The experience with the Nissan dealer still left Laura one new car short of our goal. At this point, we had definitely decided on the Honda Accord. We had a decision on the car. Now we had to decide on the dealer. If you remember, I had received a price that Laura’s dealer had told me wasn’t possible for the trim she wanted. I e-mailed the sales weenie at the dealer with the lower price that we were accepting his offer. He called me, and we made an appointment to pick up the car a few days later. Life was good. I had the deal in writing, which was the point of negotiating by e-mail.
When we went to pick up Laura’s new car, our sales idiot showed us the car to make certain it was the exact color and trim. It was. I was happy and proud of my negotiating talent. I had slain the car dealer monster for Laura and gotten a great deal. My grand negotiating strategy, modified for the internet age, was a great success. I was a genius among men.
We sat down with the sales scumbag to complete the purchasing paperwork. He filled out the sale order, congratulated us on our intelligence in selecting his deal, and presented the buyer’s order to me to be signed. I looked at the price. It was about a thousand dollars higher than the price I had printed from my e-mail from the dealer. I showed him the e-mail, and his face became flushed. He excused himself and went to see the sales manager. I smelled a rat. In fact, I smelled a whole dealership full of rats. We put on our coats and stood up to leave.
Our sales jerk called to us to stay. We did, but we kept our coats on. After a brief discussion with the boss, he returned to our table with a sheet of paper in his hand. He put the sheet on the table. It was a price list. Each model and trim combination had a price. He pointed to the car on the list that was the one we wanted. We saw the higher price he had written on the buyer’s order. He then pointed to the next line down, which showed a different trim. That car had the price I had been offered in the e-mail. He explained to me that Their internet sales manager had given him the price for the wrong car when he sent the price offer to me. He further explained that this list was a regional price list that all the local dealers used. Now I knew what the sales guy from the other dealership was talking about when he told me they “couldn’t” sell me that car for the price I was quoted. I think that policy would be called price fixing in most rational universes. I’ll let the lawyers among you decide if this was illegal. At the time, I didn’t give a crap. I now knew that you can’t even trust a car dealer when he puts a price in writing.
We stood and walked toward the exit. He ran after us and offered to split the difference. As a CPA, I have lots of experience with pathological liars. I know, and you should know, that once a liar is revealed, you really have to cut all ties immediately. Once a liar, always a liar. Can you imagine trusting this dealer’s service department? As we walked out the door, I turned and very loudly addressed the entire dealership, including prospective customers. I offered my opinion on the sales turd’s integrity, honor, and worth as an alleged human being. We went back to Laura’s dealer and bought the car for the lowest “allowable” cost.
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