Car sold from under our nose!
Discussion
Wife's been interested in a London 2012 Cooper for a while and our local Mini dealer has one (a diesel) but it's an auto ... so not interested really.
Another dealer about 30 miles away had a petrol one although not in the white silver which she was after but the blue - but we thought hey, we'd go see it anyway. Had an online chat with the sales manager who offered me a decent deal on our Mini.
Then the wife spotted another Cooper - not a 2012 - but a diesel for roughly the same price/mileage at another branch of this dealer's group. The guy said they could get both cars to the same dealership so we could try them back to back.
What could go wrong?
Cooper London 2012 (petrol) was fine but had the run flats which I'm not keen on (our one has them) - wife thought it was okay as well. The diesel for me was a revelation though. Smooth as silk with a great rare interior (one hardly originally specced) ... a bit off the wall to some but rare as hen's teeth (bear in mind it's not my car) ...
Anyway, I'd have gone for the diesel no question,. Wifey was torn. We went for lunch a few miles away armed with some PCP figs from the dealer. Had lunch. Went home for more of a discussion on the finance. Rang the dealer for a slight change in the circumatances, deposit etc to get some more figures. About 4pm by now - we'd viewed both cars by about 1pm.
Rang the dealership at 5pm and the one we had finally chosen - the diesel - had been sold! Let's say I'm feeling slightly aggrieved by this - I know he who hesitates etc - but surely it was worth a call from the dealer as we had first refusal, no? Or am I in dreamland?
When I asked why we hadn't been called to see if a decision had been made (we did say we would ring before the end of the day) we were told that it wasn't their policy to hassle potential buyers!
So we missed out on a one-off Mini basically. And were then asked if having the London 2012 was out of the question ... errr I think so, mate!
Another dealer about 30 miles away had a petrol one although not in the white silver which she was after but the blue - but we thought hey, we'd go see it anyway. Had an online chat with the sales manager who offered me a decent deal on our Mini.
Then the wife spotted another Cooper - not a 2012 - but a diesel for roughly the same price/mileage at another branch of this dealer's group. The guy said they could get both cars to the same dealership so we could try them back to back.
What could go wrong?
Cooper London 2012 (petrol) was fine but had the run flats which I'm not keen on (our one has them) - wife thought it was okay as well. The diesel for me was a revelation though. Smooth as silk with a great rare interior (one hardly originally specced) ... a bit off the wall to some but rare as hen's teeth (bear in mind it's not my car) ...
Anyway, I'd have gone for the diesel no question,. Wifey was torn. We went for lunch a few miles away armed with some PCP figs from the dealer. Had lunch. Went home for more of a discussion on the finance. Rang the dealer for a slight change in the circumatances, deposit etc to get some more figures. About 4pm by now - we'd viewed both cars by about 1pm.
Rang the dealership at 5pm and the one we had finally chosen - the diesel - had been sold! Let's say I'm feeling slightly aggrieved by this - I know he who hesitates etc - but surely it was worth a call from the dealer as we had first refusal, no? Or am I in dreamland?
When I asked why we hadn't been called to see if a decision had been made (we did say we would ring before the end of the day) we were told that it wasn't their policy to hassle potential buyers!
So we missed out on a one-off Mini basically. And were then asked if having the London 2012 was out of the question ... errr I think so, mate!
)A call would have been nice though - we would have said, we'll have this one etc - or we haven't decided, if they want it - let 'em have it ...
I wouldn't have thought that was them hassling us - we did say we'd let them kbnow later on yesterday - which we did. Sadly, too late!
So drove another hour away today (an early start - a bit trusting to luck) to see another London 2012 Diesel - the f
ker was sold yesterday the guy said when went in the showroom)!
bks!
I wouldn't have thought that was them hassling us - we did say we'd let them kbnow later on yesterday - which we did. Sadly, too late!
So drove another hour away today (an early start - a bit trusting to luck) to see another London 2012 Diesel - the f
ker was sold yesterday the guy said when went in the showroom)!b
ks!I sympathise but the dealer did nothing wrong. Imagine they'd called, you'd said yes and they send the other party off empty-handed.
You then change your mind 10 minutes later - as you'd have been entitled to do - and the dealer would have been stuck with a car and no sale. A bird in the hand, etc.
You then change your mind 10 minutes later - as you'd have been entitled to do - and the dealer would have been stuck with a car and no sale. A bird in the hand, etc.
Pints said:
I sympathise but the dealer did nothing wrong. Imagine they'd called, you'd said yes and they send the other party off empty-handed.
You then change your mind 10 minutes later - as you'd have been entitled to do - and the dealer would have been stuck with a car and no sale. A bird in the hand, etc.
