Ferrari of Houston....am I missing something?

Their "don't care" attitude also dissuaded me from buying a Maserati in 2005. Had a blank check from Capital 1, they had the Spyder I wanted, and I was stood up TWICE even when I had appointments with the guy who was recommended here.

Bought a Porsche Turbo and never looked back.

Thank God there are qualified indies for Ferraris in town (thinking about a 348 or 355 now), for Maseratis.......well you are just screwed......

 

<chuckle>
You might say that......
You tell me.....
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I wanted to bring up a point.

What would a Chevy dealer do if you brought a 1974 Nova in for some touch up paint and repair / parts?

With Ferrari Spa. Racing is first period, street cars are built as time permits.

I have met the people at the dealer and they always go out of there way to assist me any way they can. Nothing but praise from me..

 

Good post, that's what I was trying to say.....

Paint especially is troublesome over the years, different vendors....chemicals..... to please a "Ferrari Owner" can sometimes be difficult...

 

Service manager, Giuseppe who? Last name please.........

 

Giuseppe Risi is the owners name.

 

Shorthanded on staff..

Backlogged....

Racing....

None of those are good excuses, I mean, what does it take to order parts for someone ? About 3 minutes. What is the profit per those 3 minutes ? A LOT.

So a person wrecks his F-car and has it towed there, the LEAST they can do is provide an honest estimate and THEN say they are backlogged X months, most F-car owners understand that (it won't get fixed next day or next month).

 

Deblasio I think.

 

what i dont understand is how in the world are they so backlogged, i know it takes alot longer to work on a ferrari than say a toyota but c'mon there just are not that many ferrari's at that store. I mean I know people from all over send their car to FoH but seriously they really just take so long with each car because most owners would feel like a horses *** if they dropped an 11K check for 2 days of work, perhaps with long delays and stories of how hard it was to get parts owners will feel like they really got a great deal. My father has a '04 phantom and he gets it in out of the dealer in 2 days max everytime. FoH ios a joke truly, dont make me mention what happened about 4 years ago. My dad owns alot of convenience stores so he has alot of driving and hauling to do everyday from sams and costco and whatnot. So he doesn't drive the phantom to work, he drives an '89 mercedes 560 sec w/ almost 350K miles actually now.He took me to Nxcess to look at an SL55 which was almost new at the time and when we were done we figured we were in the neighborhood we'd stop and see a Ferrari at FoH, well let me say the salesman saw us pull up in that old 560. We walk in and he was doing NOTHING at his desk, my dad wanted to ask a few questions about the car and its maintenace bc he still owned 3 old rolls( silver cloud II,silver cloud III, and silver shadow all were terrible and cost a small fortune to upkeep every month). The salesman kept telling my dad he was waiting for a important call and would get with us in a little, well we waited about 30 minutes, no important call and most importantly no 550 for my dad. Horrible Dealership, just horrible.

 

I've seen a tremendous amount of "elitism" displayed by Ferrari owners than any other car manufacturer owners and more than not, I am sure that the attitude carries over to dealings with others. As previously mentioned, all our dealings with FoH are definitely positive.

Carol

 

i've always had positive experiences with FoH from the first time i set foot in the dealership to gawk at a 355. everyone there has always been helpful, professional and great to deal with.

 

Exactly

 

Sorry but Joe has always been extremely nice to me. I worked there for several months in 2000 while waiting for the position to open up in Dallas, which was also owned by Mr. Risi then. You would not believe the number of posers who come in and actually ridicule the Ferraris. You have to attempt to separate out the serious lookers/buyers from the sarcastic posers. We always let people look and attempted to spend the time with them that we could. Never just snubbed someone. I disagree with your assessment that this is a horrible dealership.

Mr. Risi is a private person and I doubt someone can just call him up to talk about this matter. He will refer it to his GM or Service manager. Ask for Scott in service if you need some good answers.

 

Sorry James, but I and others were definitely snubbed by the folks at Ferrari of Dallas, another Risi operation. They did not want anything to do with someone who was looking for "just a 328." That's the sole reason I bought my car from an independent (Hi Jpeck!). The dealership attitude definitely improved after it became a Boardwalk operation.

I can't speak to Ferrari of Houston as I haven't dealt with them, but the tales are familiar.

 

Let's be a little bit more broad about this. I don't think it's a "Risi thing". Mr. Risi is actually a pretty nice and very interesting guy.

Overall, indy dealers and authorized Ferrari dealers are different in many respects but it still comes down to the individual salesperson. The Ferrari dealerships aren't in the business of hunting down cheap, 20+ year old cars for customers that "might" be interested. That's a big risk. So a guy, like me, will probably get snubbed. If the Ferrari dealership has an older car (probably a local customer trade in) that's a very good representation of the dealership and brand, then they'll most likely have it on the showroom floor. But it might not last too long.

