Salesman goes into the back for ages to talk to his manager

[Butter Face]

In my post on page 1 I said 'never leave a customer more than 5 minutes' so I do see it from the customer perspective.

We've moved on now to people categorically saying the only reason they didn't buy a car is because the salesperson had to go an ask their boss, that's a bit different to just bring a bit upset about being left alone for a few minutes!

[RobDickinson]

Butter Face said:

That's it? I expect you then said 'young man, I will not be treated like a fool!' And got up and left.

So was it? What did you buy instead? Did you spend the same kind of money on another car?

Yes. I didnt tell them that , just said we had to go. then they pulled the this deal is only on today bullst too. There are many cars out there no brand is just that good I will put up with stty pressure sales techniques like that.

I spent about the same amount on a Suzuki grand vitara instead. I was totally ambivalent about which vehicle I owned (I'd owned a forester for the previous 5-6 years)

I've done the same to any salesperson who tries these kind of techniques.


But keep doing what your doing , the worlds changing you can watch from the dim past.

[berlintaxi]

RobDickinson said:

But keep doing what your doing , the worlds changing you can watch from the dim past.

If the world is changing that much what were you doing sat in a car showroom? Decide the spec you want and stick it in Broadspeed, DTD, etc. and never have to interact with a salesman if you wish.

[Blanchimont]

When dealing with the local Renault dealer wanting to buy a Megane RS 275 Cup-S I was told that "The only way to get a test drive is to go to Cardiff" and "We can place an order, but that's about it"

I knew exactly what spec I wanted, entered all the details into DTD and told him straight that I would have a deal with him that day (A week before xmas) if he could match or come within a reasonable amount to it (I was thinking £500 ontop of DTD price) He went off to the "manager" and came back, knocking £800 off the car, not the £4000 DTD were offering. Needless to say I walked away.

[RobDickinson]

berlintaxi said:

If the world is changing that much what were you doing sat in a car showroom? Decide the spec you want and stick it in Broadspeed, DTD, etc. and never have to interact with a salesman if you wish.

Not so many of those options in New Zealand

[williamp]

EK993 said:

The Tesla model of direct sales is hopefully the future. The notion that dealers are somehow "protecting" the consumer from the big bad manufacturers (as they portray) is ludicrous.

Car dealers are about as relevant to today's way of doing business as Estate Agents now.

Daewoo did the direct with the mfr in the 90s and it was very popular. At the time, the pres said they were too sucesful sand couldnt cope

[Rovnumpty]

In my experience, it all comes down to the salesman, and unfortunately about 2/3rds of these seem pretty shoddy in the car trade.

I've had good and bad - no knowledge of the car they were selling, only interested in selling you the finanace and simply incompetent at their jobs.

The only one I walked out on was one at VW garage in Glasgow though. He forgot I was coming in, despite having phoned twice earlier in the week, then doing the three hour drive from Inverness. After the test drive, he did the whole 'talk to the manager' thing about my trade in, then gave a ridiculous figure. Said thanks, but no thanks. Went back and forth a couple of times, but wouldn't budge on the figure. Said cheers, but I'll leave it - several other dealers in the Glasgow area with the same car. At this point, the knob got very irate and started shouting at me about wasting his time. Couldn't believe anyone could be so unprofessional. Got up and walked out with him following me spouting drivel about Not getting a better deal anywhere.

He was very wrong about that.

[Roo]

williamp said:

Daewoo did the direct with the mfr in the 90s and it was very popular. At the time, the pres said they were too sucesful sand couldnt cope

Nope. Was a complete flop. Also had the problem that dealers wouldn't take a Daewoo in part exchange.

[Moominator]

People actually bought Daewoo cars?

[Efbe]

RobDickinson said:

Butter Face said:

That's it? I expect you then said 'young man, I will not be treated like a fool!' And got up and left.

So was it? What did you buy instead? Did you spend the same kind of money on another car?

Yes. I didnt tell them that , just said we had to go. then they pulled the this deal is only on today bullst too. There are many cars out there no brand is just that good I will put up with stty pressure sales techniques like that.

I spent about the same amount on a Suzuki grand vitara instead. I was totally ambivalent about which vehicle I owned (I'd owned a forester for the previous 5-6 years)

I've done the same to any salesperson who tries these kind of techniques.


But keep doing what your doing , the worlds changing you can watch from the dim past.

I would say the opposite in terms of breadth of selection of cars.

For someone with a specific set ofcriteria, there is really a very small selection of cars out there.

However if a salesperson really rubs me up the wrong way, I wouldn't go for another make, just another showroom!

[XB70]

Many moons ago, went to look at a Nissan NX at a main dealer.

Told them that there was no trade in since already had a buyer for my car but they insisted on seeing it and at least having the chance to give me a value. Not wanting to be impolite, I handed over the keys.

