dealership sales people...holey moley.
10-20-2011, 04:18 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
dealership sales people...holey moley.
had an exploratory trip to the local dealer to check out the c63 coupe, and to ask a few rudimentary questions about the price and availability of the forthcoming black series coupe.
ok. thankfully, i got a good 10 minutes of bother-free browsing of the c63 coupe on the floor, before being approached by morticia, that lady from the addams family. i immediately explained that there would be no purchasing today, but that i wanted to learn more about the black (ie: cost, delivery time frame, order options). "i don't believe there is a car called the black series right now, but i can ask." great. i got the gal who specializes in E350's.
ok, so we learned that the owner says 2 months out for delivery. excellent. so we sit down to build and price one in the system. "would you like the sedan, or coupe?" shoot me now. i quickly suspend operations and request back-up. so into the conversation comes the token old man with "30 years" of time served selling merc's. beautiful. now i learn that there will only be "100 of these very limited cars" being produced, so if you want one, you'd better get on the list, because we'll probably only be able to get one." yeah, great, grandpa. what's the sticker price? "oh, the last cls black series was about $140k, so i'd expect it to be about $100k." wheee! the hits just keep on coming. yes sir, i remember the CLK, not CLS that came way back in the late 2000's for $140k. i'm very impressed, now that we've found someone in the store who's even heard of the ultra-rare breed of track cars, even if he's unsure which chassis they were built on. he babbled on about the rarity of the vehicles and how they will quickly sell for a 20% premium on the used market as soon as they arrive. it was like being stabbed in the gut with a dull spoon.
unable to confirm a price, gramps and morticia doubled teamed me about "what difference does a few thousand make on a 100k car?" their view was: 95k, 105k...what's the difference? i had to think about that one for awhile. i'm getting the ole: if you have to ask...it's too expensive. for all of the stupid and ignorant things this tag-team said to me, i was hung up on the notion that there is little value in money for he who is shopping $100k cars. it then occurred to me that this is precisely the reason why my lovely bride can't stand my merc and what it represents. i say this with perfect understanding that whether you drive a merc or a bentley or a civic, there is an avenue of judgement there. however, today was the first time i actually had a sick feeling in my gut about mercedes ownership, and it was highlighted by some ignorant saleswoman who doesn't know the first thing about the mercedes cars she's trying to sell. worse is the likelihood that she's just the average MB salesperson.
one more story...just before last years autoshow in chicago (feb 2011), i learned from a guy at MBUSA that the e63 wagon would indeed be coming in 2012. this was exciting, so at the show, i asked a few questions about it hoping for some details. i got to speak with a sales guy who was so sure that the e63 wagon would NOT be making a return to the states, that he offered me a steak dinner at ruth's chris if he was wrong. out of the blue. no, "let's make a friendly wager", or "i'm almost positive that it won't come." it was an unequivocal "NO way is that car coming." then he beat his hands on his chest and hollered like tarzan.
just for giggles, i emailed him a couple months ago to attempt to claim my dinner. still waiting on that reply. and yes, these are actual MB dealers, not chevy stores selling used mercs.
ok. thankfully, i got a good 10 minutes of bother-free browsing of the c63 coupe on the floor, before being approached by morticia, that lady from the addams family. i immediately explained that there would be no purchasing today, but that i wanted to learn more about the black (ie: cost, delivery time frame, order options). "i don't believe there is a car called the black series right now, but i can ask." great. i got the gal who specializes in E350's.
ok, so we learned that the owner says 2 months out for delivery. excellent. so we sit down to build and price one in the system. "would you like the sedan, or coupe?" shoot me now. i quickly suspend operations and request back-up. so into the conversation comes the token old man with "30 years" of time served selling merc's. beautiful. now i learn that there will only be "100 of these very limited cars" being produced, so if you want one, you'd better get on the list, because we'll probably only be able to get one." yeah, great, grandpa. what's the sticker price? "oh, the last cls black series was about $140k, so i'd expect it to be about $100k." wheee! the hits just keep on coming. yes sir, i remember the CLK, not CLS that came way back in the late 2000's for $140k. i'm very impressed, now that we've found someone in the store who's even heard of the ultra-rare breed of track cars, even if he's unsure which chassis they were built on. he babbled on about the rarity of the vehicles and how they will quickly sell for a 20% premium on the used market as soon as they arrive. it was like being stabbed in the gut with a dull spoon.