Understand that but the dealer would have said okay, put down a deposit over the phone which we'd have done. All over now anyway - the search continues!You then change your mind 10 minutes later - as you'd have been entitled to do - and the dealer would have been stuck with a car and no sale. A bird in the hand, etc.
Just wondered what people though ... my maxim is: there's ALWAYS another car ... !
uk66fastback said:
A call would have been nice though - we would have said, we'll have this one etc - or we haven't decided, if they want it - let 'em have it ...
I wouldn't have thought that was them hassling us - we did say we'd let them kbnow later on yesterday - which we did. Sadly, too late!
So drove another hour away today (an early start - a bit trusting to luck) to see another London 2012 Diesel - the fker was sold yesterday the guy said when went in the showroom)!
bks!
If he had given you a call you probably would have thought he was trying the old dutch auction trickI wouldn't have thought that was them hassling us - we did say we'd let them kbnow later on yesterday - which we did. Sadly, too late!
So drove another hour away today (an early start - a bit trusting to luck) to see another London 2012 Diesel - the f
ker was sold yesterday the guy said when went in the showroom)!b
ks!uk66fastback said:
Wife's been interested in a London 2012 Cooper for a while and our local Mini dealer has one (a diesel) but it's an auto ... so not interested really.
Another dealer about 30 miles away had a petrol one although not in the white silver which she was after but the blue - but we thought hey, we'd go see it anyway. Had an online chat with the sales manager who offered me a decent deal on our Mini.
Then the wife spotted another Cooper - not a 2012 - but a diesel for roughly the same price/mileage at another branch of this dealer's group. The guy said they could get both cars to the same dealership so we could try them back to back.
What could go wrong?
Cooper London 2012 (petrol) was fine but had the run flats which I'm not keen on (our one has them) - wife thought it was okay as well. The diesel for me was a revelation though. Smooth as silk with a great rare interior (one hardly originally specced) ... a bit off the wall to some but rare as hen's teeth (bear in mind it's not my car) ...
Anyway, I'd have gone for the diesel no question,. Wifey was torn. We went for lunch a few miles away armed with some PCP figs from the dealer. Had lunch. Went home for more of a discussion on the finance. Rang the dealer for a slight change in the circumatances, deposit etc to get some more figures. About 4pm by now - we'd viewed both cars by about 1pm.
Rang the dealership at 5pm and the one we had finally chosen - the diesel - had been sold! Let's say I'm feeling slightly aggrieved by this - I know he who hesitates etc - but surely it was worth a call from the dealer as we had first refusal, no? Or am I in dreamland?
When I asked why we hadn't been called to see if a decision had been made (we did say we would ring before the end of the day) we were told that it wasn't their policy to hassle potential buyers!
So we missed out on a one-off Mini basically. And were then asked if having the London 2012 was out of the question ... errr I think so, mate!
You didn't buy the car, someone else better able to make a decision bought it. I am not really sure why you feel the slightest reason to feel aggrieved. Another dealer about 30 miles away had a petrol one although not in the white silver which she was after but the blue - but we thought hey, we'd go see it anyway. Had an online chat with the sales manager who offered me a decent deal on our Mini.
Then the wife spotted another Cooper - not a 2012 - but a diesel for roughly the same price/mileage at another branch of this dealer's group. The guy said they could get both cars to the same dealership so we could try them back to back.
What could go wrong?
Cooper London 2012 (petrol) was fine but had the run flats which I'm not keen on (our one has them) - wife thought it was okay as well. The diesel for me was a revelation though. Smooth as silk with a great rare interior (one hardly originally specced) ... a bit off the wall to some but rare as hen's teeth (bear in mind it's not my car) ...
Anyway, I'd have gone for the diesel no question,. Wifey was torn. We went for lunch a few miles away armed with some PCP figs from the dealer. Had lunch. Went home for more of a discussion on the finance. Rang the dealer for a slight change in the circumatances, deposit etc to get some more figures. About 4pm by now - we'd viewed both cars by about 1pm.
Rang the dealership at 5pm and the one we had finally chosen - the diesel - had been sold! Let's say I'm feeling slightly aggrieved by this - I know he who hesitates etc - but surely it was worth a call from the dealer as we had first refusal, no? Or am I in dreamland?
When I asked why we hadn't been called to see if a decision had been made (we did say we would ring before the end of the day) we were told that it wasn't their policy to hassle potential buyers!
So we missed out on a one-off Mini basically. And were then asked if having the London 2012 was out of the question ... errr I think so, mate!
Car dealers, daily, deal with a stream of people who "just want to go and think about it" never to return. So for most of them stock is fully available until a deal has been sealed.
