UPDATE: As I suspected, a near immediate response hit the inbox shortly after 0900 CST. It seems they are at least partially deserving of a break, since the dealership was purchased a couple years ago by Megalith Automotive. As to the whether the sales staff is “now held to a higher standard”… I’ll still opt to let someone else explore that reality. I still don’t trust ‘em near half as far as I can spit. 
A few days ago, I made the mistake of clicking on the link in an email from USAA regarding the programs they have available for purchasing a new car. Now, I can’t say enough good about USAA as a company. They insure just about everything we have, and are pure joy to work with when you need them most. USAA customer service is second to none.
However, the email in question offered special, “no haggle” member-pricing on new vehicles, and a link to select the vehicle models you are interested in. To be honest, I didn’t pay too much attention to the details, and I may well have missed any “your information will be forwarded” warnings. I was only curious about what kind of price breaks they were offering. But when I clicked on the link after selecting “Ford Mustang”, the USAA response was something to the effect of “These dealers in your area will contact you with a quote on your vehicle of interest,” whereupon four of the nearest Ford dealers from Mobile to Pensacola were displayed. No dollar amounts, percentages or rough estimates. The dealers will contact us with their pricing…
Uh-oh.
This is far, far worse than walking onto the lot to have the vultures circle and descend to come pick your bones. Now they know where our inboxes are! So naturally, the new car SPAM started immediately rolling in.
At five messages in less than 24 hours, the single most insistent of the responders is no surprise. I’ll call them Gotham Ford of Pensacola, FL. We’ve had dealings with the folks at Gotham. And since I was up last night stewing about my eldest and his stupid behavior, I figured I needed to take out my wrath somewhere. So I wrote the fine folks at Gotham Ford a letter. Since the USAA generated responses were all directed to Mrs. Who’s email account (she’s the primary contact on our USAA insurance, having been with them since the tender age of seventeen), I figured I’d color it to be written from her perspective – with her permission, of course – to waylay any attempt at negating my response as a third party. Here’s the product of last night’s ill mood:
Dear Ms. Woodcock and Gotham Ford,
Thank your for your prompt response to our USAA inquiry for a new vehicle. We were not aware until after we had followed USAA’s website lead that your dealership would be selected as one of the possible participating dealerships in the USAA online vehicle selection tool. Unfortunately, we will not be doing business with Gotham Ford ever, due to our previous customer experience with your dealership. Allow me to explain:
In August, 2004, we were in the market for an SUV after we lost our ’99 Mercury Grand Marquis to a reckless driver. Naturally, we were pressed by the circumstances of our loss to make a quick decision – a bit of information that in retrospect, perhaps we shouldn’t have so readily divulged.
When we stopped by to look at a beautiful metallic red ’04 Expedition on the Gotham Ford lot, we were treated with what could best be described as ‘Gestapo tactics’ by your sales team. There was no window sticker on the vehicle we were interested in, and when we inquired simply about the PRICE of the vehicle, we were in turn asked, “how much do you want your monthly payments to be?” and “how much can you afford to pay each month?” We were irritated at the audacity of the salesman and declined to answer with any specifics. We were genuinely interested as we could be in the specific model, but the critical information lacking still was the PRICE of the vehicle. How difficult a question is that? We were ushered inside the “pre-owned” office at the south side of the lot where the salesman had to “consult with his manager.”
Meanwhile, my husband was asked to provide his driver’s license for a photocopy so that we would be able to test drive the vehicle, “for insurance purposes.” We test drove the vehicle briefly, still unable to get a firm quote. We were returned to the office where we sat for nearly 45 minutes while excuse after excuse was being made, all with the promise of “we’re working to make you a GREAT deal!” We insisted we were curious but not committed to purchasing anything, and STILL only wanted to hear someone tell us the PRICE of the vehicle. Finally, the salesman came back flashing a clipboard and a cheesy grin, proclaiming “GOOD NEWS!” while asking my husband to sign the purchase agreement that he had worked up with his manager. They had evidently used the license information (which taught us a lesson about the dangers of having SS# imprinted on your license) to draw-up the offer document and (we assume) secure a credit check to “qualify” us for financing for the vehicle without our express permission. Of course, they had to get his signature so they could “get this ball rolling!”
