Interesting response from an independent car retailer
Discussion
I am looking at getting a 996tt. I have had a look at 3 already but not found for the one for me yet.
In order to dismiss unsuitable cars and save me some travelling, I have started sending a host of questions, via email, to the sellers regarding servicing, maintenance, condition etc.
From the two I have inquired about this week I have had no response from one and the below bizarre response from the other.
(take a deep breath)
Hi, We think it would be better for you to come and see the car for yourself
because we would say the car is in good condition all service history done
by Porshe we are not a porshe dealer but we would like to be we are a used
car dealer because the porshe is more money doesn't mean its stolen or any
other.
I just can not believe this response for a £26k car. The bit about the car not been stolen was in response to a comment I made about the car not conforming to his other stock (which were all cars from £1k to £4k).
For some reason I was incensed with his reply. I couldn't help myself replying to him, pointing out that nobody with any sense would come and view a car of this value if the seller could not be bothered to answer the specific questions asked.
I did manage to resist mentioning the lack of basic punctuation and his spelling of Porsche.
Am I asking too much for a someone selling a car to bother spending 10min to answer a few questions. I really wonder how these companies stay in business.
In order to dismiss unsuitable cars and save me some travelling, I have started sending a host of questions, via email, to the sellers regarding servicing, maintenance, condition etc.
From the two I have inquired about this week I have had no response from one and the below bizarre response from the other.
(take a deep breath)
Hi, We think it would be better for you to come and see the car for yourself
because we would say the car is in good condition all service history done
by Porshe we are not a porshe dealer but we would like to be we are a used
car dealer because the porshe is more money doesn't mean its stolen or any
other.
I just can not believe this response for a £26k car. The bit about the car not been stolen was in response to a comment I made about the car not conforming to his other stock (which were all cars from £1k to £4k).
For some reason I was incensed with his reply. I couldn't help myself replying to him, pointing out that nobody with any sense would come and view a car of this value if the seller could not be bothered to answer the specific questions asked.
I did manage to resist mentioning the lack of basic punctuation and his spelling of Porsche.
Am I asking too much for a someone selling a car to bother spending 10min to answer a few questions. I really wonder how these companies stay in business.
Edited by Ramsden15 on Wednesday 26th September 21:59
POORCARDEALER said:
Use the phone you will be taken more seriously......every dealer in the land will tell you emails with endless copy and pasted questions are the worst quality enquiry of all.
"I've bought my last" .... no, seriously, we all know that most car salesmen can't read or write ..... - waits for barage of I've bought my last 21 cars via email posts
I ended up emailing a set list of Q's like the OP when looking for a 911 - stuff about history, RMS, do you have the V5 ec - as the initial ones I had called were being sold by traders purporting to be private sellers or dodgy feckers. I found it easier to send a generally stock email, and I figured if someone couldn't be bothered to respond it wasn't worth pursuing, and if they sent a decent informative response then I would bother to call.
If I didn't do it this way I would have spent hours on abortive calls.
I understand it is a bit of a chore for the seller, but if they want to sell they will bother. I recently sold my S4 and I answered all emails courteously and answereed every single question in detail.
Anyway, strangely I ended up buying one that I decided to call first - could tell straight away it was a genuine sale.
Calls are best but not always practical so good as a stage 2 enquiry....
If I didn't do it this way I would have spent hours on abortive calls.
I understand it is a bit of a chore for the seller, but if they want to sell they will bother. I recently sold my S4 and I answered all emails courteously and answereed every single question in detail.
Anyway, strangely I ended up buying one that I decided to call first - could tell straight away it was a genuine sale.
Calls are best but not always practical so good as a stage 2 enquiry....
MadMark911 said:
POORCARDEALER said:
Use the phone you will be taken more seriously......every dealer in the land will tell you emails with endless copy and pasted questions are the worst quality enquiry of all.
"I've bought my last" .... no, seriously, we all know that most car salesmen can't read or write ..... - waits for barage of I've bought my last 21 cars via email posts
POORCARDEALER said:
Use the phone you will be taken more seriously......every dealer in the land will tell you emails with endless copy and pasted questions are the worst quality enquiry of all.
Good point, my thinking was it would be easier for the dealer to research the answers rather than being bombarded with 20 questions over the phone. Plus it is easier to send an email out of hours than spend an hour on the phone at work.- waits for barage of I've bought my last 21 cars via email posts
Ramsden15 said:
POORCARDEALER said:
Use the phone you will be taken more seriously......every dealer in the land will tell you emails with endless copy and pasted questions are the worst quality enquiry of all.
