[clanky]

Originally Posted by Zeke.Malvo

Well, there are ways around that. When I worked at a dealership, some sales managers would kill deals to prevent a bad survey, and sometimes would even switch the customers phone number to intercept the survey!

Ha wow, that is lower than low.

[Memphis43]

Originally Posted by clanky

Ha wow, that is lower than low.

When a customer is more than unrealistic and beyond petty then yes, a dealer kills a deal. Those surveys not only hurt the dealership, but actually are a direct tie in to a sales reps bonus money that they get quarterly. A bad survey from a customer for something they are not responsible for can end up costing them food on the table.

I don't expect many of you to understand as you have not been in one of those situations. Say what you want.

Believe it or not OP, a salesperson has no control over the service dept and even with that being the case, will most likely do his or her best to help the customer figure out the best action to take.

That survey that customers get after a buying a car, affects the sales rep more than anyone else in the dealership.

So keep in mind that while the sales rep did his or her best to make you happy and kept you up to date me b your vehicle, you sending in a survey after this setback because of one small blip in the radar would be nothing more than a slap in the face.

With all that being said, if there is a problem with the kit then it obviously needs to be resolved. Order the right kit or find someone who knows how to install the one it came with.




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[fastball]

Originally Posted by IOMike

You guys are harsh. Dealerships are full of people who are not perfect and make mistakes. We all do at our jobs.

They need to make it right, but it's not like they should be boycott forever because one tech was either lazy or not familiar with a dealer add product on a new car.

Like I said, it's hard for the good dealers because the bad ones are such scheisters they ruin it for every one.

There's no excuse for the service department to not know how to properly order and install the GFX kit at this point. The car has been on sale almost a full calendar year and in the pipeline since May 2015. They've had plenty of time to be trained and know everything that a dealer needs to know.

[Memphis43]

Originally Posted by fastball

Like I said, it's hard for the good dealers because the bad ones are such scheisters they ruin it for every one.



There's no excuse for the service department to not know how to properly order and install the GFX kit at this point. The car has been on sale almost a full calendar year and in the pipeline since May 2015. They've had plenty of time to be trained and know everything that a dealer needs to know.

If they have never installed one before like at our dealership it may not be as simple as that. Also, if it's the wrong part then he technically can't.

None of our Camaros have been ordered with that kit.

Lastly, instead of killing the sales survey I would recommend waiting for the service Dept survey that Chevrolet sends out. As technically that fault is not on sales but more on service.

There are separate surveys for both.



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[mt3130]

Originally Posted by fastball

Like I said, it's hard for the good dealers because the bad ones are such scheisters they ruin it for every one.

It also doesn't help that the bad dealers seem to far outnumber the good ones.

Consumers probably do treat dealership employees unfairly and look for a reason to call the place a stealership, but that's a reputation that dealerships have earned through decades of deceptive practices.

Stupid things like striping every car on the lot and marking up the price on the invoice by a thousand bucks, charging for floor mats on cars that come with floor mats, charging for "rustproofing", charging for PDI (when all they do is pull plastic off, rev your car to hell, and put swirl marks in the paint), etc.

You agree to a deal, then you go to do the paperwork, and the finance guy does the same shit to you, just on different products. Giving rates that are higher than the one you qualify for, overcharging for things like gap insurance and extended warranties, tacking on administrative fees that weren't part of the deal you agreed upon.

Now you need service. You have a warranty issue, but the bays are full of paying customers that can be fleeced for more than GM pays for warranty work. What happens? You drop your car off, they do nothing with it, or take a cursory look at it, then say they can't replicate the problem, and send you on your way. You need an oil change, they try to sell you things like wipers and filters, even if you just changed them, but now your brand new filter has greasy finger prints all over it. The offer "XX,XXX" mile services that don't appear in your manual that are nothing more than an oil change, tire rotation, air filter change and visual inspection, but charge $300 or more for it. I've had two separate dealers quote me $80 - $100 to change a cabin filter, which almost made me die laughing, because the way to check if its dirty is to pull it out (which takes two seconds), but they wanted $30 for the filter, and $50 - $75 for labor to change the filter that's already out. My car has carbon filters, which appear dark in color brand new, and dealers love to bring it to me and tell me how dirty the filter is and how its way over due to be changed.

The problem is that the good dealers are very few, and the swindlers run the industry. I get it that this is due to the sales/incentive based nature of the industry, but every dealer I've ever dealt with seems to be trying to scam you out of money at every turn.

[GrimReaperSS]

As a fellow member of the automotive technician community, what seems odd to me is it doesnt sound like the technician queastioned whether or not it was the correct part #/component for your vehicle. If i found i had to "modify" a brand new O.E. part to fit the car, I woildve walked back to the parts dept and asked if they gave me the correct part!

[scrape]

Wow that sucks. Good call on refusing delivery otherwise you would be stuck with it.

[Gen6]

I don't think we are being harsh. My issue is the way they handled it. As I said, I ordered the car knowing there would hiccups in the process and it could happen to me. Not having the correct part is not the salesman's nor the technician's fault. However:
1. If the car is not complete, why call the customer and tell him it is ready to be picked up? A good salesman who has been selling cars for a while should know that.
2. There is no reason for being cocky and have an attitude when a customer simply asks for the reason that his/her car is not complete. It's always about how you say it.

With that said, I'll decide on the survey when it is all said and done and see how this plays out. As I said earlier, Im all about giving them an opportunity to fix this, and that is all because of my salesman being a straight up guy from the beginning. Otherwise, there are plenty of Camaros on dealer lots around me which I could have gone to after this incident.

