Got thrown out of Ferrari Dealer.

And some people wonder why Ferrari has a snobby reputation, Its a$$holes like him that can ruin it for a lot of people.
I probably would have told him O.K. ill go by a Ford GT their faster anyway.

 

Did they charge you the $10 and if so, did you get to keep the hat?

 

Noel, that really sucks, i'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience... There's just no excuse for that kind of behavior, no matter how you look at it... i don't know why they're so snotty... Did you get the guy's name or his card...? Nothing - not even a Ferrari - moves as fast as word of mouth...

i feel REALLY bad for your friend, since it was his first time... i'd hate for him to go the Jay Leno route and NEVER go to another Ferrari dealership ever again because of a bad first experience...

 

While I can't claim they treat me as rudely, I was disgusted with a salesman looking me in the eye and telling me "We don't care", when I toold him I would buy something else if I was not told at least soon WHEN I could get my 430. (I had two transactions with the dealership). A few days after my visit, I traded my 360 for a Gallardo and within two weeks THREE of my buddies did the same; two traded 360's for Gallardos and one ordered a DB9.

 

Noel,

I am not surprised to read your experience as I believe Ferrari trains its dealers to act very independently and condescending as you indicated in an attempt to create a demand.

Perfect example is to keep production low, demand high, and then ask $100K over sticker for the car! How ridiculous.

I went to FoSF one day and a salesman was eating a pizza at his desk on the showroom floor! Not only did he barely acknowledge me, he continued to eat his pizza without any communication with me!

I would have been out of business years ago if I treated customers in this manner.

FoBH's gave me the same cold shoulder twice! Once when I visited with them and James had "just left" not calling me on my cell and then again with invitations for the Silicon Valley opening.

I had in early March received a personal phone call and invitation from Charlie Miles for the opening but never received a printed invitation.

When I addressed this to James DelPozzo of FOBH this is the response he had Miles send to me by e-mail not by personal phone call:

Hi Greg,


James at Beverly Hills let me know that you got in touch with him regarding the opening and the fact that you did not receive an invitaion. I do apologise that you did not receive one and I have no idea why you did not. All I can say is that a lot of the invitations got returned to us and that perhaps we had the wrong address written down.

I am sorry for the confusion caused.

Please feel free to come by and see the new place for yourself anytime,


Thanks and Best regards,
Charlie Miles
Sales Manager
Ferrari Silicon Valley
650 261 6000
charlie@ferrarisiliconvalley.com

Now if in fact an invitation had been sent and misdelivered by return to them, would they have not known about it? And, if he were concerned, would he not have inquired as to my supposed "correct address" and inquired of FOBH as to whether an invitation had been returned?

Your observations are very accurate, Noel, and I have had three incidences of the same.


Would I ever do business with any of these folks? I don't need to, and the more folks that accept the manner in which you were treated the worse this matter will get.

Give me old fashioned, face to face, serious contact in business any day.

 

I bought my 308 at Lamborghini of Chicago. I was amazed at how easy it was to do business with them (Mike rocks!).

This may be the start of a new trend, want a used Ferrari, go to the Lambo dealer.

 

Judge4re,

I agree with you. Your approach is correct.

I have been in touch with Mike there as well, but as yet he has "rocked" for me!

I can say the very same for Joe Loayza at Symbolic in LaJolla (www.symbolicmotors.com). He's a great person, but his prices are just a bit too high for me, however!

Symbolic is a Lambo/Bently/Rolls dealer. Great store!

 

Noel........

Obviously I wasn't there, so I won't comment on whether or not his words to you (or vice versa) were appropriate as there truly is a time and a place for everything.....but as an aside......a multiple Ferrari owner knows how the game works when it comes to new car allocations. And a Ferrari GM is undoubtably politically astute enough for the job I would imagine when it comes to handling these requests........especially in what is probably a zoo given the location of "that" particular store.

I have managed high end dealerships with rules about out of franchised territory sales.....I've had to deal with clients locally and otherwise regarding hard to get and desireable exotic cars....... and I've been faced with the guys with the proverbial paper bag full of cash with my name on it looking for that hard to find car who are from the other end of the country.

And I've kicked people out of dealerships before (mainly MLM types).......so don't feel alone. I am not taking anyone's side here........just suggesting that maybe parallel universe's overlapped and collided for a moment that day.

 

Next time you are in Vegas, go see Pat Searcy at Exotic Cars at Caesar's Palace. www.ecacp.com

No $10.00 admission fee and I am sure you will not be thrown out!

 

I've been thrown out of a couple bars in my lifetime, so I know how you feel. At least you weren't arrested. The typical reaction is the 'how dare they?' response, followed by thinking of ways of getting even, which is pretty much a waste of time. I'd just move on. Never been to Vegas, but I've always been treated nicely by the Chicago area Ferrari and Lambo dealers. Regardless, there's bound to be one bad apple in the bunch somewhere...

