Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Are they just lazy or unprofessional ? Or both ?

I have emailed a few big dealers about cars they have advertised, asking specific questions about the cars history.

Most ring you back even though you have asked for an email reply.

They leave voice messages asking you to ring them back to answer your questions in detail when you do they don't even know what your questions are never mind have the answers prepared.

The car is not located locally so you ask for some photos which often arrive out of focus and quite often of dirty badly prepared cars.

Really puts you of buying from them and these are main dealers not car forecourts run by Arthur Daley.

Am I wrong to expect a more professional service ?

No in general they are all the same pretty crap

I just judge the response as the level of service once you've bought from them is generally worse.

If the sales process is shite then don't buy from them. It's generally sensible.

The telephone calls I can understand, you get a lot more done in a call and its easier to make sure you're understood. Emails and text messages can be misread or misunderstood.

Photos should look professional and cars should be gleaming.

I brought my current car new, but before I committed I did the rounds of all the dealers, Mercedes, BMW et al including all the Japanese dealerships, Nissan, Toyota and so on.

Anyway, the last two dealers to visit were Vauxhall and Jaguar (At this point I was seriously considering a Saab). Anyway, I went into the local Vauxhall dealer and said I was looking to buy a new car, possibly the Insignia which at that time had not long been launched. Now bearing in mind was in Jeans and polo shirt, the salesman looked me up and down and said "By new, do you mean secondhand but new to you"? I said "No, new as in brand new virgin out of the crate!"

Anyway, he continued to look me up and down and said condisendingly "There is one over there" pointing to one on a display ramp outside and with that walked off. So no offer of a test drive or talk me through it, nothing. So I had a brief look round the Insignia thought that this was not the car for me and left.

I went down to our local Jaguar dealer (this is the same day) wearing the same jeans and polo shirt, and within 5 minutes a demonstrator was made available and I was told "Go out in it for a couple of hours and get a feel for it"

Within 30 minutes I knew it was the car for me, so I went back and placed my order. I ordered it to take delivery on a 59 plate, but about 3 weeks before delivery I got a phone call to say my car was in. Great says I, see you on the 1st of September. I then get, well if you are happy to take it on an 09 plate rather than wait for a 59 plate we will give you an additional £5K discount. I will be down in 10 minutes says I

Suffice to say I have been absolutely delighted with my car, I still have it 90,000 miles on and am only now considering changing it to the new XE which I have driven, and despite Jaguar being a premium brand, the dealerships have been the most professional I have come acrosss.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on, but the reason for my story is because several months later, my son in law was also looking for a new (secondhand) car and fancied an Astra, so we did the rounds and eventualy ended up at the vauxhall dealer I had experienced a few months later. I don't recall if it was the same salesman, but the reaction to us being in Jeand and T shirt was the same as before, in that he was uninterested, rude and darn right impolite, so I asked the question. "Do you really want any business?" "What do you mean?" He asked, so I explained my previous visit and then pointed him in the dirction of my car at outside and made it quite clear that had they not pre-judged someone based on appearance, they may have got my business. The look on his face was an absolute picture.

Suffice to say my son in law did not buy a car from them either, he ended up buying a Ford from a dealer friend of mine, but I still even now often smile when I think how one dealership lost 2 sales (1 new and 1 second hand) simply because they judged a book by its cover.

T.C. wrote:I brought my current car new, but before I committed I did the rounds of all the dealers, Mercedes, BMW et al including all the Japanese dealerships, Nissan, Toyota and so on.

Anyway, the last two dealers to visit were Vauxhall and Jaguar (At this point I was seriously considering a Saab). Anyway, I went into the local Vauxhall dealer and said I was looking to buy a new car, possibly the Insignia which at that time had not long been launched. Now bearing in mind was in Jeans and polo shirt, the salesman looked me up and down and said "By new, do you mean secondhand but new to you"? I said "No, new as in brand new virgin out of the crate!"

Anyway, he continued to look me up and down and said condisendingly "There is one over there" pointing to one on a display ramp outside and with that walked off. So no offer of a test drive or talk me through it, nothing. So I had a brief look round the Insignia thought that this was not the car for me and left.

