Things Dealers tell Customers

[KX50002]

Shaft drive is for cars and trucks.
Belt drive is for lawnowers.
Real motorcycles have chains!

[bmac]

Originally Posted by WVhillbilly

Sales is probably the last job where you want to read a book by it's cover.

So very true, but is amazing how it happens all the time. Salespeople, especially vehicle sales, will often sit around doing nothing than take care of a potential customer because they have already determined that it is not worth their time..

I am in sales and have been very successful because I will talk to anyone that is interested in buying what I am selling. In my experience, there are a lot people dressed very casually that have boatloads of money and will gladly spend it with anyone that treats them with respect. Clothes don't make the person. Sales people that prejudge potential customers will never be as successful as ones that do not prejudge anyone.

I walked into a local BMW car dealership dressed for work (business casual) and the sales folks came to attention and greeted me right away. When I stopped back a month later to take a more serious look in jeans and a casual shirt not a single sales person would give me the time of day. I pretty much decided then that I really don't want to hang with the BMW crowd even thought the 98 M3 I owned was a blast to drive.

[pretbek]

Originally Posted by mneblett

[klay]
You're
[/Klay]

I'm sorry, you did not notice the double smileys?

I guess I need to change my sense of humor.

[bwalsh]

Originally Posted by TrashCan

I 'll buy.

I'll buy the second round!

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

[klay]
knows
[klay]

[Klay]Nose[Klay]?

Originally Posted by pretbek

I'm sorry, you did not notice the double smileys?

I guess I need to change my sense of humor.

Maybe he should have used double smileys two.

[Hobbes950]

At the BMW dealer-

So, why should I buy a BMW instead of going down the street to the KTM dealership?

Because we have this nice showroom.

[eepeqez]

"Can I ride around in your showroom once I have bought a bike from you?"

"And if not, then why would I consider your fancy showroom, which is paid for from your margin on the bike I am considering buying, to be a plus?"

[Ceri JC]

Originally Posted by bmac

So very true, but is amazing how it happens all the time. Salespeople, especially vehicle sales, will often sit around doing nothing than take care of a potential customer because they have already determined that it is not worth their time..

I am in sales and have been very successful because I will talk to anyone that is interested in buying what I am selling. In my experience, there are a lot people dressed very casually that have boatloads of money and will gladly spend it with anyone that treats them with respect. Clothes don't make the person. Sales people that prejudge potential customers will never be as successful as ones that do not prejudge anyone.

I walked into a local BMW car dealership dressed for work (business casual) and the sales folks came to attention and greeted me right away. When I stopped back a month later to take a more serious look in jeans and a casual shirt not a single sales person would give me the time of day. I pretty much decided then that I really don't want to hang with the BMW crowd even thought the 98 M3 I owned was a blast to drive.

I find bike dealerships on the whole to be really good about this (not judging you on appearance). Perhaps they're realistic; even if you turn up in tatty car, you might just be really into bikes and spend all your money on that instead. If you turn up in leathers, well, that's to be expected. If you're in casual clothes with dirty hands, maybe you've come from your garage where you've been messing with one of your many motorcycles.

Try the same at a car dealership and watch them ignore you. It's unreal how differently I get treated if I call in a car dealership from work in a suit, compared to if I go in when I'm working from home in jeans and a t-shirt.

One thing all vehicle dealerships seem to struggle with, however, is if you're young*. I remember when I was in a bike showroom at 23. The tone change the moment the penny dropped with the guy that I could buy the bike I was looking at there and then, outright, was palpable. Until that moment, he had the air of someone who was just going through the motions to be polite to a kid and that if a 'proper' customer had walked in, he'd have walked away mid-sentence.

*And that doesn't even have to mean that young; it just means "young for the vehicle you're looking at". Try going around luxury car (as opposed to sportscar) showrooms when you're 30 and see how indulgent they are. To be fair, the local Aston Martin dealership were very accommodating and respectful. Guess where I'll be going, even though I originally had a slight preference for Bentleys?

[trc.rhubarb]

I have that problem at a local Ducati/Triumph dealer.
Show up on the BMW or even walking and they are super attentive.
Show up on the Harley and I'm a ghost.
I've even spent some money and tried to spend more there. Nice guys just bad judgment.
The HD was a heck of a lot more money thatn the BMW and a heck of a lot more than anything but the new Pannigale Tri-Colore. - which they don't have anyhow.

Local Honda dealer wont even acknowledge my existence.

Heck even the HD dealer that I've bought 3 new bikes at since 2005 barely gives me the time of day anymore.

Bought an Infiniti 20 years ago when Lexus wouldn't unlock the door to the car.
Neither did buy the vette I wanted at 20 because the dealers 'decided' I couldn't afford it and even told me so.

So fukkit, I dress down and act poor.when I buy new vehicles now. If they want to close the deal they will treat me like a fellow human being.

[nuttynu]

Originally Posted by shadowarrior

Call up my local Kawasaki dealer to order some parts for my zrx. Some new girl picks up the call, and i ask for this guy who i have dealt with for the last three years. He knows me and all my bikes. But instead the girl gets all aggro and calls me sexist.

