My Salesperson Misled Me
Do you feel like your salesperson has been less than straightforward? Tell us about it here.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
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I had related problems with my salesman when I purchased my 06 TSX. He wasn't very sure about all the new upgrades to the 06 compared to the 05 TSXs. I spent months reading reviews, visiting the Acura website, ordering brochures online, and chatting to folks on 3 other forums like this one before I talked to a salesman. I gave him a few test questions to test his knowledge such as:
- Why is there only a 5 hp increase for the 06 model compared to the 05?
- Will any Bluetooth phone work with the hands free?
- Any new features on the Navi system for 06?
- Why do I need premium fuel for this car?
Always ask the salesman questions when you already know the answers first to test their knowledge! The folks on this forum were more knowledgeable and helpful about the TSX than any salesman I’ve met.
This is a tough one, I wonder if it ended up in court what the actual damages would be? I mean the salesman should be responsible for providing correct information on the vehicle he's selling, but I also think there's some due diligence on the part of the consumer to know what they're buying. I might have asked him to demo the RTT for me or I could have verified it from the brochure or internet. I feel for you because you should be enjoying your new car.
Have you spoken to the dealership to see what their response is?
What kind of vehicle did the person buy?
Nissan has real time traffic through XM radio. Every car with Nav will be set up with a XM antenna. The sales person could of told him that. But he would need to subscribe to XM to get that feature of real time traffic.
GP
I went to pick up my car. The telephone button is there, but VW doesn't offer it for North America. Got a $200 off the agreed price (brought it to invoice).
At home I discovered that the CD player that came with the Navi didn't play MP3s. Live and learn. I now test *every* feature that is important to me before signing.
"This is a complete agreement between the parties. There are no other agreements or understandings except as set forth herein in writing"
What that means is if it is not in writing it is not part of the deal. If the dealer supplied you an equipment list or if it is stated on the window sticker it has the option you are talking about then you are entitled to it. If not then it is a case of he said, she said, Jimmy shot Sally.
Now we have had cases in the past where a salesperson has mis-spoke and at times we have made it right and at times we have ran the customer from the establishment and asked him never to return and to please use another store for any future sales or service needs. It all depended on how the customer handled the situation.
BTW I did about a 15 second google search and found out your car does not have it.
He then started extolling the virtues of the Jetta, which, according to him, included "Rear wheel defrosters" and, my favorite "Locking locks." This guy was a total loser. At the least, he didn't know his product. I left when he tried to convince me to climb in the trunk of the car to see how big it was. I was like, "Yeah, I can see my family reading about that one in the paper after my body is found on the roadside, "He stupidly got into the murderer's trunk with no sign of a struggle."
Granted, this VW dealership was paired with a Cadillac dealership, but if you're gonna sell a new car, you should know the features, shouldn't you? I am glad I tested the button that supposedly rolled down all of the windows. Not that I'd have bought the car based on that feature alone, but the guy's credibility took a big hit when I realized he was just making stuff up.
For a professional salesperson this is not a problem because they understand that knowledge is power and power is profit. If you can't build value in something why would I pay you for it. That equates out to IMO about 60% of the sales people in the industry not including high line guys.
Its the other 40% who I am talking about here.
Prior to the internet, video conferencing, all the other high tech stuff we use for communicating now days we would have new product launches. For example when the new mustang came out in 1994 Ford would send teams all over the place to do what we called Ride & Drives. It would be a 2 day event where you did nothing but learn about the new product, its benefits, and its features, because any salesperson worth a damn knows that benefits and features is what sells cars. When they used to do stuff off site there were never any distractions and the group concentrated on the task at hand
Now what they do is have all there training over the internet and on TV, hardly any hands on stuff any more and they are really not held accountable. A $20 bill is all you need to get one of the product knowledge gurus to take your test and they feel that the 4 hours spent in the classroom is missed opportunity on the sales floor. They just don't get the fact that if you don't understand it then it is harder to sell and if you do sell it your ignorance is costing you money.
I have already spoken to the dealer manager and he has been friendly in his tone but an [non-permissible content removed] in his response... his initial response (when I told him about the misinformation and discrepancy) was "I'm not even sure what that is... anyway I have a nav in my car and I don't even use it." So right away he tries to diminish my wants as a customer which I think is really rude. Then he goes on to say, "but I understand your frustration and we want to make sure you're happy with your car and can get on with enjoying your purchase... so, I'll see if there's anything I can scrape up for you from the shop here... maybe we can give you a shirt or something" (insert silent pause of disbelief here)... .what a joke! I mean I think this guy is either an complete idiot or he is a huge a-hole trying to add insult to injury.
