People who infuriate me in that... special way are people who lie and manipulate while assuming I have no idea what they're up to. In our search for the new car, we met a couple dealers who gave us the usual schpeal about extended warranties and all that, but that's their job. No hard feelings. The people who made me want to frog-kick them in the solar plexus were from the finance department. One guy in particular. We shouldn't have had any sort of issue whatsoever--we were already financed through a company that gave us a good rate, was lightning quick, and sent us a check we could take car shopping. It should have been simple.
First, let me say that if any of you are planning on purchasing a vehicle from Scion of Troy, for God's sake--think again! Second, please know that if there were any other xA's in the state, we would not have put up with the kind of crap this guy dealt. But the closest one was 350 miles away in Illinois. A long road trip. We decided it was worth wading through the BS to just be done with it and have this car.
Our salesman was just doing his job. We arranged a trade in. We signed papers. We handed him the check. He handed us off to the finance asshol--er, guy, and things should have been golden. However, Guy greeted us with the hard-sell on his financing, and wouldn't. let. it. go. "We can give you better rates than whatever rates you've got," he declared. We let him know we were done with the financing side of things. We let him know several more times as he pushed and pushed. We deflected unnecessary questions about our rate and our credit score. He tried to make us feel guilty by implying we were somehow trying to screw over the dealership. He claimed he'd never heard of our financing company before. Then he claimed they'd screwed over someone at that very dealership. Wha--huh? He read the back of the check over and over, aloud, making overly-dramatic hemming and hawing noises, and tapping it with his finger to emphasize just how out of the ordinary and fishy this was, and to scare us into taking his financing. "I don't know about this," he whined. Knowing exactly what he was playing, and that there was nothing wrong with the financing, we stuck to our guns.
When we didn't budge, he claimed he had to make some calls about it, and walked away, leaving us to "cool down" for an HOUR and a HALF. When he finally marched back, he pointedly dialed our financier on speaker-phone so we could hear the message that they were closed for the evening (They hadn't been closed at the point he'd walked away). "I'm helpless," he grunted, waving the check at us. "I can't let you walk away with a car, and all I get is a piece of paper. "
Pray tell, how do you sell cars, then? Do people often leave a large pile of cash on your desk? Isn't a personal check a piece of paper? Isn't your financing a piece of paper? Aren't you a piece of... ...something smelly and warm that's not paper?
Why yes. Yes you are.
We knew full well that it shouldn't be an issue. We'd spoken to our financier about what was supposed to happen, and they said the dealer should let us go home in the car, then the check could be deposited the next day. The people we know who've dealt with the same financier went home with the car. However, Finance Number One A-hole Guy was determined to punish us for not being malleable enough.
Having already switched plates and given them the title for our trade-in car, we were forced to drive the old car home with dealer plates on it.
The next morning I called our financier to ask what was going on, and found that Guy had faxed some of the info they needed, but he didn't fax 2 of the most obviously necessary things. I called Guy. Guy claimed he'd sent them all, and whined and moaned when I told him to refax. He said he'd call us just as SOON as he knew anything, and we could come get the car. Then he waited several hours before faxing anything to the financier. By that time, the workday was over.
Today, I called the financier again because I didn't trust Guy farther than I could throw him. Good thing, too. They let me know everything was set, and that they'd called to notify Guy of that 2 hours ago. She also mentioned that he'd complained to them about the fact that we hadn't gotten the extended warranty and tried to make a big deal out of it so they wouldn't finance us (presumably so he could do it instead). Now, that's out of the realm of slimy business practice and more into along the lines of bratty third grade temper-tantrums.
I called Guy a minute later, and before I could get a word in edgewise, he said he hadn't heard a peep back from our finance company, and that he'd been calling and calling and they were all rude to him and he hated dealing with such an "unprofessional fly-by-night outfit." Wah-wah, bitch. Sorry you have to do your freaking job.
When I informed him that essentially I knew he was flat-out lying about the fact that he hadn't heard anything from them, he got harried and defensive. "Well, I swear I haven't heard from them and maybe they left a voicemail, but I seriously haven't, but I guess they could have possibly left a voicemail. Uh, let me call you back, or you'll have to sit there on hold." I told him I would hold as long I needed to. He growled something, put me on hold for about three seconds, and then picked up again to tell me, yeah--he guessed they'd called. "Congratulations," he grumbled. "You have to be here before 6 to get your car."
Fuck you very much, Guy. Have a nice life.
I'm really looking forward to taking all the surveys I'll undoubtedly be inundated with about the dealership and our experience. Mwahaha!