I went down to our local Jaguar dealer (this is the same day) wearing the same jeans and polo shirt, and within 5 minutes a demonstrator was made available and I was told "Go out in it for a couple of hours and get a feel for it"

Within 30 minutes I knew it was the car for me, so I went back and placed my order. I ordered it to take delivery on a 59 plate, but about 3 weeks before delivery I got a phone call to say my car was in. Great says I, see you on the 1st of September. I then get, well if you are happy to take it on an 09 plate rather than wait for a 59 plate we will give you an additional £5K discount. I will be down in 10 minutes says I

Suffice to say I have been absolutely delighted with my car, I still have it 90,000 miles on and am only now considering changing it to the new XE which I have driven, and despite Jaguar being a premium brand, the dealerships have been the most professional I have come acrosss.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on, but the reason for my story is because several months later, my son in law was also looking for a new (secondhand) car and fancied an Astra, so we did the rounds and eventualy ended up at the vauxhall dealer I had experienced a few months later. I don't recall if it was the same salesman, but the reaction to us being in Jeand and T shirt was the same as before, in that he was uninterested, rude and darn right impolite, so I asked the question. "Do you really want any business?" "What do you mean?" He asked, so I explained my previous visit and then pointed him in the dirction of my car at outside and made it quite clear that had they not pre-judged someone based on appearance, they may have got my business. The look on his face was an absolute picture.

Suffice to say my son in law did not buy a car from them either, he ended up buying a Ford from a dealer friend of mine, but I still even now often smile when I think how one dealership lost 2 sales (1 new and 1 second hand) simply because they judged a book by its cover.

I've had mixed results with Jaguar dealers. The dealer I bought mine from is terrible, I now have my services and work done in Leicester.

The car is only as good as the people you buy it from sadly. I don't tolerate any bad service and am very vocal when needed to be. The dealer I bought mine from has lost out on a fortune of servicing and warranty work and I went in to tell them so before I changed. My new dealer is ace and very helpful indeed. I needed a bigger car for a few days while mine was being serviced last March so they put in a £92lk Range Rover with all the toys and 100miles on the clock. That's service.

I always go car shopping in casual clothes. Good indicator IMO. There's no excuse when your paying lots of money for a car and services.

TC, pretty similar thing happened last time I bought a car.

But even the dealer we bought the car (new) off, still pre-judged me. When we were signing it up he said "I'll forward you on to our finance department now". No thanks don't need it. Then he says "Oh, can I ask what rate you got on your private finance then as I'm sure we can better it". No you can't I replied, I'll be paying cash straight from my bank account.

Same thing happened when I went to the mortgage broker last break to arrange refinance to pay the ex out of the two houses. I was in flip flops, shorts and a singlet (it was 40 deg C). Went I said I needed $960K he laughed and said "you'll never get that". So I handed over my payslips and he back pedalled severely.

These salesman need to realise some of us make it because we work hard and don't spend unnecessarily. I don't have a degree and I wasn't born into money. I don't feel the need to dress up in expensive clothes on my days off unless I'm going out, and even then it's smart attire not expensive.

The best service I ever received when looking for a potential company car was at Mercedes. I went in wearing jeans, t-shirt and bright blue trainers - bear in mind I was 21 at the time. A very pretty lady came over to me and gave me a lot of her time to go over a few things including showing what cars were on offer at the time and a few other bits of advice. This was all despite me informing her that the person who signs off company cars HATES Mercedes and will probably never sign one off.

The worst service was at a Triumph dealership. I turned up wearing jeans and t-shirt again as I drove there in my Fiesta. "Don't sit on the bike" got yelled across the dealership at me despite no signs being shown and when I asked about a test ride they said it would cost me a lot. I was on a restricted license at the time so they'd charge for the restrictor, plus fitting and de-fitting charges and then a 50% deposit on the bike (10% of which was non-refundable). I will NEVER go back there to buy a bike!

I've always said, if I win a load of money I want to go to a car dealership (Lamborghini or similar) wearing chavvy looking clothes and see if I can buy a car. There's an Aston Martin garage down the road - I'd likely try it there too

Cav wrote:The best service I ever received when looking for a potential company car was at Mercedes. I went in wearing jeans, t-shirt and bright blue trainers - bear in mind I was 21 at the time. A very pretty lady came over to me and gave me a lot of her time to go over a few things including showing what cars were on offer at the time and a few other bits of advice.......

