Customer Satisfaction Surveys

geo9

The dealer messed up so I had to return there today!

Nothing big just needed a photocopy of my DL for the
financing banks requirement. It was a opportunity
to take a ride in the rural countryside on a nice day!

So as I was shooting the breeze with the GM, F&I
guys as well as the salesman I was bustin' about how
I hammered them on the GM new car survey..........
Why they asked???????????

I mentioned because the F&I guy knew i wasn't a "lay
down" and didn't sweat me on buying a extended warranty,
choke n' croak, and rust n' dust!!!!!!!!!!

The GM for trying to rob me out of my trade in by only
offering me $21,500 and then selling it for $23,900 !

The salesguy for not splitting his commission "on the
slide" with me either...............

We all had a good laugh and I was asking them if the
owner Charlie was around and if they wanted me to
bust on him a little bit !!!!!
They asked me not to because he was in a miserable mood!

Said my goodbyes and promised a "completely satisfied"
on the survey and went on my way!!!!!!!!! :P

madmanmoo

:confuse:

I'm always confused when reading your posts. What's the point?

-Moo

oldfarmer50

What happened to posts #467 and #468?

tidester

Sometimes a little pruning is necessary.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

joel0622

Sometimes a little pruning is necessary

Ya I should be in full bloom. I used to get pruned allot earlier in the spring

bremertong

Nice to see you post here too! We have sent messages back and forth at the Deville web site. I recently traded my 2004 Deville for a new 2006 DTS. The salesman noticed some small damage on the front bumper AFTER I wrote my check. I was brought back for repair and was told that by the scratch repair person that I would have to leave the car overnight, to which I replied, I know a one hour scratch repair service that can come and repair at the dealership to which they replied that service could not repair that kind of scratch, bottom line the scratch repair person repaired the scratch in one hour to like new condition. This
plus the fact that the car stalled out several times in the first few weeks that I had it. On my first visit they said they had reset some error codes and all would be fine now.
Almost as soon as I got home the car stalled out again, at that point I called the General manager and he arranged to have the battery changed, they also found several voltage error codes. The electrical system seems okay after second visit, just a week ago. They also would not change the oil which had been in the engine since it left the factory in Sept. 2005, once again the general manager stepped in and told them to change the oil without charge to me. The salesman took very little interest in assisting after he took my check. BOTTOM LINE: The survey, I will check several items as somewhat satisfied and some as satisfied but none of the survey will be checked as completely satisfied. Since it is close to 140 miles round trip to the
dealership I was greatly inconvienced by all this nonsense.
Think I'm right not to pass them with flying colors for this kind of experience. Wondered what others think???

nj2pa2nc

after bringing my hyundai for service I received a survey. I would have gave them excellant marks but I returned it to them as they offered to fill the gas tank on my car for the blank survey with the return envelope. free is always good.

oldfarmer50

"...they offered to fill the tank on my car..."

You got $40 worth of gas and the salesman got hundreds in bonus money. You sold your integrity cheap.

nj2pa2nc

the survey was for the service department not for sales. As I previously wrote I would have given them excellants so they still would have received their bonus. I would be dumb to turn down their offer. as the old saying goes money talks b.s. walks

oldfarmer50

"...was for the service department not for sales..."

Oh, I misunderstood. You sold your integrity for the right price then.

isellhondas

Yes, some stores do this. At least that customer was happy and would have given excellent scores anyway.

Some lousy stores can earn top surveys if they buy them and, yes, for some people, it's all about something for nothing.

oldfarmer50

I was wondering do ALL car makers use CSI's? Are they all tied in to bonus money? Any car makers that use a different system?

humblecoder

Until I happened upon this message board, I never knew how those auto dealer surveys work. Personally, it sounds like a load of cow manure.

I don't specifically remember exactly what the CSI survey looked like when I bought my last new car (2004), but I am almost certain that I didn't give the top rating across the board. Was he a decent salesperson? He was okay as far as salespeople go. Was he the BEST salesperson that I ever had? Definitely not!!

I would certainly call him "average", since he was friendly and he wasn't offensive or anything. However, he did not go above and beyond the call of duty. That is why I would not give him a perfect score across the board.

Now keep in mind that was 3 years ago, and I didn't realize that I was screwing him out of his bonus or anything. If I had known that, I probably would have given him his perfect score, since he didn't do anything so terrible that his bonus should be withheld. And I wouldn't even need to be bribed to do it!

If I were a car salesperson, here is how I would approach the CSI survey. Rather than bribing the person, here is what I would say:

"In the coming weeks, you are going to receive a Customer Satisfaction Survey from GM/Ford/Honda/etc. There is a bonus that is tied to your response to this survey. If you give me the highest rating in all areas related to sales, then I will be eligible for the bonus. However, if you give me one or more scores below the highest, then I will not get my bonus.

