Car salesmen that don't sell...?

[smithyithy]

RVVUNM said:

I can kind of understand but I would have personally attracted the attention of another salesman. I have bought new and used cars and have never experienced any of the stories on here, but then again I'm quite a nice bloke.

I'm sure most people here are decent people too.

It's like with many things, people are more inclined to write up a negative experience than a positive one.

[RVVUNM]

smithyithy said:

RVVUNM said:

I can kind of understand but I would have personally attracted the attention of another salesman. I have bought new and used cars and have never experienced any of the stories on here, but then again I'm quite a nice bloke.

I'm sure most people here are decent people too.

It's like with many things, people are more inclined to write up a negative experience than a positive one.

True.

[funkyrobot]

I went to look at a Skoda at a main dealer a few weeks ago.

The coffee machine was broken. Broken I tell you. I was so disappointed that I walked out. If I can't get a coffee, why am I even bothering?

[Roger Irrelevant]

funkyrobot said:

I went to look at a Skoda at a main dealer a few weeks ago.

The coffee machine was broken. Broken I tell you. I was so disappointed that I walked out. If I can't get a coffee, why am I even bothering?

Well I went to a Ford dealer to look at a Fiesta that I was definitely going to buy and the salesman neither flung himself at my feet the second I walked through the door or offered me a night of carnal pleasure with his wife in an effort to sell me the car. Even though I had never met this person before and would likely have very little to do with him ever again, the fact that he paid me insufficient attention meant that I decided that I would go without the car I really wanted and was otherwise definitely going to buy in order to teach him a ruddy good lesson. I just went back down the street, got in my brand new gold-plated Veyron with mink seats and did a load of doughnuts in front of the dealership while waving a bundle of burning £50 notes out of the window. The salesman fell to his knees, looked up to the heavens (sort of like at the end of the Shawshank Redemption, except it wasn't raining), then committed hara-kiri there and then.

[blade7]

Tuvra said:

I have a similar tale of being underestimated by a car dealer. 12 years ago, 17 year old me and 3 mates (on our college lunch break) went to visit a "Prestige" car dealer locally to view a 350Z I knew he had in stock.
I ended up buying a Cerbera from Henley Heritage instead

17 at college and you bought a Cerbera....

[RVVUNM]

Roger Irrelevant said:

Well I went to a Ford dealer to look at a Fiesta that I was definitely going to buy and the salesman neither flung himself at my feet the second I walked through the door or offered me a night of carnal pleasure with his wife in an effort to sell me the car. Even though I had never met this person before and would likely have very little to do with him ever again, the fact that he paid me insufficient attention meant that I decided that I would go without the car I really wanted and was otherwise definitely going to buy in order to teach him a ruddy good lesson. I just went back down the street, got in my brand new gold-plated Veyron with mink seats and did a load of doughnuts in front of the dealership while waving a bundle of burning £50 notes out of the window. The salesman fell to his knees, looked up to the heavens (sort of like at the end of the Shawshank Redemption, except it wasn't raining), then committed hara-kiri there and then.

Well put.

[Hitch78]

Ali_T said:

I've had the same attitude every time I've been in a BMW dealership. I've been in numerous time stop look at nearly new M cars and still haven't bought one because they never bother trying to sell them.

Something of a pyrrhic victory to not be driving the car that you want because the salesman didn't work hard enough isn't it?!

[Butter Face]

Roger Irrelevant said:

funkyrobot said:

I went to look at a Skoda at a main dealer a few weeks ago.

The coffee machine was broken. Broken I tell you. I was so disappointed that I walked out. If I can't get a coffee, why am I even bothering?

Well I went to a Ford dealer to look at a Fiesta that I was definitely going to buy and the salesman neither flung himself at my feet the second I walked through the door or offered me a night of carnal pleasure with his wife in an effort to sell me the car. Even though I had never met this person before and would likely have very little to do with him ever again, the fact that he paid me insufficient attention meant that I decided that I would go without the car I really wanted and was otherwise definitely going to buy in order to teach him a ruddy good lesson. I just went back down the street, got in my brand new gold-plated Veyron with mink seats and did a load of doughnuts in front of the dealership while waving a bundle of burning £50 notes out of the window. The salesman fell to his knees, looked up to the heavens (sort of like at the end of the Shawshank Redemption, except it wasn't raining), then committed hara-kiri there and then.

