[aashishnb]

It is 'just business, nothing personal' at the end of the day.

Here is an example from my childhood days. If people remember, Hero Honda (then together) had a runaway success in Splendor. They had also launched the Street (with clutchless rotary gears & looked like mopeds, if anyone remembers). The Street was a flop.

One incident - a customer goes to the showroom, asks about the Street, the owner / manager himself gets up from his seat and goes to explain all features, etc. Around same time, another customer comes, enquires about Splendor, the person gives the price, waiting times, etc. from his seat, does not even bother to show the vehicle - customer can look at it himself.

Why?

Splendor was a fast moving item with waiting times. So the 'take it or leave it, my life would not change if you do not buy' attitude.
Street was a flop and obviously the dealer must've been having some pressure from upstairs to try and sell.

So the same salesman treats the same(similarly dressed I mean) customer differently.

[real_koolkrish]

In my case, it was quite the opposite, I had a very good experience with the Mercedes Benz showroom, Coimbatore ( Sundaram Motors, MTP Road ) back in 2019. I was a college student back then and me and my friend went to check out the C-Class just out of curiosity. We had no intention of buying immediately and my friend just wanted to do check out because his family was discussing about buying one the following year.

We went to the showroom after our classes got over and we were wearing normal looking shirt and jeans. We were greeted by one Mr. Rahul who was very polite and professional and welcomed us. He made us comfortable and took his time to explain all the features of the car in detail and even allowed us to sit and experience higher end GLC SUV which was in the showroom. Hospitality was great and other Sales executives came and helped us too. We left the showroom without confirming any car and I thought to myself one day I should buy a car from here. Follow up calls came through for like 5 to 6 times and they were polite and offered me test drives and explained about other discounts that were coming up. I didn't purchase any car from there but the good experience was very good.

[kratant]

We had a bad experience at Mercedes Benz Gurgaon in January of 2022. We had visited them in the morning while we were all in tracks and we did travel in a CRV, we weren't paid any attention. We asked for the E as my father in law wanted to purchase one but the sales lady just told us the price and walked off. On the other hand went to Volvo in Gurgaon back in 2016 and had visited the showroom thrice and we were treated quite respectfully all three times, before we finally booked our vehicle. We were simply dressed that time as well. Understandable that the sales executives have to deal with a lot of people who are informally dressed and waste their time, but never judge a book by its cover.

[anshu1101]

I had a really good experience while buying my Tucson at Aditya Hyundai, Bhubaneswar. It was a rainy day and the rains had subsided a bit in the evening when I dropped into their showroom in my Dad's Activa to check out the Tucson. The showroom I visited was one of the many small showrooms in Bhubaneswar city, while their main showroom (a really big one) is located well outside the city.

Although I was wearing a plain jeans, T Shirt and flipflops, I was greeted properly by the lady at the reception. She enquired as to which vehicle I was interested in, and when I mentioned the Tucson, she directed me to the SA.

The SA was polite and courteous. He said that the Tucson is not available at that showroom, but he can take me to their main showroom, if I was interested. He made it clear that I can only have a look at the display vehicle, and that he would need a day or two to arrange for a test drive. By this time it was 6PM and it was already very dark (being in east India). When I said, I was interested to check out the vehicle, they took me in one of their TD vehicles (a Hyundai Aura) to the main showroom (20 kms away) in pouring rain. I spent a good 30 mins in checking out the Tucson, and the SA explained me all the features very patiently. At no point was I rushed, even if it was getting late. And finally, they dropped me back at the showroom that I had visited at around 8PM.

He also arranged for longish (approx 20-25 kms) test drive of the car 2 days later. The driver was very informative, explained me all the features properly and also encouraged me to drive the car in varying road conditions to test the suspension.

Even though I took 3 months to decide to buy the Tucson (was confused between the Tucson and Compass) the SA was patient, and never tried to force sell. In fact, he accommodated one more test drive to seal my decision. I finally ended up buying my Tucson from Aditya Hyundai.