I bet you didn't know about those black ring things of Kiwicrasher's back then, and she obviously fancied a bit of 21yo fun.!

StMarks wrote:

Cav wrote:The best service I ever received when looking for a potential company car was at Mercedes. I went in wearing jeans, t-shirt and bright blue trainers - bear in mind I was 21 at the time. A very pretty lady came over to me and gave me a lot of her time to go over a few things including showing what cars were on offer at the time and a few other bits of advice.......

I bet you didn't know about those black ring things of Kiwicrasher's back then, and she obviously fancied a bit of 21yo fun.!

Hey! They aren't 'my' black ring things! I had enough trouble with my own wife, I don't want to borrow someone else's!

Cav wrote:
I've always said, if I win a load of money I want to go to a car dealership (Lamborghini or similar) wearing chavvy looking clothes and see if I can buy a car. There's an Aston Martin garage down the road - I'd likely try it there too

A friend of mine did exactly that.

He was a piot for one of the big Formula 1 team owners and so made more money in a week than I made in a year (and I earn good money )

He changes his car every 6 months or so and his bikes used to get changed every 3 months depending onhow bored he got with them and ho quickly. He had a brand new Bentley for exactly 2 months, got bored with it so sold it for a massive loss (more money than sense).

Anyway I digress. He was looking at possibly buying a new Ferrari and asked me if I fancied a day out looking at all these posh motors. We went into a London Ferrari dealer and again in Jeans polo shirt and trainers and he got short changed big time. He was asked how on earth he could afford such a car, that they were expensive to run and insure, so my mate said fine and we left.

Next door was a Porshe dealer. He went in saw a particluar model said I will take it and paid for it in full on his credit card

Then he went back next door to the Ferrari dealer and said thank you for your time, just to let you know that as you did not want to sell to me, I have just gone next door and brought a new Porsche and baid for it in full The look on the Ferrari dealers face as he spluttered and coughed on his expensive coffee was priceless.

Had he gone in uniform, I bet the reception he would have got would have been completely different

I bet that was awesome to see! Let me know next time that happens I want to be part of the awkwardness haha

Blade. Honestly some dealers are just crap. Don't take it too personally, if they don't want the business someone will want it and treat you how a customer should be treated. Hope your search becomes easier and you find the right car

I don't take it personally Rossgo don't worry mate. It was just a little rant and the relief valve lifting., sorry dude.

I was in a BMW dealers on Saturday viewing a car and the sales man told me they had an offer that morning on the car. I said fine I'm not getting in a bidding war sell it to the other interested party and if they don't buy it get in touch. TbH I don't think there was an offer it had only been on advertised on the Web for 1 day with no photos saying coming soon and I know the market is slow at the moment from all my recent research.

The same dealer rang me yesterday to say car was still available if I wanted it. I told him I was on the train to collect another car I had just bought.

You could hear the disappointment in his voice as he realised his hard sell BS had completely back fired.

What you bought mister?

I find some bike dealers have a similar disinterested attitude. You get a lot of "oh it's fine, it'll be fixed before or goes out." FFS the bikes fork seals are chewed to bits and it's pissing oil down the legs. Do you really not understand how that might put me off?

Not a fan of dealers. Never been in a car dealers I would trust. Bike dealers there are a few glimmers of light but some are rude and have poorly conditioned bikes for sale I would be embarrassed at selling somthing in that state.

C00kiemonster wrote:What you bought mister?

I'll post up some pics

Blade wrote:I don't take it personally Rossgo don't worry mate. It was just a little rant and the relief valve lifting., sorry dude.

I was in a BMW dealers on Saturday viewing a car and the sales man told me they had an offer that morning on the car. I said fine I'm not getting in a bidding war sell it to the other interested party and if they don't buy it get in touch. TbH I don't think there was an offer it had only been on advertised on the Web for 1 day with no photos saying coming soon and I know the market is slow at the moment from all my recent research.

The same dealer rang me yesterday to say car was still available if I wanted it. I told him I was on the train to collect another car I had just bought.

You could hear the disappointment in his voice as he realised his hard sell BS had completely back fired.

Brilliant love that old trick!! I suppose it works on some people though!!