Car sales surveys unfair?
Discussion
The Mad Monk said:
David87 said:
I've had them ask on more than one occasion to rate them 5/5 beforehand, when I bought both my MINI and Land Rover.
And your response was............. What?
These surveys are not just about the dealerships and what they pay their staff.
Huge amounts of manufacturer bonus money are on the table for dealers who score 10/10. Dealers are required to pass to their manufacture databases of business done, service work, cars sold etc on a weekly/monthly basis. The manufacture will, typically, randomly select 10% of these customers and phone them with a satisfaction survey.
One bad result can cost the dealership a huge loss of bonus. The dealership management would then spend large amounts of time appealing against this.
Quite often the bad result would be completely unrelated to the actual questions. Things like the customer had a service done and was 100% happy with that but the car didn't come with a spare wheel from new and he chose to use the survey as a chance to sound off to the manufacturer about it. Not a great example but you get the picture.
Ohh how I don't miss the motor trade.
Huge amounts of manufacturer bonus money are on the table for dealers who score 10/10. Dealers are required to pass to their manufacture databases of business done, service work, cars sold etc on a weekly/monthly basis. The manufacture will, typically, randomly select 10% of these customers and phone them with a satisfaction survey.
One bad result can cost the dealership a huge loss of bonus. The dealership management would then spend large amounts of time appealing against this.
Quite often the bad result would be completely unrelated to the actual questions. Things like the customer had a service done and was 100% happy with that but the car didn't come with a spare wheel from new and he chose to use the survey as a chance to sound off to the manufacturer about it. Not a great example but you get the picture.
Ohh how I don't miss the motor trade.
This thread just highlights how pointless these surveys are. I just had one of my cars serviced, and got the follow up phone call with a small survey. I think I gave it 7/10 as it was perfectly acceptable but didn't blow me away, but in reality the scale is nonsense unless the numbers are explained.
To me it feels like typical big dealer chain bulls
t, where every experience at the dealer rubs me up the wrong way with its corporate nonsense and upselling. In contrast, my other car goes to an independent franchise where I get treated like a human not a walking pound sign - funnily enough they don't need nonsense surveys to know they do a decent job!
To me it feels like typical big dealer chain bulls
t, where every experience at the dealer rubs me up the wrong way with its corporate nonsense and upselling. In contrast, my other car goes to an independent franchise where I get treated like a human not a walking pound sign - funnily enough they don't need nonsense surveys to know they do a decent job!thatsprettyshady said:
Regarding the 0-10 rating system, it's all based on the Net Promotor Score (NPS) system which is pretty standard across many businesses, and is a measure of how likely the customer is to promote the business to others, which obviously increases sales.
I was told by a Mercedes guy that the only part they take any notice of is the "would you recommend this dealer..." question. It's the stat they used to refer to a lot in the ads, although I haven't noticed it for a while.thatsprettyshady said:
Unfortunately in real life it's all bks, NPS doesn't work in practice as for whatever reason people don't give 9's and 10's out of habit, even if they were very well looked after they will never give you the 100%.
Again, he told me the expectation is the starting point is 10/10 and you’re supposed to score that if everything was OK and only mark down if there was a problem. ks, NPS doesn't work in practice as for whatever reason people don't give 9's and 10's out of habit, even if they were very well looked after they will never give you the 100%.I just don’t think Brits think like that – if was OK they’d score 5 or 6, maybe 7 if they were feeling generous. The adversarial way cars are purchased here doesn’t help – you’re always left wondering if you got a good deal and personally I always think there’s scope for a dealer to do more.
thatsprettyshady said:
There's a massive industry growing around customer surveys, technology which emails (annoys) Papa John's pizza customers 10 minutes after they order asking for their opinion, is unfortunately here to stay.
From SEAT when buying a new car we got surveys from the dealer, the dealer group, SEAT UK and SEAT Spain!Sheepshanks said:
I just don’t think Brits think like that
Exactly the problem. NPS is a system first introduced in the states where people will be a lot more enthusiastic about the service they get. Just ask any person on the street how their day is going and you'll most get 'ok' or 'not bad' rather than 'great' 
Sheepshanks said:
Yet why can't you get hold of anyone in the management team of a dealer if you have a problem?
Genralising post is generalising. 
Butter Face said:
Genralising post is generalising.
Obviously it's about me. 
Maybe it's an Inchcape thing - but VW Customer Service couldn't get a response from one of their dealers until they went up to group level and Mercedes just gave up.
Makes car choice a bit easier going forwards - I don't have to think about VW or Merc now, or deal with an Inchcape owned dealership.
If they rephrased the questions it would be fine. If they're assuming the starting point is 10/10 and anything less than that is effectively being marked down, then put the question that way. Don't ask "how good was your experience", ask "is there anything you're unhappy about with your experience". Don't ask "how likely are you to recommend to a friend", instead put it as "is there anything that would prevent you recommending to a friend"?
We Brits tend to think of the "standard" mark as between 5 and 7 (5 feels cruel even though technically it's the middle of the range) and only venture beyond that region if the service was exceptionally good or bad.
