Using your Network of Trust for Quality Service
Good & Bad Customer Service at Car Dealerships
For the last few years I have been fighting consistently against bad customer service.
I will start you off with the bad customer service so we can get end with the positive side of the story.
My most recent nightmare was while shopping for a car at a dealership where someone I know recommended me to go. Most of the time when I use my Network of Trust to recommend me places of business I never run into issues.
This time I tried to use my network of Trust but the difference was that this time my friend who recommended the dealer really did not trust the person he sent me too. I can’t blame my friend because I asked him where was he offered best price for the Kia he planned to buy.
What I should have asked was where could I get a good price and good customer service.
But then should we make such of an emphasis on where we can get quality customer service? (I guess this can be the subject for another blog post).
For those of you who know me understand how much of a Nightmare I had by buying a Car from Garage Isla Verde where they decided they where not going to honor their Mercedes Pre-Owned warranty. If you want a quick update on that visit (http://mercedesbenzpr.net).
My nightmare with Garage Isla Verde made me very skeptical (to the point of almost paranoid) when buying a vehicle. Sadly most of these dealerships have more control than they have over the market for the following reasons:
- They buy a lot of ad space in the Local Newspapers so it would be very difficult to have the media against them. After all you are not going to write bad reviews about the people that waste their money on paper ads which might not be even be read.
- Most of us complain but don’t take the proper actions. We keep on buying cars from the same people, which think they are more important than their customers.
- Some of these dealerships take advantage of people. Some people are so focus on buying an expensive car they end up in ridiculous deals but since they got what they wanted (not considering how in the whole most dealerships put them financially) at the moment they feel like the dealer helped them out. Later on they will figure out that it was a different story.
My most recent experience was at Automax dealership in Yauco, PR which I highly discourage you from visiting or buying from them . Too make a long story short it was curious how this car salesman (who ended up being the owner of the dealership) was using theatrical presentation to make me believe that the offer I had received elsewhere was not true. Not only did he question my integrity (forget about Customer Service Basics) he also spoke to me in a harassing matter. Well I left the dealership, since I was kicked out when I requested some respect from the salesman, which I found out to be the owner of the dealership. I tried to be as polite as I could be but when he kept on questioning my integrity I finally had it.
My lesson out of this was the mistake of going somewhere out of the Network of Trust.
I also went online and fount out that they are using a Facebook Personal Profile in an inappropiate way so if you can actually help me report their misuse of facebook it would be a great favor. Just click the image below and report the misuse. I think it could be a step to making sure to treat future customers in a better way.
- I requested a better price for a specific car. So they could make more profit they decided to try to make me believe that their profit was very low to the extent of less than $1,000 dollars from the Suggested Retail Price. For a vehicle that is valued at over $27,000 it is difficult to believe that they only profit less than $1,000
- From the start the dealership owner called me a liar when I told them the best offer I had received from another dealership. Even when I offer to provide evidence since I had received the previous offers via email. I don’t care in what type of business you are unless you have proof that the other person is lying please refrain from questioning their integrity.
- Even though I was constantly offended they still wanted my information so they could follow up on me. I don’t understand why if they could not better my offer would they want my contact information.
Where I should have gone in the First Place!
Two days later I was recommended by a good friend @nelsonbermejo to visit Yiyi Motors. He not only recommended them he also assured me I would get the right treatment.
On Wednesday, following @nelsonbermejo’s advice I visited Yiyi Motors to view what vehicles they could offer me on my budget and that met my needs.
I was very impressed on how organize & how accommodating they where. They had all the time in the world to listen to my needs.
At the end of the day they convinced me that I should buy the vehicle from them by doing the following:
- They made me feel important and different to most car dealerships which think they are the key player since they are selling the car to you.
- They acted the same way I would treat my possible customers with respect and giving them the best quality service.
- They made me feel like a partner they cordially worked with me on a business negotiation. The other mentioned dealerships make it more similar to going to war. It’s a business negotiation nothing else.
- They greeted me instead of running to the car and not letting me get out aggressively starting their Snake Oil Salesmen pitch.
- They did not attempt to make a Hard Sell. They where very understanding of my needs and particular situation and they convinced me and guided me to the best-customized option for me.
- Even when I told them I was not going to buy the car that day they still kept on accommodating my requests. Different to other dealers on the Island like Triangle Dealers, Bella International, Lexus Puerto Rico, and Automax places which I have visited recently and once you tell them you will not buy that day they lose interest or they express how you wasted their time.
- They followed up two days later to offer help on other things I had mentioned during the requests of my needs. They offered genuine help other than selling a vehicle they really demonstrated they care.
- Since someone referred me they gave me an easier avenue to negotiating price. Very different to other dealers which I had visited and it could take weeks to get to where to the price discount I got them to give me.
So in conclusion, if you want to have a great experience buying a car feel free to call Yiyi Motors and ask for Andrés Diaz at 787-785-4295.
Thanks to his experience (and @nelsonbermejo’s recommendation) I will soon buy a car from Yiyi Motors and I promise to keep you posted.
Feel free to visit their Facebook Fan Page and let them know you read this post and what a great job they are doing.
- Determine what vehicle you want to buy.
- Focus on Financing
Top 5 Biggest Mistakes When Buying a Car
- Avoiding These Mistakes Can Save You Thousands of Dollars Each Year
Have any of you ran into similar good or bad experiences?
Please share your thoughts! This channel might be the way to correct the issues for the dealers who need a lot of work at the sales front and recognize the ones that are giving their customers good customer service.