BEING HARASSED BY MY SALESMAN!!

[PYROLYSIS]

I sold VW's for six months. Worst job I ever had. If a customer said they weren't buying I said OK and see ya later. Some came back and bought from me, some didn't. I didn't sell a lot but the customers I had were happy. I quit because management tried to get me to rip off an older couple. When I didn't, they said "I guess the car business isn't for you son". I said, "you're right". I left two stripes in the lot with my 92 Z28 on the way out. . A year later I became a fireman and haven't looked back.

[heRS]

If that guy had called me and tried that crap I'd be down there using all my customer service skills against them. He would not finish the day out because I would not settle for any less than watching him be told to kick frikkin rocks. IMO, any survey information should remain strictly anonymous. That he was able to review that information and also have access to which customer the survey was associated with is highly unprofessional.

I did get the survey, and gave perfect markings because I got impeccable service. I was very happy with my experience, and got 2 years of oil changes and a free tank of gas as a thank you for rating them highly.

[Xedes]

Originally Posted by SSBlack

The surveys are a joke. Dealers bribing customers with oil changes. Telling them how to fill them out.

Makes you wonder if anyone at GM ever browses these forums for feedback? If so, maybe the system will change.

Until then, no bribes taken here, just honesty.

They do. We had one pop up on the Corvette forum and would visit quite regularly just getting feedback and quite a few times resolving some issues people were having. He even PM'd me after I mentioned that my car had just came out of the shop just to ask about the dealership and to say they had heard great things about them. I ranted and raved about how great this dealerships service dept was. I later received a phone call from the service manager thanking me for my kind words.

[ActNup NY]

Originally Posted by Xedes

Soooo...I filled out my GM customer satisfaction survey that they emailed me a week ago. I was honest and praised the individuals that I felt did a great job and basically said that my salesman needed to work on his skills.

Well the dealership must have received a copy today and I get this irate phone call from my salesman. He is just going off on me!!! I attempted to explain why I answered the way I did and what I thought could have helped but he didn't want to hear anything I had to say. He's telling me that at the price I got the car for I shouldn't have any expectations basically and that he only made $100 off of the deal. I pointed out that he wouldn't have made anything if that car was still sitting on their lot and that regardless if someone spent 40k or 80k or 10k on a car, its still their hard earned money they are putting out and a certain amount of respect is expected. I pointed out that maybe sales isn't the best career for him. He started yelling at me again and using foul language so I simply told him that i was letting him go and to not call me back again.

Man, so much for filling out those surveys.

And you sat on the phone that long with him to hear all that. Your good bro ! me I would have said hold on for a minute. While he's holding I'd be driving over to the dealership to see him. Now say that sh&t to my face !!!! The nerve of these sale people. I agree with you some have no skills whats so ever then have the audacity to get an attitude. !! If he's crying over a $100 maybe he needs to change professions. lol !!

[Steve Dallas]

Maybe he did get fired, and was calling you mad because that happened.

Call the dealership and talk to the manager. If a salesperson treated you that way, they need to know this. And, that saleperson SHOULD be out of a job if he did that.

Let them know that if he's still working there in a couple of weeks, that you will be doing business elsewhere in the future.

[TrillChevyRyda]

wow...the right thing to do would just call the dealership and let them know whats going on.

[INTIMIDAT3R]

Originally Posted by Rangore

I'd call the manager of the dealership to let him know you got this call.

+1

Plus I ALWAYS make them give me an oil change with Mobil 1 Synthetic if they want a good review.

Can't remember the last time I paid for an oil change.

Yes, I ALWAYS watch them to make sure they use Mobil 1 Synthetic and I provide my own filter.

[Mr.T]

I would speak to the General Manager of the dealership and let him decide how to handle it. I would also record that conversation and let him know that you are because of how irate and abusive the sales person was over the phone.

No matter what anyone else says of how they explained the survey to you, no company will ever allow any employee to contact any customer and verbally abuse them, unless it's a collection agency.. lol.. Then, I believe, by law, they can no longer threaten or verbally abuse anyone.

[One-Bad-ZL1]

Originally Posted by Scalded Dog

I don't think there's a manager on the planet who wouldn't fire a salesperson who confronted a customer over survey responses... and if the manager won't do it, betcha GM would compel him to do so! And before you feel guilty for "tattling," remember that you will be doing a LOT of future and potential customers a big service by getting this jackwad off of the GM lot, and... he's a total jackwad! Who confronts a customer over a survey response?!?

My vote? Rat him out, get him out!

Do it now.

This idiot should not represent the GM product if he is going to act this way toward customers. If you can't take the critism, then don't ask for it!

[OrangeFury]

Originally Posted by SSBlack

The surveys are a joke. Dealers bribing customers with oil changes. Telling them how to fill them out.

Makes you wonder if anyone at GM ever browses these forums for feedback? If so, maybe the system will change.

Until then, no bribes taken here, just honesty.

