McClaren at Hyde Park today.
McClaren at Hyde Park today.
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Buster73

Original Poster:

5,458 posts

173 months

Friday 29th June 2012
quotequote all
Went over today to have a quick look at the dealership and the cars on display , followed the signs for the entrance to find no obvious way in.

Then read a small sign on the window saying visits are by appointment only.

So there you go , no plebs allowed in to disturb the staff who were dealing with no obvious customers.

That's a nice negative barrier to get past .

Thanks for wasting an hour of my time.

mullerrice18

200 posts

209 months

Friday 29th June 2012
quotequote all
Buster73 said:
Went over today to have a quick look at the dealership and the cars on display , followed the signs for the entrance to find no obvious way in.

Then read a small sign on the window saying visits are by appointment only.

So there you go , no plebs allowed in to disturb the staff who were dealing with no obvious customers.

That's a nice negative barrier to get past .

Thanks for wasting an hour of my time.
So it would be ok for you to go into the showroom and waste there time? It's also a pretty simple barrier to get past - phone up and make an appointment, you also have another barrier - not being able to afford one.

Buster73

Original Poster:

5,458 posts

173 months

Friday 29th June 2012
quotequote all
mullerrice18 said:
So it would be ok for you to go into the showroom and waste there time? It's also a pretty simple barrier to get past - phone up and make an appointment, you also have another barrier - not being able to afford one.
Ok for me to go in and examine a product that I have an interest in ?

Didnt have enough time to make an appointment today , and don't know next time I'm in the smoke.

Jumped in with both feet with the last assumption didn't you .

Mastodon2

14,129 posts

185 months

Friday 29th June 2012
quotequote all
mullerrice18 said:
So it would be ok for you to go into the showroom and waste there time? It's also a pretty simple barrier to get past - phone up and make an appointment, you also have another barrier - not being able to afford one.
How do you know he can't afford one? You can't see what cars he drives as he doesn't have a garage uploaded (not that it's any truly accurate indicator of a poster's wealth), and now that I mention it, neither do you.

jogon

2,971 posts

178 months

Friday 29th June 2012
quotequote all
If i was in there speccing up my £160k+ mp4-12c I wouldn't want to be surrounded by bloody tourists snaping away with their cameras.

And you get a perfectly good view from outside through the panoramic windows of the showroom.

anonymous-user

74 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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Mastodon2 said:
How do you know he can't afford one?
To be fair, the OPs remark "so no plebs allowed" does seem to intimate that (rightly or wrongly).

OP, just for the record, it's 'McLaren'

wijit

1,511 posts

195 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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I sed the online enquiry form to ask if I could bring my son for a visit there, I made it clear (with slight humour) that it was just to look and the manager phoned me to arrange a time. Once there he couldn't have been nicer, spent over an hour chatting to my son and showing him videos of how the showroom was put together and packed him off with a VIP brochure.
So if they were that nice via appointment when we're not buying I imagine they're even more accomodating if someone was serious about getting one. I can't imagine anyone would just visit on spec to buy one.

Buster73

Original Poster:

5,458 posts

173 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
quotequote all
wijit said:
I sed the online enquiry form to ask if I could bring my son for a visit there, I made it clear (with slight humour) that it was just to look and the manager phoned me to arrange a time. Once there he couldn't have been nicer, spent over an hour chatting to my son and showing him videos of how the showroom was put together and packed him off with a VIP brochure.
So if they were that nice via appointment when we're not buying I imagine they're even more accomodating if someone was serious about getting one. I can't imagine anyone would just visit on spec to buy one.
Nice one , I'll do that before I go down the smoke next time.

mercfunder

8,535 posts

193 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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Visit one of the other ones, at Knutsford they had no problem with people just wandering in.

DonkeyApple

65,435 posts

189 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
quotequote all
Buster73 said:
Went over today to have a quick look at the dealership and the cars on display , followed the signs for the entrance to find no obvious way in.

Then read a small sign on the window saying visits are by appointment only.

So there you go , no plebs allowed in to disturb the staff who were dealing with no obvious customers.

That's a nice negative barrier to get past .

Thanks for wasting an hour of my time.
The showroom is 1 Hyde Park (100 Knightsbridge), the Candy building next the Mandarin.

The corner window on PL is just a display unit they've had the lease on since the F1 days.

It's appointment only so as their time isn't wasted. Can you imagine the number of mental tourists that unit attracts? If they didn't filter them out it would be a disaster.

Also, if your about to spend 200 notes on a car do you not want to be dealt with in peace and quiet rather than surrounded by a load of camera wielding punters?

Edited by DonkeyApple on Saturday 30th June 10:07

CraigyMc

18,040 posts

256 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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Mastodon2 said:
mullerrice18 said:
So it would be ok for you to go into the showroom and waste there time? It's also a pretty simple barrier to get past - phone up and make an appointment, you also have another barrier - not being able to afford one.
How do you know he can't afford one? You can't see what cars he drives as he doesn't have a garage uploaded (not that it's any truly accurate indicator of a poster's wealth), and now that I mention it, neither do you.
He might have just read OPs other posts in which he states he drives a 5 series BMW?

C

TheTurbonator

2,792 posts

171 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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Something similar happened to me a few years ago when I went to the Bentley factory in Crewe. My Dad had a sales contract with them and he managed to get me inside with him one day when his team had a meeting. Before the meeting everyone was shown around the little museum they have next to the sales room. After that my Dad and everyone went to the meeting and I was allowed to explore the factory and production line.

After seeing everything I decided to walk back to the museum to have a closer and more detailed look at the exhibits. Problem is you have to go through the sales room to get to it. So I gently knocked on the glass door but before I could say anything the rude arrogant salesman just looked down his nose at me and said "no visitors" (visitor pass around my neck) and shut the door in my face. There was nobody else in there and I could see as it's all glass.

After that I'd never buy anything related to Bentley or support them in any way. Okay so I'm no where near a position to afford a Bentley now but who knows where I'll be in another few years of hard work.

Edited by TheTurbonator on Saturday 30th June 11:51

BarbaricAvatar

1,417 posts

168 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
quotequote all
What's a "McClaren"?

cuprabob

17,592 posts

234 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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BarbaricAvatar said:
What's a "McClaren"?
It's a buggy for carrying children around. Not sure why OP thinks it's special seeing one in Hyde Park. Up here you see see quite a few of them in local parks.

Now if it had been a McLaren, that would have been a much better story :-)

The Nur

9,168 posts

205 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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Buster73 said:
Jumped in with both feet with the last assumption didn't you .
In the interest of fairness, it is a statistically accurate assumption that you can't afford one as the vast majority can't.

Admittedly he may well be wrong, but it is a fair assumption.


Edited by The Nur on Saturday 30th June 14:18

BigBen

12,093 posts

250 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
quotequote all
cuprabob said:
BarbaricAvatar said:
What's a "McClaren"?
It's a buggy for carrying children around. Not sure why OP thinks it's special seeing one in Hyde Park. Up here you see see quite a few of them in local parks.
Are they a Chinese knock off of MacLaren pushchairs wink

icetea

846 posts

162 months

Saturday 30th June 2012
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Mastodon2 said:
How do you know he can't afford one?
Says 'no plebs' and can't even spell the brand name... so its a fair assumption.