"As you can see, this isn't a very fair system, since nobody is perfect including me. However, it is the system that our manufacturer has set up, so there isn't much that I can do about it. So when you fill it out, if you think that I deserve my bonus, please fill it out with the highest scores. If you don't think that I deserve the bonus, then fill it out accordingly.

"Since nobody is perfect, if you think I deserve the bonus but you think that there are still areas that I can improve upon, please fill out the survey with the highest score, but also feel free to send a letter to myself or to my boss with the areas you feel where we can do better."

In this way, you are explaining the impact of the CSI survey, and then allowing the person do to what they will without mudding the waters with a bribe. I think most decent people will vote to give you the bonus if you deserve it. If the person isn't decent, well then they probably wouldn't have given you a perfect score anyway!

joel0622

I would keep a copy of the survey at my desk and go over it line by line with the customer while we were waiting for the car to come out of clean up, explain the importance of it and ask for perfect scores. I learned early on if you did not ask for them you would not get them. But like I have said before, our store does not tie your pay plan to your VOC score (Voice Of The Customer). The biggest deal we ever made out of it was a perfect 10 would get you $10 and if you were top man of the year you would get a $500 bonus.

One thing that raised our scores even higher then they already were was now we do whats called an exit interview. When I am all done with the paper work I go get the SM who worked the deal. He comes in, thanks you for your purchase, asks you if there is anything we could have done better, goes over your maintenance schedule, ask you what brought you to the dealership and explains the survey you are going to receive. It takes 5 minutes and has helped allot.

baca2589

Well Considering all the info on the web and that you probebly didn't pay full sticker for your car.Your sales person didn't make more then $75.00, whitch is the minimum at most dealers for survy bonus. No matter if it was service problems your sales person got slammed and probebly lost about $700 out of his pay for the month as these survey are based off an avarage. I work in sales and it is a very unfair survy to us. On the other hand your sales person should have convayed the importance of the survy to you. So no you where not wrong because you didn't know.

oldfarmer50

I purchased a new car at the end of January and still have not received a CSI. I asked the salesman if they were on a survey system and he said yes. I indicated that I knew how the system worked and intended to give him a perfect score. He said it would come in the mail. He also said I would get a call from J.D. Powers.

J.D. Powers called a few days later. One of my son's friends answered and misunderstood who they were looking for. He told them there was no one here by that name. I'm wondering, could that have been the CSI? Why would they do it by phone when the salesman told me I would get something in the mail?

They never called back and I've had no follow-up from the dealer. I'd hate to think some dumb teenager screwed up the sales guy's bonus.

madmanmoo

Which vehicle make did you buy? It depends on the manufacturer.

-moo

oldfarmer50

"...Which vehicle make..."

Mitsu

joel0622

Probably can't afford the postage. :shades:

oldfarmer50

"...Probably can't afford the postage..."

LOL Actually, they made money this year. How did Ford do?

joel0622

Touche

oldfarmer50

"...Touche..."

Don't worry, I think the Mustang GT is a better car, I just couldn't afford it.

madmanmoo

No clue as to how they run the system. I wouldn't worry about that poor salesman though.

-moo

perna

I took delivery of my Altima on 2/29, and I just got my survey yesterday, on 3/19.

It was about the same back in '03 when I bought my last car from them, IIRC.

One nice thing was that you can now fill them out online without bothering with mailing it.

One amusing thing was that it asks you in GIANT BOLD LETTERS on both the intro letter AND the question itself that if you were pressured in any way, shape, or form about the survey to contact Nissan immediately and "DO NOT BRING THIS SURVEY INTO THE DEALERSHIP".

isellhondas

Some dealers will promise a tank of gas or something else in return for a survey that is brought to them.

And a lot of customers can get treated like crap and sell themselves out for that tank of gas or free oil change.

Oldfarmer, they could have killed your survey if they figured you were going to trash them.

jipster

DO NOT BRING THIS SURVEY INTO THE DEALERSHIP

Well, if you take the survey to the dealership there really is nothing to stop the salesperson or manager from opening the thing up and changing the answers... to their benefit.

oldfarmer50

"...if they figured you were going to trash them..."

Well, I told the sales guy that I would give him a perfect CSI. Do salespeople figure that what ever you say you mean the opposite, as in "I'm not a grinder"?

I actually thought the salesman did a pretty good job of giving me a fair price without a lot of phony friendliness. His boss the owner told me some lies but I wouldn't trash the sales guy for that.