I work for the company that sends out the surveys and does all of the reporting of the results to the dealerships and GM personnel. Trust me, GM does not view the surveys as a joke.

Most dealerships have large amounts of money tied to the results of these surveys by hitting customer satisfaction "goals" each quarter and some will do anything necessary to make sure they hit those goals. Dealer Interference is the most common method (offering incentives like oil changes, car washes, etc. to "help" you fill out the survey) for manipulating customer feedback. Threatening customers is not common but this is not even close to the first time I have heard of this happening.

My advice to all of you is to fill out the surveys, both the new car surveys and when you take your car in for warranty service. GM pays alot of money for the research because they really do care what their customers say and this is what they use to track their dealerships and make process improvements.

[OrangeFury]

Originally Posted by Xedes

Soooo...I filled out my GM customer satisfaction survey that they emailed me a week ago. I was honest and praised the individuals that I felt did a great job and basically said that my salesman needed to work on his skills.

Well the dealership must have received a copy today and I get this irate phone call from my salesman. He is just going off on me!!! I attempted to explain why I answered the way I did and what I thought could have helped but he didn't want to hear anything I had to say. He's telling me that at the price I got the car for I shouldn't have any expectations basically and that he only made $100 off of the deal. I pointed out that he wouldn't have made anything if that car was still sitting on their lot and that regardless if someone spent 40k or 80k or 10k on a car, its still their hard earned money they are putting out and a certain amount of respect is expected. I pointed out that maybe sales isn't the best career for him. He started yelling at me again and using foul language so I simply told him that i was letting him go and to not call me back again.

Man, so much for filling out those surveys.

It sounds like you just want to drop this issue, but if you want to escalate this above the dealership, I can get you in touch with the correct people. Send me a PM.

[DandD]

Thats why I NEVER fill out these surveys....they are total bullshit...even the guys at the dealerships joke about them. When I leased the Cruze we drive as a winter car from the same dealer we bought 2 Camaros from, I had to drop off the GM plan info numbers from my wifes brother. My salesman told me he would be there but if he was busy to get with Debbie the finance clerk. So I bring the paperwork in and nope no salesman, so I ask one of the other salesmen if Debbie was there they said nope she went home so I told them the deal......thats when they cracked me up...they said bring it back tomorrow and remember to give all top ratings on the survey when you get it and they were laughing their asses off....so was I.

[JimE]

Originally Posted by invaderzim

no one said you should've lied. situations like this is when most adults just take an "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all" approach. as the misinformed fcc lawyer a few posts back stated, you took the time and all you got out of doing what you did was the satisfaction of screwing someone over. was it worth it? did it make your experience with the dealership a better one?

At this point, it has nothing to do with your experience. It's a tool to help the dealership and to improve the NEXT customers experience.

[Matic]

I experienced the worst customer service in my life at a Phoenix dealer (Midway Chevy). They wouldnt budge on their price after they guaranteed they would match anybody in the state, even had a promise they would give you $500 if they didnt. A guy that was above a floor salesman but below a manager insulted me, called me a liar, and accused me of drafting up a fake numbers sheet that another dealer had just worked up for me. Did this in front of 10 plus customers and it was really a big scene.

Come survey time I absolutely slammed the dude and the dealership. I got at least two phone calls every day for two weeks, and then a few more for another month. Management was asking me if I bought a Camaro from somewhere else and was asking how much I paid. After the first two calls, anytime I got a call from that area code it got sent straight to voicemail.

Was buying a vehicle for my wife at a non-chevy dealer in the same area and told him that story. He said that dealership is supposedly the highest selling chevy dealership west of the mississippi and that is the reason for their arrogance. He said he would be lying if this wasnt the first or even the 10th time in the last year he heard a bad story about them.

Some people/dealerships are just shady. Best we can do is let others know so they dont have to deal w the same BS.

[jrisebo]

Originally Posted by woodj

You basically screwed the guy over and now he's mad. What did you expect? Those surveys are all a game and I'm sure they explained it all to you. You should have talked to the sales manager if you couldn't fill the survey out they wanted you to, at least it wouldn't have come as a shock to the person who sold you the car.

Fill it out as you please, customer service is key in today's world, not a potemkin village.

[PatsRS]

How does that phone call go past the first words out of his mouth? As soon as I hear that its over CLICK!
I just bought a Cruze got a great deal but when ZI got the survey there were a couple of things they neglected. Like introducing me to the service department. (it turns out I needed service 3 days after I bought the car) So I stretched some things because the sales department was so good to me. But when they asked about being shown the service department I said no.
I was fair and truthful.

[oldfriend]

Originally Posted by Camaro_Corvette

Wow That guy needs some professional help.

In my opinion he is beyond that kind a help .

