The Audi approach to high-pressure sales
Discussion
I took a drive up to my local Audi dealer on Sunday. It was pretty much empty, except for two salesmen chatting on their phones.
I had a wander round, but couldn’t have a proper look at the cars, as they are sealed for hygiene reasons, which is fair enough.
I went back to wait at the front, and eventually one of the young gentlemen asked if he could help me.
Yes, I said, I would like to buy a new R8 Spyder, probably the Performance version, and could we chat about what they can do for me.
He was terribly sorry, he said, in his empty showroom, but demand was so high that they were totally back-to-back, and only able to see people by appointment, but if I left my details someone would call me back.
I did, they didn’t.
I had a wander round, but couldn’t have a proper look at the cars, as they are sealed for hygiene reasons, which is fair enough.
I went back to wait at the front, and eventually one of the young gentlemen asked if he could help me.
Yes, I said, I would like to buy a new R8 Spyder, probably the Performance version, and could we chat about what they can do for me.
He was terribly sorry, he said, in his empty showroom, but demand was so high that they were totally back-to-back, and only able to see people by appointment, but if I left my details someone would call me back.
I did, they didn’t.
Kent Border Kenny said:
I took a drive up to my local Audi dealer on Sunday. It was pretty much empty, except for two salesmen chatting on their phones.
I had a wander round, but couldn’t have a proper look at the cars, as they are sealed for hygiene reasons, which is fair enough.
I went back to wait at the front, and eventually one of the young gentlemen asked if he could help me.
Yes, I said, I would like to buy a new R8 Spyder, probably the Performance version, and could we chat about what they can do for me.
He was terribly sorry, he said, in his empty showroom, but demand was so high that they were totally back-to-back, and only able to see people by appointment, but if I left my details someone would call me back.
I did, they didn’t.
I do think Audi can be a bit like that. We’ve had a few X5s over the years, I recall taking one into our local Audi dealer when we were looking for a change and asking them to open a Q7. They really weren’t interested, wouldn’t unlock the car and we ended up leaving (and bought another X5). I’d get the reluctance of I’d rolled up in a Fiesta and asked to look at a Q7 but surely there’s a degree of credibility when you turn up in a similar car to the one you want to look at. I had a wander round, but couldn’t have a proper look at the cars, as they are sealed for hygiene reasons, which is fair enough.
I went back to wait at the front, and eventually one of the young gentlemen asked if he could help me.
Yes, I said, I would like to buy a new R8 Spyder, probably the Performance version, and could we chat about what they can do for me.
He was terribly sorry, he said, in his empty showroom, but demand was so high that they were totally back-to-back, and only able to see people by appointment, but if I left my details someone would call me back.
I did, they didn’t.
Argleton said:
Dont see the issue? If you want an R8, you be back. If not that dealer, the next nearest one - which will be more than likely owned by the same group.
It's not exactly customer service, but do you really expect it?
There must be an Audi salesperson on this forum with a bit of gumption, surely??It's not exactly customer service, but do you really expect it?
I always find it's better to call a dealer and book an appointment I always do this, I never just turn up and mooch around and expect them to drop what they are doing (even if that is SFA) they seem to prefer a diary of appointments to go through, which is fair enough.
I did that when I bought a 911 as I didn't want to drive all the way there and be told no one can deal with me as I probably would have come to my senses on the way back and not bothered, so I rang ahead and locked myself in for a leg lifting!
I did that when I bought a 911 as I didn't want to drive all the way there and be told no one can deal with me as I probably would have come to my senses on the way back and not bothered, so I rang ahead and locked myself in for a leg lifting!
Wills2 said:
I always find it's better to call a dealer and book an appointment I always do this, I never just turn up and mooch around and expect them to drop what they are doing (even if that is SFA) they seem to prefer a diary of appointments to go through, which is fair enough.
I did that when I bought a 911 as I didn't want to drive all the way there and be told no one can deal with me as I probably would have come to my senses on the way back and not bothered, so I rang ahead and locked myself in for a leg lifting!
I think it might be a bit of this, every time I’ve turned up at a dealer wanting to look at stuff it’s never really gone well. It always ends in having to book an appointment to come back. I don’t know why I always do it.I did that when I bought a 911 as I didn't want to drive all the way there and be told no one can deal with me as I probably would have come to my senses on the way back and not bothered, so I rang ahead and locked myself in for a leg lifting!
I visited an Audi dealer in Scotland with my father. Looking at A6 size then saw they had a reasonable deal on the new A8 diesel, but we want a petrol.
"How much is the petrol?"
"Let's sit down and chat about it"
After two cups of coffee, three chats with his manager and playing with an iPad that makes the A8 shoot up on a plasma screen infront of you, he still couldn't come up with a price. Fourth chat with the manager and we left with an hour less of our lives.
We used the hour to try work out how any of these numbers are related. I was later informed by the company who owns the dealership it was a "keying error". For example, the cash price was the number that appealed to us, but there was no actual option to pay cash for the car.
"How much is the petrol?"
"Let's sit down and chat about it"
After two cups of coffee, three chats with his manager and playing with an iPad that makes the A8 shoot up on a plasma screen infront of you, he still couldn't come up with a price. Fourth chat with the manager and we left with an hour less of our lives.
We used the hour to try work out how any of these numbers are related. I was later informed by the company who owns the dealership it was a "keying error". For example, the cash price was the number that appealed to us, but there was no actual option to pay cash for the car.
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