 

Wow....I can understand them blowing off somebody wasting their time, but someone truly inquiring about a sale? I can tell you that the guys at FOA (Ferrari of Atlanta) are awesome...They don't care if you are there to buy t-shirts or F-50's...they treated me like gold and I was their to get a clutch pack aligned which ran me $30 bucks...I ended up buying another $200 in merchandise which is not a lot of money, but had someone acted rude to me....I wouldn't have bought squat. Call the guys at FOA, I don't know if they can get you the car, but I'm sure they will treat you very good.

 

Pat Searcy from Motor Cars International? This guy is one square shooter.

 

Horrible expierience, Im 16 and I get treated like a customer at Ferrari Of Denver.

Not saying anything against you, but can you imagine how many false customers they have at that dealer, its in Vegas! (Still no exeption for this guy) but I mean unless you show them the $$$$$ they probably wont give you another look.

 

"NO SOUP FO YOU!!!"

 

I can appreciate this. When someone at FoSF scratched my 360 and the sevice rep acted as if it wasn't the fault of anyone there, I e-mailed him pics of the scratch that occurred while it was in their possession. NO RESPONSE A friend of mine called the sales rep and told him that I was going to be a good, long term customer so when I call to talk to him about putting down a deposit on a 430 he blew me off. But there are good people out there who do understand the meaning of the words "service" and "manners".


"It's understanding that makes it possible for people like us to tolerate a person like yourself."--Ferris Bueller

 

LOL The F-car Nazi!!!!

 

I can tell you that Ferrari does not train its dealers to be this way but somehow too many of them do. Sometimes I believe the salesperson is going on a power trip when he acts condescendingly toward someone who can truly buy. The salesperson is sometimes one of the "wannabe's" that they talk about so much.

I a market such as this, it is hard to please everyone, but everyone deserves respectful treatment. There are probably many people who could pay cash for every car that Ferrari will ever produce, but unfortunately, they will never get the chance.

Having been involved in a strong way with FoDallas, I can tell you that I tried to answer everyones request respectfully. I could not always tell them everything they wanted to know, due to restrictions that had been placed on me, but I disclosed what I could and attempted to be compassionate about the things I could not.

Judge4re, Writerguy, Rob Lay, Tillman, and many others know me personally and I believe can vouch that not all dealerships are like Steve Wynn's. Personally, I questioned the logic behind Ferrari giving him a dealership to operate as I thought this is how it would evolve. Unfortunately, it is coming to be what I believed it would.

Sorry for you experience and I too feel bad for your friend.

I hope you get your 430 soon.

 

I wasn't slamming all Ferrari dealers with my comments above regarding Lambo dealers and I hope people don't take it that way. I've had nothing but outstanding service and customer satisfaction at Ferrari of Atlanta and the old Ferrari of Dallas when Jim was there. There is a right way to do business and a wrong way. Ed Wettach and Guiseppie Risi have figured it out and it shows.

 

Eric, doesn't this remind of a Luigi story during his hey days.

 

You need to visit Steve Harris Imports! What a great bunch of guys!!

The moment I enter their lot Sean promptly informs all his employees via loud speaker that I have entered the building. They spring to attention and greet me at the door rushing me through the showroom, into the service bays, and out to the dumpster, where they let me take anything I want!!

GOSH! I LOVE THOSE GUYS!! They even let me sleep in the dumpster when the homeless shelter is full!

Of course to get this kind of service from any F-Car dealer you need to...
SHUT THE FOCK UP! STOP YOUR BEEYOTCHING, DISH OUT SOME GREEN AND BUY SOMETHING!! GOOOSSSHHHHH!!!!!

 

I suggest you write a pithy, but powerful letter to FNA and to Italy and let them know that if this is how customers of the company are treated, their staff must be unimagineably rude to non-customers. Play-up the "good will" thing, and let them know that it is tainting the experience for literally thousands and thousands of potential future customers, whose first visit to a Ferrari showroom may be an encounter with these morons. Presumably, the store is there, in part, for precisely the reason of elevating the image of Ferrari in showcase fashion. The company should have some concern that these guys have started, at the outset, alienating existing customers.
This has also not been my experience when visiting other dealers. However, i usually call ahead, tell them "ya,Ya,Ya,ya" and ask if they have time to see me; i've relied on remote F car dealers for service, and shipping and receiving my cars when out of town. Always had good experiences that way, but it only takes one bad experience, as you well know....

 

Sort of, but Luigi liked me and my dad.

BTW, love the new avitar.

 

theres a $10 entrance fee to the dealer?????? forget that place, that alone just says "we're the snobbish type"

 

I've never had a problem at FofSF, nor has anyone that I know. Maybe it's you???

Do you know how many guys come into dealerships, asking to buy a car that isn't for sale? When told not available, they get angry....

The dealership can't sell out of its area, and can't sell the car for more than MSRP, so why in the world would they want to deal with someone who started swearing at them?

maybe if you took a little time, met the sales people, bought a car or two, established a relationship with them, then maybe you'd be on the list. On the other hand, if you've been standoffish, nasty, etc., you're not on the list.

Who knows why you aren't, only you and the dealer, but I bet we haven't heard the entire story.

Art