No, we were never going back to the dealers after seeing the cars - as we had lunch on the way home - we'd have gone more local if we were going back ... they knew we weren't back there. Another one to put down to experience - I'm not saying I wasn't aggrieved immediately afterwards though but CAN see it from their viewpoint obviously, I'm just telling the story, not expecting people to say that's terrible, sue the bds, name and shame etc!
We sat on the decision for a couple of hours too long I know that - but not for one moment thinking that the car would be sold so quickly - you live and learn (always)
ds, name and shame etc!We sat on the decision for a couple of hours too long I know that - but not for one moment thinking that the car would be sold so quickly - you live and learn (always)
uk66fastback said:
No, we were never going back to the dealers after seeing the cars - as we had lunch on the way home - we'd have gone more local if we were going back ... they knew we weren't back there. Another one to put down to experience - I'm not saying I wasn't aggrieved immediately afterwards though but CAN see it from their viewpoint obviously, I'm just telling the story, not expecting people to say that's terrible, sue the bds, name and shame etc!
We sat on the decision for a couple of hours too long I know that - but not for one moment thinking that the car would be sold so quickly - you live and learn (always)
I work in a line of business much like Mini sales. That is to say our product is fairly fast moving and demand is good.ds, name and shame etc!We sat on the decision for a couple of hours too long I know that - but not for one moment thinking that the car would be sold so quickly - you live and learn (always)
Many, many times I hear "we need to go away and think about it but we are almost certain to go ahead" and that is where the story ends. On too many occasions in the past I gave people first refusal and regretted it. So I don't do it anymore.
As someone else above mentioned, if you say to a prospect, "you understand I cannot reserve it." Or "I have someone else interested" it sounds like an attempt to apply pressure. So I don't ever say these things, I simply say, "no problem, let me know as soon as you are able".
I think it comes down to judging how much time you, as a buyer, have to think about things. If the item for sale is a hot ticket it's safe to assume that time is of the essence.
Rick101 said:
Could well have been the guy that viewed it at 11am.
Frustrating but not much you can do about it.
Dealer hasn't done anything wrong at all.
What guy that viewed it at 11am? The bleedin' thing wasn't even there when we got there at 10.30 ... Frustrating but not much you can do about it.
Dealer hasn't done anything wrong at all.
I felt aggrieved at the time but am okay with it now - a phone call would have been nice - the mistake we made was not making the decision at the dealers (or not going back there). I can understand lots of people say "Yes, I'll make a decision and let you know today" and then never do ... and I was to the point when I left them - "We are going to buy one of them and we will let you know which one later today"
But even though I can understand why they did it, a call WOULD have been nice though. Just wasn't to be, another one will come up sometime soon.
You can put down a refundable £500 to hold ANY car a Mini dealer ... in hindsight, we should have done that on the diesel as it was a one-off - knowing that should the London one go, there are always a few like that for sale round and about ...
uk66fastback said:
But even though I can understand why they did it, a call WOULD have been nice though. Just wasn't to be, another one will come up sometime soon..
Probably the smart move would have been for the salesman to apologise for not calling you, with an offer to find you a replacement car. Customers who have missed out in the way you have are often gagging to do a deal to mitigate the feeling of disappointment about the loss of the first deal.Not so easy though. This car had an interior the like of which I can't find ONE example of, looking through every car on the Mini Cherished website ...
And it was a decent price as well. Should have had it in a heartbeat! There's a similar spec Cooper diesel in the same colour (with a black interior) a mile away from at a Mini dealer - it's done 5k more and it is £1000 more than the one we saw yesterday ...
Oh well.
And it was a decent price as well. Should have had it in a heartbeat! There's a similar spec Cooper diesel in the same colour (with a black interior) a mile away from at a Mini dealer - it's done 5k more and it is £1000 more than the one we saw yesterday ...
Oh well.
uk66fastback said:
Not so easy though. This car had an interior the like of which I can't find ONE example of, looking through every car on the Mini Cherished website ...
And it was a decent price as well. Should have had it in a heartbeat! There's a similar spec Cooper diesel in the same colour (with a black interior) a mile away from at a Mini dealer - it's done 5k more and it is £1000 more than the one we saw yesterday ...
Oh well.
Are you in a hurry? If not, sit back, relax, put it down to experience, wait until another suitable car comes up and don't fanny about next time.And it was a decent price as well. Should have had it in a heartbeat! There's a similar spec Cooper diesel in the same colour (with a black interior) a mile away from at a Mini dealer - it's done 5k more and it is £1000 more than the one we saw yesterday ...
Oh well.
Imagine it from the other customers point of view. "I like it mr salesman and would like to do a deal". The salesman says "ok, hang on a second whilst I ring the chap from this morning who wanted it so badly he went home without leaving a deposit and see if he wants it, if not I'll sell it to you".
How would you feel? Would you be impressed?
How would you feel? Would you be impressed?
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