unable to confirm a price, gramps and morticia doubled teamed me about "what difference does a few thousand make on a 100k car?" their view was: 95k, 105k...what's the difference? i had to think about that one for awhile. i'm getting the ole: if you have to ask...it's too expensive. for all of the stupid and ignorant things this tag-team said to me, i was hung up on the notion that there is little value in money for he who is shopping $100k cars. it then occurred to me that this is precisely the reason why my lovely bride can't stand my merc and what it represents. i say this with perfect understanding that whether you drive a merc or a bentley or a civic, there is an avenue of judgement there. however, today was the first time i actually had a sick feeling in my gut about mercedes ownership, and it was highlighted by some ignorant saleswoman who doesn't know the first thing about the mercedes cars she's trying to sell. worse is the likelihood that she's just the average MB salesperson.
one more story...just before last years autoshow in chicago (feb 2011), i learned from a guy at MBUSA that the e63 wagon would indeed be coming in 2012. this was exciting, so at the show, i asked a few questions about it hoping for some details. i got to speak with a sales guy who was so sure that the e63 wagon would NOT be making a return to the states, that he offered me a steak dinner at ruth's chris if he was wrong. out of the blue. no, "let's make a friendly wager", or "i'm almost positive that it won't come." it was an unequivocal "NO way is that car coming." then he beat his hands on his chest and hollered like tarzan.
just for giggles, i emailed him a couple months ago to attempt to claim my dinner. still waiting on that reply. and yes, these are actual MB dealers, not chevy stores selling used mercs.
10-20-2011, 04:48 PM
#2
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2012 JDM
It bothers me very much when I know more about the car than the salesperson. I start off every conversation now with "I know quite a bit about this car so please direct me to the salesperson who is most knowledgeable about the car. I do not want to know more about the car than the person who is selling it to me so if you think someone else would be better to talk to than you, please direct me to them. Thanks." That usually does the trick.
Also, please name the dealer where this occurred.
Also, please name the dealer where this occurred.
10-20-2011, 08:38 PM
#3
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2005 E55 / 2008 E63
E55: Ghetto old school dealer style. Ended up buying the car after multiple echoed F-bombs on their showroom floor and 4 hours of my time. No clue on the car either. Horrible, I wanted to kick someone's ***...
E63: Exact opposite. Knew AMG inside and out, nailed the deal in 30min.
My 2 cents it all comes down to the culture inside each individual dealer. Problem is when you are after a specific AMG there are not that many, so sometimes you are stuck having to drop loud F-bombs on the showroom floor
E63: Exact opposite. Knew AMG inside and out, nailed the deal in 30min.
My 2 cents it all comes down to the culture inside each individual dealer. Problem is when you are after a specific AMG there are not that many, so sometimes you are stuck having to drop loud F-bombs on the showroom floor
10-20-2011, 09:08 PM
#4
Super Member
Amazes me that unemployment is 9.1% and that's the best they can do. If I ran a business with employees right now, I would have the top people hired and get rid of the worst.
10-20-2011, 09:26 PM
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07 E63. 07 STi limited #606/800
At 23, I honestly think I can outsell and make customers understand what they bought if I ever worked at any car dealership.
Call me OCD, but if I worked at Honda, guess what? I'm going to know every single honda vehicle ever sold in my region, and anything thats coming up, horsepower figures, 0-60, problems with certain models, etc.
I sometimes wanna just walk up to the owners of these places and tell them, hire me and I guarantee you will fire 2 or 3 of these other guys!
But.... I'm on VA disability, and it's good enough pay.
Call me OCD, but if I worked at Honda, guess what? I'm going to know every single honda vehicle ever sold in my region, and anything thats coming up, horsepower figures, 0-60, problems with certain models, etc.
I sometimes wanna just walk up to the owners of these places and tell them, hire me and I guarantee you will fire 2 or 3 of these other guys!
But.... I'm on VA disability, and it's good enough pay.
10-20-2011, 09:45 PM
#6
MBWorld Fanatic!
You and I are the same, extremely low tolerance for stupidity. Its like when you're speaking to Time Warner about the bad reception and they ask if you've power cycled the box.
"Yes I have. In fact, I have done the next 6 things you are going to read from the script in front of you. Maybe this would be the time to connect me to Technical Service, the people I requested before I gave you my home number and address."
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10-21-2011, 01:34 AM
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2005 E55 AMG
You and I are the same, extremely low tolerance for stupidity. Its like when you're speaking to Time Warner about the bad reception and they ask if you've power cycled the box.
"Yes I have. In fact, I have done the next 6 things you are going to read from the script in front of you. Maybe this would be the time to connect me to Technical Service, the people I requested before I gave you my home number and address."
"Yes I have. In fact, I have done the next 6 things you are going to read from the script in front of you. Maybe this would be the time to connect me to Technical Service, the people I requested before I gave you my home number and address."
Bro, Time Warner trains their people to intentionally lie about the fact that their system can't handle all their customers.
Ever wonder why they are constantly having server crashes that "will be up in a few minutes" and takes a day...
