[sonnydurden]

So right after I got my engine replaced I had to take a trip to St. Pete's Beach. Roughly 500 miles from home. As you know it's good to get an oil changed at 500 miles on a new engine or new car. Anyway, had my oil change at Maher Chevrolet. I told the service advisor how much I loved the t-shirts that the guys in the shop wear. And boom look what came in the mail!! Customer service at its best!!

[Egon]

Very nice! As important as it is to call out dealers that do shady stuff to protect other owners it's also nice to call out the good ones too. Thanks for sharing.

[sonnydurden]

Originally Posted by Egon

Very nice! As important as it is to call out dealers that do shady stuff to protect other owners it's also nice to call out the good ones too. Thanks for sharing.

They were super friendly too!! Awesome customer service!!

[The_Gretz]

I was in there the other day and the salespeople were definitely nice. They didn't have as much knowledge as some of the folks up at Stingray Chevy in Plant City, but it was better than I expected. Maybe I should have asked for a shirt!

[PinLover]

Originally Posted by The_Gretz

They didn't have as much knowledge as some of the folks up at Stingray Chevy in Plant City

I don't put much faith in the knowledge of Stingray Chevy employees after they lied to me! Don't be fooled, Sales people there are called "Sales Managers" - get that, they can call themselves a manager, act like they know something, and feel important! It's deceiving.

Glad you had a good experience at Maher. I hear about them on the radio but never made it out that way.

[sonnydurden]

Originally Posted by PinLover

Glad you had a good experience at Maher. I hear about them on the radio but never made it out that way.

Check it out! Their dealership is laid out too!!

[PinLover]

Wow, so you have to pay for snacks and water while buying a car? No wonder they can afford to send you a shirt

[sonnydurden]

Originally Posted by PinLover

Wow, so you have to pay for snacks and water while buying a car? No wonder they can afford to send you a shirt

Lmao!! They had complimentary water and coffee too.. Just like Rick Hendricks Chevrolets up here provides popcorn, their own bottled water and coffee.. But they still have a ton of snack, soda, and coffee machines!!

[The_Gretz]

Originally Posted by PinLover

I don't put much faith in the knowledge of Stingray Chevy employees after they lied to me! Don't be fooled, Sales people there are called "Sales Managers" - get that, they can call themselves a manager, act like they know something, and feel important! It's deceiving.

Glad you had a good experience at Maher. I hear about them on the radio but never made it out that way.

What did they lie to you about? I dealt with one guy until recently, when he was promoted. First guy was great. Not sure about the second guy yet...

[angelbones]

Allow me to offer my take on Tampa bay dealers. Maher is ok. Nothing bad to say about them, except that I wasn't blown away by their knowledge of the cars. Stingray I had a good experience and their inventory is great. Family members bought there and had good experience. Dimmitt Chevrolet service have a couple performance oriented guys there if you're looking to do mods. Autonation is well, Autonation. Jim Browne Chevy is the small boy in town, relatively speaking, so not very knowledgeable and not that great service. That said, they are willing to deal if you're willing to haggle.

[PinLover]

Originally Posted by The_Gretz

What did they lie to you about? I dealt with one guy until recently, when he was promoted. First guy was great. Not sure about the second guy yet...

Like I said, they make themselves out to be something they aren't by having sales people called "managers", and what managers would be are called "directors". So when I asked to speak to and work with a sales "manager" I was placed with some newbie who had been there about 4 months.

I'm 2 weeks behind on my 50th build because they said they had Camaro allocations. I believed them because they had 70+ on the lot so they must sell enough to have that many and for sure they have set aside a few allocations for the 2017 customer orders. The "Sales Manager" (who is just a regular sales person) was just trying to push the 16's on the lot knowing I am looking for a 17 50th, then tried to find a 50th somewhere to transfer similar to what I was trying to order. They were all A8's and had $3-$5k in other "features" that I didn't want but kept putting them in front of me. He had no idea about Military or College discounts when I brought them up (which led to other issues about the dealer fee and such). They have that $499 BS tail light flasher and tinting fee tacked onto every car on the lot and directly on the "sign it now to agree" paperwork. He had to adjust the $499 somewhere else because THEY CAN'T TAKE IT OFF the doc! So they are adding right on the top (ripping everyone off) $499 that buys a car from them for a $5 transistor and tinting level that you probably don't want. So if they do move the price at all, they are doing it on the dealer added crap that you shouldn't have been charged for in the first place. Deceitful.

The 2 big questions I asked about having allocations and getting the workbench he had to ask the sales "director" who I should have been dealing with from the start. So I gave him my order on Saturday along with $500 deposit. Didn't hear jack from him or anyone until 6 days later when I was promised the work bench Sat evening or Monday morning. I wanted to see how long it would take them to communicate. Communication is the biggest thing with me! Even a "Hey, the order didn't get placed today because xyz" would be fine with me. I'd be a little upset but at least I know the person keeps me in the loop. 6 days and I had to call 2 people (both which said they would call me back in 15 min and never did) and finally speak to a 3rd only to have the original sales person text me some long winded excuse along with a snapshot of the workbench and said "when I'm done with this customer I will call you". 7 hours later I texted him back saying "Still waiting for your call". After the "assurance call" that everything was on track I wait another week only to still be at 1100 status. I showed up at the dealer (75 miles away) unannounced and asked to speak to the GM. I asked him about the allocation and he said "Well, we have allocations but not for any Camaros". Right there I said "Thank you very much, cancel my order and I want my deposit back now".