[swiftdog01]

That's messed up. You shouldn't get crap because you filled out a survey honestly. The whole goal of the survey is to get feedback and your opinion on your experience at the dealer. That's the point. This salesman should be kicked to the curb....hard

[iHasCamaro]

Here's the way it works. The executives want to see a summary of dealership quality on a graph, so they tell their underlings "we need metrics to base all our important decisions on" and so their underlings contact a survey company and tell them "we need metrics to base all our important decisions on" and so the survey company makes a survey. Doesn't matter how good or bad the dealership is, it's all about the survey. So the people at the dealership live and die by the stupid survey.

As you know, shit rolls downhill, and the guy at the bottom of the hill is the salesman. Anything you put on that survey reflects him, regardless of whether it was a finance problem or something. And if they don't get "top box" scores (meaning the best) it is a failing grade. If you didn't like the finance guy, the salesman gets dinged. They really don't make a lot of profit in the new car business believe it or not. Sales people know the big margins are in used car sales. So their pay does rely on good marks on their surveys. It's just the nature of the beast.

So if you are "honest" on the survey it's just screwing over the poor guy working the lot. If you had a problem, told him about it, and he didn't make any effort to resolve the issue, then yeah fail him. But if you just took the survey at face value, well you hosed him for no reason. All the salesmen at all the other dealerships are all playing the same game. It's all contrived bullshit, but they live and die by that bullshit.

Now, that doesn't excuse screaming and cursing at you, but just know that yeah, you did **** him over, so that's why he's mad.

[zogster]

Maybe the salesman should do his job to actually do everything that's on the survey to ensure that he gets good grades on his survey.

[OrangeFury]

Originally Posted by iHasCamaro

Here's the way it works. The executives want to see a summary of dealership quality on a graph, so they tell their underlings "we need metrics to base all our important decisions on" and so their underlings contact a survey company and tell them "we need metrics to base all our important decisions on" and so the survey company makes a survey. Doesn't matter how good or bad the dealership is, it's all about the survey. So the people at the dealership live and die by the stupid survey.

As you know, shit rolls downhill, and the guy at the bottom of the hill is the salesman. Anything you put on that survey reflects him, regardless of whether it was a finance problem or something. And if they don't get "top box" scores (meaning the best) it is a failing grade. If you didn't like the finance guy, the salesman gets dinged. They really don't make a lot of profit in the new car business believe it or not. Sales people know the big margins are in used car sales. So their pay does rely on good marks on their surveys. It's just the nature of the beast.

So if you are "honest" on the survey it's just screwing over the poor guy working the lot. If you had a problem, told him about it, and he didn't make any effort to resolve the issue, then yeah fail him. But if you just took the survey at face value, well you hosed him for no reason. All the salesmen at all the other dealerships are all playing the same game. It's all contrived bullshit, but they live and die by that bullshit.

Now, that doesn't excuse screaming and cursing at you, but just know that yeah, you did **** him over, so that's why he's mad.

[iHasCamaro]

Originally Posted by zogster

Maybe the salesman should do his job to actually do everything that's on the survey to ensure that he gets good grades on his survey.

You are right, but if you didn't express your issues to the salesman before marking him down, you screwed him plain and simple. Not saying it's right, but surveys run customer service industries.

My ex girlfriend did phone support, and when the corporate company made bad policies that made the customers angry, they would call support and fill out surveys with poor marks. And she would end up working the ****ing graveyard shift because of it. It's total bullshit but executives are lazy and they want neat and tidy metrics.

[zogster]

Originally Posted by iHasCamaro

You are right, but if you didn't express your issues to the salesman before marking him down, you screwed him plain and simple. Not saying it's right, but surveys run customer service industries.

My ex girlfriend did phone support, and when the corporate company made bad policies that made the customers angry, they would call support and fill out surveys with poor marks. And she would end up working the ****ing graveyard shift because of it. It's total bullshit but executives are lazy and they want neat and tidy metrics.

But the customer doesn't know what is on the survey. The salesman does. The customer may not have an issue because they don't consider it an issue.

When the salesman knows there is a question on the survey asking if the customer was introduced to the service department, and the customer answers "no" because he was not introduced to the service department, that's all on the salesman, not the customer for not asking to be introduced.

[swiftdog01]

No matter how you slice it, this sales guy is totally unprofessional. There is absolutely no reason to call a customer and harangue them because they weren't happy with the service provided. It's just plain wrong.

[iHasCamaro]

Originally Posted by zogster

But the customer doesn't know what is on the survey. The salesman does. The customer may not have an issue because they don't consider it an issue.

When the salesman knows there is a question on the survey asking if the customer was introduced to the service department, and the customer answers "no" because he was not introduced to the service department, that's all on the salesman, not the customer for not asking to be introduced.

100% right. Mine didn't introduce me to the parts or service department because they were closed. Do you think I marked him down because of it? Do you really care if you meet the service department enough to mark him down? If I did, I would have called him back and asked him to schedule a meet-and-greet before I completed that part of the survey.

You can fill out your surveys however you want. I am just trying to communicate that regardless of the reason, the sales person does get shit on for anything that isn't "top box". And again I'm not trying to excuse the OP salesman's behavior. Just trying to inform.