If I were a normal customer, I would have hung up the phone on this piece of garbage. What part of "My wife is coming back into town tonight after being gone for two week and I am spending time with her?" does he not understand? We finally set the appointment for Monday. However, in the two hours since I have set the appointment, I have received a phone call and six texts from him - continuing to pressure me to come in tonight. If I were a normal customer, I would have cancelled the appointment and blocked his number already.

My internal struggle: Do I say "screw it" on the shop, cancel and block the #$!?'s number or do I tough it out over the weekend, make him sweat through his sale and drop him like a rock - and have a less-than-pleasant write up about his sales techniques?

I love luxury car shops. Do they typically pay well? No. I just enjoy looking at and driving the cars. It's kind a a perverse sort of entertainment to me.... However, this is not worth $40........

MF, this has worked for me in the past: "Call/text me again, and I'm going to your competitor."

I think the OP's problem is the shop has not yet happened. While I agree the salesperson is out of control, a statement like that could impact the presentation on Monday and we all know it would then be the OP who loses out. If the report asks if the salesperson contacted you prior to the appointment you can now answer yes. If there is a place to comment I would not hesitate to tell them how intrusive he has been. Now block his number and do not unblock it until the appropriate time on Monday morning.

This Salesman must be hungry. I did BMW last week, and everything (paper work) is handled online, with the proposal being emailed to me, then I to the MSC. He called me once, smooth and what a great car. I would have bought it, if only. I think yours was fearing of losing his job, hence, pushing so much. I never give out my land line, and if it's someone I don't want to talk to, block their #, and deal with it Monday.. I wouldn't give up on the job.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2016 01:01AM by Irene_L.A..

Don't forget. This is the end of the month. He may have a goal he has to hit and only needs one more car to sell to get his reward/bonus.

Three months later and I've still got a salesperson emailing and calling me. I should just tell him I've already bought a car...

So why haven't you? I sometimes ignore a couple of calls and emails. If they persist beyond that I just tell them they aren't getting the sale. I don't see any reason to string them along for months.

The shop hasn't happened yet, but she made the required call. That part of the shop is done (assuming it's a call-visit shop). When she shows up at the dealership, the salesman will have drool on his fangs.

And yes, I would also mention his stalkish behavior. It's uncalled for.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I think the OP's problem is the shop has not yet happened. While I agree the salesperson is out of control, a statement like that could impact the presentation on Monday and we all know it would then be the OP who loses out. If the report asks if the salesperson contacted you prior to the appointment you can now answer yes. If there is a place to comment I would not hesitate to tell them how intrusive he has been. Now block his number and do not unblock it until the appropriate time on Monday morning.

I usually miss the calls, and just haven't bothered to email.

Email is perfect then. Tell him or her you changed your mind or circumstances changed. Telling them you bought a competitor vehicle can sometimes lead to more questions. Just put them out of their misery already instead of wasting their time. Mystery shoppers should always be conscientious about taking up the time of a commission salesperson, both during the visit and any follow up.

It might be a bad sales person. On the other hand, it might be the dealership has a horrific follow up policy the associate is forced to follow. Either way, doesn't sound like a good place to work for let alone patronize. I can imagine the poor associate being berated by a manager for not getting everyone on their active list in this weekend for the end of the month.

@sethd85 wrote:

Don't forget. This is the end of the month. He may have a goal he has to hit and only needs one more car to sell to get his reward/bonus.

Agree 100%. Salespeople have a quota to make every month. I'm sure this salesperson has not made their July quota yet and their manager is riding their ass. But end of month is great for the consumer. I bought my new car on the last day of the month and I was able to negotiate a great deal with lots of freebie upgrades.

@LisaSTL wrote:

So why haven't you? I sometimes ignore a couple of calls and emails. If they persist beyond that I just tell them they aren't getting the sale. I don't see any reason to string them along for months.

I just tell them that I lost my job so I have no income right now. That gets rid of them real fast.

Wow--quota or not, end of month or not, this salesperson is totally unprofessional, rude, outrageously aggressive, etc.

Either block the number, or just don't answer the phone when it comes up on caller I.D. You're not obligated to answer just because someone calls.

I'd go through with the shop, but be sure to relate in your report just how over the top this guy was and that you'd never buy a car from him based on his behavior even before your appointment. If there's not a good place to explain that in the report, or no way to address the issue completely, I'd e-mail the scheduler. A luxury-car brand does NOT want its salespeople to be turning people off to its dealerships! I should think they'd want to know.

@sethd85 wrote:

Don't forget. This is the end of the month. He may have a goal he has to hit and only needs one more car to sell to get his reward/bonus.

I was shocked when I read how little car salesman make. If they are commission only: 1. Almost all dealerships set a minimum commission amount, which is the least amount of money you can earn when selling a car. It can range from $75 to $200, depending on the dealership. I thought they made like $600 a car. The more cars they sell, their commission rate goes a little higher. If Joe sells 20 cars in a month, obviously he is going to pull in more money than Frank, who sold 8 cars in a month.