Her: "Why do you need to talk to him? Just because i am a girl you think i don't know about bikes?"
Me: "no, it's just because he knows me and have always ordered my parts through him"
Girl: "just tell me what you need.."
Me: "ok, i need a, b, c, x, y, z for my 2001 Kawasaki zrx 1200"
Girl: "you mean zx12r"
Me: "nope, zrx 1200s"
Girl: "you must be reading it wrong"
Me: "nope, i know my bike, it's a zrx, not a ninja"
Girl: "nah, check your bike, it should say the model number, or bring it over and we will identify the bike for you"
Me: (hangs up) (facepalm)

hahah win,,,

[atomicalex]

I like this thread, because it is guys complaining.

I went to buy a car for my husband some years back, in Savannah. Walk into the VW place, fresh from work (suit), and wander around for a while. Finally some chick comes out to talk to me. I was looking for a Reflex Silver Golf TDI automatic with a double-DIN radio and possibly alloy wheels. Not too difficult, it was the most common combination.

I had to explain to both her and her manager that I was not going to talk money until I saw a car. It was like pulling teeth. When the foursquare came out, I about spit nails. Finally walked out when they couldn't tell me when the next batch of cars was due from port - I had checked with VW and knew there was at least one car that matched already allocated to that dealer and on a boat from Brazil.

Went home, hit the internet, found a dealer 100 miles away that wanted the deal and pulled the allocated car (the actual one we wanted) into his stream - not only grabbing the sale for him, but pulling that car away from the other dealer (they got a 2.sl0 in exchange). It arrived ten days later, and we picked it up the next day, even took a little finance deal that was good for all parties involved. Made my next parts run in the new Golf and made sure the entire sales floor saw it. Apparently they tried to convince service not to work on it - thankfully I had already built a decent relationship with the service/parts team, so that failed....

[azcycle]

A few vehicle stories:

When buying my 94 Ranger (back in 1996), after the test drive (at night, when raining) I commented to the sales guy "The pedal was throbbing under braking." His response: "Oh, that is the ABS working." Yeah, not. The right front disc rotor was badly warped, along with all four tires being badly scalloped. I commented on these items... "How were these missed in your advertised '140 point inspection?'" They replaced/fixed everything for free, but very reluctantly and only after I sent a letter to the dealership manager.

When living in KC MO... In 2002 the (now X) wife and I were purchasing a new Mitsubishi Lancer for her. It was the "sporty" OZ Edition which consisted of nothing more than a set of OZ wheels and badges. Not familiar with the OZ wheels, I asked the salesperson what OZ was. His response: "Oh that is the special Kansas edition." (Referencing Wizard of Oz... I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto.)

And when buying my 2007 Jeep Patriot (owned by the same local millionaire as in story 1: I was applying for financing, and requested to use my credit union. After financing us with another credit union without asking, the finance guy says: "Oh, your CU doesn't do car loans anymore so we went with this other one." BS. Went to my CU the next day and refinanced. And I will NEVER do business with ANY dealership owned by this guy. Scuzzbag.

[Dave in Wi]

Originally Posted by azcycle

When living in KC MO... In 2002 the (now X) wife and I were purchasing a new Mitsubishi Lancer for her. It was the "sporty" OZ Edition which consisted of nothing more than a set of OZ wheels and badges. Not familiar with the OZ wheels, I asked the salesperson what OZ was. His response: "Oh that is the special Kansas edition." (Referencing Wizard of Oz... I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto.)
.

You gotta give him points for thinking on his feet!

[acesandeights]

Reminds me of when I bought my first new Jeep, ~15 years ago. The salesman opened the hood and told me the V6 put out amazing horsepower and he wanted me to check out the engine. I looked at him sideways and said I'd like to start doing my own maintenance (which I'd always done) and wondered where the spark plugs were. He pointed at one side of the engine and said there were three there (where there were six) and pointed to the other side and said there were three there (where there were none). Knowing it was a I6, not a V6 I just said, uh huh and walked away. I should have asked him if they had an OZ edition :)

[shaddix]

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

At the risk of sounding like a sexist ****,,,

I doubt that's the case in this instance, but I am appalled by how many otherwise honest and decent women feel that it is 100% morally acceptable to return things that have nothing wrong with them, simply because they have capriciously decided they don't want them, even when it means a small independent store taking a hit. Whether or not the store is prepared to take it is neither here nor there: If something was as described and didn't have any defects, I couldn't return something I shouldn't have bought. At worst, I might ask a vehicle dealer to make an offer to buy something back, but if it was lower than I was prepared to accept, I wouldn't think any worse of them. I think the reason I wouldn't do it is because I know full well that if I was running a shop, I'd be fuming to accept returns for this reason (even if I put on a polite face because it made good business sense to do so).

It's strange as women are often a lot worse at getting value out of stores (read: more reluctant to haggle down below the list price on vehicles, etc) when buying goods. Yet they seem really good (or just have fewer qualms about) returning things they bought on a whim and then decided they didn't like the colour of.

If you don't return things you simply don't like when it is an option for you then you're paying more for the item than you should have. You can go to a store that has no return policy and then you won't be paying the overhead that is factored into the price at shops that have good return policies

[davevv]

Originally Posted by shaddix

If you don't return things you simply don't like when it is an option for you then you're paying more for the item than you should have. You can go to a store that has no return policy and then you won't be paying the overhead that is factored into the price at shops that have good return policies

If you don't like it, why did you buy it in the first place?