I'm going to go in today I think and look at the difference in the cost of the nav option on the TL and the cost of the nav option on the TSX. Since the main difference between the two is the real time traffic feature, this is the amount I think the dealership should be responsible for giving me.
Technically they do not have to do anything for you, it will just be a matter of weather or not they want to show some good will and are interested in a long time customer base or if they are sell and forget establishment.
I wish you luck.
I think I know the answer. But, if that feature was so important, why not?
"Caveat emptor!"
Mackabee :shades:
I think it sounds like De77 wouldn't have taken the salesman's word for it and verified it on his own. What dealership is it that you purchased this car from by the way? It sounds a little far fetched that the manager would have offered you a shirt for your trouble...
Nissan has it on several models and so does Acura. It is usually tied into the nav screen with the satellite radio.
The sad fact is that NO, not everyone has the product knowledge they should- in any sales environment. That is why I gave the advice to ask for a pro (THEY DO EXIST) when shopping next time. I also mentioned that I think that you are being treated poorly by this dealership and that perhaps you should get compensated. But the fact remains, you do still have a Navigation system in your car that has a value attached to it. IF Acura offers the real- time traffic feature as a separate option (you should have been able to see that right in the brochure) then you should get a portion of that back.
It doesn't look like you were misled, you just got a salesman that gave you wrong information, because that's what he thoguth the car has. Do you really believe he lied to you just to get the sale?!? Risking his job for one car commission? I doubt it.
So you should accept it for what it is: the salesman made a mistake, and you didn't catch it. If you go to the dealership all puffed up yelling how you got screwed - I don;t think you will get anything out of it. Ans what is it exactly that you want to get out of it?
Everything a car has is prinyed on the Monroney sticker - the horsepower, MPG and every little feature, including the floormats. Did it say RTT on the sticker? If yes - you have a legal case. If not - you don't. So again - what are you trying to get out of it? Get out of the deal? Or squeeze a few fundred bucks from the dealer?
Pro's make mistakes too. Did you see Tony Romo's five interceptions and fumble in Monday nights game? :sick:
You shouldn't necessarily expect a salesperson to tell you the truth. Sometimes they will misspeak out of ignorance,laziness or just a mistake... other times to make a sale. So, verify everything that is important to you.
LOL. That's a good one. Who ever heard of a car salesman lieing to make a sale?
No way am I going to risk that bonus by purposefully misleading someone to get a sale with a couple hundred dollar commission.
So true. Do I think it's possible that a salesperson provided inaccurate information. Of course, I have encountered it many times. However, whether he deliberately lied or not is only speculation and I don't think fruitful to debate here.
It is unfortunate that you purchased a vehicle based on information that you were led to believe, but I can't help but wonder why you didn't try it out or ask for a demonstration if it was that critical in your decision making process.
I have a new vehicle with RTT that a few weeks old. It is kinda neat, but it does not cover all major highways. It accurately shows accidents and construction, but frankly I don't know what alternate route I would use if I was not familiar with the area. When I have known areas well, the alternates tended to be congested as well.
You should alos realize RTT is not free. You need to pay an extra fee on top of the XM radio fee.
Joel,
I have to admit I love these gurus. Some times I can end up with a $150 in a hour and a half. And that is on a slow day.
I agree though these tests on line are not helping anyone I just think it must be cheaper or cost effective.
GP :shades:
Exactly... You have to have XM radio and you have to pay for the subscription to XM. RTT Shows and alerts you were the traffic is building up and asks you would you like a altenative route.
I suggested that to this poster yesterday and he may still be upset about it. No matter if if you get Nav with RTT or not Nav is and always has been $2000. I have to say shame on the Manager for not knowing that when he talked to the manager.
Nissan started using realtime traffic for 2008 models, also 2007 altimas...
I am sure Nissan is not the only one out there with this service.
GP
A lot of times you get a new person here who tries to take the 12 or 15 tests it will take them all day to do one. Give me a hour and a half and they are all done. $20 is regular fee for any one test.