So I walked in the showroom twice... once to order and once to cancel. How sad. I kept trying to find Steve Hurley's number on the internet to call him directly. I was so pissed. I really didn't want anyone fired, but I wanted him to know his people are not trained properly. Any monkey can spew crap and do standard forms!

I was in West Palm Beach that weekend and called around. Found Schumacher Chevy and put my order in there on Saturday. Dennis had my order in that day, took $500 deposit instead of their usual $1000 after hearing the crap I dealt with at Stingray, and called me on Monday to say it's in line to be picked up. I'm now in 3400 status with TPW of 8/22. Hope to have be driving off the lot mid-Sept.

[Billabongi]

Originally Posted by PinLover

Like I said, they make themselves out to be something they aren't by having sales people called "managers", and what managers would be are called "directors". So when I asked to speak to and work with a sales "manager" I was placed with some newbie who had been there about 4 months.

I'm 2 weeks behind on my 50th build because they said they had Camaro allocations. I believed them because they had 70+ on the lot so they must sell enough to have that many and for sure they have set aside a few allocations for the 2017 customer orders. The "Sales Manager" (who is just a regular sales person) was just trying to push the 16's on the lot knowing I am looking for a 17 50th, then tried to find a 50th somewhere to transfer similar to what I was trying to order. They were all A8's and had $3-$5k in other "features" that I didn't want but kept putting them in front of me. He had no idea about Military or College discounts when I brought them up (which led to other issues about the dealer fee and such). They have that $499 BS tail light flasher and tinting fee tacked onto every car on the lot and directly on the "sign it now to agree" paperwork. He had to adjust the $499 somewhere else because THEY CAN'T TAKE IT OFF the doc! So they are adding right on the top (ripping everyone off) $499 that buys a car from them for a $5 transistor and tinting level that you probably don't want. So if they do move the price at all, they are doing it on the dealer added crap that you shouldn't have been charged for in the first place. Deceitful.

The 2 big questions I asked about having allocations and getting the workbench he had to ask the sales "director" who I should have been dealing with from the start. So I gave him my order on Saturday along with $500 deposit. Didn't hear jack from him or anyone until 6 days later when I was promised the work bench Sat evening or Monday morning. I wanted to see how long it would take them to communicate. Communication is the biggest thing with me! Even a "Hey, the order didn't get placed today because xyz" would be fine with me. I'd be a little upset but at least I know the person keeps me in the loop. 6 days and I had to call 2 people (both which said they would call me back in 15 min and never did) and finally speak to a 3rd only to have the original sales person text me some long winded excuse along with a snapshot of the workbench and said "when I'm done with this customer I will call you". 7 hours later I texted him back saying "Still waiting for your call". After the "assurance call" that everything was on track I wait another week only to still be at 1100 status. I showed up at the dealer (75 miles away) unannounced and asked to speak to the GM. I asked him about the allocation and he said "Well, we have allocations but not for any Camaros". Right there I said "Thank you very much, cancel my order and I want my deposit back now".

So I walked in the showroom twice... once to order and once to cancel. How sad. I kept trying to find Steve Hurley's number on the internet to call him directly. I was so pissed. I really didn't want anyone fired, but I wanted him to know his people are not trained properly. Any monkey can spew crap and do standard forms!

I was in West Palm Beach that weekend and called around. Found Schumacher Chevy and put my order in there on Saturday. Dennis had my order in that day, took $500 deposit instead of their usual $1000 after hearing the crap I dealt with at Stingray, and called me on Monday to say it's in line to be picked up. I'm now in 3400 status with TPW of 8/22. Hope to have be driving off the lot mid-Sept.

I have to agree with this, I was a huge promoter of Stingray for years but I can't recommend them on the sales side anymore. I asked for an email so I could send them the build I was looking for and instead they pulled my account info and called me. I wasn't able to answer at the moment (point to the email request) and then never followed up. I had to follow up and then it was nothing but lies and further not following up. I was told 50th Anniversary cars are not available yet, not even to order, then was told they are SO rare that they can only be sold at MSRP. Mind you this was last week, needless to say I won't be buying from them and will not be recommending them any longer.

Though I'll give them props Joe Platt is still awesome on the service side.

[The_Gretz]

I have to say that experiences at Stingray seem to be based on your salesman. I had a great first experience buying a different car, but so far my second purchase from them has not met the high water mark of the first. My original salesman is no longer there, so I had to work with a new guy who doesn't seem to be quite on the same page as me.

The transaction is still in process, so I'll report back when it's complete and give you my full review.

[Billabongi]

Originally Posted by The_Gretz

I have to say that experiences at Stingray seem to be based on your salesman. I had a great first experience buying a different car, but so far my second purchase from them has not met the high water mark of the first. My original salesman is no longer there, so I had to work with a new guy who doesn't seem to be quite on the same page as me.

The transaction is still in process, so I'll report back when it's complete and give you my full review.

Was your original salesman Shannon by chance? He was awesome and I fully intended to buy from him again but he's no longer there. I dealt with the so called Corvette guru and man I hope he's better at Corvettes then he is at Camaro's.