Are all Audi dealers unhelpful?

[Sheepshanks]

It could be that it's me that's the common factor, but my local Audi, BMW and Mercedes dealers are all like that.

I reckon it's the location - they're pretty well monopolies without a fair old trek to the next nearest dealer for each marque.

[rallycross]

funkyrobot said:

Maybe. However, a lot of people who drive them are.

Sadly true and mainly driven but never owned - only rented!

[sly fox]

Chamon_Lee said:

never understand threads like this. Its such a sense of entitlement.
Firstly you got no idea what they were talking about, could have been an issue that had to be dealt with.
Also why not just ask again "excuse me! I have been waiting 20 minutes it would be nice to get some assistance to buy a car"

or go to another dealer. People are not mind readers, some people come on here moaning they come up to you way to fast and some moan they don't come quick enough.

a wild idea would be to communicate your feelings with them

Clearly you have never been to a Lexus dealership. It's like going for therapy by comparison.
Polite, courteous, informative, no pressure selling. Your potential trade in is valued (and cleaned) whilst you are in the showroom.

Yes, OP could have asked for help again, but from a customer service angle, why should he have to? How many customers make the somewhat tenuous mental leap of 'if this is how they treat me when i buy (badly in the OP's case) , how will they treat me if something goes wrong' .

I tried to buy an Audi once.
A6 3.2 quattro, sitting on forecourt, dealer about 1 mile from my house, needed a workhorse of a car, total logical purchase. Had sorted the finance myself. Just wanted a test drive as i'd never driven one of that model - sounds like a salesperson's idea of a quick clean deal for circa £20k.
No way. Refused to give me a test drive until i'd been shown all finance options, all aftermarket paint protection brochures, gap insurance information, tyre and alloy insurance, trade up to lease a car instead etc.
I just wanted the car. A don't begrudge a dealership the chance to make money, but Audi made it clear to me that unless they can fleece you with high margin add-ons, they are not interested in you as a customer.

A few hours later i'd bought a Jaguar. Told them i didn't want the add ons and they gave me a waiver to sign that i'd rejected the finance protection/insurance stuff in about 2 mins. No hassle.

See the difference?

[romeogolf]

From experience (albeit not in cars), walk-in enquiries rarely make it to a sale. It's the ones who plan ahead, call to make an appointment, who are more likely to be closed.

Knowing that often sales staff are waiting for their pre-booked appointments to turn up, I wouldn't begrudge a short wait although it would be good for the information to come back via the receptionist that there are no sales staff currently available but if I'd like to leave some details they can call me later in the day etc.

[PAULJ5555]

OP did you tell the owner/manager/Audi UK that you bought a Volvo instead and also now that customers were ignored who wanted to spend 90K?

Edited by PAULJ5555 on Tuesday 12th February 14:24

[jamoor]

Nah, it's the type of people that plague the motor industry and I've never understood why.

I don't think anyone inthe UK beyond A level works in the motor trade unless they work for a car manufacturer directly.

Edited by jamoor on Tuesday 12th February 14:46

[rottenegg]

Chamon_Lee said:

never understand threads like this. Its such a sense of entitlement.
Firstly you got no idea what they were talking about, could have been an issue that had to be dealt with.
Also why not just ask again "excuse me! I have been waiting 20 minutes it would be nice to get some assistance to buy a car"

or go to another dealer. People are not mind readers, some people come on here moaning they come up to you way to fast and some moan they don't come quick enough.

a wild idea would be to communicate your feelings with them

Going by what I've heard my local VW / Audi dealers discussing in the past.......footie results, what they had for dinner last night and what position they banged their missus in at the weekend.

There is nothing so urgent to a sales person that cannot be dropped for a new sale. What a load of drivel. And it's not 'entitlement' to expect some basic customer service. They're not in there to buy a newspaper and a mars bar.

[Sheepshanks]

sly fox said:

A don't begrudge a dealership the chance to make money, but Audi made it clear to me that unless they can fleece you with high margin add-ons, they are not interested in you as a customer.

That's some dealer groups' business model. There's no money is selling cars to customers who pay cash and don't take at least some of the add ons. So what bother doing it? Especially on used where there's limited supply - save it for the customer who wants max PCP, GAP etc etc.

[Riley Blue]

They're probably Audi salesmen this month, then another marque for a few months before moving on again, not giving a st wherever they are.

[sly fox]

Sheepshanks said:

That's some dealer groups' business model. There's no money is selling cars to customers who pay cash and don't take at least some of the add ons. So what bother doing it? Especially on used where there's limited supply - save it for the customer who wants max PCP, GAP etc etc.

Clearly, although at the time i had choice of similar models within 3-4 dealerships, and loads more at a car supermarket near W.London.
It wasn't a "Unicorn S-Line" i was after.

Profit vs Cash Flow/Revenue is probably a more accurate description of the scenario.
But in my eyes as a customer - they had something for sale that they wouldn't sell to me.

It's the 2nd most expensive purchase a private individual can make. Nothing like a bit of good service and reassurance to ease that pain.