[fastball]

Much of what we're discussing here supports my strong opinion that the current car sales model is outdated and not customer centric. I've had debates about this which stretch heavily into politics and insipid dealer franchise laws each state has and each law is slightly different, so I will try not to get deep into that here.

But the bottom line is that I really like Tesla's sales model and believe it should be applied across all vehicle manufacturers. Tesla is fighting politics and the car dealer associations establishment in a few states. It's a good fight. Customers will come out the winner in the end.

[mt3130]

Originally Posted by fastball

Much of what we're discussing here supports my strong opinion that the current car sales model is outdated and not customer centric. I've had debates about this which stretch heavily into politics and insipid dealer franchise laws each state has and each law is slightly different, so I will try not to get deep into that here.

But the bottom line is that I really like Tesla's sales model and believe it should be applied across all vehicle manufacturers. Tesla is fighting politics and the car dealer associations establishment in a few states. It's a good fight. Customers will come out the winner in the end.

It is interesting that Tesla seems to have adopted the method of selling cars the way we sell all other goods in America, and by comparison, makes buying a car from anyone else seem like trying to haggle for knick knacks in a hut in Malaysia.

I hope Tesla prevails in the states where it is being challenged.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by mt3130

It is interesting that Tesla seems to have adopted the method of selling cars the way we sell all other goods in America, and by comparison, makes buying a car from anyone else seem like trying to haggle for knick knacks in a hut in Malaysia.

I hope Tesla prevails in the states where it is being challenged.

If you think about it, dealerships are just really big middle men.

Why should we pay someone extra for the opportunity to buy a car from General Motors? Or Ford? Or Honda?

People who own car dealers don't really bring real skills or knowledge to enhance the buying experience. They're good at selling cars. You don't need a college degree or a trained set if skills to do that. The people who install the steering wheel into our Camaros at the Lansing plant are more skilled and bring more value to our cars than someone who owns a car dealership.

Why are we paying some big shot dealer owner more money than the person installing the steering wheel just so he can sit in a big chair, get fat, and make millions?

[tcal780]

Originally Posted by Gen6

I don't think we are being harsh. My issue is the way they handled it. As I said, I ordered the car knowing there would hiccups in the process and it could happen to me. Not having the correct part is not the salesman's nor the technician's fault. However:
1. If the car is not complete, why call the customer and tell him it is ready to be picked up? A good salesman who has been selling cars for a while should know that.
2. There is no reason for being cocky and have an attitude when a customer simply asks for the reason that his/her car is not complete. It's always about how you say it.

With that said, I'll decide on the survey when it is all said and done and see how this plays out. As I said earlier, Im all about giving them an opportunity to fix this, and that is all because of my salesman being a straight up guy from the beginning. Otherwise, there are plenty of Camaros on dealer lots around me which I could have gone to after this incident.

Beyond the apparent gaps in communication and flow of information, the way that technician reacted and handled the situation is the most troubling. IMO, this isn't a hiccup, it's telling about how that department is managed and underscores a larger issue with that dealership where the customer is clearly not the priority. For that reason alone, I'd be going somewhere else to buy that car.

[Scottlake]

Originally Posted by Memphis43

When a customer is more than unrealistic and beyond petty then yes, a dealer kills a deal. Those surveys not only hurt the dealership, but actually are a direct tie in to a sales reps bonus money that they get quarterly. A bad survey from a customer for something they are not responsible for can end up costing them food on the table.

I don't expect many of you to understand as you have not been in one of those situations. Say what you want.

Believe it or not OP, a salesperson has no control over the service dept and even with that being the case, will most likely do his or her best to help the customer figure out the best action to take.

That survey that customers get after a buying a car, affects the sales rep more than anyone else in the dealership.

So keep in mind that while the sales rep did his or her best to make you happy and kept you up to date me b your vehicle, you sending in a survey after this setback because of one small blip in the radar would be nothing more than a slap in the face.

With all that being said, if there is a problem with the kit then it obviously needs to be resolved. Order the right kit or find someone who knows how to install the one it came with.




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I can verify this both on the service and sales side of it. Imagine working your butt off, doing it the right and honest way, having a #1 sales month in the service department. Keep in mind usually 10-11 hour days. Full pay being in the $5-6,000, with comissions and good CSI(surveys). Lets say for a month you get 7 surveys in, 6 perfect and one medium survey. Bam, your pay just dropped $2000.00 gross.

Its absolutely a killer. Especially if it was something outside of your control.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by Scottlake

I can verify this both on the service and sales side of it. Imagine working your butt off, doing it the right and honest way, having a #1 sales month in the service department. Keep in mind usually 10-11 hour days. Full pay being in the $5-6,000, with comissions and good CSI(surveys). Lets say for a month you get 7 surveys in, 6 perfect and one medium survey. Bam, your pay just dropped $2000.00 gross.

Its absolutely a killer. Especially if it was something outside of your control.

The problem is that the dealer is the only face-to-face contact customers have in the car buying process. So no matter how much the problem is not under your control, the customer sees it as absolutely under your control.

Frankly it's not up, to nor should it be the responsibility of, the customer, to decipher who is at fault, who is responsible, or what the problems are to begin with.

The dealer is responsible for delivering the car as expected by the customer, end of story. Figure it out and make sure it's perfect before delivery without involving the customer and you'll get good marks in the surveys. Don't, and you risk bad surveys even if it's not your fault.

To me it's worth extra hard work and stress to go that mile if it means losing thousands to a bad survey. Never put the onus on the customer for ANYTHING, even if it's NOT your fault. Figure it out and fix it.

The customer should not have to even be involved in this.