Before I start I should apologize that it has been forever and a day since we blogged, and that this will not be a fun informative blog, but a rant about bad customer service. And it contains two numbered lists. I don't care if you don't like numbered lists. It was easy to format it this way.
About a month ago I went to the Mazda dealership here in Orem and told them what I was looking for and how much I was willing to pay. I test drove a couple cars, talked about numbers, and decided that a new car would have to wait until I sell my truck on my own, because the dealership wouldn't give me much for it. I talked to the salesman and clearly conveyed what I wanted, how much I was willing to pay, and that I couldn't proceed until I sold my truck. I did tell him it was okay for him to call me and let me know if they got something in that was what I wanted and for the price I wanted. This first visit was a positive experience and I left feeling like I might give them my patronage.
Since then I have received a call from the salesman at least once a week to tell me what they've got in stock and let me know what is going on. This is totally fine, I agreed that he could call me, and I provided him with my number. So while I don't necessarily want him to call me weekly while I still haven't sold my truck, I told him he could and there is no one to blame for this but myself.
Today I got an interesting call from him. He told me that he has another customer looking for a truck such as mine and because of this he would be willing to give me more for it, and that they have some new inventory in that fits my needs, and my budget. I think this is the cat's meow because now I don't have to keep trying to sell my truck and I can get a new car. So as soon as I got off work I head down to the dealership under the impression that what he said was true.
When I got there he showed me the car that "fit" what I wanted and he took the key to my truck to figure out exactly what they would give me for it. I took the car for a drive and it definitely fit the "want" section of my criteria, and when Kassi saw it she agreed that it was really nice and that if they had good numbers for it we could get it.
So we went back to the dealership where the salesman I've now talked to on multiple occasions handed me off to another salesman to finish things up. This is still okay, I don't care who finishes things off as long as they match the numbers that I told them over a month ago, and that they had full knowledge of when they called me. The new salesman talked to me for a few minutes and then left to discuss numbers with his boss (whatever that means) and came back with the following 4 awesome sales points for the car that I had driven.
1. He was generous enough to say that he was giving me 1500 for my trade in, and then tell me the price I could pay for the car after the trade was $472.00 higher than the car is listed at on their website. This is not the price for a similar car, but the exact same car. This salesman was so nice he basically told me I could pay extra and that he would take my trade as nothing.
2. He offered to let me pay $91 more per month than the number they already knew I would be willing to pay. This is 45% higher than what I told them. Think about that in terms of your annual income. If you got a 45% raise would you do a joyful cartwheel? I would, and I can't do cartwheels.
3. He told me I would get to make this higher payment for an entire year longer than what I had told them I was willing to pay. There is a pattern here, these first three things are not good, do you think the 4th one will be? What's left for this guy to try and gouge me on?
4. The interest rate. This is my favorite of the 4 selling points. He didn't come out and tell us what the interest rate would be. We figured it out. 9.3%. Really. It's like the punchline of the dumbest joke ever. 9.3% Pretty big of you Mazda salesman, prettttty big.
After we picked our jaws up off the floor we told him this was nowhere near what we talked about and he continued to tell us how nice the car is, and how it has new tires and how they weren't making very much money on it, and we told him it wouldn't work, got our truck key back and left.
Many readers may be thinking that all this is my fault for going there in the first place, and to that I would respond "Who asked you?" Just kidding. It is my fault for going there, giving out my phone number, and expecting them to perform one honest task. I knew what they were when I picked them up, or something like that. That being said, there are 3 things that really bother me about this experience.
1. They knew what I wanted and what I was willing to pay. If they didn't have it they shouldn't have called me and told me they did. If what I want is unrealistic for this dealership they should tell me so I can either revise my expectations or go somewhere else. They don't need to waste both their and my time.
2. Did the second salesman sabotage the deal so that the first salesman wouldn't get the commission? If guy #2 sells the same car to someone else tomorrow it helps his bank account right? Something a little fishy that the first salesman seemed to think this would work and the second guy was miles away from a viable deal.
3. I can't think of a single thing I did that made this guy think I might belong on the short bus, but he treated me like I did. Who agrees to ridiculous terms like that? Did you think I wouldn't notice that you raised the price, gave me nothing for my trade, indentured me for an additional year with a burden that is 45% higher than I agreed to and at an interest rate that is (conservatively) 3% higher than I could get by financing it somewhere else? Just because I use run-on sentences doesn't mean I can't do basic math.
Here's my final thought. What percentage of the population is both dumb enough to agree to a deal like this, and smart enough to be able to earn enough money to afford it? Apparently enough to keep this dealership in business.
Kassi says she has a Disneyland post she is working on. Thanks for reading.
Oh, and Kassi's work is having a drawing for an Ipad. To enter you have to become a fan of Fibernet on facebook and if Kassi gets enough of her friends to become fans she will get a free ipod so you should probably do that for her if you haven't already. It will make her marvellously happy.