It totally blows my mind that they work for so little money. Let's assume Joe sells 20 cars at $200 a pop commission, that's $4,000 commission. But what if he only sells what Frank sells and makes $1,600 a month. Life is way too short to have a job like that! Commission only just scares me and I would need a more steady income than that.... The only real person getting ahead is the owner of the dealership IMHO.

I could be wrong but you let me know.

I think you should take a breath and perhaps a step back. Your purpose as an evaluator is to paint a picture of the experience the way it occurs, Therefore you document the communication with the sales person much as you have done here. If there is a place in the report to give your impression or state what you didn't like you can mention it was off putting and if you were a customer would cause you to look elsewhere. If this is the policy of the dealership to put you through this, it gives them the opportunity to re-evaluate their methods. If it is the salesman, then it provides the dealership, and perhaps the salesperson, to re-evaluate his methods.

A while back I did an internet inquiry for the same company several months apart. The first email response I receive asks if my email address is a good address, and nothing else. The second response is one line asking if my phone number is a good phone number. I thought these were silly and unnecessary question since I supplied both an the contact form. It would have been easier and more respectful of my time, just to reply to the question I asked. It would be different is any of the contact information proved to be invalid, but it wasn't. The second time this happened I was so tempted to cal the internet manager and ask why she was wasting my time and hers asking for information already provided, and just answer my specific inquiry. I was thinking both as a consumer and manager of a business. This method was not good for either side. I resisted the urge and completed the report objectively. In the section that asked what I disliked about the experience, I cited the two initial responses and why I disliked them. Obviously my report didn't change anything the first time because the same thing happened on the second inquiry later. I haven't done another for the same dealership to know if any change has been made.

The point is you provide a forthright, and as much as possible, an objective report of your experience and let the business do what they will with the information. It is the purpose of a mystery shop.

He seems to have finally calmed down today.... He's only called me 7 times (never leaving a message, from two different phone numbers - personal cell and dealership number) and sent me 13 text messages. My son is out-of-state right now, so I monitor my phone and I really did not enjoy the continuous buzzing from the salesman - insisting that I needed to come in *right now* or I'd lose out on the car I wanted. I bluntly texted him that I was spending time with my wife this weekend and was not going to even think about cars again until our appointment on Monday. I think he got the message and I don't think I've jeopardized the shop.

I will accurately document it in my report and the dealership can do with it what it likes. As a side note: I am in the market for a new car and will NOT be looking for one at this dealership.

Careful, he may show up for dinner....

And..... I arrive for my appointment and am told that he's not in today. I have been set up with a different salesman who is not at work yet... Thus, I'm sitting and waiting... This is the most screwed up luxury car shop I've done......

I'm sorry you had to go through this, definitely not worth the 40.00.
That Salesman gets the award "Jerk of all time".

@MFJohnston wrote:

And..... I arrive for my appointment and am told that he's not in today. I have been set up with a different salesman who is not at work yet... Thus, I'm sitting and waiting... This is the most screwed up luxury car shop I've done......

Maybe he got fired for not making his July quota.

And it becomes a difficult and complicated report to write. . . been there, done that, so I feel for you. After doing 40 or so car shops, I just avoid them now unless it carries a real good bonus and i can utilize some "dead time" on a route

@MFJohnston wrote:

And..... I arrive for my appointment and am told that he's not in today. I have been set up with a different salesman who is not at work yet... Thus, I'm sitting and waiting... This is the most screwed up luxury car shop I've done......

That might explain why he was pushing you so hard to come in *early*.....chances are if he wasn't the actual salesperson (in the unlikely chance you WERE to buy a car), then chances are he wouldn't get the FULL commission on the sale, probably half. I say this because I have a family member out of state who works for a car dealership. If he gets the lead and starts all the paperwork, but the customer comes in on his day off, and another salesperson closes the sale, then the 2 salespersons SPLIT the commission 50-50. So maybe that explains his unacceptable almost-stalking of you! Just a thought.

Here's a thought. Why didn't the salesperson just try to schedule the appointment for a day he wasn't off work?

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

@MFJohnston wrote:

And..... I arrive for my appointment and am told that he's not in today. I have been set up with a different salesman who is not at work yet... Thus, I'm sitting and waiting... This is the most screwed up luxury car shop I've done......

oy vey......

I've found many dealerships are hungry. They are relentless after the fact.... I have a huge pile of missed phone calls, and text messages and emails from hungry dealers after my visits. Some are worse than other. I might have to stay away from dealers for a while.

I did a car shop last week where the emailed info from the sales associate was the first contact and my call back to them saying I was no longer interested in buying the second contact. It was a very civilized way to handle the process.

Honestly, I've never had an easy car sales shop....which is why I won't do them for the normal first offer from MSCs. As a woman, I've been shown more about the color of the car than the engine. I know more performance information about the cars than most of the salesmen, but they assume that I'm only worried about the look. I've had sales people take my own car's registration and refuse to return it to me. I've had sales people call me a dozen times asking for my husband. Car shops are a pain....but when they are bonused, I am a sucker for them.