That's he biggest single cause of death amongst car salesmen y'know!

[Ares]

Wills2 said:

I do find it difficult to understand how someone who has bought 7 cars from a dealer manages to be ignored by the sales staff when he wants to buy an M3 from them?

I have a sales guy at my local dealer and I just call/email or arrange to see him and he sorts it all out, these threads do come up often (or seem to) but buying a car is pretty easy, isn't it?

Salesmen change so often, there is no-one there that was there 2 yrs ago.

The guys that sold the last 3 is still within the group, but moved to a different dealer.

[Ares]

Butter Face said:

Does the salesman you bought the last 7 cars from not work there anymore?

It may be incredibly likely that they did recognise you and didn't want to get drawn into a conversation that may take up their time just to have to pass the sale (if you bought) back to their colleague....

Just playing devils advocate!



(Still not nice if it happened exactly as you describe)

Not a case of not nice, just a huge miss opportunity for them. A good salesman with as attractive a deal as I got last time would have had a high chance of getting a sale from me.

[zedstar]

Theres a very simple solution to annoying salesmen, just don't deal with them. Go to another branch and get on with your day.

I do understand the OP's frustration, sometimes a salesman getting excited about a product can be the final clincher in your decision to buy one and it's not nice when you think you might do some business but the other party isn't interested.

[littlebasher]

madzo14 said:

Working in a dealership part of a large group we could never accept full cash payment for a car. The limit is £5k even then it involves taking the customer to the bank due to money laundering rules. Still get the odd person, usually older people or farmers thinking cash is king and they will get really good discount..... not anymore.

Pre Money Laundering rules, I foolishly made a similar mistake when i picked up an X-Trail from a car supermarket in Sutton-in-Ashfield. I rocked up with an envelope full of cash only to be pointed at a sign that said all 'cash' payments had to be made by Debit card.

So my mistake, should have read the signs when i agreed to buy the car as they had no cash handling facilities.

Lucky for me, one of the directors sorted it - I gave him the cash and he bought the car on his debit car - 10K odd

[Ares]

Sump said:

Ares said:

james_gt3rs said:

Maybe they knew you didn't want to buy so didn't waste their time?

How did they know? Truth being, if he'd made me an offer that was good enough, I may have gone for it. M3 looking like what I fancy moving to next.

What's with all the smokes and mirrors. You either want an M3 or you don't. It's so weird testing out the salesmans reaction over you checking out an M3 or what not.

The only reason I know someone would do this is a psychological issue where you would want the other salesman to notice you, engage with you, and end with thinking he has persuaded you to a out of the blue upgrade just so you can get him to think you're extremely wealthy? I can't see any other reason for the smokes and mirrors.

Bullst. I wasn't testing at all.

I was there collecting my car from service dept. Same as 2 years ago
I'm not really planning to change my car for another 11 months or so. Same as 2 years ago
I'm always going to be tempted to move early by a car I'm already attracted by. Same as 2 years ago
I did change early last time because the salesman was interested. Unlike this time.

No interest. No sale.

[james_gt3rs]

Ares said:

james_gt3rs said:

Maybe they knew you didn't want to buy so didn't waste their time?

How did they know? Truth being, if he'd made me an offer that was good enough, I may have gone for it. M3 looking like what I fancy moving to next.

OK when you've bought the M3 come back and post and I'll admit I'm wrong...

[Ares]

caelite said:

Might just be the way you look.

Aside from holding keys to a £70k+ 6-series that they supplied, I was in a Boss suit, Oliver Sweeney Shoes, wearing a Rolex and carrying a Mulberry Briefcase. If that doesn't make me prime (cliched) BMW territory I don't what else does

[Ares]

Pixelpeep7r said:

Ares said:

With 5 mins to kill in the BMW main dealer showroom .

I am guessing they are used to dreamers/anoraks looking at the shiny performance cars wanting to show off their vast knowledge to the salesmen and enter into some kind of awkward nerd-chat.

Maybe he was exceptionally good at spotting the fact that you were waiting for your own (reasonably new?) car and didn't want to waste his time chatting when he could be prospecting/catching up on warm leads?