This was in stark contrast to the experience I had at another Hyundai showroom, where the SA kept pestering me to arrive at the showroom 30 mins earlier than the scheduled time, so that he can send the car for a test drive to another prospective customer. I arrived 15 mins earlier than scheduled with my parents, and he immediately sent me for a very short test drive and did not bother explaining the features properly. This experience was more than enough for me to stay away from them. And yes, they did not even bother to call back a prospective customer of their flagship vehicle.

[AutoDowntowner]

Interesting thread.
Let me put an incidence of my friend who is also my Share market guru.

He went to a Tata showroom to buy Harrier's top end model. He wanted to buy it in Cash & not on loan. He went there on a scooter with a very casual attire. Receptionist welcomed him & directly asked which car he is looking for. She didn't even ask him to sit, have water or tea. He replied "Harrier top end model". He himself went to lounge & kept waiting for sometime.

Then a salesman came & shown him a Tiago. My friend replied "I am here for Harrier & told the same to your receptionist also". But the salesman was absolutely not interested to show him a Harrier.
My friend (who is a full time investor in share market hence a big Tata group fan) was hurt badly and left the showroom.


After a few months he purchased a 2BHK apartment in cash (without any loan) worth Rs.72 lakhs. He told me that it is very difficult for me to buy a Tata car ever in the future. I was badly hurt & nobody from showroom even bothered me to call for follow up.

So in car buying process, most of the things depends on salesman & then comes the brand.

[theunstabledesi]

A very interesting thread indeed.

Eight years back, I decided to buy my first set of wheels (a hatchback) and went shopping. The showrooms I intended to visit were Maruti and Hyundai. Enroute, I found a Volkswagen showroom and decided to pay a visit.I had no intention of buying the vehicle (considering the expenditure, maintenance costs and not so good feedback about VW dealerships) and communicated the same to the SA.

However, the SA was kind enough to explain details of the vehicle to me and offered a test drive. 5km of test drive and I was hooked on to the driving dynamics of the vehicle. Four days after, I booked a Volkswagen Polo Comfortline, thanks to the wonderful experience given by the SA (unlike what I heard about Volkswagen?

[sukhbirST]

Thanks for starting this lovely thread, which has brought out some really interesting experiences. I still remember (in 2003) Mr Abdul of ABT Coimbatore, who opened the showroom on a holiday to deliver the car as I did not get leave. He was able to arrange all things and completed all formalities. Again after 3 years I realised that Maruti (tie up) insurance missed my anti-theft device discount/rebate and on contacting him, he was able to get back my money (for previous years). Small amount but goes a long way in winning customers.

[k491]

Originally Posted by theunstabledesi

However, the SA was kind enough to explain details of the vehicle to me and offered a test drive. 5km of test drive and I was hooked on to the driving dynamics of the vehicle. Four days after, I booked a Volkswagen Polo Comfortline, thanks to the wonderful experience given by the SA (unlike what I heard about Volkswagen?

My story is almost similar as well, it was 2014 and we were in the market for an upgrade from Wagon R. My dad liked Verna and my mom liked City, my dad just happened to stop at Skoda showroom just to check it out, I was least bothered with what the SA said but he was definitely enthusiastic. Took me on a test drive, we waited for the road to get clear, The SA asked me to step on it and I did. I was immediately in love with the Rapid. My dad didn't even take the test drive (the car was for him), and we booked the Rapid TDI elegance on spot.
Previously the Honda SA made a snarky comment something like, "sir if you get down from a Honda CITY in some marriage or function your status will be higher", it just triggered my dad and my dad just said "will they ask us to go back if we attend the event in any other car?"

One more story about atrocities of Dealership SA's. In 2017 my pulsar 220 DTS-i Engine Seized and I only wanted one bike, the duke 390. It took me a lot of convincing just to take my mom and dad to KTM showroom, but the SA was the worst I've ever seen, he refused to explain anything, didn't even give me a test ride, even had the audacity to suggest my dad to buy the Duke 250 instead of the 390. After a month gap I took them again and same story. to sum up, my dad bought me Dominar 400 instead of the duke 390.

As the saying goes first impression is the best impression. SAs are the first point of contact with the brand and if they keep up with these shenanigans it will only hurt the brand.

