Al Bennett Automotive Consulting Al Bennett Promised a job with Ford motor company, scammed 400$ for a consultation fee with no refund. Antioch, California

I am simply amazed that this Automax (Al Bennett Automotive) scam continues for years and years after being uncovered since Automax first appeared in 1997? Why would anyone pay $600 or whatever it is for this garbage especially when no car sales techniques are even covered? But anyway most car salesman just stick firm to the price and say we will sell this car to someone else.

Do you need to pay $600 to do that? Doesn't everybody know that paying for a job and/or training is an automatic red flag that a scam is occurring? Evidently, a website entitled "scam.com" removed and further disallowed Automax scam complaint threads because then moderator or whatever he was "George" kow towed to the company demands or something like that and posted a disclaimer from Automax about not using the word "guarantee" or similar verbage.

Thankfully, not all sites are like that. Thank you Adam for posting Al Bennett's photo on this site. Any doubts as to who this is have long since evaporated into thin air. I am sure that numerous people recognize this "Al Bennett" or whoever he calls himself as the one who lied to them and stole their money. Do not pay any money to Al Bennett or Automax for anything! That is the equivalent of burning money in the fireplace. I assume it should be obvious that AL BENNETT AUTOMOTIVE IS A SCAM! AUTOMAX IS A SCAM!

As many complaints all over the internet have stated, Automax is nothing but a scam.  Al Bennett is part of this scam.  But don't take my word for it.  Just ask any car sales person, manager, finance person, etc.  They probably have never heard of automax and would not pay to get a job or from this absolutely worthless training.  They all just say that car sales aptitude is something you have or you don't.  Also, the training offered by Automax doesn't address any car sales techiniques at all.  

Or worse yet, they will gloat about how they got their jobs with no Automax training or fee, just applied the regular way.    Just imagine telling a dealer manager that you are an "Automax" graduate, and you will get laughed at so hard.  Al Bennett will say anything to get you to pay for his course, but his bigger problem is that anybody will google him or automax especially if faced with paying for a job, and that he cannot remove any of it.  AL BENNETT AUTOMOTIVE IS A SCAM! AUTOMAX IS A SCAM!

I would have to agree with Adam's Rip-Off allegation by Al Benett Automotive Consulting, for it can not be classified anything other than a Rip-Off in the middle of a daylight.  Recently, I have experinced an identical encounter with Mr. Al Bennett, except mine took place at the Ross Nissan of El Monte.  I was too invited for an interview, filled out an employment application, discussed my past automobile sales experience with Mr. Bennett and was extended an invitation to a 3-day AutoMax Sales Training, which according to Mr. Bennett was a prerequisite to employment offer at Ross Nissan; and  the document handed to me by Mr. Bennett stated the following: "Clear your schedule for this Wednesday, Thursday & Friday from 9:30 - 6:00PM. These are immediate, full-time positions; therefore, you must be available all three days".  At no time prior to commencement of training did Mr. Bennett disclose of Al Bennett Automobile Consulting's association to Ross Nissan, hidden costs of training, employment being conditioned to a final interview and the "no employment guarantee" clause, all of which surfaced during the course of the class.   The price tag of the course was $299.00.. Same statements about the guaranteed employment for 90 days were made in the presence of the entire class. The initial payment of $99.00 ($102.00 if paid by credit/debit card) was required as a sign of committment of trainee to Ross Nissan for a period of at least 90 days.  Because everyone "was guaranteed" a position with Ross Nissan and a minimum guaranteed monthly draw of $2,000.00, the remaining balance of $200.00 was to be deducted from the first paycheck, but refunded after the 90 days of employment.  It was not after all trainees paid the required deposit amount, when Mr. Bennett advised that employment offer at Ross Nissan was subject to a final interview on the "Graduation Day" and that in the event some employees were not hired, The Life-Time Guarantee of Al Bennett Automotive Consulting would assist those trainees with securing jobs at other dealerships. The Life-Time Guarantee Contract which was handed to all trainees on the last day of training and 15 minutes before the interviews is really a sequel to "Alice in Wonderland" novel.  Pursuant to my 3 minute interview with the General Manager of sales which resulted with no employment offer, Mr. Bennett then suggested that since I got certiied by the 3 day AutoMax training course, I should not have a problem finding a job at another dealership.....   I reached out to management of Ross Nissan in person and laid out the details of my concern that the overall  "dog & pony show" at the dealership was deceptive, unfair and dishonest.  I requested that fees I paid, training time and time wasted was reimbursed to me.  So far, except for refunding the initial payment of $102.00, which I did not approve of, no other efforts to address the conflict were made neither by Al Bennett Automotive Consulting, nor by Ross Nissan of El Monte.  The men behind the scheme are experts and professionals in the automobile industry and should be able to identify misleading advertising and unfair business practices when such are present in their business venture. Shame on you!

I rarely pay attention to Ripoff reports because I usually don't have an emic perspective with regards to what has allegedly transpired--in this case I have first hand knowledge of the process.  I recently completed the referenced trainining course with Mr. Al Bennett at Ford of Montebello and can share a starkly different experience. To begin, Mr. Bennett conducted pre-interviews to discern who might be potential good fits with Ford of Montebello, however at no point do I recall him making a promise of employment to anyone selected for my training class.

Once training began, Mr. Bennett detailed his experience with the Ford motor company and shared the rewards his affiliation with the company brought him.  In particular, Al Bennett spoke of Ford pioneering minority ownership and advancement which seemed appropriate since upward of 80% of my training class was comprised of women and ethnic minorities.  Mr. Bennett tempered his discussion by emphasizing that his success was not something that happened overnight or without dedication to the task at hand.

As we delved further into training, Mr. Bennett referenced different self-help authors to highlight the importance of one having a positive outlook to be successful in sales. Numerous anectdotal examples of Mr. Bennett's personal success story as well as those of others were used to inspire individuals of what one might accomplish by visualizing success and avoiding negativism. The aforementioned techniques have been routinely used by successful individuals such as Phil Jackson, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey. ect. to inspire others around them.

I too was taken aback when I found out about the $399 fee for training! But as I reflected on the cost of the training I recalled my recent experience of having paid to get my real estate license with no promise of a refund from the company that hired me. Since tons of people purchase cars (unlike the present scenario in real estate), I believed that I would last well beyond 90 days in this industry and thus would receive a refund. So $399 is a small price to pay for a lifelong investment in self!!

An important component of the auto industry is the insurability of sales staff in order to conduct test drives as it is a key part of every sell. If this person did not have a DUI on his record then why would he have mentioned it in the first place: "The funny part was that I actually have no DUI on my record or anything on my record for that matter because it was all dealt with in court." Just because a DUI was dealt with in court does not mean it would not appear on one's driving record! You were required to provide a copy of your driving record so any decision regarding employability related to a DUI would not have been made on someone's personal whim, but rather based on the facts at hand!

Something smells incredibly rotten about this clearly disgruntled individuals opinion! I don't find anything wrong with auto companies and/or insurance companies not wanting to risk employing someone with a history that includes a DUI. Getting a DUI is a sign of poor judgement in the first place! Furthermore, if the DUI was classified as a felony (of this fact I'm not certain) then of course you should not expect to be employed by any auto dealerships or for that matter many other companies.

Remember that negativism abounds throughout our society and many people find refuge in being excuse laden. To blame someone else for your actions that contributed to your present plight is to miss the point of Mr. Bennett's training in the first place. I prefer to look myself squarely in the eyes and take responsibility for how my past actions affect my present condition. It's just my opinion, but you be the judge!!