[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by bigron

To be honest, it actually doesn't sound that bad.
You ve said yourself you reached the showroom half an hour before closing time. And it was quite a clincher of a match for this cricket crazy country ( I do not watch the game but everyone around me told me so).
And most showrooms are reluctant to offer test drives that near to closing hour, so I see no reason why Volvo should be any different.

The match aside, such behavior doesn't speak well for the dealership in general.

I've walked into several luxury car showrooms on Sunday's around closing time, and have always gotten well treated.

Heck, a couple of weeks back - I visited Autohangar Prabhadevi (Mercedes), which was being closed for renovation.

The showroom was a ghost town, with one sales person present while all the cars were being moved out. Even then, there were a few demo cars parked on the opposite side of the road + a GLA45 AMG demo car in the showroom.

No customers, no other sales staff, heck no one to even offer water or tea. But this guy single handedly did a fantastic job of updating us on the vehicles, let me sit in the GLA and start her up in the showroom with a few revvs thrown in.

It was a brilliant experience, and one where the sales chap went over his call of duty despite me informing him I am not in the market for a car.

He had nothing to gain, but still did a fantastic job - and that is why Mercedes is the number one luxury car manufacturer in India for the past few years.

I love BMWs, but trust me - BMW isn't a patch on Mercedes in terms of salesmen quality and etiquette.

[bigron]

See, there you have already figured it out. Like I said, don't give to much weight to these dealerships and their salesmen. It today's time walking out is always an option and should readily be used. I have walked out of general stores over a piece of chocolate. Considering they are really not selling all that many cars, I would call them dumb to behave like that. Anyhow, those salesmen sitting in that little store of theirs have no idea they just lost a customer. Who lost, the dealer not you.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by bigron

To be honest, it actually doesn't sound that bad.
You ve said yourself you reached the showroom half an hour before closing time. And it was quite a clincher of a match for this cricket crazy country ( I do not watch the game but everyone around me told me so).
And most showrooms are reluctant to offer test drives that near to closing hour, so I see no reason why Volvo should be any different.

You are expecting to much from a few salesmen on a near store closing hour on a day when India could have been out of the cup.

Volvo has gone to the extent of actually handing over the keys to a V40, to a friend, for a whole week!

Sales of luxury cars aren't that great to begin with, and Volvo isn't anywhere near the big 3.

Going the extra mile will always help securing a sale or goodwill at the least.

[bottle]

Originally Posted by bigron

No one is defending their attitude. Was it expected behaviour, no.

Should you expect something like this at closure of business hours at a dealership on a big match day. Yes, maybe. Personally, I think very little of these dealerships and their salesmen.

What I am trying to say is, book a test drive. And then see how they behave. You always have an option of going to a different dealer.

Sorry I beg to differ , I have visited the Volvo showroom in Chennai at 8pm which is at the closing time . We did not intend to buy anything but wanted to check out the V40 and leave but the sales guy politely explained everything and refused to let us leave until we took a test drive we wound up at 8 :40 or so and took a chance at a nearby Toyota dealership just as the staff was closing and walking out with helmet but they came back in and explained all features of the car we wanted to see

[bigron]

@ bottle - Glad you had a positive experience. If you read my last post, it sort of summarizes the entire dialogue. Nothing more to add or alter.

[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Volvo has gone to the extent of actually handing over the keys to a V40, to a friend, for a whole week!

Sales of luxury cars aren't that great to begin with, and Volvo isn't anywhere near the big 3.

Going the extra mile will always help securing a sale or goodwill at the least.

I agree with that Suhaas, when we went in to buy the City, we took a look at VW. Dad was never keen on the GT but then the Sales Rep sold him on the car and he had an amazing test drive. I had the car home in 4 days

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by devilwearsprada

I won't take a TD from a dealer who has that attitude, I would go to a different company. Won't buy a Volvo now. Considering the recent downfall ins sales figures, let's see how this company would even survive.

It is indeed sad that they didn't deliver a better experience to you. But I am sure it is nothing to do with Volvo but a more integral part of our DNA. You will find a narrative of such experiences across all dealerships and states. In fact I had quite the contrary experience way back in 2013 when we bought the 320d. At the time, my experience at Mercedes was way below my expectations but Volvo, Gurgaon ( same dealership as yours) was exceptional.

What I have learnt is to ignore these experiences. If you like the car then go for it. As a BHPian you are anyways well aware of every positive and negative of the car, its ownership experiences, after sales and what not. So all you need to do is to see the car in person and TD it to see if it suits you. The sales guy might be working in that apparently good Mercedes showroom 6 months from now for all you know.

[AutoMagic]

Even I went to Volkswagen Frontier showroom in Gurgaon and the dealership said to me that they don't have test drive of 1.5-liter Automatic transmission. They are just like "sir please book the car and if your plan changes, we will refund the money". I was disppointed that how can they not even offer a test drive to a customer as customer does make choices by test driving cars and in case the car is good then automatically customer willl buy that car maybe in the future. Except Volkswagen, other Dealerships provided test drives and I drove cars like Skoda Kushaq and Mahindra ScorpioN in petrol version from the other Dealerships who offered me test drives. I was just disppointed by Volkswagen Frontier showroom where sales guy also told me that the the test drive vehicle was gone for repairing. This is Just a personal experience I am sharing. People but Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki because of customer experience more than anything and no doubt, Hyundai Dealership near me offered me TD and also told me about vehicle. The Volkswagen dealer didn't told anything about Virtus but was in a hurry to sell the car.

[y2k]

Visited Tata showroom last week on Saturday, asked to test drive Tiago after understanding discounts and offer price. Sales guy told me not possible then but happy to do it on Sunday next day. I said fine lets do it in the afternoon but he insisted that only 9 am can be done as otherwise car is busy and there are lot of deliveries. Alternatively he was willing to do it next week on Monday but since it was a working day I was hesitant.

I said ok tentatively but informed in advance that lets do it another day. No communication on Monday and I called in evening to enquire when can we do the test drive. I was told to take it Tigor as they both are exactly the same. I said no I would want to do it on Tiago only and my family would also be with me and asked whether can he not arrange it. I was told that the car is not available for test drive. I asked then how was it offered to me yesterday and today. He said it was Tigor. I said that I distinctively remember our conversation it was Tiago only. He said h yeah but the car is out for maintenance throughout the week. I said please arrange it then. Either way please let me know. Now am thinking if this is even before the booking then what will happen after I pay the amount.

[bosem123]

Your post gave me an idea just today. What if there was an independent agency that could take up test drives for all manufacturers? The benefit would be that the car is always available. Also, if the buyer finally makes a purchase after driving, the company should give a commission.