Car Dealers where your iphone is the salesman

screamer

I went looking at cars last weekend, and I have to say, service in most places sucks. I was literally walking around their yards, with my iPhone matching the cars to their website to find out about the car, the mileage, the spec the price etc. Some of the dealership staff were rude and looked us up and down before even talking to us, others were just grumps and others again, just couldn't be bothered. Now, I know it's only a secondhand car I'm after, but it's stil thousands of euros. I run my own small business and I'd give more of my time to people spending 300 quid with me, than I got from 3 dealerships combined last Saturday. Disgusted, no wonder they struggle to stay in business.......

biko

I find that going into the place, grabbing one of the sales people and telling them what I need helps.
Just wandering around looking at the cars might not get their attention, unless you look the biz and are eyeing the high end Mercs.

screamer

Yep, that just proves it..... you shouldn't need to "look the biz" to get a decent customer experience. BTW, I was looking at high end mercs, but being sold by low end salespeople.

jimgoose

screamer wrote: »

Yep, that just proves it..... you shouldn't need to "look the biz" to get a decent customer experience. BTW, I was looking at high end mercs, but being sold by low end salespeople.

You're obviously not acting "High-End Merc". Hoof one of them in the plumsack. That means "Hello, I'd like some service please, and not necessarily in the barnyard sense" in Mercedes-speak.

pyramuid man

Have to agree with you. Nothing worse than going into a dealer and being ignored. You would swear they didn't want your money.

colm_mcm

I hate looking at cars in dealers. Don't like being "sold" stuff, prefer to research and get a shortlist, then negotiate a price rather than arse around with the salesman telling me how great the car is

vinnie13

screamer wrote: »

Yep, that just proves it..... you shouldn't need to "look the biz" to get a decent customer experience. BTW, I was looking at high end mercs, but being sold by low end salespeople.

i know the feeling there seems to be the "do you want it or not attitude"
its not just the car trade it exists everywhere must be genes carried on from the celtic tiger days :pac:

ironclaw

Having worked in sales, and not car sales I may add, you get two types of people. People who know they want and don't want to be bothered until they ask, or the other who just want to walk around and you either have to sell to them, or they are just browsing. But you have to ask them to find out. Its a tough call from the sales man perspective. I've generally happy if at least one staff member genuinely greets a client when they arrive or shortly after. I wouldn't expect a dealership to chaperone me.

I wouldn't necessarily say its a bad thing if no one talked to you without prompting. If it was a Saturday / Sunday you get people out 'for the spin' and waste a lot of time by just windowing shopping (And zero intention to buy) If you want to cut a deal, have a look around and express a firm interest in exactly what you want. The worst opening line would be 'I'm looking for something with 5 doors and 4 wheels. Show me'

Homer

This ^^^^^ especially in an industry where I would imagine a decent salary is earnt on commission? The OP didn't ask someone to hold their hand? Just a bit
Of respect and cop on from the sales staff.

birdwatcher

Completely agree with OP.
Over the past four years I've been lucky enough to be in a position to buy 2 cars.

First car - four years ago:(Both Main Ford Delaers -one now out of business)
Dealer One: Rang to book Saturday appointment to view car on Saturday. Arrived on time. Car Sales Rep actually ASLEEP in his office. Car not on site (despite my appointment) - said he'd have it over in half an hour. I told him to go back to sleep.
Dealer 2; Booked Saturday appointment. Arrived to find that Sales Guy had taken the day off and that the receptionist had taken the car home the day before because her Dad was interested in buying it. No other explanation - no substitute car....Suffice to say, NO SALE.
Eventually bought on-line - Private Sale

December last year/ Jan this year:
December 2014: Three MAIN Peugeot dealers around Dublin......all too interested in their lunches to help with any enquiry.
Dealer 1: Asked one guy if there was someone we could talk to about the spec of a nearly new car.....he said it'd be another half hour before he finished his lunch and that the others were busy (doing nothing)
Dealer 2: No staff to be seen even though we wandered around the showroom for a good 15 mins
Dealer 3: One Sales Rep - sitting at his desk listening to headphones. Seemed legitimately dismayed when I interrupted him to ask about a car....said the spec sheets were "over there" and all of the information i needed would be there. SERIOUSLY????

Eventually bought up North where the lads couldn't have been more helpful and polite - even threw in a 38" LED TV to seal the deal.
It took 1 hour which included the test drive, coffee, more coffee and muffins. The sales guy was a pleasure to deal with - would highly recommend

keithclancy

screamer wrote: »

I went looking at cars last weekend, and I have to say, service in most places sucks. I was literally walking around their yards, with my iPhone matching the cars to their website to find out about the car, the mileage, the spec the price etc. Some of the dealership staff were rude and looked us up and down before even talking to us, others were just grumps and others again, just couldn't be bothered. Now, I know it's only a secondhand car I'm after, but it's stil thousands of euros. I run my own small business and I'd give more of my time to people spending 300 quid with me, than I got from 3 dealerships combined last Saturday. Disgusted, no wonder they struggle to stay in business.......

