[nkghai]

Originally Posted by GTO

Strengthening a relationship? There's a reason that a friend or relative asked you for advice. It's because they trust you.

+100 to that.

Somethings you cherish for lifetime is the bond you create by giving an unbaised advice from your heart. No amount of money, gifts/returns can ever replace that. Dont get money into it. It is Long term vs Short term gains. Choice is yours.

Trust me, you will have friends for life and every time they smile because of their car, they will remember you. I have some of the senior most officers calling me and updating me on the vehicle they had bought on my advice. Some on purchases even 15 years back. Each call is priceless.

[carwatcher]

I would like to give an example.
Suppose your distant relative to whom you are very very affectionate comes to your house for some personal work and asks you to drop him or accompany him to some place within the city in your vehicle, I am sure you would happily do that.
But as soon as you come to know that he is actually on a business trip, how would you feel, that's exactly your friend or relative would feel when they come to know about the favour you took from the dealer.
At the same time, referral programs or schemes are OK as IIRC the sales person informs the person you referred to that he got the reference from you.

[timuseravan]

Originally Posted by samaspire

This is my dilemma. Should I demand my pound of flesh from the dealer for giving him business?

I have always been asked for advice and recommendations from friends when they were buying cars. Since I bought my Ford Aspire, I have built a good rapport with the dealership. And with first hand experience of Ford, I have also convinced a couple of friends to buy a Ford. This was not just recommending the car, but arranging for the test drive, negotiating with the dealer, getting faster delivery, etc. - the cost for me being my time. I'm sure a lot of BHPians do the same.

In this transaction the buyer gets the car, the dealer gets his money, the govt. gets its taxes - should I get something? I'm thinking of asking for accessories for my car..

Would I be right in asking for it? Opinions and suggestions are welcome.

I have to agree with everyone here that it is not right. Your focus should be on getting the right car and the best deal for the friend.

The only thing you are entitled to is a big party from the friend who you helped to buy the car

[schakravarthy]

If at all you want a 'return', hope for goodwill from the dealer and your friends, faster and better attention to your car when it goes for servicing/repairs, discounted labour rates, faster spares procurement etc. All this, of course, should come from the dealer without you having to explicitly ask for it. Trust me, if the dealer is a decent fellow, he'll do that without you having to ask for it.
Anything more, and I feel you'll be corrupting a relationship.

[diyguy]

If a real close friend I would see that he gets the benefit of the referral, such as the 5k Mahindra coupon or any parts freebies.

[Chetan_Rao]

It would be akin to T-BHP accepting advertising money/gifts/favors from car brands, which the owners/moderators have always stood firm against. It doesn't matter if they take the money and continue to stay unbiased, the perception of 'fairness' and 'unbiased reporting' will be tainted permanently. Same goes for every T-BHPian.

The world runs on exchanging favors but the moment you ask for one, you've traded in your integrity.

Tempting, but not worth it ultimately.

[earthian]

Originally Posted by samaspire

In this transaction the buyer gets the car, the dealer gets his money, the govt. gets its taxes - should I get something? I'm thinking of asking for accessories for my car..

You get the satisfaction of doing someone a favour. Trust me - the happiness you would get out of that feeling is much more than the shallow feeling of "perceived" happiness you would get if the dealer gives you a few freebees. Best is, if the dealer were to offer something, unsolicited, those freebees should also be passed on to your friend, thereby strengthening it. True friends, especially those who stick to you through thick and thin, are hard to come by.

What if a purchase officer in a company were offered some goodies by a supplier? Is that ethical? The answer is obvious!

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Just wanted to share my experience.

I had bought insurance for my car and two wheeler from a particular insurance company and the company sales person (this was bought directly from the company) was quite good in explaining the features and also offered a very good price for policies. So, next when my friend was looking to buy a policy I mentioned to check with this sales person and it so happened that my friend got a good quote also and he bought it. Next, I received a voucher for an online portal for referring. I used up the voucher happily but my heart was not happy at all on this, since this looked like a business to me.

When my BIL was looking to renew the policy, I again referred and got a good quote with higher IDV, but this time I specifically told sales person not to give me voucher and asked him to give a best quote for insurance premium, voila, I was feeling very happy this time :thumbup:.

[Engine_Roars]

The only return I expect if my friends/relatives ask for my help to chose their ride/drive is a smile on their face. In today's time where everything is evaluated in terms of money and materialistic things, it is priceless to know that there are people who look up to you and trust you with their hard earned money.

The moment, earning/profit comes into picture it becomes business. If at all you are looking for favors/earning in return, the best way to go about is to let your friends/family know that you would be getting something in return if they buy XYZ car from XYZ Dealership. Of course, this might cost you your credibility in long term.

