team.
Tuesday morning Dec 9, I started an email to HR and the VP to request a transition plan. I was baffled that I had not yet received acknowledgment of my notice. Before I could hit send, HR asked me for a teams call. They did in fact release me that morning. She gave me instructions for the return of my equipment and explained that my final pay would include a full days pay for that day, unused PTO and unpaid commissions.
There was no ask of an exit interview but overall it was a decent exchange.
On Wednesday Dec 10, I packaged and returned all of my equipment. The same day, I received another call from the state telling me once again my support had not been paid. I was also told by the state that the staggered and late payments have been happening for the entire time I’ve been employed with PB. UNSAT!
I emailed into HR and the accounting and compliance manager and asked for the remittance dates and details for my final pay.
She replied with a screen shot of the last 8 remittances to the state conveniently leaving off the dates and said she’d get back to me on pay.
It has been over a week and despite checking in, I have not received a response.
Today is Friday December 19. Pay day at PartsBase. My final check did not include pay through Tuesday as I was told. My pay did not include my lawfully earned commissions and my pay has a random deduction of over 300 dollars.
I wrote in requesting clarification and we shall see if I get a response.
At this point, there is nothing I will accept as an appropriate answer and the damage is already done. One thing I know for sure, is that I am FREE!
The consistent reviews are the real deal and absolute truth. It really IS that bad.
Save yourself, save your sanity and steer clear of this abusive company!
