Dealing with rude salesman

It's probably because you're dressed like the motorcycle rider in the Geico commercials with all the $100 dollar bills flying off of him!

 

I had the same experience almost to a T when buying my M3. The store was BMW owned.
I then went to a non BMW owned dealership and coould not have been happier wuith the experience, I have also sent freinds to buy cars there too.

BMW sent out aquestionaire about dealerships visited. I put under comments that if the onbly choice was the company store I would not have bought one of their products.

Funny thing about manufacturer questionaires, if you write somethign bad you never hear from them again. The whole thing is run by marketing gurus for dumb****s back at head office who are too removed from reality to relise that marketing comnpany is selling them shinola.

As to ferrari, you pretty much have to really want their product to put up with the crap they hand out. Even when the slaes people are nice, they cant really serve you, and from my experience the new crop has poor product knowledge. If you look at Gallardo, R8 and Mclaren sales, I'll be a good percentage are people who just couldnt stamach the whole ferrari thing. Anyway they are making money doing what they do, so that is all that counts I guess.

What really scares me is how poor about 50% of service departments are, including ferrari. Some dealerships are brilliant other really really crappy, and its not brand specific. In my book there is an alternative to pretty much any car you care to name these days, I buy where the dealers are good, and servive where the service is competant. Its rare to find both under one roof.

 

salesmen are an interesting bunch....the bad ones aggravate you for a bit, but you always remember the good ones.

When I was 12 years old my dad decided he wanted the new (for 2003) Range Rover. It was probably May of 2002 and they were just hitting dealers. We headed down to the local dealer and he was driving a new 740 at the time. Walked around the car once or twice, really cool salesman came out eating a slice of pizza and handed my dad the keys. He offered my sister and I some pizza, which we declined, and said bring the truck back whenever you're done with it. We've bought a couple of Rovers from him since and he's even gone as far as to offer us to take his personal truck when ours are in for service and we get stuck with a POS enterprise rental. Can't beat that and just because of my respect for him I'd consider looking at the new Range Rover(even though I think it's hideous) if I were shopping for a truck in that class.

A few years ago at the Americana Concourse a buddy of mine wandered into London Jewlers' Watch Shop. We were just wandering around, but a salesman was happy to show us anything we wanted to check out. We were probably no older than 16 or 17 at the time. My parents happened to be longtime customers of the store, but he had no way of knowing that, he was just a nice, friendly guy. 7 years later I've still got his card in my wallet and when the time comes for some nicer watches I'll find him.

My worst experience came at Mercedes Benz of Massapequa, just for you Long Islanders so you know to stay away. My girlfriend and I stopped in late one evening a few months ago because we noticed they had a few new S classes. I was starting to consider a 2013 leftover S550 at the time and they usually have a decent inventory. It was no later than 8:15pm and we were wandering around the CLA that was in the entrance-way just because it was the first time seeing one and it'd been so heavily marketed. A salesman approached said 'oh that's the new CLA. We are actually closed, but if you want to come back tomorrow we'll be happy to service any of your needs then' and walked away. They closed at 8:00. Lock the doors if you're closed, but don't throw someone out. Handle it like a gentleman, I can understand you want to get home to your family. Take five minutes to explore needs and take information. Oh well, I'll never be back and I'll make sure no one I know ever buys a car from them either. Wrote them a pretty harshly worded review the next day. Called the salesmen an antique with no place selling luxury cars in today's day and age when you don't really know who has money. Their sales manager Googled me, found my business online and call both work and cell phones, but didn't really seem to care. He said 'sorry and I understand if we've lost your business.' Not sure if he assumed I wasn't serious or if he just knew I wouldn't be back.

 

Awesome.

 

Your problem is assuming a CLA is a luxury car, its a cheap car gilded with a badge.

 

what are you talking about? We weren't there to see the CLA, we just happened to be wandering around it when we were approached approached. Regardless, even if we were looking at the CLA, its purpose is to attract younger upwardly mobile buyers to the brand, not shoo them away.

 

Closed is closed dude. You should have apologized and left, come back the next day if interested. He is a person too, and he doesn't have to take 5 min to stroke your overinflated ego.
You are the one coming across as anything but a gentleman here.

 

Haha stroke my ego? No ego at play. If I'd known they were closed, I wouldn't have walked in. Hell I won't walk into an ice cream shop within a half hour of closing because I don't want to be a pain when I know they usually start cleaning up early. They didn't have hours posted, the doors were open, and there were people inside. Also, many dealers in the area are open 'til 9. I didn't walk in expecting to go for a test drive, I didn't want to spend three hours beating him up over a deal...hell I didn't even expect to speak to anyone that night. There's just a right way to handle something and a wrong way. I guess you don't think they handled it the wrong way, but if that were my business that guy would be gone. I guess it's the hospitable side in me, but 'on the clock' or 'off the clock', I want customers to be happy, not disregarded. Some people get customer service and some people don't. Sorry that you don't.


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Just to help derail this thread some more

I'm reminded why I hope the more direct/tesla sales model becomes in "option" when purchasing cars in the future.

Remember that goofy thread lol.

On a personal note, the ferrari dealerships I've ever been into spanning from the collection in miami, many others in south fl and lately Ferrari of denver, have all been very positive experiences. I was particularly impressed with Ferrari of Denver, very nice younger gentlemen there, willing to work.

