This might seem really pedantic ....
I bought a new car and picked it up yesterday. One reason for going to the dealer was its claim of excellent customer satisfaction (as measured by Ford).
Now, on picking up the car, I was basically pressurised into filling in "very satisfied" on the feedback when it comes (through the post), which I refused to do, because I wasn't ! Then they've essentially tried to bribe me with extras to do so, also claiming the salesman wouldn't get paid unless I did (yeah right).
Looks like the "excellent customer service" isn't perhaps as good as claimed then ...
Any other stories of scams ? This is my first new car purchase and I've been a little surprised by a couple of the antics.
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Such things happen. Personally I would just ignore it.
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I am the only Pole over here.
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Actually the salesman realy won't get a bonus if you don't fill in the Completely Satisfied. Part of my pay, although admittedly not all, relied on the completely satisfied box being ticked. In order to acheive this tick we have previously used small bribes of fuel eg "why don't you call into the showroom to fill in the survey and we'll handsomely re-imburse your fuel?"
It may not be totally moral, but even very happy customers sometimes don't realise the importantce of that tick box and will tick "very satisfied" without realising the problems that causes for the dealership. If a garage offered me a bribe now for filling in that tick box I would be happy to take it! Unless I was really annoyed with something they have done, in which case I would want showering with goodies to keep my sweet.
What have they actually done that you weren't satisfied with?
Blue
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So much of the dealers margin, nowadays is dependent on these 'survey's.
No reason why not, either, I'd say.
As long as the customer is made aware, too - then they'd get completed more ofen!!
VB
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I just basically think it's a bent system. I was annoyed because the particulars of the finance weren't as explained verbally, not by much in the scheme of things but not in my favour. I was offered some recompense with extra fuel which was not there on delivery. Then the general attitude that OK it had happened so let's forget about it - I can handle mistakes and misunderstandings but not when I'm expected to foot the bill for them ! Sort of a matter of principle on shaking hands really.
Then the checklist had already been completed and was skimmed through, because the original sales bloke wan't there on pickup. Some of the stuff simply wasn't done. Now this is my fault admittedly for signing but I wanted to drive off in the new car - I feel there should have been a little more care taken on behalf of the dealer who can reasonably be expected to know this !!
Hence all in all too much of "getting the deal done" and pretending to be your mate without the real little touches that make you feel good will, and cost me a bit of cash. I don't see why I should reward that.
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Fiar enough, I don't think you should reward that either.
Although I may have been tempted to drop into conversation that a free first service would have made me restored my complete satisfaction. ;-)
Bet they'd have offered it too!
Blue
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Is it too radical to suggest that if you give "very satisfactory services", we will tick "very satisfactory boxes"? Why should you get your bonus if you don?t do you damn job properly? How many threads on this site are complaining about dealer services? That won?t change if they get rewarded for shoddy service. Is it really easier to give away a tank of gas than to give "very satisfactory" service to a customer who?s come to pick up his new motor.
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Its been a few years since I last had to fill in one of these.
I'd been happy with the sale so called up the salesman and suggested that I was havign some problems filling the form in and suggested that if he bought lunch at an expensive local restyarant then he could help me fill it in. Reslut, free £50 lunch, very pleasant it was too.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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Actually the salesman realy won't get a bonus if you don't fill in the Completely Satisfied. Part of my pay, although admittedly not all, relied on the completely satisfied box being ticked.
I (seriously) can't imagine ever being 'Completely Satisfied' with a car purchasing experience. In the unlikely event that I was, I don't think I'd want to admit it.
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I agree with you Bill Payer, it is not regular that you will be happy with EVERYTHING about a deal, from the price to the car spec, to the delivery date and time, to the look of the dealership, the smile on the receptionist's face etc. There will almost always be some tiny detail that means the expereince wasn't literally perfect.
I don't know why it happened, but many of our customers who were looked after by long serving staff from beginning to end and assured us that they were happy with the car, that everything had gone smoothly from beginning to end and that they were completely satisfied with everything and we could do nothing more for them, would then tick the "very satisfied" box. That meant we lost pay and the dealership's standing suffered, hardly fair, but they were under the impression that ticking the "very satisfied" box was in some way good enough, despite us explaining the importance of the survey.
No wonder we used to feel the need to persuade, beg and bribe them into ticking the "completely" box is it? :-)
Blue
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PFM401 - Just out of interest, what dealership was it that you used? The group that I worked for has received several Chairman's awards for customer satisfaction, wondering if it may be a similar group.
If you don't want to name them, then just say whether they are in the North East or not, that should be enough.
Blue
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Blue,
No it wasn't in the North East, in the South East. Thing is, if customer feedback isn't properly monitored, noone ever improves. In any other area businesses want to know what people REALLY think so they can actually compete for their business, and things generally improve. Getting people to tick boxes for cash is hardly a way to improve service and just suggests to me that the system is corrupt. I do take your point about the completely satisfied customer ticking "very" though, as that seems harsh on the dealer if they have really pulled out the stops. Let's be honest most of us spending thousands on a car probably find something not quite perfect. But in the cold light of day I still don't like the attitude of the fellas who served me (but not enough to walk away from what was a very good deal !)
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The feedback is monitored by Ford so anything untoward is normally picked up on, I know the system isn't foolproof as there are still dealers who aren't great.
The problem sometimes is trying to explain to a customer whether a problem is down to the dealership or not. For example, if a car arrives at the dealership damaged from Ford, then the customer will face a delay. That's one deeply unhappy customer, and there's nothing that the dealership can do to either avoid, or rectify the situation.
I think the system does get manipulated within a certain margin, but anyone who really isn't happy is unlikely to tick the satisfied box if they really aren't, and if they can be bought off with a tank of fuel then they're either really cheap or not that totally unhappy to begin with I reckon! :-)
Blue
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Surely it is the system that is at fault, perhaps a graduated bonus depending on feedback would be much more likely to give an accurate feedback result without the distorting penalty of no bonus whatsoever to the salesperson.
StarGazer
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Sounds like a stupid system to me.
For a start, If I were asked to fill in a form, I would refuse. I hate filling in forms. That is my basic right. No reason why a dealership should suffer as a result.
Secondly, if a dealer is penalised because the customer is only "very satisfied", then that is idiotic. Good job I do not give Mrs Lawman a questionaire on a regular basis....
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Agreed totally Lawman, many people didn't fill the forms in at all, and Ford only like to see completely satisifed, the dealerships could get massive bonuses from having a good CSP rating (basically percentages of completely satisfied)
Blue
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