Let me write this down before I forget about it… and while it’s still fresh.
A few months ago, I was told by an industry insider about a certain car brand, more specifically about their floundering sales. As I’ve pretty much tried out their complete model lineup, I was very surprised, as their cars have always impressed many of us in terms of design, comfort, performance, practicality and value for money. There has to be a problem somewhere, and I don’t think it has anything to do with the cars themselves.
Fast forward to today, and I’ve just made my way to one of their dealers, eager to pick up the refreshed version of their executive sedan. My enthusiasm to drive their cars is understandable, as any car with their logo up front has always led to quite a good stint behind the wheel.
I walked into their dealership, and was given the customary greeting by one of their sales staff.
“Hi sir, how may I help you?”, said the male sales exec.
“Yeah I’m picking up a test car, can you show me where to go?”, I said to him.
“Ah, diyan lang sa may guardia (Ah, over there with the security guard),” he said as he abruptly turned around and began walking back to the front desk, “siya na bahala (he’ll handle it).”
I don’t know about you but, to put it politely, that’s very rude. The Tagalog word bastos would have been more like it.
Obviously, this salesman from that dealership won’t be getting referrals from me after that exchange… but that was just scratching the surface.
So I walked over to the guard, who, thankfully, had the papers ready for me to sign. After doing that, I asked him if the car was actually ready and he said it was, and was going to be driven out to the front by the car jockeys in their service department.
So I sat in their showroom for a few minutes, surveying the dealer’s operations. It was a pretty slow morning, no walk-in customers and just 2 people waiting for their cars to be finished at the service lounge. Over by the front desk was that rude salesman along with another girl, seemingly just chatting away. Next to the service door was some of the security and maintenance staff, oddly just watching what’s on the big screen TV in the service lounge. Nobody seems to be doing their respective jobs around here.
Just in time, security guard came back out, but with some more delays, as apparently the car wasn’t gassed up, and was just taken to the nearest service station to do so and should be back in about 15 minutes. I didn’t mind the wait, and moved on to the service lounge to catch some TV.
It was now around 11:30 in the morning when the car came back, and again I walked on over to the receiving area, as I’m in a rush to drive off and work. Lo and behold, the car hasn’t been washed, and was taken into the service garage to be cleaned up.
Now annoyed, it was back to the service lounge for another wait. I go to the small snack station they had in the lounge to pour myself a glass of water, only to find that the glasses were not clean… unless they intentionally serve glasses of water with free lipstick marks.
After some time, I hear some footsteps behind, and see the employees heading on out for lunch. I looked at my watch and see that it’s now 12:30… a full hour since they took the car to be washed. I walked on over to where the car was and, from a distance, it looked quite clean. When I got close, well, they hadn’t even started on it. Not even close.
It’s normal for a dealer and a service garage to be delayed, especially when they’re juggling cars for service, but there was hardly any activity in this one at all, as evidenced by the empty service bays and myself being the lone person in the lounge. A simple advisory from them that the car will be finished after lunch would have sufficed, as I would have had the choice to just get the car as it is and head on over to where I needed to go, or make my way to a restaurant to kill some time until it was done. Already pissed off, I just drove out, having wasted time in there.
Everyone has their own horror story about a certain car dealer. There are stories of them using regular oil but bill you the price of the synthetic ones or of them joyriding your car if it’s left there for extended servicing, but most of those stories usually take place after they’ve already bought their cars. What if you haven’t yet?
I may not a customer now, but I could be in time. It reminded me of when I took on my first job: a salesman for a dealer of the country’s top automotive brand. I still remember the first lesson during our first day of training: Treat everyone like a client, as anyone can be a potential customer. It doesn’t matter if he’s just coming in to buy the cheapest bolt for the most insignificant part of his car, nor does it matter if he’s wearing a T-shirt, shorts and slippers, the simple rule on any sales floor is that you always be courteous, escort them to where they need to go and maybe offer a glass of water or a cup of coffee. Who knows, maybe someday he’ll remember how you took care of him and buy a car from you or even refer a someone he knows, because it’s always easier to buy from a friend.
Choosing a car to buy doesn’t just mean buying the actual car, you’re also buying into the brand and it’s dealer/service network for the next few years. If it doesn’t make you happy and take care of the customer’s needs, do you see yourself recommending the car, dealer, or worse, the brand to your friends? It’s like having a pretty girl by your side, but she comes with body odor. Deal breaker.
I love the brand itself and have made good friends with the people at their head office. I admire the efforts they’ve made to market their cars, all of them being great driving machines, but if the dealer network doesn’t seem to have their act together, then that’s a problem.
A big one.
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