We Brits tend to think of the "standard" mark as between 5 and 7 (5 feels cruel even though technically it's the middle of the range) and only venture beyond that region if the service was exceptionally good or bad.
The principle is quite obvious - it's that I will not engage with a preposterous scheme that has no integrity. If they said 'this is a survey to see if you think your salesman deserves a bonus', it would be worth filling in accurately. If they pretend it is to see if the customer experience could be improved, it's clearly false & should be made to fail in what it purports to do.
I can't afford new cars anyway so don't worry it won't affect much; I will do so for the odd toaster I buy in currys though.
I can't afford new cars anyway so don't worry it won't affect much; I will do so for the odd toaster I buy in currys though.
CoolHands said:
The principle is quite obvious - it's that I will not engage with a preposterous scheme that has no integrity. If they said 'this is a survey to see if you think your salesman deserves a bonus', it would be worth filling in accurately. If they pretend it is to see if the customer experience could be improved, it's clearly false & should be made to fail in what it purports to do.
I can't afford new cars anyway so don't worry it won't affect much; I will do so for the odd toaster I buy in currys though.
Are you not better off just ignoring it? Taking any time to get involved just seems odd 'on principle' I can't afford new cars anyway so don't worry it won't affect much; I will do so for the odd toaster I buy in currys though.
I hate any company that asks or sends a survey and then doesnt let me 'free type'.
Often they say how pleased were you with the handover of your car etc. Normally i just want to say 'bloke dropped the car off, made small talk and left'. Not happy, not unhappy. Just average as id expect.
What is it with survey companies? Just let me give feedback if i want to.
Asking about the rac man coming to fix a flat battery and the service id rate him. Well, he came and fixed the battery and made some small talk. Not amazing, not terrible. Just average. What do they want me to say?
I had one recently about my car service. I dropped it off, car got serviced, i picked it up. Not amazing, not terrible. Just average.
Often its for mundane stuff like calling a company to get an update or something, i have no feedback to give. I wouldnt feel it would ever be amazing as im not expecting it to be.
its so stupid.
Often they say how pleased were you with the handover of your car etc. Normally i just want to say 'bloke dropped the car off, made small talk and left'. Not happy, not unhappy. Just average as id expect.
What is it with survey companies? Just let me give feedback if i want to.
Asking about the rac man coming to fix a flat battery and the service id rate him. Well, he came and fixed the battery and made some small talk. Not amazing, not terrible. Just average. What do they want me to say?
I had one recently about my car service. I dropped it off, car got serviced, i picked it up. Not amazing, not terrible. Just average.
Often its for mundane stuff like calling a company to get an update or something, i have no feedback to give. I wouldnt feel it would ever be amazing as im not expecting it to be.
its so stupid.
The surveys are utter bks from a consumer perspective. I recall a local Saab dealer losing their franchise back in the day because of such results, yet all of their customers always seemed really happy - they were just being asked the wrong questions. JLR seem to be particularly adept at this these days as well!
When buying a Skoda a couple of years back we were coached by the dealer in what to respond in the post-sales survey - they kept winning the manufacturer's dealership of the year award as a result, giving them larger bonuses. As they were pretty open about the whys and wherefores, we duly obliged - as it'd been made clear their pricing model relied on these bonuses to work.
The bloody stupid thing was, we were really chuffed with the experience - but not because we'd had a test drive, got a bunch of flowers at handover, or been personally introduced to the service manager (things the survey were REALLY keen on). We were actually over the moon because our salesman came in on a Sunday to do a handover especially for us, had been hassle-free to deal with, and had sorted me out the odds n sods accessories I was after for less than internet prices. I got what I wanted, so I was happy. That wasn't what the OEM thought I wanted though!
ks from a consumer perspective. I recall a local Saab dealer losing their franchise back in the day because of such results, yet all of their customers always seemed really happy - they were just being asked the wrong questions. JLR seem to be particularly adept at this these days as well!When buying a Skoda a couple of years back we were coached by the dealer in what to respond in the post-sales survey - they kept winning the manufacturer's dealership of the year award as a result, giving them larger bonuses. As they were pretty open about the whys and wherefores, we duly obliged - as it'd been made clear their pricing model relied on these bonuses to work.
The bloody stupid thing was, we were really chuffed with the experience - but not because we'd had a test drive, got a bunch of flowers at handover, or been personally introduced to the service manager (things the survey were REALLY keen on). We were actually over the moon because our salesman came in on a Sunday to do a handover especially for us, had been hassle-free to deal with, and had sorted me out the odds n sods accessories I was after for less than internet prices. I got what I wanted, so I was happy. That wasn't what the OEM thought I wanted though!
David87 said:
I've had them ask on more than one occasion to rate them 5/5 beforehand, when I bought both my MINI and Land Rover.
I was informed by the salesperson that anything other than 10/10 in any category would be regarded as a fail with loss of bonus, and if there were any problems to call them directly before the surveyThere were a few problems with the car so I was able to use the outstanding survey as a stick to get the work done
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff