[Ataru]

Last week Christie and I went to Bill Knight Ford in Tulsa so she could test drive a new Fiesta. Now that her Tribute is fixed, we have been contemplating trading it in before something else goes wrong.

We talked to Ed Collins at the dealership and took a Fiesta SES manual with leather for a test drive. Christie liked it a lot, but she wasn't a fan of the color, Yellow Blaze. They had a Monterey Grey sedan and she loved that color, so Ed said he would try to track down an SES in Monterey Grey for us and then we would talk some more.


Fastforward to yesterday. I stopped by Barry's (barryf1fan) house and we then drive to go look at that Fiesta (and also so he could test drive it since I failed to let him test drive the auto Fiesta we checked out a couple weeks back )

We drive up in Barry's SVTF and walk over to the Fiesta. After a couple of minutes Ed walks up. I say to him "I'm back and I brought a friend this time!"

Ed doesn't say anything or introduce himself to Barry at all.

Barry's making comments on the car about the lack of rear disc brakes and pulling on the door handles but Ed doesn't offer to get the keys so Barry can look at it. I mention to Barry that they have one just like it inside the showroom, so then Ed says we should go look at that one and we walk inside. :screwy:

Barry walks up to the car inside and the door is locked but the window is down. He then leans through the window and hits the unlock button on the center of the dash. Ed says "How did you do that, can you show me what you did" :what:

Barry and I look at the car for about 10-15 minutes, all the while talking about our Focuses, our trip to the Ford Nationals, how I am wanting a Fiesta for Christie and also how Barry is more excited for the new Focus than the Fiesta. Finally Barry says, "I'd like to take it for a test drive."

Ed says, "Well this car doesn't have the rear disc brakes that you like and we have no problem going for a test drive if someone was in the market for the car....."

Barry and I just starred at each other as Barry said "I'm ready to leave"

As we are walking out the door I turn around and said to Ed, "Ed, I appreciate your time, but if you are not going to let my friend test drive the car, I am going to take my business elsewhere"

Another salesperson (or sales manager, I am not sure) heard this and approached Ed as we were leaving and asked him "What's the situation here". We just continued out the door.

We get in Barry's car and as we drive off Ed and that other sales person were now outside just watching us drive off the Ford lot in his Ford Focus......not once attempting to say anything or save me as a customer.


So, Ed decides to piss off a current customer AND a future customer by all at once by not letting us test drive the Fiesta. Barry has emailed the sales manager at that dealership and also sent a cc to Mark Kaufman, Small Car Marketing Manager for Ford, who we met at the Ford Nationals this year.

I'll let you know if any of them have a response to this once I hear........

 

[Nels]

They don't care -- the car is in demand. Someone will be happy to buy it. Retailers everywhere have created a marketing situation that puts the customer in the position of needing a favor from the sales staff. If you beg loud enough, perhaps one of our esteemed collegues may stoop to your level long enough to keep you quiet, but don't expect service. "The customer is always right" no longer applies.

 

[dfw.embalmer]

Tracks have been fixed for some time now...

They don't care -- the car is in demand. Someone will be happy to buy it. Retailers everywhere have created a marketing situation that puts the customer in the position of needing a favor from the sales staff. If you beg loud enough, perhaps one of our esteemed collegues may stoop to your level long enough to keep you quiet, but don't expect service. "The customer is always right" no longer applies.

There are a bunch of cars being held back for repairs...the trains are running zippy fast!

 

[dfw.embalmer]

Bill Knight Ford Needs to be FLAMED!!!!!!!!!!

Last week Christie and I went to Bill Knight Ford in Tulsa so she could test drive a new Fiesta. Now that her Tribute is fixed, we have been contemplating trading it in before something else goes wrong.

We talked to Ed Collins at the dealership and took a Fiesta SES manual with leather for a test drive. Christie liked it a lot, but she wasn't a fan of the color, Yellow Blaze. They had a Monterey Grey sedan and she loved that color, so Ed said he would try to track down an SES in Monterey Grey for us and then we would talk some more.


Fastforward to yesterday. I stopped by Barry's (barryf1fan) house and we then drive to go look at that Fiesta (and also so he could test drive it since I failed to let him test drive the auto Fiesta we checked out a couple weeks back )

We drive up in Barry's SVTF and walk over to the Fiesta. After a couple of minutes Ed walks up. I say to him "I'm back and I brought a friend this time!"

Ed doesn't say anything or introduce himself to Barry at all.

Barry's making comments on the car about the lack of rear disc brakes and pulling on the door handles but Ed doesn't offer to get the keys so Barry can look at it. I mention to Barry that they have one just like it inside the showroom, so then Ed says we should go look at that one and we walk inside. :screwy:

Barry walks up to the car inside and the door is locked but the window is down. He then leans through the window and hits the unlock button on the center of the dash. Ed says "How did you do that, can you show me what you did" :what:

Barry and I look at the car for about 10-15 minutes, all the while talking about our Focuses, our trip to the Ford Nationals, how I am wanting a Fiesta for Christie and also how Barry is more excited for the new Focus than the Fiesta. Finally Barry says, "I'd like to take it for a test drive."

Ed says, "Well this car doesn't have the rear disc brakes that you like and we have no problem going for a test drive if someone was in the market for the car....."

Barry and I just starred at each other as Barry said "I'm ready to leave"

As we are walking out the door I turn around and said to Ed, "Ed, I appreciate your time, but if you are not going to let my friend test drive the car, I am going to take my business elsewhere"

Another salesperson (or sales manager, I am not sure) heard this and approached Ed as we were leaving and asked him "What's the situation here". We just continued out the door.

We get in Barry's car and as we drive off Ed and that other sales person were now outside just watching us drive off the Ford lot in his Ford Focus......not once attempting to say anything or save me as a customer.


So, Ed decides to piss off a current customer AND a future customer by all at once by not letting us test drive the Fiesta. Barry has emailed the sales manager at that dealership and also sent a cc to Mark Kaufman, Small Car Marketing Manager for Ford, who we met at the Ford Nationals this year.

I'll let you know if any of them have a response to this once I hear........

They lost two sales....what jerks!

 

[Chan]

You're honestly better off sending off a mass email to dealerships around you asking for a price quote and a test drive, you'll seem more serious if you do so.

 

[Ataru]

They don't care -- the car is in demand. Someone will be happy to buy it. Retailers everywhere have created a marketing situation that puts the customer in the position of needing a favor from the sales staff. If you beg loud enough, perhaps one of our esteemed collegues may stoop to your level long enough to keep you quiet, but don't expect service. "The customer is always right" no longer applies.

One of the salesmen called me last Friday saying they got a couple on the lot saying I needed to get down there that day because they wouldn't last the rest of the day.

Almost a week later and there were still 5 Fiestas on their lot so the demand was obviously not there at that time.

Places need to realize that it's not about making the sale, but about making a repeat customer.


I went to that dealership because they were the only one in town with ANY manual Fiestas. All of the other locations only had the autos.

 

[Audrey]

You're honestly better off sending off a mass email to dealerships around you asking for a price quote and a test drive, you'll seem more serious if you do so.

I did this and got a good price via the system too. Test drives are scarce in these parts, but I've had a great experience so far.

 

[Ataru]

If Ford is accepting it, I can get A-plan on the car, so price isn't really an issue. My father-in-law retired from Ford.

 

[LMTech]

If Ford is accepting it, I can get A-plan on the car, so price isn't really an issue. My father-in-law retired from Ford.

Yes Ford is taking A/D/X/Z plan on the Fiesta. I got mine with D-Plan.

 

[BRGT350]

With the luck I had, and a few other people have had concerning the Fiesta and the dealer's, none of the above story shocks me.

 

[Corvair]

Last weekend my Fiesta had arrived, but my work schedule did permit me to pick it up so my wife said she would go check it out. My salesperson wasn't in. They would not even let her sit in it. The salesperson said my saleperson would not even let the sales manager sit in it. But that is a little different than your story. I did get my Fiesta Monday morning.