Would i buy from Jaguar again, yes actually, i've had good experiences with 3 main dealers and the cars.
Would i buy from Lexus again? Unequivocally yes.
Audi? Nah.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Chamon_Lee said:

never understand threads like this. Its such a sense of entitlement.
Firstly you got no idea what they were talking about, could have been an issue that had to be dealt with.
Also why not just ask again "excuse me! I have been waiting 20 minutes it would be nice to get some assistance to buy a car"

or go to another dealer. People are not mind readers, some people come on here moaning they come up to you way to fast and some moan they don't come quick enough.

a wild idea would be to communicate your feelings with them

Yeah OP, who do you think you are? Expecting to walk into a car dealer during working hours and be able to talk to somebody whose job it is to sell cars within a reasonable length of time - your sense of entitlement is staggering - you're like Imelda bloody Marcos. I bet you're the sort who goes into a pub expecting to be served drinks aren't you?

[Zooks]

My local Audi dealerships not too bad really.
Not like the Mercedes dealer next door, after 20 mins of being ignored a salesmans walked past and said "one day eh". I bought the Audi.

[RB Will]

The only good thing I can say about my local Audi dealer is that the receptionists have always been quick, polite and helpful.
Everyone else at the place has been utterly useless or downright rude.

Sales people didn’t have the time for me even though I had booked an appointment to test drive a used car. Apparently they couldn’t find the car anyway. Few months later tried again. Test drive arranged, again salesman begrudgingly gave me a few grumpy minutes. Car was available this time but no fuel and nobody there with a fuel card, they would t let me put any in so rather than the proper test drive I had arranged they let me have 5 mins around the industrial estate. They never called me back about getting a car in stock.
Dropped in one day to look at a Q3 for the wife. Again didn’t want to give us the time and wouldn’t allow a test drive. All he did was unlock the car then walk off leaving us to it.

Mrs ended up buying another marque. I bought an A4 from an independent dealer.

My A4 needed a service so took it to the main dealer. Biggest mistake ever.
They lied on booking the service about what was going to be done, then tried to con me into replacing a few hundred £ of stuff that was and still is fine months later. And a few other things along with the terrible service.
I ended up having to raise a complaint with Audi UK who were shocked, gave the dealer a bking and made them do what they said they would plus a bit of goodwill stuff. They managed to bugger that up too whilst treating me like crap. Even Audi UK gave up with them at that point and just gave me a voucher for free Audi parts so they could supply them and I could have the work done elsewhere!

Got a promotional email from the Audi garage the other day that made me laugh saying their service and customer experience is amazing, why would a customer go anywhere else

[Sheepshanks]

Surely if these places were routinely as bad as painted they'd be being ripped apart in mystery shopper evaluations?

Or are mystery shppers that obvious? Maybe be useful to know how to impersonate one!

[duckers26]

And this the beauty of leasing/using a broker. Can compare all the prices to see who does the best deal and no-one trying to sell add ons etc. All nice and transparent and no bargaining, everyone just puts their best price up.

I guess once the dealers close down if they don’t compete the question is where to test a cars before ordering, perhaps manufacturers will move to a few central hubs where you can test the cars but not buy, or maybe just bring them to you at home from a warehouse.

[Buster73]

Got a cracking deal and great service on an A6 purchase back in 2000 , a mate of mine went into the same garage a few weeks later and was blanked an ended up walking out.

I rang up the sales manager and told him the tale and suggested he rang my mate up and close a deal , which he did.

Turned out the salesman who gave me great service was the same one who wasn’t interested when my mate walked in.

Work that one out.

[Dave Hedgehog]

tezzer said:

My daughter, a primary school teacher, and her partner went to look at a new A1 at the weekend. He drives an RS3, looking to change that for an A8, but thats by the by.

They looked at the cars, and went and asked the receptionist if there was a salesman present to assist, she went into the glass fronted office where 4 of them were stood talking. They glanced across, and carried on talking for another 20 minutes, while they looked further at the A1 and A8.

Not one of them ventured out of the office to try and take their money off them £90,000 or so for the 2 cars, not one.

This reminds me of when I went into the same dealers, a few years ago to look at an A4, same reception, no one cared, or could be bothered, so I bought a new V40 instead.

Moderator edit: no naming & shaming

exactly my experience with multiple audi dealers over a 5 year period, they couldn't give a monkeys unless your looking to pay list for a showroom car

left details 3 times with my local dealer trying to buy the orginal RS3, ended up getting one from another dealer

called that dealer 3 times and emailed 4 times trying to get a second RS3, couldn't be bothered to get back to me

my local dealer who had serviced my 2 RS3's for 5 years showed me a blue 400bhp one they had that had just been launched, i told them great i will have one, again never bothered to get back to me

so i bought an A45, merc dealer couldnt bend over backward enough to help me, he actually returned my calls !!!

[swisstoni]

Important to remember that you are buying a lump of engineering.
The attitude of the salesperson who you are unlikely to see ever again in your life is really of no consequence.

[Dave Hedgehog]

swisstoni said:

Important to remember that you are buying a lump of engineering.
The attitude of the salesperson who you are unlikely to see ever again in your life is really of no consequence.

do they not get commission on sales?

[swisstoni]

Dave Hedgehog said:

swisstoni said:

Important to remember that you are buying a lump of engineering.
The attitude of the salesperson who you are unlikely to see ever again in your life is really of no consequence.

do they not get commission on sales?

i couldn't care less. It's the car you end up living with that's important.