Perhaps, but with a 2yr old car and a history of changing cars every 2-3 years, I would agree leads wouldn't be any hotter (if he'd spent 30 secs discovering that)

[Ares]

Theophany said:

Ares said:

Theophany said:

If you're interested in buying the car surely you'd make that clear? I don't want to be convinced to buy a car and would be annoyed if I can't browse without being slobbered over. Does sound like he could've been a bit more personable in his response to your question, mind!

Not sure how i'd have made it clear, aside from a Dom Joly style announcement "I'd like to buy a car..."

But the good salesman would surely sell, not just process an order/respond to an enquiry.

A simple 'Hi there, I'm interested in an M3...', along with a giant telephone if you feel it helps

I can see where you're coming from, but I get the impression that car dealerships try to be a bit more like retail outlets now - you would walk straight out of a Bond Street shop if you couldn't browse without being pestered by a sales assistant. An uncle of mine runs a dealership in West London and this is how they've always operated - allow the customers to browse their stock and the salespeople are not there to 'sell' in the traditional way, but to inform potential customers of the benefits and drawbacks of each car, they're expected to know the full history of each car from memory etc. Obviously this approach would never work for car dealers where sales volume is crucial but perhaps for premium or 'aspirational' brands like BMW and Mercedes, the cars will tend to sell themselves anyway so the old ways of having to work for a sale are discouraged/not necessary/don't work as well these days.

The last two times I bought a car from a dealer, I approached them in the showroom to say I was interested in a particular car they had in stock. Much prefer it that way, personally!

Aside from asking about the spec of the M3 I was sat in, I was technically there to collect my own car from service.

Ironic that you use Bond Street shops as an example. We were there last Friday and every store we went into got us a polite "Good Afternoon Sir, can I be of any assistance...." then if we were still there 5 mins later, a second polite approach.

THAT is a good sales person!

[Ares]

RVVUNM said:

If everyone took off their Jonny big trousers attitude and talked to the salesman instead off expecting him to mind read then you may get what you want. OP, why didn't you just say you may be interested in changing your car for the M3?

Because the first 2 touch points showed zero interest?

[Ares]

smithyithy said:

RVVUNM said:

If everyone took off their Jonny big trousers attitude and talked to the salesman instead off expecting him to mind read then you may get what you want. OP, why didn't you just say you may be interested in changing your car for the M3?

To be fair, I don't think it's even a case of him wanting the M3 or not, but that he asked a pretty simple, reasonable question and was shrugged off.

Whether he's interested in the car or not, it doesn't exactly shout professionalism to respond to a potential customer that way.

Nail/Head/Hit

[Theophany]

Ares said:

Theophany said:

Ares said:

Theophany said:

If you're interested in buying the car surely you'd make that clear? I don't want to be convinced to buy a car and would be annoyed if I can't browse without being slobbered over. Does sound like he could've been a bit more personable in his response to your question, mind!

Not sure how i'd have made it clear, aside from a Dom Joly style announcement "I'd like to buy a car..."

But the good salesman would surely sell, not just process an order/respond to an enquiry.

A simple 'Hi there, I'm interested in an M3...', along with a giant telephone if you feel it helps

I can see where you're coming from, but I get the impression that car dealerships try to be a bit more like retail outlets now - you would walk straight out of a Bond Street shop if you couldn't browse without being pestered by a sales assistant. An uncle of mine runs a dealership in West London and this is how they've always operated - allow the customers to browse their stock and the salespeople are not there to 'sell' in the traditional way, but to inform potential customers of the benefits and drawbacks of each car, they're expected to know the full history of each car from memory etc. Obviously this approach would never work for car dealers where sales volume is crucial but perhaps for premium or 'aspirational' brands like BMW and Mercedes, the cars will tend to sell themselves anyway so the old ways of having to work for a sale are discouraged/not necessary/don't work as well these days.

The last two times I bought a car from a dealer, I approached them in the showroom to say I was interested in a particular car they had in stock. Much prefer it that way, personally!

Aside from asking about the spec of the M3 I was sat in, I was technically there to collect my own car from service.

Ironic that you use Bond Street shops as an example. We were there last Friday and every store we went into got us a polite "Good Afternoon Sir, can I be of any assistance...." then if we were still there 5 mins later, a second polite approach.

THAT is a good sales person!

Interesting. I don't think this has anything to do with salespeople selling things so much as it has to do with customer service and how they make you feel.