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Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
47923 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 6:47 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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I am the person our host alluded to earlier. The guy who lied to a customer about the Camry (which I spelled Camary) and had the sales folk jump all over me. I tried to find it but apparently you can only go back so far in the forum software so that post is lost in the archives… so here is the story. I’d been in the business about 6 months, and I get an incoming phone call. It’s a lady who is quite obnoxious. She informs me she just left Toyota and had “beat up” the entire sales staff there. She is looking for a Camry, white ONLY, 4 cyl. I tell her about a very clean low mileage LE we have in stock, which just happens to be on ad. She tells me not to worry about the price because she was only going to pay $500 over whatever our cost was. I was inexperienced but smart enough to tell he that sounded reasonable and we might be able to do even better! Would she like to come in now or later in the day. She said now. She is at the dealership shortly. She is rather pushy, borderline rude self proclaimed (female dog). White woman, mid forties. She says she used to get ripped off by car dealers but now she calls the shots. We look at the car, she likes it. We drive it, and then write it up. In the write up she only wants to discuss price. There is no trade and she has her own financing. She is starting to get more and more obnoxious as time goes on. Typically rude people break down and become civilized when they find out you’re a decent person but not her. She is very adamant about paying $500 over our cost so I take the offer into the manager. He says well – let’s show her that she is paying $500 over our cost. It’s our computer so I can make cost whatever I want. He says give him a minute and he’ll come introduces himself and brings her into his office. I’m not too sure if this is ethical but the lady is such a jerk I figure it’s alright. So – I go tell her the deal is done, I’m not sure of the final pricing because I’m not privy to the figures and then my manager shows up. She’s been fixing for a fight on the price, and so she’s quite impressed with herself now that she got us to obey her commands and she isn’t afraid to tell us that. We go into the office and he shows her the “cost” and ultimately we’ve sold the car slightly below the ad price which is allegedly $500 over our cost. She takes delivery, and I’m feeling pretty smug. I’m not sure about what the profit was on that deal I think about $2000 but I am sure about the fallout. The first fallout was here on Edmunds. I posted the story in the “inconsiderate customers thread” and being new to Edmunds was expecting to hear kudos on how we had gotten one over on that horrible lady. Well – as you can imagine – the veterans were all over me for this one. The one thing I remember most was the advice from a poster whose name I cannot remember but I think it was Cliffy (?) who sold Toyotas. He said he learned early in the business that only a weak negotiator would lie. When it comes to price you either negotiate further or you let them walk. Integrity and reputation is critical. The second fallout was this horrible person came back to haunt me. I’m on the phone following up with an extremely nice couple and she comes barging up to my desk and is SCREAMING at me in our showroom about how we ripped her off and sold her a pile of crap car. I’m in shock – I look at her and show her I’m on the phone and she starts screaming louder! Normally the sales manager would have been rushing over at the first sign of screaming but all the managers were in a meeting. I told her I would be with her in a minute and she continues ranting. I then raise my voice and tell her if she doesn’t stop yelling I will refuse to help her and call the police. She shuts up and I go back to my phone call …. Dial tone. Needless to say the very nice couple wouldn’t return any of my subsequent phone calls. The customer we lied to about the cost is extremely upset because we had put on aftermarket brake pads, and the transmission fluid was not perfectly clear. She had taken the vehicle to Toyota and had them inspect it and that’s what they found. She is speaking to me very forcefully and being extremely rude at this point. Fortunately my manager has now arrived. We end up flushing the tranny fluid, and offering her Toyota OEM pads at a discount which she declined. This lady was a nightmare, the details I’ve been fortunately able to forget. I’ve been accused of being a liar by more than one customer since then but it’s been over six years since and I haven’t lied to a customer since.
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Replying to: jmurman42 (Aug 01, 2006 6:33 am) First of all, 'irregardless' ain't a real/accepted word to use whether writing or speaking. Weren't you learned this in 3rd grade, I was ? Please knock it off. I'm not saying that his track record is pure, but as a dealer I do know that his lawyers are very very good and he has deep pockets...if he wanted to make an example, he certainly could. According to post #2632, Old Bill has already been found guilty of some type/s of shady dealing/s and has paid a fine/s to at least one state. I don't think you would have too much of problem repeating what has already been proven. Now, if you were talking about his heritage this would not be acceptable and might pose a problem for you. jmonroe
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Replying to: jmonroe (Aug 01, 2006 8:02 am)
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Replying to: graphicguy (Aug 01, 2006 6:31 am) I don't get it either. I can't imagine buying anything from any retailer who has such a reputation. Customers with good credit don't have to put with with sleazy crap (for some reason some do)...the guy who never pays his bills needs somebody like Heard to get him financed (or so he thinks) and will agree to any terms to get what they want...The thought process goes like this...they probably won't pay for it anyway, so who cares if the interest rate is 25% and the car is $2000 over MSRP. All that matters is getting the car they want, at any price. I don't have the stomach for that kind of dealing.
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Replying to: audia8q (Aug 01, 2006 8:21 am) 
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Replying to: kirstie_h (Aug 01, 2006 8:11 am) |
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Replying to: jmurman42 (Aug 01, 2006 6:33 am) Sorry but I disagree. The comments were made after reading the various stories and complaints with regards to Bill Heard. According to the first amendment, all Americans have the right to express their opinion on the matter. I would venture to say that 90% of the posts on Edmunds are personal opinions, are we going to ban those posts too? If some of these customers wanted to, they could assemble and protest near the nearest publically owned land or road near Bill Heard. There is nothing Bill Heard can do but tell their side of the story. In the case of the gentleman who had his truck repossessed because Bill Heard made an error, I think the dealership's response was very weak (blaming it on a rookie salesman).... |
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Replying to: jmonroe (Aug 01, 2006 8:02 am) Mistakes in the above sentences. 1. Improper use of "ain't" - replace with isn't. 2. Improper use of "Weren't" - replace with Didn't. 3. Improper use of "learned" - replace with learn. 4. Improper use of "I was" - replace with "I did" And there should be a period or a hyphen after "3rd grade", not a comma. Jmonroe, if you are correcting someone else's writing, please be correct in your own. |
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Replying to: zodiac2004 (Aug 01, 2006 9:17 am) Can anyone tell us whether they have clinched or bungled a sale because of a grammatical faux pas?  tidester, host
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