You know the rules if they are not certified no spin money... that is when the spin money comes out. Nissan used to do it all the time but not mcuch anymore.
I take it that the problem here stemmed from the fact that it simply could not have been tested for the RTT feature until it was activated at time of purchase?
From a legal standpoint, the buyer probably doesn't have any recourse. I am not a lawyer, but in the auto sales contracts that I have signed over the years usually have some clause that if it ain't in writing, then it hasn't been agreed to. Therefore the dealership probably doesn't have to do anything, from a purely legal point of view.
On the other hand, the dealership had a great opportunity to engender a heck of a lot of goodwill if they would have handled this situtation more tactfully. It sounds like the Sales Manager was a total and complete d*ck to the buyer (although we only have one side of the story). Based upon the Sales Manager's response, I doubt the buyer will ever set foot in that dealership again, and I doubt that the buyer's family and friends will do that.
Consider for a moment if the Sales Manager had handled it like this. "I am sorry, sir, for the misunderstand. Salesperson so-and-so is new to the dealership and he probably got confused between the TSX and the TL models. I assure you that it was a completely honest mistake. In order to try and make it up to you, how about I give you free oil changes for a year, plus a credit with our parts department? I know it doesn't excuse the mistake, but we would really like the opportunity to prove to you that this is the exception, not the rule."
I guarantee you that the buyer would now have a good feeling about the dealership because they apologized for the mistake. It is amazing how much good will you can get with someone else just by saying "I'm sorry". In addition, the dealership is making a good faith effort to accept some of the financial burden of the error.
Yes, the dealer might have to take a short term loss by giving away some free oil changes, but now the buyer is going to come to the dealer for servicing, PLUS he is going to probably tell everyone he knows about how surprised he was about how classy this dealer is in actually saying "I'm sorry". The sad thing is that the impression that most people have of car dealers is a negative one, so when a dealer actually tries to make things right (without prodding from the Channel X News), it is a welcome surprise.
If you think their sales department is bad, service is even worse. Every time I take my car there for warranty service, I get lies, and when I challenge them on it, I get attitude. When I called the Acura customer service to complain about them, the rep just mumbled to himself “It’s them again.” Prior to this car I had GM, Ford and Honda, Pohanka’s service department is the worst. The Lexus store next door to them is not any better. My friends who live five miles from the Lexus store drive 30 miles to MD for service.
As bad as they are, Acura would not do anything about it. They are the highest volume Acura dealer in America, and the next closest Acura store is 20 miles away. In Washington traffic, it is an eternity.
I'm sorry my friend but dumb is dumb, next time you go shopping I suggest you try not to get distracted by the bright and shiny stuff with all the bells and whistles and buy what you actually need. If I told you that my Rolex watch also doubled as a toaster oven would you believe me and buy one?
I for one feel sorry for the poor salesman who most likely made a genuine mistake and has to put up with listening to you complain about "REAL TIME TRAFFIC"
I think that the only solution to your problem is to suck it up and enjoy your fat ride! You actually managed to purchase a high quality, reliable, fun car; even a blind squirrel gets a nut sometimes!!!!!
That would depend entirely on the price! :P
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
"If I told you that my Rolex watch also doubled as a toaster oven would you believe me and buy one?"
Boy, what a great analogy that is there. I guess I was way off base to trust the car salesman to know more about the car he was selling than I did. And to believe that a TSX nav system (which looks exactly like the TL's (and all other Acura NAV systems) which DO have RTT, also has RTT is preposterous. Yes, what an idiot I was to have believed that that could have even been possible. I mean adding RTT to all their models' nav systems is really just as ridiculous as thinking a watch could double as a toaster. What a moron I was to think that the salesman could have been right about that. Gee... If only I could have been as smart as you.
Oh, and yeah I guess you're right... being the blind squirrel that I am, it must have been dumb luck that I had the financial resources to purchase a nice car. It couldn't possibly be because I work the money I have to pay for it.
Anyway, thanks to everyone else for their constuctive responses. I do appreciate it and it has helped me. Aside from the voicemail where he offered me a t-shirt and his comments about his own disinterest in the NAV features, the dealership manager has actually been pretty cool about things today. He's offering to do something for me to try to make things right (I think get the interior dash and steering wheel metallic trim which should look nice). So, we'll see how that goes. Thanks again to those who took the time to provide useful information and suggestions.