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Dealership RANTS and RAVE!
First off I just wanted to preface all of this by saying this is all just off of my experiences this week. Sorry if you, your SO, mamma, daddy, grandpa or uncle work at one of these- I'm not trying to offend or bash at all so here ya go....
Monday night we headed out to go look at cars- 3 in particular. A Mustang GT, Dodge Challenger and a Dodge Charger.
We started at Maxwell Ford. We pulled onto the lot expecting the usual car salesman to approach us. We looked around for about 5 minutes and found a GT that we wanted to test drive. No salesman to be seen...BF walked inside and let them know we found a car that we would like to test drive. They said they would have someone out right away (I was surprised that nobody jumped to help then). We walked around for another 20 minutes and still no salesman. At that point we left a little frustrated that we were honestly willing to buy that evening but nobody would help us.
We then went next door to South Point Dodge. We were not even out of the car good and a salesman was there- I was relieved. He helped us...we test drove a new Challenger and a Charger. I loved the Charger while BF loved the Challenger. There were things on this particular Challenger that I just did not like...they were both new and very much out of our price range anyways. Was an OK experience and we now knew what price range we needed to focus on. We left and intended to come back the next day after I got off and look at more cars. The next day I get 2 missed calls on my cell phone from a Houston area code (713). I googled the number and found out that it is a marketing company that gets phone numbers from dealerships. This is what I found on one of the message boards "This company is called CAR Research Inc. doing business as "Consumer Automotive Rapport". They are located in Houston TX. This telemarketer works for various car dealerships. It's the dealership that furnish them your phone number." I read this and was livid. I emailed BF and let him know...he had received 2 calls as well. He called the manager at the dealership to let him know that they lost us as customers and we would not be returning. The dealership tried to justify the Houston number calling- "they are a follow up surveying company"...BF had tried to call them back and someone answered and hung up on him. Sales guy called and left messages trying to get us to come back but it's a no. I have a huge problem with what happened. If you want to follow up...that's great- I'll give you feed back. But I don't feel that selling my phone number after JUST a test drive is ok. I expect phone calls after purchasing...its going to happen. But I feel that we should have been told that a survey company would be calling to follow up or something.
BF started looking for Challengers in the area and found a nice used on in San Antonio at Gunn Auto. Very low mileage and great price. We went and test drove Tuesday night and came home with it. I can't say enough good about Gunn Auto...the sticker price is the price- no haggling. The sales people are salary so that removes the fear that they just want to upsell and put you in what will get them to the most money. Kudos to them!
***to the people on the boards that are in car sales...I know that part of this is stereotying you guys- I'm not pointing fingers at you...I was just very apprehensive about shopping to begin with and these experiences didn't help...I think I'm a Gunn Auto customer from now on!
Re: Dealership RANTS and RAVE!
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I bought a new car sorta recently and maybe it was because at least one of the salesmen let me know that an independent survey company might call but I didn't mind at all. I got at least one call per dealership visit. The survey was short and sweet and I haven't gotten any spam as a result. Maybe it's because I'm in marketing/advertising but I don't mind answering surveys about my experience if it'll help them create a better customer service experience for the next person.
I've also gotten a written survey that was very comprehensive as well as a phone survey after I had my car serviced for the first time. In my mind, it's just the company trying to use an objective party to collect information so they can improve. I feel much better about that than the thousands of companies monitoring my internet usage and knowing where I am at all times because of my gps-enabled smart phone.
BFP 12.20.2010 :: missed m/c 1/2011 around 8 weeks
BFP @ 9dpo 5.24.2011 :: missed m/c 6/2011 around 7 weeks
positive for ANAs (1:40) with a speckled pattern
MTHFR c677t mutation (heterozygous)
*folic acid, baby asprin, Prometrium, acupuncture, Lovenox*
BFP @ 9dpo 2.1.2012 || HCG = 8 : Progesterone = 19.2
2nd HCG @ 11dpo = 40 || 3rd HCG @ 21dpo = over 5000!
Stick, little one, stick! EDD October 15, 2012
I might be overreacting to the telemarketing phone call but I'm just very cautious about giving out my cell number to begin with. When he asked for my number- I gave it to him so that he could contact me if necessary. I just felt very caught off guard and blindsided. Had they given me a heads up I totally would have done the survey and not minded...
Yeah, you're totally right. There's a big difference between them letting you know ahead of time and being surprised that someone has giving out your personal info.
BFP 12.20.2010 :: missed m/c 1/2011 around 8 weeks
BFP @ 9dpo 5.24.2011 :: missed m/c 6/2011 around 7 weeks
positive for ANAs (1:40) with a speckled pattern
MTHFR c677t mutation (heterozygous)
*folic acid, baby asprin, Prometrium, acupuncture, Lovenox*
BFP @ 9dpo 2.1.2012 || HCG = 8 : Progesterone = 19.2
2nd HCG @ 11dpo = 40 || 3rd HCG @ 21dpo = over 5000!
Stick, little one, stick! EDD October 15, 2012