[zaheer5776]

The timing of this thread couldn't be better than this for me. I recently stumbled onto this question for myself. The story goes like this:

Recently cycling bug hit me and I bought a bicycle for me from De Cathlon. The cycle was so attractive that I got many queries from many people including strangers and I ended up assisting them to the store and in the event I bought few cycles for them.

Since I was doing this for strangers and not so close friends or acquaintance also. I realised somewhere that I was promoting the brand too much. In fact my family members also were quite surprised why I was promoting the store. And suddenly this thought of making it a business cropped up in my mind. But then I also thought other way that I was actually promoting Cycling and I was really happy doing that. I am getting happiness so that's what is my benefit. And then I got my answer

[shankar.balan]

In my case it was a perfect loop.

I bought a car at a dealership.

I was served very well. Therefore I recommended the dealership to others.

Some of the others also bought their cars there.

Now I get top class service which is further enhanced because of my referrals which converted to sale.

All I want is that my vehicle is looked after well.

Im happy to pay the fair price charged.

[Sheel]

Ok, let us give this gent a break

I as well as many of us BHPians (being enthusiasts, enthusiasm is shown & people do come over and ask for opinion) do refer a car or a dealership. In return, all I want is priority service and the service folks to be a bit lenient as far as warranty replacement goes.

Not a penny extra. And I do get all this in return happily.

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Should I demand my pound of flesh from the dealer for giving him business?

There is something called as a "good will". This is earned without even demanding for it. From both parties.

I am sure you have your healthy source of income. If you feel that you are wasting / spending your valuable time, then just don't do it.

The reason you are doing it is because it gives you pleasure. IMHO, let it just be that.

But, thank you for bringing up the topic. Sorry if I have been a bit harsh, I am just sharing my thoughts.

Originally Posted by Eddy

But it will take a lot from you to give unbiased advice once there is a monetary benefit angle attached to a transaction.

This is so obvious.

Originally Posted by GTO

If & when you do, please be sure not to ever push that brand or dealership on Team-BHP. Thanks!

I second that.

Thought itself is disgusting. I would have gone a step further and said something more.

Originally Posted by GTO

Strengthening a relationship?

Or even to be of some use to the dear ones?

[samaspire]

I was in a dilemma. Not anymore.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

It would be akin to T-BHP accepting advertising money/gifts/favors from car brands, which the owners/moderators have always stood firm against. It doesn't matter if they take the money and continue to stay unbiased, the perception of 'fairness' and 'unbiased reporting' will be tainted permanently. Same goes for every T-BHPian.

This was precisely the reason I asked this question to bhpians - whether what I was considering was akin to breaking this 'law'. And the replies more or less mirrored what was going on in my head.

I had heard that 'love corrupts" - but I did not realise that love for my car was tempting me to get corrupted. (Or was it "power corrupts" )

Also realised why we are such a corrupt country; it does not take much to get embroiled in the quagmire of corruption.

I'm glad that I'm in the company of non-corrupt people, who have helped strengthen my resolution. I'm not going to ask for anything. The intangible benefits far outweigh the tangible ones.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Tempting, but not worth it ultimately.

Perfectly sews up the debate in my head.

Originally Posted by GTO

If & when you do, please be sure not to ever push that brand on Team-BHP. Thanks!

And this is too big a price to pay.

[IshaanIan]

Let us please not break everything down and start comparing the worth of your time, monetary benefit to the dealer, blah blah. That sort of mindset might seem justifiable but I leave that to the more desperate folks out there in this world.

If you truly felt the car was good and you recommended and helped out your friend, then good job if you think you have put in precious time that you would have otherwise spent doing greater deeds then don't bother. Besides, essentially your friends would be paying for your benefits and I don't know about you, but I detest the thought of turning to a trusted friend for advice only to have him imagine how he/she could benefit from my turning to them. As a car enthusiast, whenever a friend or even an acquaintance is thinking of buying a car, I jump to the rescue and am more than happy to spend time helping them choose what is right for them infact all I hope for is that they listen and take me seriously . So I would go so far as to say that you are marring the image of an enthusiast by indulging in such thought. You are a businessman? Reward yourself now and then, buy yourself those accessories but please don't flood every aspect of life with the idea of business.

This is ofcourse just my opinion and I am not going to play god by saying you are wrong and I am right, but I hope that by reading the sheer majority of opinions on this forum against such actions, you decide to simply maybe find a hobby or start playing a sport to prevent business seeping into interactions with your friends. Don't mean to sound harsh just typing my heartfelt reaction to the subject.