Today I am not a happy camper. As my faithful readers know, I have zero tolerance for unethical people. Recently, I’ve been shopping for a smaller car and after much research and several visits back to a particular car dealership…I made my decision. The manager gave us his rock bottom price and reassured us that we were getting all rebates, cash allowances etc.. We left with the intention of making our decision within the next 24 hours..
As I strongly suggest to my readers, I got back online to compare what the manager had told me with what was being advertised. Lo and behold…I discover that there was another $750 bonus cash offer. My husband called the car dealership and the manager said ” I didn’t know about that” and quickly proceeded to discount the car to include that offer.
After I heard what happened, I called all the dealers in the area ….and every single one of them knew about the $750 bonus cash offer. They also informed me about a fantastic extended warranty plan that the manager had somehow also forgotten to share with us after we had made it clear that we planned to buy one. What he had told us about was a warranty plan (which according to another dealer) made the most commission for him.
It is obvious to me that the manager is unethical…..I believe that he
he knew what incentives were being offered since they are listed on his company’s parent website and on the local website.I believe that he chose not to tell his customers about the cashback offer and the better extended warranty with hopes that they wouldn’t find out on their own.
The manager cost the dealership a customer but more importantly…tarnished his reputation with his unethical behavior.
Note:
I am not faulting the young salesman. He turned all negotiations over to his manager which is standard practice in the car business. I had recently written a column about the salesman’s excellent customer service which he proudly displays in a notebook on his desk.