As for the subject of this thread. There's no excuse for not selling parts to a paying customer. That's bad individual customer service by the parts guy.

Having said all that... I love the indy spirit too. Nothing like having someone call in asking for a McLaren F1 and within 10 minutes having three available through a friend in the industry....

Cheers,
James

 

Is this thing on?

Mr. Risi supports the events and causes of his choosing........his Race Team is an entire payroll/organization to itself...and also the FCA/Franco/New Orleans events are I'm sure a huge invetsment to bring the cars and transporters not to mention crew, etc.......

And Russell in Parts has tracked down things not even shown in the book!

Joe Manianci and I chat all the time about cars, music, fine arts, whatever but not during times he is busy taking car of the Big Money that plays there..

So I think you have to differentiate between the Dr. Earle, New 599 Buyer, and folks like that......

And guys hoping to locate a part for a 30 year old car........I think that all it is......

Now as to Maserati sales, they should have bought you lunch AND an afternoon at the Colorado Bar, right down the street! LOL!

They have Vespas, too!

 

And about a gazillion years ago a Salesman at FoD, when a Risi dealership gave me a test ride in a 308GTB and I was about 15 years away from a purchase....

Ran it around the block teaching me proper shifting technique......


I don't know how to explain everyone's wildly varying experience......I go in some days and they are busy, on rainy days, not so much..

Of course, the great Sid Simpson made EVERYONE feel special and was never too busy to tell some great stories of the old days, but gosh, everyone should get to retire!!!!!

FoH did hire a hot blond on the phone, about 23 years old, married though.....

 

I miss the redhead from 2002 - 03, now she was hot!

 

Ahhhh, the good old days...


I went by there today and was greeted at the front door by armed guards.. Just kidding. I was treated very courteously. Even cracked a few jokes and saw some smiles.


JL

 

I have had nothing but positive things to say about FoH. I bought a preowed 360 from them and sold it back through them 2 years later. When originally thinking of buying a car I could not decide between a 360 or a Gallardo. Mr. Risi spent an hour and a half in his office extolling the Ferrari virtues and telling great stories. I have had no other owner give me the time of day let alone over an hour of his time. Great things to say about Joe Maniaci and Peter Betts too.
I have since moved on to Lamborghinis but still get treated great when I stop by FoH. Overall, I think it is a top notch outfit.

 

Tillman,

I know who you are talking about and I know how you feel. Many people did not like him and many did. That was before my time.

I have been gone from Ferrari from since 2004 and I still respect Mr. Risi very much. If I were still there, I would have liked to have known when someone felt this way so I could contact them and straighten the situation out. Unfortunately, I am no longer involved.

I would suggest a letter to Mr. Risi outlining the situation. Not a letter attacking the dealership but one explaining what happened and suggesting a resolution to the situation. A dealer always wants to know what is going on in his dealership and sometimes is too close to the operation to see everything.

Mr. Risi is very involved in providing cars and drivers to the Louisiana event, hosted the FCA Nationals in Dallas, brought Ferrari back to the Dallas Auto Show. He does a lot more for the image of Ferrari than many people know.

I found many a 308, 328, 348's and Mondials for clients in Dallas that I had to bring in. didn't make much money on them but the clients got their cars. I remember when you got your car. I believe we were in the middle of moving the dealership from Dallas to Plano and all cars were being held until inventory in Plano. They went back up for sale two days later. If that was when you felt snubbed and I had anything to do with it, I want to aplologize to you. I would never do that to anyone intentionally. If it was not me.....well, nevermind.....

Hope all is going well with you......

Just a thought.

 

Sid was great, wasn't he? Did he ever tell you the story about taking the lady for the test drive in the Daytona??? Can't tell it here but it was hilarious.....

 

LOL... Sid was the best!!! Yeah I remember the Daytona story. LOL... He gave me great advice while I was drooling over the cars in the showroom. He said, there are two ways to own one of these cars. Either marry rich, or be a gynecologist.. LOL!!! I still laugh to this day.

 

Sent an email to D.Pierce, the GM, on Tuesday April 10th explaining my experiences there.

No reply as of this morning.

Everyone has a right to run thier business the way they want. If I get an email or call about a bad experience at my winery I respond right away and go out of my way to make things right. If the customer is nice, great. If they're an idiot, also great.

My bank accepts money that I deposit from idiots and nice folks equally.

 

LOL!

C'mon let's go to the races......bang up some cars............