Fox Employees Also Caught In Corporate Crash
posted 6:30 am Wed October 31, 2007 - Tulsa
Three days after closing its doors, Fox Collision customers finally began getting their vehicles back. But, the news is not as encouraging for employees. Around 70 people worked at Fox's five Tulsa locations. And, many were just as surprised as customers.
Much has been made about the inconvenience of being stranded without a car for a few days. But, how about the inconvenience of being stranded without a job?
The sign outside Fox reads "Thank You For Your Business". But, it looked sarcastic hanging near the cluster of customers, towing away battered cars, rolling off with parts, driving away with blatantly unfinished work -- accident victims hit for a second time in a corporate crash.

"It was really frustrating not being able to talk to anybody who knew what was going on," says Heather Hancock. "And it was also frustrating that they didn't tell us that they were going out of business."
"There was no talk of anything," adds Brandon Harris, who says he was blindsided, too. But, he worked at Fox. Think getting your car was a hassle? How about your paycheck?
"I'm owed almost 18-hundred dollars," he says.
Brandon says communication from the company has been as tight lipped as the locked doors and the job hunt has been crushing. Upwards of 70 body shop workers are all looking for the same jobs at the same time.
"A lot of the body shops don't know what's going to happen now. They don't know where the insurance companies are going to place the work and where they'll dispatch it, so nobody's wanting to hire an abundance of people right now."
The only car he's working on now is the kind played with by his two young sons. His wife is nervous for what the future holds.
"We have a mortgage and kids and its just devastating."
Car pick-ups continue Wednesday, as does the job hunting.
"I've probably gone to 20, 25 places," Brandon says. "Really. I hit every body shop in Tulsa."
Employees are hoping to get their final check on Friday, but Brandon says a phone number they were given with a pre-recorded message told them to call back for updates Monday. It has not been updated.
In total, 18 Fox Collision repair centers have been closed, laying off approximately three hundred workers.
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