To cut a long story short I was on the receiving end of:

- "Bob has your keys", "Not sure where Bob is" , "I'll get someone to look for Bob and your keys"
- The extended discussions with "the boss", the frantic 'back and forth/hands through hair' Globe-level theatrics as he was trying to get me the best deal
- The good cop (him) and bad cop (some other salesman) routine - even to where they positioned themselves (either side of the door so effectively blocking me in)
- The reverse psychology: "why won't you buy today" (it's 5pm and the first place I have looked!), "are you not serious?" and various other comments

But the best of the best was "The Boss" coming in - my god, it was like a comedy sketch. Bounds in the door, all bluster and presence, the two salesmen almost bowing and scraping. It was pathetic.

Funny thing was, about half-way through when just me and Salesman #1 doing his back and forth routine, his jacket on the back of the door moved to reveal a poster. It was series of steps (in a cartoon type format) with about 8 or 10 steps that were progressing through. I cannot remember the details of each but I do remember the last: No one walks till the boss talks.

Just tragic.

[bqf]

I guess it depends how hard you are haggling. Most salespeople have limits, like all buyers have limits. I contract for large organisations and have a bit of a mandate to buy stuff, but if I wanted to spend over £1m i'd have to ask the boss, naturally. Chain of command and all that.

I bought a BMW 650i from a franchise dealer 3 years ago, and the salesperson was exhausted from all her trips to the manager. What started off as a £21k car ended up being £16,750, full service and MOT, full tank of fuel and some rubber mats. I always get rubber mats

If you want the car, a 20 minute wait isn't horrendous, if they were busy. I start off with 100% trust and confidence in the sales person, and it usually pays off. When I end up below 50% trust because I think they are incompetent, or the deal is wrong, or they aren't committed to a sale, thats when I walk away.

[daemon]

RobDickinson said:

just said we had to go

So you didnt have the courage of your (new found internet) conviction to actually say to the guy "look, i've a real problem with this to-ing and fro-ing, can we sit down with the sales manager / decision maker so we can progress this quickly for everyone?"

People arent mind readers - if you've a problem, tell them so.

Its like people who complain about the food they get served in a restaurant and then when asked by the waiter was everything ok, "yes, yes, lovely, thank you". TELL the people you've a problem. Dont just whinge about it on a forum - man up!

[anonymous-user]

Surely they won, you got a discount but at the end of the day they sold to you and you came away thinking you had a bargain, which is the whole point of going back and forth.

[daemon]

bqf said:

If you want the car, a 20 minute wait isn't horrendous, if they were busy.

+1

An hours negotiation could be the best paid hour of your life. I've no issues with it. Its find the right car thats the tricky bit.

[bigbob77]

I've bought two cars at large dealerships (BMW & Audi) where the salesman disappeared to talk to his manager for ages.
I didn't mind because both times I asked for so much money off that the salesman probably needed some time to think about it. If he answered "yes" to a 25% discount immediately I would have been suspicious!

[KTF]

When we bought out last car the sales guy handed us the brochure of snake oil paint and interior protection stuff.

As soon as it appeared we said we weren't interested but he still insisted that he left it with us 'for a few minutes' and wondered off.

When he came back we still said no (who would have thought).

At the end of the day its either a sales technique or they genuinely have to go and get something clarified. Its a hoop you have to jump through if you want to do the deal.

People allegedly walking out because this happens is just silly. What do you expect them to do, come running after you or just wait until the next person shows up?

[djdest]

What pisses me off is when you quite firmly say no you are not interested, yet they still persist in asking over and over.
When my Mum bought her Mini I went and sat in the car while she made the payment.
Half an hour later she still hadn't come out and time was getting on for me to be at work, so I went in to see what was going on.
Bare in mind she was buying the car in full with a bank transfer, so it shouldn't of taken above 5 minutes.
They had sat there for pretty much all of that half an hour trying to bully her into the bullst paint protection, gap insurance, wheel insurance and all other manner of crap.
She had told them over and over she didn't want any of them, yet they still continued. She later said she was very relieved when I arrived and put a stop to it all!
It REALLY wound me up, she she hadn't of wanted the car so much I would of told them to stick it

[Otispunkmeyer]

carreauchompeur said:

Depends on context. If it's 'let's agree this deal, I'll speak to the manager to ru bed stamp it' then fine. If it's clearly sales bks, like 'I'll do you a favour' type tosh then I too would walk out after a few minutes.

I have had the "favor" deals before but the best was basically being told, if you test drive the car, you must buy it.

I mean seriously, he wasn't going to let me test drive the car without first saying yes I'll buy it.

[Mr E]

Otispunkmeyer said:

I have had the "favor" deals before but the best was basically being told, if you test drive the car, you must buy it.

I mean seriously, he wasn't going to let me test drive the car without first saying yes I'll buy it.

As mentioned above, that was the point I walked.
He may have qualified me and decided I was dreaming.