Man buys Building to Evict Car Dealer!

[DwightFrye]

Rather than wearing my usual faded jeans, $20 Walmart tennis shoes and old sweatshirt and depending upon righteous indignation in case I didn't receive excellent service when I went to buy my Jaguar F Type at a dealership in a very affluent community I thought it better to dress up a bit.

I put on a pair of nice slacks, good shoes, a new Polo shirt and my Omega Speedmaster watch. I was prepared to write a check for $10k for a deposit and bring a cashiers check for another $110k when the car was delivered. (I had to order it configured the way I wanted it).
I was treated very well from the moment I walked in the door and throughout the entire buying process, They even sent a driver on a 100 mile round trip to pick me up when the car was ready for delivery.

I felt no need to impress a teachable moment upon the dealership by seeing if they judged a book by its cover. It was far better to eliminate any need for some kind of contest.

 

[IndyIan]

Most sales guys I run into seem to at least check to see if I'm an actual buyer or not, even if I'm not dressed the part.
That said, many years ago, I rolled up in my 81 Olds Omega at the local Chevy dealership and the experienced sales guys didn't show much interest, so they gave me the new guy. In like 45 minutes we had the paperwork signed, and the experienced guys were still doing nothing... It wasn't a huge sale, but for less than an hours work, it was good money as it had so many stacked GM incentives that I didn't even negotiate, so they basically made MSRP money on it.

 

[Astro14]

Rather than wearing my usual faded jeans, $20 Walmart tennis shoes and old sweatshirt and depending upon righteous indignation in case I didn't receive excellent service when I went to buy my Jaguar F Type at a dealership in a very affluent community I thought it better to dress up a bit.

I put on a pair of nice slacks, good shoes, a new Polo shirt and my Omega Speedmaster watch. I was prepared to write a check for $10k for a deposit and bring a cashiers check for another $110k when the car was delivered. (I had to order it configured the way I wanted it).
I was treated very well from the moment I walked in the door and throughout the entire buying process, They even sent a driver on a 100 mile round trip to pick me up when the car was ready for delivery.

I felt no need to impress a teachable moment upon the dealership by seeing if they judged a book by its cover. It was far better to eliminate any need for some kind of contest.

If I’m looking to be taken seriously - I’ll dress up. I wear business clothes when I am conducting check rides, for example, because how I dress ascribes significance to that occasion, and I have several blazers, several suits,
a tux, a closet full of shirts, pants, appropriate shoes, and accessories.

But I don’t usually walk around that way on a day off when I am running errands. I dress comfortably. Not sloppy. Comfortable.

I wasn’t looking for a “teachable moment” but by ignoring a potential customer, they created one.

By the way, my Filson flannel shirt costs far more than any of my Brooks Brothers dress shirts. My Filson jeans cost more than Levi’s - or my Brooks Brothers trousers. I had on nice leather shoes, but casual ones, and I am willing to bet that I had more $$ on my body than any of the sales folks.

That shouldn’t matter to a smart salesperson, but to a person engrossed in their phone (clearly, not work), looking out of the corner of their eye, perhaps it did.

 

[Toy4x4]

Having worked on the front lines of 4 and 5 stars resorts for the last 37 years, you do your job the same because you can't always judge a book by its cover, as others have said. I've helped out mega-rich guests (Phil Knight and other similar people, multiple celebrities, sports stars, etc.) and the average blue collar worker. Every worker like me can give both good and bad experiences up and down the spectrum of incomes and worth. Those of us who have been around awhile long for the days of tougher management as a lot of todays workers don't cut it. Weak management produces mediocre or worse employees, which equals poorer customer service. Instances where we'd be ripped a new one in the past, occur right in front of managers and nothing happens. Anyhoo, cool story from the past!

 

[dlundblad]

Seems like an odd ending despite the moral of the story. On top of the bank simply selling the building, there is a thing called renters rights too.