Should I call him up and ask what happened? You're a pretty no-nonsense salesperson Isell, what would you recommend?

isellhondas

What would I reccommend?

Forget it. Not everyone get's a survey, at least with Honda.

It's frustrating too when people who love me don't get a survey and the customer who made every aspect of the sale a miserable procedure...THEY get the survey!

jipster

I got a service survey from Mazda today on warranty work I had done about a month ago. I gave all "completely satisfied"... though a few may have been more like "very satisfied " or "satisfied", don't know it they are graded pass/fail like
the surveys with new car purchases.

I was in and out in under an hour, after having an ignition coil replaced. Don't know if it was just good service, or that I told them if it were going to take long I would need a free rental car.

rockyelli

the most terrible sales pitches. there is no promises kept after you sign contract
you cannot find anybody in the store who knows what comes with you car.
they make you sign forms that you dont agree with after they make you streesed and excited about the new car. they are professional...cheeters

bvdj84

You can totally tell if a salesmen is going to play a game with you and be fake within seconds they come out to the lot. I hate that, just lose the act, and just be yourself.
Now, perhaps that is yourself...lol. I am not sure. Were all human. What I hate is that when I know more about the car than they do, that is sad, sometimes, I catch them in a lie. Another, is that they should know exactly what we should be paying, and paying per month on average for a new car in the lot. Don't give me that quote, and get me inside, and go well, its going to be a bit more. No! Another, I'll mention that another dealer offered a great deal, and wonder if they will honor it there. No, they actually said, " go to the other dealer, because we won't do it here". I was like WOW! They watched me walk right out the door. I am even local too. Their staff is made up of mostly young people, and literally run me right over, because I am young, and I look young. Then, I look like the idiot.

What I have learned is that you MUST get everything in place before you sign the contract, though does not always work, but if you want anything, you must do this before signing. Then atleast you'll be able to walk away. This terrible experiences, have taken place at BOB ROHRMAN Honda!! Buyer beware!
Their dealer is bogus!! I have given them so many chances to help me, but they did not want to. I will not pay more than what other dealers are selling for. This dealer is known for high prices.

Now, this does not mean that all dealers are this way, but this is typical around here at Honda. Run around!! I just want to tell them, lose the act, lets be real!
Its only a car. If I can sense your desperate for a profit, then your trying too hard. Give me some room, don't smother the customer! I know you need to make a living too, but don't act so desperate, heck here is a $10, go get some food. Or better yet, a chill pill to calm yourself down...lol

I think I would be a great salesmen, I would give them the low down of the car, let them drive it, give them plenty of time, no pressure at all. I would be really easy going, I would be straight up. Because though most dealers don't like that approach, but if you notice, they make salesmen of the month more, and pull in more deals. My problem, I might be too nice, and eat into my money, because I am so nice. You just gotta be calm, not too excited, just let them go at their own pace, then the rest will follow, it will! They want a car, but just let them move. You don't have to sugar coat anything. Its a car.
You make friends with them and relate to them on their level, you have them forever. Were all in the same boat. I would introduce myself, shake their hands, let them drive the car, then give them time. Give them numbers, ask them what they want.. I would be honest.

Anyway...lol

madmanmoo

Another, is that they should know exactly what we should be paying, and paying per month on average for a new car in the lot.

I agreed with your first statement, but this is exactly why we don't talk numbers on the lot. Because then the customer may get false expectations and gets upset..... like you did. Every customer is different. No sense in talking numbers before you've picked out the right car.

Selling cars is a very difficult job, especially depending upon your dealer and the vehicle you've chosen to sell. It may seem as easy as shaking hands and making friends, but it does get a bit more involved.

All in all though, I agree with you. Treat your customer like they are human and be yourself.

joel0622

they make you sign forms that you dont agree with

Any one who would sign something they don't agree with is just weak. Don't sign anything you don't understand or don't agree with.

bonita8

I bought a car about 2 weeks ago and was wondering if they still send out the CSS. Boy do I have a lot to say on it!

Kirstie_H

They probably won't send you one if they think you're going to be dissatisfied.
You can always review your dealership experience here:
http://www.edmunds.com/dealer-reviews

mortienne

I've bought 4 new cars over the last 4 years (2 Toyotas, a Hyundai and an Infiniti) and haven't received a CSS. to be fair, we only got the last Toyota on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see if anything shows up.

normkol

I bought a Toyota on January 8th and got the survey from Toyota a couple of weeks later.

The only complaint I had was how long and drawn out the negotiating process was. It was all over my trade, which they admitted was in beautiful, new car condition.

They started 4k below Edmund's value, and took about two hours to come up 3k to where I went with it.