Customer Communication – A Recent Experience Relayed

The keys to your dreams

Recently I have been in the market for a vehicle. The shopping experience has been fascinating and something I will blog about in the future.

We had decided on what car to get and it was just a matter of finding the right dealer. This to me meant my local dealership. It’s better for all involved if I do my best to be a buyer coming from the dealership’s PMA (Primary Marketing Area) and get the best dealer I can.

When we arrived at the local dealership, we spent some time looking at the model we wanted on the dealers lot. We noticed folks inside and there were plenty of customers outside, but not enough sale staff for the people. After about half an hour of looking we decided to go and get someone to help us.

The staff member we asked then went to get a salesperson. The salesperson was pleasant enough and we took the vehicle on a test drive. We were sold, this was definitely the car we wanted.

We arrived back and sat down to talk. The dealing process was ok. As usual it was a bit of a struggle at times but ended up getting $2K below what we wanted to pay and with the options we wanted. Stock was searched and they had nothing in our requirements on site but there was a car coming in. We were informed car would be delivered just under 3 months later. I was a bit miffed and was now a bit reticent, especially since this was the first dealer I had visited for the brand of car we were buying. I decided it was worth the wait.

I was informed they would need a $1000 deposit to reserve the car for myself. The Sales Manager was introduced to us and informed us that we were under no obligation to purchase the car as it was ‘ordered stock’ anyway. If we changed our minds, we would both come out no worse and the $1000 would be refunded whether we purchased the car or not, all we needed to do was confirm the finance.

The dealer printed off the car purchase form and made notes on that form that purchase was ‘subject to finance’ to give us an ‘out.’

I signed, shook hands and left excited to have a new car soon.

That week, a situation arose in our life that made buying a car seem like not something we also needed to deal with at this time. We could afford to wait while things settled down. We weren’t happy with the finance quotes we had started to get or the blasé service we got from the finance companies. The planets weren’t aligning, it felt rushed, wrong and wasn’t worth the possible risk. We went with our gut.

I called the sales person that week to explain the situation and that we would not be proceeding with the purchase of the car. I relayed the situation and that we weren’t happy with the finance options. I assured him that the deal was fine, the sales process was fantastic, it was nothing that they had done. The salesperson got slightly annoyed and stated that they would not be able to refund me the $1000, in “ill play a difficult game” tone. I reminded him of the conversation we had with him and his sales manager. He acknowledged and told me to put it all in and email and send it to him for the refund to be completed. Done.

After a week I checked my account. The money had not been refunded. I emailed the sales person to check the progress and asked him to let me  know if any issue arose, to please contact me.

Two days later, there was still no email reply. I called the dealership. The sales person had left for the day, I left a message for him to call me back.

The phone call was not returned after the weekend. I called again late Monday afternoon. I was informed Monday is the salespersons day off. I asked for the sales manager. If was his day off too.

I emailed the sales person after the phone call and wrote that I had not received the refund as yet and would like him contact me as soon as possible.

I still had no reply by this weekend(a week after the previous email), so my partner and I decided to go into the dealership to sort it out. Why weren’t they communicating with me? I was getting worried as I certainly didn’t want to be loosing $1000 at this point in time. Seemed very strange.

We saw the Sales Manager in his office as we walked by and checked into reception. We were attended to by the Corporate Sales Manager. We politely introduced ourselves and asked if we could see the Sales Manager. He went to the Sales Manager and came back to ask us what it was regarding. We explained the situation, lack of contact and thought that there must be an issue and we would like to help rectify it today.

The Corporate Sales Manager had a look of disbelief and slight embarrassment and asked if we had filled out a refund form yet. We said we were not aware there was one and we had not.

He sat us down in the cafe and went and got the paper work. It was all completed in five minutes. The Corporate Sales Manager apologised and asked if there was anything else we required. Not at the moment, we thanked him for his help and told he had been a pleasure to work with.

After thinking about the situation all day, I can’t help but think this all could have been a lot better and a lot less stressful if I had just been communicated with.

If the process was to simply fill out a form, that’s fine, put me through to the person who can help me with that if it is not your area to do so. I am happy to come in to do it if that is the requirement. Just communicate with me.

When the time is right to buy in the next few months I would have happily gone straight back to the dealership to buy again. However after this, never again.

I would think that in any case, it might have occurred to the salesperson that I, the customer, might one day be in the market again. Wouldn’t the salesperson want to make sure their dealership is the first positive thought of a dealership in my mind. To leave on a great note, until next time?

I also won’t be recommending anyone go to that dealership after this experience. I don’t expect to be pandered to after getting out of a deal. I also don’t expect to be totally ignored if they not completed there end of the deal.

A lost profitable sale and minimum 3 years of service work, negative experience relayed in conversation; simply due to a poor attitude leading to poor communication, over $1000.

In the end, good communication is a simple necessity in a customer service process. It can go a lot further than is immediately apparent.

What are your thoughts on the situation? What would have you done differently?

Related articles

• Five things to do before you go the dealership (becarchic.com)