My wife and I looked at a house with a detached garage with an apartment. They had what seemed to be a mean dog and I told the realtor they’d be gone if I bought the place. I was told I had to honor the renters lease. Along with the other issues we saw, it was quite easy saying no because of this. We had the original pug and GSD duo at that time. Didn’t want that risk.

 

[andyd]

I hate used car salesmen. So when my wife wanted a new car, I said to get a 4 cylinder Camry. That worked so well, I had her buy me another one

 

[dlundblad]

I hate used car salesmen. So when my wife wanted a new car, I said to get a 4 cylinder Camry. That worked so well, I had her buy me another one

I feel salesmen in general are quite annoying.

Best one I’ve dealt with was when I bought my first Kubota. Do I need this, this, and this? The guy talked me out of 10k worth of stuff. He works for local government now. Lol

 

[97prizm]

Checkered Flag Toyota in Virginia Beach. Made that exact mistake several years ago.

The buyer was my mother-in-law. My wife, at the time a Navy Captain, and Chief of Staff of a Navy-wide Task Force, was the decision-maker. I was merely the driver of the car shuttling the principals from dealership to dealership.

But the salesman kept directing the questions, and attention, to me.

Big mistake.

When the Captain had had enough, the manager was called, and the Captain dressed him down, gently, but publicly, in front of his staff, and we walked out. We bought the car, that day, at Charles Barker (now Hall) Toyota, a few miles away.

She had me send a picture of her mom, and the new car that was bought at their competitor, to Checkered Flag just to be certain that they knew she was serious, and they truly had lost the sale.

You never know who has the money, who is calling the shots, or exactly who you are dealing with. Smart salespeople know this. The ones who don’t - lose the sale.

The dealership manager of a Lexus dealership that I had worked for years ago sold vehicles at a Toyota dealership. A lady came in on a slow Saturday morning driving a beater dodge caravan and noticed the then new 1994 land Cruisers. She chatted with him and at first nobody would talk to her. Come to find out she was a massage therapist in Vail and saved up a ton of money as a friend of hers just bought one. She had the money.

 

[97prizm]

I feel salesmen in general are quite annoying.

Best one I’ve dealt with was when I bought my first Kubota. Do I need this, this, and this? The guy talked me out of 10k worth of stuff. He works for local government now. Lol

My gripe is that many times the salesperson can close a deal but the dealership requires you talk to a manager first. OR I repeatedly got customers without a clue, and you couldn't give them one. When I worked at a VW dealership I had a guy come in and look at a Jetta. I asked what else he was cross-shopping with. He test drove on F-350 and a smart car! I had another lady interested in a jetta, she also test drove an accord, and Hyundai. The look on her husband's face said it all. They'd test driven the Honda and Hyundai twice. I don't think they ended up with anything new.

 

[97prizm]

Right - and how does one walk into a car dealership and not get mobbed by sales people trying every angle to sell you something ? We don't dress up to go look at vehicles and they are on you like gravy on rice

I walked into a bmw dealership back in 2007 dressed very nice. Not one sales person got up. I wanted to test drive a manual 335i for a college paper which I stipulated. One guy finally said sure. I got an A on the paper and got him a $25 gift card to a pizza place.

 

[GMBoy]

I bought my first new Corvette at age 26 - 1994 and I still have it today. So I had taken it to the Chevy Dealer for warranty work (bad 02 sensor) that was a fast repair so I waited. I walked thru the show room looking around while I was waiting for my car to be fixed and purposely looked at the 95 Corvette on the floor. There were 3-4 sales people on the floor but nobody would even approach me. I was young and in sweatpants and a sweatshirt they figured I couldn't afford it. I approached the receptionist as asked for a 95 Corvette brochure and was told they didn't have any. When my car was ready they brought it around front and as I was getting into my corvette a salesman came running up to me (with a brochure in hand!) asking if I needed some help! I grabbed the brochure out of his hand and said not anymore since I wasn't good enough for ya 30 mins ago! and drove off.