Funny, I actively avoid salesmen, I have less of a problem here in NL because they hear my Dutch and run a mile

In Ireland I went into Harvey Normans to buy a bluetooth speaker, had to listen to some young lad go on about this one being 'the business' and how the 'the bjoers' love the tunes when you play it on this one.

xabi

Same as any shop for me, leave me alone to browse and ill come looking for you if i need you. Hate been hounded by sales people.

goz83

And therein lies the problem when you're in sales, in a brick and mortar business. Some people want you to leave them alone completely, some want you to hold their hand and and spend the day with them, while others expect you to make up their mind for them. It can be challenging for most sales people, who lets face it, haven't a clue. If ever I was unsure, when in sales, I would just say to the customer "feel free to ask for any help you need" with a smile and a nod. Job done.

Henry Ford III

Perhaps you could email the garage from your iphone asking for a little help?

zAbbo

Most dealers are like this.

Don't know if you caught this a few weeks back but Mary Portas does some secret shopping and helps a car dealer clean up their act.

Well worth watching.

porsche959

Drummerboy08

There's a few tar brushes in here......

R.O.R

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

There's a few tar brushes in here......

You's all deserve it though.

Drummerboy08

R.O.R wrote: »

You's all deserve it though.

Sorry, I'll just go back to my sambo on lunchtime so...

R.O.R

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Sorry, I'll just go back to my sambo on lunchtime so...

Enjoy.

Caviar and truffle jus again?

Drummerboy08

R.O.R wrote: »

Enjoy.

Caviar and truffle jus again?

No I'm slumming it this week, can only afford to go to Avoca.

Tea 1000

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

There's a few tar brushes in here......

In fairness, I've met more non-interested than interested.

Drummerboy08

Tea 1000 wrote: »

In fairness, I've met more non-interested than interested.

How many cars have you bought in your lifetime?

Tea 1000

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

How many cars have you bought in your lifetime?

Do I have to buy a car first before I look?

Drummerboy08

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Do I have to buy a car first before I look?

No but unless you can tell me how many times you've looked....

Tea 1000

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

No but unless you can tell me how many times you've looked....

How many times I've looked is unrelated to how many cars I've bought, as I've regularly gone with family and friends to search for, test drive and buy cars with them.
I'd say over 50 different garages from main dealer to yard stuff with 2 or 3 yokes there. And ranging in price from around a grand to nearly 170k.
Some are obliging and don't follow up when they say they will, others are obliging and efficient, others aren't obliging, just answer questions directly, and others still are downright angry that you're on their property. It's as if you walked into their sitting room and demanded information!

RuggieBear

actually had a similar experience in the summer. Not Ireland but UK.

Was looking for a big 2nd hand car...superb estate seemed to fit the bill, went to local skoda dealership and was ignored for 15mins. It wasn't that busy. Tried to grab somebody and was told "I'll be back to you in a minute". Ignored for another 10mins. Just left.

I went across the road to the Volvo dealership where i was greeted and asked if i had anything in mind...went home with a volvo estate 20mins later (well paper work took a little longer)

heroics

I found the same when looking for a car before Christmas. My wife was looking at A3, 1 Series or Golf and had a budget of 25-30k.

First Audi Dealer (Dublin) could not have seemed more disinterested if he tried.
VW salesguy (dublin) was like first audi dealer. It was like he was doing us a favour talking to us.
BMW Sales guy was great
Second Audi dealership (Naas) the sales guy was great

I found this annoying as a customer but like every other business you have some good sales guys and some bad ones. I am looking to replace my car within the next year and will be getting an A6. I will not be going back to the audi dealer in Dublin .

Rowley Birkin QC

RuggieBear wrote: »

actually had a similar experience in the summer. Not Ireland but UK.

Was looking for a big 2nd hand car...superb estate seemed to fit the bill, went to local skoda dealership and was ignored for 15mins. It wasn't that busy. Tried to grab somebody and was told "I'll be back to you in a minute". Ignored for another 10mins. Just left.

I went across the road to the Volvo dealership where i was greeted and asked if i had anything in mind...went home with a volvo estate 20mins later (well paper work took a little longer)

In that situation, I don't think I would have been able to resist calling back in to the Skoda dealership and asking to speak with the manager to inform him about my experience and about my new car.

Dr.Rieux

I was looking at cars a few weeks ago and found the salespeople in all garages I went to were eager to help and all followed up with me. Went to Michael Moore in Athlone, Frank Keane in Liffey Valley and MSL Grange, both VW and Hyundai.

screamer

Glad to see it's not just me that has had this type of experience. What these places would do well to realise is that, if I have to shop by myself, then there is no need for a "salesperson"........ I don't expect anyone to hold my hand like a baby, and I don't like pushy, pushy, smarmy either. A simple, "If you need any help I'm just here" would be a good welcome....... seriously, I can see why so many closed in the bust, and by my experience, there's a lot more to go.

tk123

I posted the same thing in the buying forum last week! I'm looking at possibly switching from my ix35 to a new santa fe and went to the local Hyundai dealer. I was asked how much I normally spend on cars, how much I had to spend, how long I had the ix, was I aware how much the santa fe would cost. Didn't sound like he had any interest in selling cars at all.