Seriously. A PURCHASE AGREEMENT with a monthly payment amount “that we could afford” already filled out on a vehicle that we had not negotiated, let alone even learned the ASKING PRICE?! My husband snatched the form and tore it in half and grabbed the photocopy of his license that was behind the agreement on the clipboard. The salesman was incensed and raised his voice to us. We made our way past the salesman to the door, leaving the office to get in my husband’s ’97 Ford F-150. As we were backing out of the parking space away from the building, the salesman and his manager came running out of the office, shouting “Wait! Wait!” and FINALLY presenting a scrawled figure on a piece of paper that, as I recall, did seem remarkably fair. However, no deal would have turned us around at that point. One of the two gentlemen had his hands on the windowsill and side mirror of the truck as we were moving, running alongside our truck and begging us to stop and come back inside to close the deal. We could barely believe what was happening! My husband had to order the man to remove his hands from our truck so we could drive off.
We crossed the road to Sandy Sansing Chevrolet, where we were treated respectfully and fairly by Jo Resse.* I still have her business card, and I still remember her name when someone asks for a reference. She was helpful and answered all our questions about the vehicles that interested us. We finally settled on a very slightly used Chevrolet Suburban that we’ve named “Molly Sue.” We closed the deal the following day after we were allowed to leave the lot to think about our decision without any mention of written agreements or strong-arm tactics. Just, “we would appreciate the opportunity to earn your business.” Imagine that! Molly-Sue has been a part of our family now for over five years, and as you can see here**, she’s getting old but still serving us well.:
My husband had been a loyal Ford customer for decades until your salesmen literally scared us off your lot by their shameless temerity and guerrilla sales tactics. Even though $4 gasoline times were tough, we have thoroughly loved our Suburban. Though he was at first skeptical of owning a GM, Jo and the rest of the Sandy Sansing team were courteous and very pleasant – a stark contrast from what we had experienced at your dealership – and they put my husband’s concerns to rest.
Had our economy not driven GM into government hands with a still uncertain future, our next vehicle would almost certainly have been a Chevrolet, and we most definitely would have purchased from Jo Resse and Sandy Sansing again. We are nearing the time when one of our vehicles needs replacing, and we no longer have the need for a large family-moving vehicle as we did when our children were younger, hence the USAA inquiry. We have admired Ford Motor Company’s decision to tough out the rough economy and not seek bailout assistance, and have been curious about the Mustangs or perhaps another light truck (our previous F-150 has over a quarter million miles and has been handed down to a family member, but still runs strong and looks great. His previous vehicle was an equally dependable early 90’s Taurus.). We may yet decide on a Ford vehicle, but as my husband has often stated over the past five years, “I personally wouldn’t trust Gotham Ford to give me a straight deal on my last ride in a hearse!”
So please, if you don’t mind… Chalk it up to a lesson learned in how not to treat customers, and promptly remove us from your contact list.
Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. Who
Meh. I doubt it will shut them up, but it’s a start. Only wish I had written that same letter five years ago.
*The names of our Chevy dealer and salesperson were not changed to favor the excellent. If you live near the Pensacola area and have the fortitude to purchase a GM product despite the new “Government Motors” manufacturer ownership, please give them serious consideration and tell Jo we said thanks!
** Yes, I rummaged in the dark for the camera and went out into the driveway at 1am to take the picture just for this message!
Previous 
Next 
Categories
Tag Cloud
Blog RSS
Comments RSS
Last 50 Posts
Back
Void 
Life 
Earth 
Wind 
Water 
Fire
Some dealerships are a joy to work with, others are more like Gotham. Sales snipers, out to whack you at any cost. Ugh.
I’ve bought so many cars that now I can give them heck in return. Once at a Nissan dealership this one sales guy was everything you love to hate in a car salesman – condescending, pushy, you name it!
I went to the manager and said ‘if you don’t get this guy out of my face right now, I’m walking. I mean it; I don’t want to even catch a glimpse of him in the hallway’.
We then got a very pleasant guy to work with. Won’t take that crap. At. All.
[...] http://frictionandharmony.com/?p=646Even though $4 gasoline times were tough, we have thoroughly loved our Suburban. Though he was at first skeptical of owning a GM, Jo and the rest of the Sandy Sansing team were courteous and very pleasant – a stark contrast from what we … [...]
I like playing with car salesman and their managers. It’s a total hoot when you have their entire (private) incentive list sitting on the desk in front of you, and them.