Am I justified in being annoyed?

[UCF w00t]

I'm going to try and word this as non biased as possible. I'd really like your feedback. I plan on taking this up with the GSM on Monday when he gets back from vacation. Sorry for the long rant.

So I ordered back in November. I wasn't exactly sure where I was in line as the salesman was extremely non-committal about it all. It worried me but I figured it would all work out. Several months went by and I hadn't heard anything. So mid-January I decided I wanted to switch from a 1SS to 2SS. I first tried calling on the 17th. I didn’t want to hound him so I just called every few days until I finally was able to get ahold of him on the 26th. He said he’d put my change in but it would take a few days. Long story short, it never got put in. I found out (on 2-9) because of that old thread that had ‘dealerinfo’ looking up people’s order status. I then was fed up so called back got ahold of the salesman on his cell. He said he was out at a tent sale and couldn’t really help me so I called the dealership and asked to talk to the GSM. He put the change through for me no problem. While I had him, I wanted to confirm that they were going to do supplier pricing. He seemed caught off guard but said “sure”.

A couple days later (the 11th) I got the only contact I’ve ever had with them that they initiated (rather than me hounding them). I guess the manager mentioned the supplier thing to the salesman and he didn’t think we agreed to that. Long story short, I took “incentives” to mean supplier counted but they did not. Whatever. It is what it is. I’ll do MSRP.

A few weeks later, the 23rd, I decided to change the color (IOM is sexy). I decided to skip out on even bothering with my salesman and just called and had the GSM change it. He obliged and it was done.

Later that week, I decided to stop in and see what was going on and try to see what, exactly, was going on with my order and pick up a color chart, etc. Got some good info including exactly what orders were ahead of me, etc. One had been submitted and was already at 3000 and 3 more were ahead of me at 1100. I asked him about allocation but he had no clue whatsoever. He tried telling be that they got allocation every week and basically just put orders through and then it was up to GM to accept them or not. I knew this was BS so just said “uh huh… ok… whatever.” But at least I got the info I wanted so all was good.

I talked to the manager on March 17th and he said they were supposed to have one allocation later that week and a few more later in the month and that he would call me when it was time to put my order through. Cool.

Later, I found out from the forum member who was the first order that they screwed up his order. After going back and forth with them, they ended up reordering his car… using an additional allocation ahead of mine. I found out that they had two allocations last week. Since I had the order numbers for the cars ahead of me, I asked one of our resident dealers to lookup the orders that were ahead of me and see their status. Only one of the orders was at 2000, the other 2 were at 1100 still. So basically instead of there being no cars ahead of me as I thought there should’ve been, there’s two.

Armed with this information, I tried contacting the manager. Found out that he was out on vacation for the next 10 days. Salesman would be back the next day so I called the next day. He was with a customer. Ok so I left a message with the receptionist. After a couple hours with no return call, I called back. The receptionist said she gave him the first message but would tell him I called again. Ok…. So I never heard back. I decided to try the digital route and sent him an email this past Wednesday. It’s now Friday night and nothing.

After that long winded story, am I justified in being annoyed? Should I light into the manager on Monday? Am I overreacting? They’re owned by a large corporation so if I don’t get the answers I’m looking for I’ll be contacting their corporate office. I guess I can use this post as a basis for my letter to them. I KNOW they put one extra order ahead of mine and I get the feeling that they stuck at least one more order ahead of mine and not being able to even get ahold of my salesman or the store GSM is extremely frustrating.

Thanks guys!

[jeffny09]

u are justified i hate dealers

[Yellow2010]

I would be annoyed as well. Even though they have not always been truthful, they have always taken my calls and even called me back when I have left messages. Yea, I would be mad.

[bob2the2nd]

well placed C4?

[EarliestMemory]

This is the point...

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

I first tried calling on the 17th. I didn’t want to hound him so I just called every few days until I finally was able to get ahold of him on the 26th.

...where I would have been annoyed. You've been more than tolerant - call that corporate office Monday. Telling you what's going on with your car is the least they can do!

btw thanks for all the work you've done with the VIN database - I check it every day LOL

[SSmoke]

i would be annoyed...see if you can get in touch with the actual inventory manager- the one who is literally responsible for ordering the cars for that dealers lot. I've bypassed my sales person because he really doesn't have the information I need and went straight to the inventory guy....