Good point, my thinking was it would be easier for the dealer to research the answers rather than being bombarded with 20 questions over the phone. Plus it is easier to send an email out of hours than spend an hour on the phone at work.- waits for barage of I've bought my last 21 cars via email posts
kwits.Monday was an example:
Ring up high end car dealer asking about their Porsche for sale, all salesmen busy s take details.
4 hours later I get a call
Can you here me I ask, it sounds like you're in a car?
I am
Well I'd like to now the details of the car so why don't you ring me when you're back at the office?
No problem, speak in half an hour.
Don't know what's happened to him, I hope he's ok but he still hasn't rang, maybe there's been an accident & I'm the only one who knows he's missing? I mean it's Wednesday night, practically Thursday, how long can a man survive on his own without sustenance?
Either that or there's a reason you've had that black boxster Spyder manual for months on end, you twunts
To the OP...
At least call the place with the car rather than sending just email. The number of emails that I get bounced because of customers using hotmail etc is very annoying.
This is why when some rings I always get a mobile etc to let them know we have responded to the email
Had one customer whose hotmail account just stopped receiving our emails after one month of communication - fortunately he decided to phone after no contact for 2 weeks at which point I was able to tell him about his mail issue
Emailing alone is not enough
Ken
At least call the place with the car rather than sending just email. The number of emails that I get bounced because of customers using hotmail etc is very annoying.
This is why when some rings I always get a mobile etc to let them know we have responded to the email
Had one customer whose hotmail account just stopped receiving our emails after one month of communication - fortunately he decided to phone after no contact for 2 weeks at which point I was able to tell him about his mail issue
Emailing alone is not enough
Ken
POORCARDEALER said:
Use the phone you will be taken more seriously......every dealer in the land will tell you emails with endless copy and pasted questions are the worst quality enquiry of all.
If thats represenative, then they need to get in tune with the rest of the business community.- waits for barage of I've bought my last 21 cars via email posts
I always send emails and start by telling them my name and intention and suggest that a few questions asked and subsquently answered via email will save me a long journey and waste of their time, most professional outfits respond in kind.
There's no place for any company that has a website and refuses to embrace email, and that just continues to fuel the poor reputation of some used car outlets.
Communication by email and you will be taken more seriously, all businesses are customer driven.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Don't know what's happened to him, I hope he's ok but he still hasn't rang, maybe there's been an accident & I'm the only one who knows he's missing? I mean it's Wednesday night, practically Thursday, how long can a man survive on his own without sustenance?
More importantly, how many perfectly good sentences can a person string together with commas? Oh and isn't it "rung" in that context? 
dadofbud said:
POORCARDEALER said:
Use the phone you will be taken more seriously......every dealer in the land will tell you emails with endless copy and pasted questions are the worst quality enquiry of all.
If thats represenative, then they need to get in tune with the rest of the business community.- waits for barage of I've bought my last 21 cars via email posts
I always send emails and start by telling them my name and intention and suggest that a few questions asked and subsquently answered via email will save me a long journey and waste of their time, most professional outfits respond in kind.
There's no place for any company that has a website and refuses to embrace email, and that just continues to fuel the poor reputation of some used car outlets.
Communication by email and you will be taken more seriously, all businesses are customer driven.
996ttalot said:
To the OP...
At least call the place with the car rather than sending just email. The number of emails that I get bounced because of customers using hotmail etc is very annoying.
This is why when some rings I always get a mobile etc to let them know we have responded to the email
Had one customer whose hotmail account just stopped receiving our emails after one month of communication - fortunately he decided to phone after no contact for 2 weeks at which point I was able to tell him about his mail issue
Emailing alone is not enough
Ken
There should not be any problems with my email, but you never know. I did leave my phone number with each enquiry. The emails were via the companies online enquiry forms.At least call the place with the car rather than sending just email. The number of emails that I get bounced because of customers using hotmail etc is very annoying.
This is why when some rings I always get a mobile etc to let them know we have responded to the email
Had one customer whose hotmail account just stopped receiving our emails after one month of communication - fortunately he decided to phone after no contact for 2 weeks at which point I was able to tell him about his mail issue
Emailing alone is not enough
Ken
I normally would phone and arrange to go view cars that look good from the advert but after 3 non starters I was trying to save myself some time. I thought that replying to this type of enquiry would be one of the main tasks of a car salesman.
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