----
Despite the fact that we had to deal with...that, we're excited to finally have our new car, and it's a little dreamboat with built-in satellite radio, mp3 player, and iPod connection and interface. Fancy, dancy. Okay, It's really not that fancy, but it's pretty sweet.
My favorite thing about it? When you unplug the pod, the interface blinks, "bye bye, ipod!"
Eeeee!
First, let me say that if any of you are planning on purchasing a vehicle from Scion of Troy, for God's sake--think again! Second, please know that if there were any other xA's in the state, we would not have put up with the kind of crap this guy dealt. But the closest one was 350 miles away in Illinois. A long road trip. We decided it was worth wading through the BS to just be done with it and have this car.
Our salesman was just doing his job. We arranged a trade in. We signed papers. We handed him the check. He handed us off to the finance asshol--er, guy, and things should have been golden. However, Guy greeted us with the hard-sell on his financing, and wouldn't. let. it. go. "We can give you better rates than whatever rates you've got," he declared. We let him know we were done with the financing side of things. We let him know several more times as he pushed and pushed. We deflected unnecessary questions about our rate and our credit score. He tried to make us feel guilty by implying we were somehow trying to screw over the dealership. He claimed he'd never heard of our financing company before. Then he claimed they'd screwed over someone at that very dealership. Wha--huh? He read the back of the check over and over, aloud, making overly-dramatic hemming and hawing noises, and tapping it with his finger to emphasize just how out of the ordinary and fishy this was, and to scare us into taking his financing. "I don't know about this," he whined. Knowing exactly what he was playing, and that there was nothing wrong with the financing, we stuck to our guns.
When we didn't budge, he claimed he had to make some calls about it, and walked away, leaving us to "cool down" for an HOUR and a HALF. When he finally marched back, he pointedly dialed our financier on speaker-phone so we could hear the message that they were closed for the evening (They hadn't been closed at the point he'd walked away). "I'm helpless," he grunted, waving the check at us. "I can't let you walk away with a car, and all I get is a piece of paper. "
Pray tell, how do you sell cars, then? Do people often leave a large pile of cash on your desk? Isn't a personal check a piece of paper? Isn't your financing a piece of paper? Aren't you a piece of... ...something smelly and warm that's not paper?
Why yes. Yes you are.
We knew full well that it shouldn't be an issue. We'd spoken to our financier about what was supposed to happen, and they said the dealer should let us go home in the car, then the check could be deposited the next day. The people we know who've dealt with the same financier went home with the car. However, Finance Number One A-hole Guy was determined to punish us for not being malleable enough.
Having already switched plates and given them the title for our trade-in car, we were forced to drive the old car home with dealer plates on it.
The next morning I called our financier to ask what was going on, and found that Guy had faxed some of the info they needed, but he didn't fax 2 of the most obviously necessary things. I called Guy. Guy claimed he'd sent them all, and whined and moaned when I told him to refax. He said he'd call us just as SOON as he knew anything, and we could come get the car. Then he waited several hours before faxing anything to the financier. By that time, the workday was over.
Today, I called the financier again because I didn't trust Guy farther than I could throw him. Good thing, too. They let me know everything was set, and that they'd called to notify Guy of that 2 hours ago. She also mentioned that he'd complained to them about the fact that we hadn't gotten the extended warranty and tried to make a big deal out of it so they wouldn't finance us (presumably so he could do it instead). Now, that's out of the realm of slimy business practice and more into along the lines of bratty third grade temper-tantrums.
I called Guy a minute later, and before I could get a word in edgewise, he said he hadn't heard a peep back from our finance company, and that he'd been calling and calling and they were all rude to him and he hated dealing with such an "unprofessional fly-by-night outfit." Wah-wah, bitch. Sorry you have to do your freaking job.
When I informed him that essentially I knew he was flat-out lying about the fact that he hadn't heard anything from them, he got harried and defensive. "Well, I swear I haven't heard from them and maybe they left a voicemail, but I seriously haven't, but I guess they could have possibly left a voicemail. Uh, let me call you back, or you'll have to sit there on hold." I told him I would hold as long I needed to. He growled something, put me on hold for about three seconds, and then picked up again to tell me, yeah--he guessed they'd called. "Congratulations," he grumbled. "You have to be here before 6 to get your car."
Fuck you very much, Guy. Have a nice life.
I'm really looking forward to taking all the surveys I'll undoubtedly be inundated with about the dealership and our experience. Mwahaha!
----
Despite the fact that we had to deal with...that, we're excited to finally have our new car, and it's a little dreamboat with built-in satellite radio, mp3 player, and iPod connection and interface. Fancy, dancy. Okay, It's really not that fancy, but it's pretty sweet.
My favorite thing about it? When you unplug the pod, the interface blinks, "bye bye, ipod!"
Eeeee!
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