 

[epr118]

That is pretty shocking to me. I went to a dealership last night and they had just gotten a batch of Fiestas (Fiesti?) in, my salesperson undressed three of them for me. One was a leather sedan, so I could feel the leather seats; one was a PS hatch to test drive; and then when I mentioned I could drive stick, he practically forced me out for another test drive in a manual hatch. And he did all this after I told him that I, in know way, would be leaving the dealership that night in a new car.

 

[golf strom]

The number of increasing stealership horror stories are amazing!!!!!!

Rude staff, unprofessional conduct, and incompetent service personel seem rampant thesedays....

Note to the mfr's..YOU NEED to start penalizing stores that allow this kind of conduct!!!!! Seriously...if they show enough of these issues enough times they should have their franchises pulled.

 

[GapBoyPCS]

The sad bit is this doesn't just happen with Ford dealers. I've had this happen at other European and Asian brands. One European marque I was told that I couldn't test drive a car unless I was "serious" i.e. plunked down a cash deposit.

Some have (either justifiably or not) reasons for doing so. One of the common reasons I hear is there are the folks who just come in with no ambition to buy (they aren't serious). All they want is to drive the snot out of a demo car and walk away. The dealer doesn't want to have their demos trashed and miles racked up to the point they can't make a (healthy) profit on a "brand new car". The dealer/salesperson can't make small-talk with non-customers if they have ten customers wanting to pay for the car outright.

There are some customers out there who don't want to take possession of a "brand new car" with 100 miles on it - they want "0 miles" on the odometer. Realistic? Would you take delivery on a "brand new" Fiesta on the lot with 50 miles on the odometer?

Once there is more stock this type of behaviour should subside. Then again, if there's a healthy demand from the public, pissing off a handful of customers is a drop in the bucket versus the hoards of people wanting to buy a hot car from the dealer gives "(im)proper" treatment to.

 

[iamz]

Would you take delivery on a "brand new" Fiesta on the lot with 50 miles on the odometer?

No. I would have no idea if someone didn't trash the hell out of the car in those 50 miles (running it up to red-line, crunching the gears, slipping/burning the clutch). If I wanted to take a risk on a used car, I'd buy a used car.

 

[golf strom]

It is quite common for "new" cars to be delievered with 50 miles or even a bit more on the odo.....


Of course even if the car has only 10 miles on it you have NO idea how it was treated by those at the factory, the transportation folks, and of course the dealership monkeys.

Really you can only HOPE that it wasn't abused. Of course if it is an ordinary car, like the Fiesta, the odds that some lot jockey didn't beat it senseless is pretty good..They tend to look for the high powered units to beat, like the Camero, Charger, Mustang,ect......

 

[mrbirdman330]

My Focus had 87 miles on the odo when I got it because they drove it up to the dealership I bought it at from the dealership it was delivered to originally.

 

[Sibilance7]

That's just crazy! The first time my husband and I went to test drive a Fiesta, we told the salesman right off the bat that we wouldn't be buying a car for a few months. He let us test drive it anyway, and explained all of the features and everything in an attempt to get us to the choose the car - because, you know, it's his job as a salesman! We didn't buy a car that day, but we came back a week later and ordered one, which will be here in a few months, right when we'll be ready to start paying a car payment. Even if someone doesn't intend to buy a car that day, they should still let them test drive and talk the car up. You never know if they might change their minds after hearing and experiencing a great car!

 

[mrbirdman330]

That's one thing, I was never in anyway shape or form pressured into buying the car at all while I was test driving. The salesman listened and talked, he just let me drive to check it out. That's one thing I enjoy about this dealership, they will talk to you but they won't pressure you nor will they shrug you off. When you're ready to buy they'll sell you a car then, no other time.

 

[golf strom]

Unfortunately the number of "competent" "professional" and "honest" personel in dealerships are few and far inbetween...for those few that truly care about the customer and providing first class service I'm really sorry that they have to coexist with their idiotic, uncaring coworkers.