 

The direct sales model is awesome only because we've let dealers get so out of control in this country. A lot of the F car dealers are still owned by individuals and smaller dealer groups and they do a great job - many of them have hands on owners who are concerned about their reputation. The funny thing is many of them have built in customer bases because of Ferrari's silly 100 mile rule. The bigger car makers just reward volume and it has led to shady dealers growing into monster corporations with more money to push their shady operations. I bought a Wrangler last summer and it was the worst car buying experience of my life - each dealer was worse than the next with the games they played and the lies they told.

I just wish small family owned and run dealerships would make a come back.

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some very interesting views expressed here... personally, I dress very comfortably (read: slacker) in my free time but especially so when I'm out making large purchases for this very reason. I like the guys who don't try to prequalify me based on my "look" or attire...the guys who treat everyone with respect and who don't judge the book based on its cover.

call it perverse but it is quite enjoyable to look over at that salesperson who didn't give you the time of day as you sign on the dotted line with his more attentive peer. an old family friend - very wealthy - son of one of our former governors - he always dresses like a slob who shops for clothes at second hand stores. big mistake if you're that kind of salesman b/c he likes exotic cars and fine watches (that he never wears)...go figure.

that being said, I can see the perspective of the salesguy. if I'm working and there are people floating around who look the part, I'm probably going to attend to them first. but if there's nothing going on, then what's the harm in giving a young guy some of my time? as many of you point out, this can payout big time down the road...you just never know

 

No...you acted like ******, pure and simple.
They were closed, and you should have apologized and nod you head, and come back the next day if interested.
Instead, you decided to blast some guy's job with a nasty letter to the dealership because you weren't massaged the way you wanted to be, after they were closed.
I'm guessing you felt dissed in front of your girlfriend...and someone had to pay, even with his livelihood if need be.
Your ego wasn't stroked, and someone had to pay for that.
First class dick.
Oh, and mentioning he "googled you" doesn't impress anyone here either.

 

Haha okay. Guess what they say about arguing with stupid is true: you can't do it because they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.


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I am goal orientated, I usualy find no matter how you dress an expensive yet understated watch catches the salesmans eye and you get great service. In the end thye have to qualify some way, so if you wnat greats ervice do somethign to make then feel you warrant it, thye muct have to deal wiyth a lot of tire kickers and Bsers.

The problem with ferrari based on 3 dealerships is they are either dicks or clueless or their service department sucks, in any event they cant really sell you a car nor do they need to , because its all,order and wait, lack of competition is not good.

But since sales demmand is not what it once was, they are far more reasonable to do buisness with. To me Ferrari is one of those products you really like so you buy it in spite of the company.

I bought my Boxer at Shelton in FL and can honestly say without a shred of doubt I will never ever so long as I live deal with a shelton owned company ever gain, in fact even if they own a funeral home where my body is, I woudl want to be buried somewhere else they made that big an impression on me.

 

Can you two stop the personal attacks? You are both better than that and it's very unnecessary. Geez, you are Tifosi and kindred spirits. Act like it.


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BINGO!!

 

The salesman is not paid by the hour and he stopped getting paid at 8pm sharp. He is on commission and closed is closed if he wants a mediocre lifestyle. He would spend 5 or 10 minutes to stroke him if he wanted to be truly successful in life. You get what you put into things.

 

We're not talking about what the salesman chose to do, or not to do; we're talking about the response of the "potential client" blasting the dealership with a nasty letter (clearly in an attempt to "punish" said salesman...otherwise why bother) and telling no one to ever go there in a vitriolic vindictive temper tantrum for not being coddled after the place was closed. This should be so obvious it needs not being mentioned, but mentioning needs to be done apparently nonetheless.

There are so many on here who blast the modern "entitled" attitude...but here is the perfect example of an "entitled attitude."

I can, in theory, afford your product....WORSHIP ME...or else.

 

I didn't even know the salesman's name. Get over yourself.


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LOL!

 

If i were ETL330 i'd be pissed for how he treated me. The doors should've been closed.

If i were the salesman i'd be pissed for ETL300 coming in after hours. Just because you're a serious buyer, doesn't mean everyone is. I'm sure he deals with a lot more younger people that just test drive and don't buy.

When i was in my teens i'd go to dealerships just to drive cars on a boring saturday. Turns out it did end up sparking my ridiculous obsession with owning a new car every 4 months.

In the salesman's defense, you don't know what kind of day he had either. I'm sure everyone has had a bad day and taken it out on someone else. I do think ETL330 overreacted by sending him a letter and bashing the guy.

 

Clearly, you were the Captain of your College's debate team, I am outclassed and must bow out in disgrace.

 

This is fair. Maybe the review I posted was out angst. I was pretty fresh off wrangler shopping which left me with a pretty negative view of dealers as a whole. I also tend to have a hard time understanding some of the lackluster customer service I experience in general. As you guys can probably tell from how fast I'm responding to these, I'm a bit obsessed with answering emails, texts, calls, and messages from carrier pigeons as soon as humanly possible. That's a good thing for clients, but unfortunately I do have a hard time when people don't handle situations as I would.

Both sides could've handled things better - hindsight is 20/20.


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We all have had disappointing interactions with sales people so your angst is understood ETL330. The point that seems to be missing is that when a business closes for the night the sales persons are limited by the amount of time they can spend with a potential client on the premises. Perhaps that particular sales person was also frustrated by the limited amount of time.

A pancake is flat but it still has two sides.

Chin up.