Now if all sales people were like Camaro Scotty- we'd be good to go...but unfortunately mine is not.

[UCF w00t]

P.S. I only know all the dates because I looked up my old cell phone records showing the dates and times I called them.

Originally Posted by SSmoke

i would be annoyed...see if you can get in touch with the actual inventory manager- the one who is literally responsible for ordering the cars for that dealers lot. I've bypassed my sales person because he really doesn't have the information I need and went straight to the inventory guy....

Now if all sales people were like Camaro Scotty- we'd be good to go...but unfortunately mine is not.

The GSM told me he was personally responsible for handling all the ordering. I guess they don't have a seperate "inventory manager."

[cyberbro]

Do you know how to tell if your dealer is lying to you?






There lips are moving!

P.S.
We do have some great dealers on here but they are by far to rare a breed.

[Teleplayer]

It's annoying, I agree. But sometimes too much information can drive you crazy. I get the impression the dealers don't normally follow ordered cars through the system every inch of the way. Obviously you want to follow yours, but the dealer probably gets annoyed with it all. Think of it this way... let's say you are at your job (and I don't know what it is) and the customer (or your boss) is over your shoulder trying to tell you how to do your job, every day. Maybe that is how they feel.

Don't get me wrong, I am not defending the dealer, because I hate dealing with them also. But it's worth looking at it from both sides. Calling and emailing is not always the best way to get what you want. It is usually better to go there in person and hang around until you get what you want.

[PAUL SS]

It sounds like they think they are doing you a favor by letting you order a car from them. If you aren't satisified with your salesperson, go to their manager. If that manager is not providing the information you want, go to his or her boss and keep going right on up the ladder. As a serious buyer you deserve their full attention and they should be catering to you.

[SSOOCH]

Totally justified. If they don't give you answers call GM Customer Service. The dealers seem to be scared of them......

[UCF w00t]

Originally Posted by Teleplayer

It's annoying, I agree. But sometimes too much information can drive you crazy. I get the impression the dealers don't normally follow ordered cars through the system every inch of the way. Obviously you want to follow yours, but the dealer probably gets annoyed with it all. Think of it this way... let's say you are at your job (and I don't know what it is) and the customer (or your boss) is over your shoulder trying to tell you how to do your job, every day. Maybe that is how they feel.

Don't get me wrong, I am not defending the dealer, because I hate dealing with them also. But it's worth looking at it from both sides. Calling and emailing is not always the best way to get what you want. It is usually better to go there in person and hang around until you get what you want.

I hear what your saying and agree to a point. But I don't think I've been over their shoulder in the least. I outlined every communication I've had with them in my post. I don't think an update once a month would kill em. And when a specific question or request is made from the customer, they should be promptly responding to it. If I ignored phone calls and emails from my boss like they have me, I wouldn't be able to afford my Camaro as I'd be out looking for a job.

[OrangeCruSSh]

Originally Posted by Paul SS

It sounds like they think they are doing you a favor by letting you order a car from them. If you aren't satisified with your salesperson, go to their manager. If that manager is not providing the information you want, go to his or her boss and keep going right on up the ladder. As a serious buyer you deserve their full attention and they should be catering to you.

Exactly!

Unfortunately you are a decent guy and I'm sure you want to "play nice in the sandbox" BUT phuck that! You have been more than patient with these folks but enough is enough. I honestly would forget about the telephone calls. You must go down there in person and deal with them face to face. Simply express you frustration in a "cool manner" and see what their demeanor is like. You're getting ready to purchase a $30K+ car and they need to be reminded of that. Is this how they treat their customers? Do they honestly want potential customers to hear about this poor service? I hope not. The problem is if you take your business elsewhere you are put at the end of the line which sux! In a way you have to stick with this dealer if you want your car sooner than later...but you don't have to take this bs either.

I'm sure it will work out in the end. Just don't let them think you are some patsie they can give the run around. Good luck!

[ravensjeff]

I'd go down there and let the salesman know he's no longer your salesman. Atleast the order dude was responsive. I don't know why they even assign a regular salesman for such an order- they can't answer ANYTHING.
Tell them if they can't provide you with some minimum attention to detail, that you want your downpayment back for disrespectful service by the salesman.

It's such a shame too-- to do this to someone like yourself who has gone out of his own way to help us all track cars that we'll all probably get before you do.

No way would I let them continue to have that salesman represent you.