Dealing with rude salesman

Whenever I ran into this situation, if it bothered me enough, I would have a chat with the manager to advise them of the situation. There are definitely varying levels of salespeople out there.

 

There are rude salespeople in every profession. Find another one who isn't a knob and give him/her your business.

 

What did he say?

 

I went to my local BMW dealer to purchase a $70,000 X6. Easy sale since I did my research and had the colors and options all picked out.

Empty showroom, a half dozen salespeople sitting at their desks playing angry birds, solitaire etc. and not a single one bothers to get up and make contact with me. I have to ask the receptionist to assign a salesperson who I'll refer to as "Sleepy". After Sleepy extends a limp handshake from his chair (he either didn't bother to get up or his a** was glued to his chair) he grudgingly prices the car. Sleepy generously gave me a $500 discount off of the sticker price! Wow!

I guess Sleepy didn't get the memo that BMW was running a nationwide promotion for $2000 off plus dealer incentives, or maybe he didn't see the 10 foot banner draped over his desk advertising the same promo. Surely my new pal Sleepy wouldn't try to pocket that promo money...would he?

Well, I played along because I really wanted to test drive the car; however, Sleepy said he had another customer coming in within the hour and he didn't have time for a test drive. I needed make an appointment and come back another day. At this point, I asked to see the sales manager to see if I could speak to another salesperson who wasn't as "busy" as Sleepy.

The manager (Sleepy's twin brother, a** also glued to his chair) said he cannot assign another salesperson to me since Sleepy already "worked on my deal". Unbeknownst to me, I was now married to Sleepy. This whole experience was a real buzzkill since I was expecting to leave with a signed bill of sale, and I ended up with nothing, not even a brochure.

Determined, I went to another BMW dealer slightly further away, and to my surprise, got an energetic, courteous salesperson who gave me a great deal (over $6500 off sticker). He even offer me the keys to a brand new X6 overnight with no obligation to buy. After a short test drive, I signed the paperwork. Needless to say, I will never go to that other dealership again.

 

Go straight to his boss. It works every time. These are just hired people.

 

You're a kid asking for 'your dad'... You are wasting his time.

 

Put yourself in his shoes. His job is to sell cars.

It's ok that you're excited about nice cars... And you very well may be able to buy one some day... But in the situation you described, you were absolutely wasting his time.

Saying that him not treating you as a 'real customer' makes him rude.. just comes across as very entitled and immature on your part.

Don't take it so personally.

 

Just call the guy rude right to his face. That's it. Some people need a bit of a "slap" to wake them back up to reality. You are the customer, wanting to give them money. If you feel you are being treated poorly for wanting to give away your hard earned money, speak-up and tell the yo-yo.

 

A true measure of a man is how he treats someone that is not giving him anything. Kindness and courteousness does not take hours to express.

I used to sell cars. I never found the time indulging youngsters or those curious wasted.

 

Agreed.. nothing wrong with sharing a love of cars.

However, the original posted needs to be conscious of the fact that he was 'being rude' also.

Being excited about a cool car and ambushing a sales guy with the expectation of being treated like a normal customer are two different things.

Knowing your place comes with maturity.

 

Some car salespeople are very successful, and some bounce around from dealership to dealership and eventually leave for another line of work. My guess is your "product consultant" will be in ladies shoes next year ....... figuratively or literally!

 

If you don't want to talk to a LOT of people who can't or won't buy right now you shouldn't be in sales. And my dad used to give me similar errands. You never know...

To the OP, I'd say this. If you are acting for someone else, like your Dad, have the attitude that you are their agent. I'd pass the information on to your Dad. Especially the part the the sales guy was an asshat.

To both I'd submit for your consideration that I just bought a car from a salesman who knew for several years I wasn't ready to buy from him. The fact that he'd been polite and helpful over those years is why I went to him when I was ready to buy. There are a lot of people worth doing business with. Don't waste your time on those who aren't.

 

Back in 1986 I visited FAF in Atlanta for the first time. I was 18 and had just graduated high school a month or so earlier.

While I was clearly not going to buy anything, I was approached by a sales person. Very firendly. So much so that not only did he take time from his "busy Sat" to welcome me there, but he took me for a ride in a black 85 308. (post # 73 is the pic of me that afternoon in the 308 http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/322953-vintage-pictures-i-took-308s-1981-1997-a-2.html) He knew I wasn't going to buy it. I decided that I was, somehow, going to buy a 308 from him one day. I called him 11 years later and bought mine through him. I bought my Alfa through him as well.

I never forgot how nice he was to me so I returned the favor... you never know.

 

When I was a sophomore in college I was in Atlanta for a Jimmy Buffett concert. We had some time to kill the day before the show, so we drove out to Ferrari of Atlanta to see if we could look at some cars. The salesman was extremely nice, and let us look all we wanted and even let us sit in some of the cars. The 355 was new at the time, and was far and away my ultimate dream car. I was so excited to get my picture taken sitting in one. He took time and answered all our questions, and even showed us around the service area. Before we left I told him I sure couldn't afford one now, but planned to come back in a few years and buy one. He kind of laughed, and said to let him know when I was ready.

Fast forward through a lot of hard work....

Last spring FoA had a pristine 355 for sale. Guess which salesman I asked for?

Ferrari of Atlanta 1997 and 2013, proof positive that it pays to be nice!

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I had a very similar experience with faf....that was a great shop!

 

Wow, great stories Tommy and Nathan. Love them!

Kind of reminds of that scene in the movie Pretty Woman. After the saleswoman ignored her because she didn't look right, and she returned after spending thousands of dollars elsewhere......"Oh, you sell on commission? Big mistake, HUGE mistake!"

 

Just curious, what did/does FAF stand for? I've always seen it referred to as that but can't figure it out!

 

...And at an auto show...please putp yourself in his shoes, I bet you he heard that statement many times in his life because he sells an exotic product.

 

This is a great story