Wait Here, Let Me Talk to My Manager
The Worst Buying Experience Ever
“Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say are not right
If I promised you the moon and the stars, would you believe it?”
from Games People Play by The Alan Parsons Project
What has been your worst buying experience?
Mine continues to be buying a car. The process is broken, ripe for re-engineering and disruption. The proverbial car salesman is not dead! And they all attend the same old school of playing games.
Here are specifics from my recent experience:
- They waste my time: Upon setting an appointment, the dealer emailed, texted, and called several times to make sure I show up. And when I got there on time, they were not ready. The sales rep was nowhere to be found, and the car for the test drive was not ready.
- They waste resources: Between the sales rep, the manager, the sales director, and the GM, they showed up at different times and engaged in sometimes relevant and often irrelevant conversation. And in addition to those who engaged with me, there is plenty of other staff just hanging around.
- They are not customer-centric: In my case, car buying was a combination of the right car at the right price, additional parts, a trade-in, and financing. I stated clearly that my decision was driven by the combination of all four elements. They proceeded to confront me with four distinct departments and decision-makers, all trying to upsell me on something.
- They lack the necessary product knowledge: On several occasions, the person labeled the “expert” on the topic was unable (or elected to claim to be unable) to answer my question. Another expert was required. The worst: They quoted me a price on a trailer hitch for a car that cannot accommodate a trailer hitch.
- They play games: At different times during the process, the sales rep, the manager, the sales director, and other individuals disappeared into a back room. No single person seemed to be empowered enough to make a decision on the spot. And, of course, it is all part of an old-school game they play. They are trying to get me to invest a lot of time in the transaction so that I won't go elsewhere.
- They are dishonest: I tried to clarify as much as possible on the phone before visiting the dealer: the exact car I wanted, the VIN of my trade-in, the offer in writing I had received for the trade-in, … On the phone, they said they could match the offer. Guess what happened when I got there?
- They insult my intelligence: Before a test drive, I do not need to have a run-down of every single function of the vehicle (No one does that when I pick up a rental car.) I can read two lists of features and compare. The dealer's intent, of course, is to point out at great length what I will be "missing" if I choose a lower-cost option. And the worst was this question: “On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you relative to buying a car today? A 9 or a 10?” Wait, this was actually the worst: “I am only making a few hundred dollars on this sale.”
- They waste my time (again): Everything I describe above took time, my time, 4 hours of it, most of which I spent sitting around waiting for the next step.
Of course, I realize I am not alone. Googling “the worst buying experience” delivers plenty of results just on car buying. Here is only one example:
“When we arrived, I told the salesman I wasn’t going to buy anything that day. But the salesman cornered me into a negotiation anyway. I sat in an uncomfortable chair for most of the afternoon while this fellow disappeared time and again, emerging each time with a new lower price written on a sheet of paper.
After several rounds of this, I thanked him, told him, again, I didn’t intend to buy a Jeep that day, and went home with my piece of paper to think about it, with a promise the price would still stand. A couple of days later, I phoned him up to say I was ready to buy and would be over shortly. I hoped then this would be an easy transaction and my shiny new car would be waiting for me!
However, when I got to the dealership, my salesman told me they could no longer sell me the Jeep at the price we’d agreed to! The manager (who supposedly approved the price in the first place) said it really shouldn’t have happened – the car costs the dealership more than that. I was furious over the bait and switch and the wasted day of negotiating.”
And, if you need it, here is what the Harvard Business School writes on why we have this terrible experience:
“… the industry has a structural problem: the deep divide between car manufacturers and dealerships. Simply put, …, incentives are not in alignment. Manufacturers are focused on the long-term mission of building brands and customer loyalty, while dealers just want to sell cars today.
… Lexus wants to experiment with Saturn-like “no-haggle” pricing, responding to complaints, especially from younger-generation buyers, that negotiation is frustrating, time consuming, and not at all transparent. Dealers, meanwhile, like things the way they are. They argue that American consumers expect to deal, to feel like they are getting the best price possible …
In reality, in the current arrangement, dealers enjoy an information asymmetry advantage over the consumer, so what’s the incentive to add more transparency on things like invoice markups and service costs?”
So, what is the solution? According to an Accenture survey of 10,000 people, more than 3/4 of those surveyed said that “if given the opportunity, they would consider making their entire car-buying process online, including financing, price negotiation, back-office paperwork, and home delivery." Power to Carvana, Vroom, Shift, and others who are happy to listen.
What has been your worst buying experience?
__________________
Sean Silverthorne - Fix This! Why is it so Painful to Buy a New Car?
Meg Prater - How to Be a Good Car Salesperson
Shawna Suckow - Why the Automotive Industry is Ripe for Disruption
Photo by Anne Gosewehr