[Sahil00090]

Never been to a luxury car showroom yet. In 2021, When I decided to buy a car I went to VW Noida with my mother and my eyes were fixed on Polo. The SA was decent not too warm nor too cold. Explained everything well but did not have the colour of my choice.

Then we went to Ford (thank God I did not go for it) as I was interested in Figo Diesel, the SA did not even consider throwing away the Ghutka/pan from his mouth before telling us about the car and finance, my mother was also there. That was it for me, Ford was out of the window, thanks to that panwala SA.

Some days later I went to VW Ghaziabad since it was showing they had my preferred colour. After our visit, we were going to another showroom then I received a call from VW Safdarjung (which was not on our list), the SA asked me for my interest in Polo and asked if I want a test ride the same day, if not, he was willing to bring the car to my house which is 15-20kms away from the showroom to take a test drive to my hearts content. I went for a test ride on the same day and was hooked, we asked for discounts and all, the discussion went well. I then asked them to show me the car to which they said it's 25-30kms away from the showroom I was sitting in. I said I will not do anything till you show me the car.

They obliged and next day I came to the showroom with my friend and they took us both in their own car (Polo Ofcourse) to their godown and I inspected the car to my hearts content, they brought us back. I said I will have to bring my mother to make the booking amount, they agreed and next day I brought her and the way they respected my mother, I was sold.

All in all it was that SA from VW Safdarjung who treated us well and we decided to buy our first car from there, it was his first car sold as well

[sudhir_vag]

Have two contrasting experiences.

1. SGA Skoda Coimbatore. Since Superb was like a dream car to me I visited their showrooms frequently from like 2017 time lines and they were co-operative every single time. Test drives if required were arranged as promised. They were even gracious enough to send the TD car to my home so I can be sure it fits in my portico in-spite of my home being around 40 km away from dealership. All this before I have even booked my car. Promptly offered tea/coffee or water every time I visited. Best part is every customer was treated the same right irrespective of the car they are purchasing.

2. My friends wanted me to check BMW 3 series also just so that I won't regret in future since I have never driven any of BMW/Merc/Audi till now. But it would mean a big stretch in my budget which translates to wait of a year more to the least. Though Superb was the dream all along i decided to check out just that I would not regret or if it is really worth it I can wait. On a visit to Bangalore, visited one of the BMW showroom along with my friend. Though we weren't formally dressed, we were in our T-Shirt and Jeans. Receptionist asked us about the model we were enquiring and asked us to wait.

A Salesman visited us after like 10 mins and on asking about 3 series was told immediately delivery would take a very long time (for M Trim and was not sure when sport will be available) and was totally not interested. Was told there was neither a demo car nor a test drive car. I can see a LWB version of 3 series, asked him If i can look into it and was told it was a totally different car and he said he will let us know if the vehicle arrives. And he only got more uninterested when we asked if there are ongoing offers/discounts. I had to give him my number forcefully and he never asked for it all along. Was not even offered a cup of water. We walked out of the showroom partly happy that we made right decision in going with Skoda.

Post that BMW coimbatore was very responsive when reached for my friend and when I asked them about 3 series they were very helpful and said will bring a test drive car to my home once they receive one which will be after Mid Jan but by then my Superb has already reached the dealer's yard.

[gupta_chd]

Some scam about Bolero and TUV300 being highlighted by a disgruntled customer.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DM3-a4...ature=youtu.be

[akg7091]

Really surprised that Mahindra has decided to ignore their customer and let him suffer when it's a clear case of cheating / fraud by their appointed dealer. This is where the OEM should step in and ensure their customer is not harassed like this. We buy a Mahindra car, not a ABC motors car. We have no choice except going to a dealer appointed by the OEM. Why does the OEM not step in when such frauds are done ? The least expected is a new car. The best case scenario is the OEM canceling the dealership. First Tata with Dada motors and now Mahindra ! No wonder Maruti sells in such volumes - they run a tight ship and keep a check on their dealers.

[techspark]

Messaged one of salesperson from Auto Hanger Mercedes the other day and asked him if there are any offers on new GLA and he replied saying "Yes, Car is free this year". Emailed the dealer and mercedes about it. Wasted around 10 minutes of my day but I guess it was necessary.