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Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
47902 messages, Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 8:04 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: jimbres (Jun 19, 2009 6:31 pm) lol But I find that is true too....I don't think there is an absolute demographic. I don't see too many convertible PTs around though, but they are kind of cute. There was a review in the newspaper for a VW beetle convertible. He said he liked the car a lot, but it would be too much of a chick car for him to consider buying one. Guess, some cars are more for males and some more females.
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Replying to: driver100 (Jun 20, 2009 4:50 am) I believe that there used to be a Federal law that prohibited heterosexual males from owning or driving Golf/Rabbit cabriolets. |
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[Names changed to protect the innocent] I get a call last night (Friday 6/19) from my friend Alice in Kansas. Her hubby Jim was in their old beater of a Toyota and got in a crash (not worth doing anything with, junkyard gave them $200 less the tow fee), so they had been car shopping. They were at first going to get a small pickup like a Colorado, but kept their minds open about a car as well. After making some calls, they went to a large multi-line GM dealer and the salesman they spoke to on the phone was with a customer, so he passed them to a colleague. He asked what their budget was and what they were looking for, and among other vehicles they looked over, they examined and test drove a 2006 Pontiac G6. Very clean, only 37K on the odo. Price was right at just $9800. They decided to pull the trigger on the G6. Salesguy calls and sends it for prep, and the original salesguy also pops in to help out. Alice and Jim both said it was a no-pressure deal, they both liked the car, and everything was fine. Since this will be Jim's car, he took the first drive and they stop by his parents' house nearby to show it off. Then he lets Alice drive the 90 minute ride home while he drives her Grand Vitara. Alice notices on the drive home that the car has XM radio and it's activated. She asked me if that was possible on a used car, and I said if the previous owner had paid ahead and then decide to leave it on, sure. Phone rings this morning (Saturday) and it's Alice again. A: You're not gonna believe this... they gave us the wrong car! K: Say what? A: They sent us home in an 09, not an 06! K: You gotta be kidding me! Same color, same trim level. Jim was going through the glove compartment and notice that the manual was a 2009. Alice thought maybe they couldn't find an 06 manual and tossed that in there since most of the controls were the same. Digging further, they found the 2009 window sticker neatly folded. They looked at the VIN on the sticker and the car and they matched. So Alice calls the dealer and asks for the salesguy, and the receptionist says everyone is in the sales meeting and could she take a message, or was this something she needed to pull him for. A: Well, I don't know how serious you feel this is... you gave us the wrong car. Recept: Are you serious? A: Yeah, we bought an 06, and this is definitely an 09. R: You're serious? [Alice then gives her the VIN and the stock number and the receptionist looks it up] R: Oh my God! (starts laughing) In my 5 years here, that has NEVER happened before! A [amused at it all]: Is someone gonna get in trouble for this? R: No, not as far as job loss, but someone will have to take responsibility for it. The original salesguy calls back a few minutes later. (Apparently he left his name on the deal and did a split commission with the other guy.) He said he didn't want to point fingers but he thinks he knows what happened and implicated the lot jockey. He checked and made sure the 06 was still physically there and arranged to make the swap, after jokingly asking, "wanna trade up the 06 for that 09? Some great rebates on it!" He said regardless, everyone involved in the deal and the mixup would probably get harassed about it for a good 6 months. When Alice asked when the dealership would have spotted it on their own, he replied they would have noticed when moving cars on the lot. So of course, I ask the obvious question... K: Neither of you checked the odometer until this morning?? A [sheepish laugh]: Nope. but when we did, we both said 250 miles is way less than 37,000! The two G6s were otherwise identical, and to the casual-glancer, were easily mistaken for each other. After they discovered the mistake, Alice said, "you know, I didn't think the car we test-drove had an XM antenna..." Yeah, a few employees of that dealership are in for a thorough chew-out today. kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
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Replying to: kcram (Jun 20, 2009 8:48 am) Good story..........why not keep the 09? Actually $9800 for an 06 with 37k sounds like a good deal too. Who wrote up the paperwork, wouldn't you know what you were doing when they had to put in the year and everything? Did this take place in a little town where everyone is married to their own relatives? I never heard of anything like that, but I suppose they will take the car back, get the whole thing fixed up, and the dealer will give a few oil changes at least to make up for all the inconvenience.
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Replying to: kcram (Jun 20, 2009 8:48 am) I wonder what the commission would be on a $9,800 '09 G6?  tidester, host SUVs and Smart Shopper |
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Replying to: driver100 (Jun 20, 2009 9:40 am)  I must say I have never seen anything like that happen beofre either. We have billed out the wrong car before but never delivered the wrong one.
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Replying to: kcram (Jun 20, 2009 8:48 am) The salesperson says to a lot guy: "get that gold G6 cleaned up for delivery". Lot guy gets the wrong car cleaned up and gives the keys to the salesperson who delivers the car. The saleperson should have noticed though that the stock numbers are different for new and used (we use different stock number format and different colored key tags for new and used). |
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Replying to: boomchek (Jun 20, 2009 11:35 am) You Canadians think of everything. I'll bet you think you're kinda smart too.  jmonroe
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Replying to: jmonroe (Jun 20, 2009 12:40 pm) Not just kinda. 
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Replying to: driver100 (Jun 19, 2009 6:57 am) So, to say it costs GM nothing I think is a bit short sighted. I'm sure the axed dealers feel that way, though. |
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