Abusive Salesman

jbindebt

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this but I'll try anyway and no doubt someone will point me in the right direction.


Very briefly, over the last three weeks I have been looking to buy a new car and trade mine in. After being giving the run-around with several dealers (I appreciate it's their job) I tried the honest approach of emailing up front that I was being given the runaround and the finance is already in place if we can just make an honest deal. One such dealer replied after two days and sadly for me caught me with a bad case of man-flu. As I snivelled through the call he told me how "he was feeling exactly the same, I shouldn't be using that as an excuse and we were on a level playing field."
Yep, I should have just slammed the phone down but the car was what I wanted and I was getting a bit fed up searching elsewhere.
Over the next two days I had two discussions regards the trade in of mine and the offer I made towards his but each time I got the impression he really couldn't care less and if someone else came along my interest was null and void. Despite telling him my finance company were ready to go on any genuine deal he finished his last call to me with, "Well I'll leave that with you to think about". It was as if I was another call on his long list and he couldn't care less if I called him back.
Today five days later I was sitting in my car at home by chance on my mobile when my partner said I had a call indoors from a salesman. I came indoors with the caller (my brother) still on the mobile and asked who it was. Once I realised who it was I said "I'm sorry but I'm not interested any longer" to which he replied, "You know you're a c**t".
My son was beside me and both he and my brother who was still on the mobile held to my other ear heard what he said. I was shocked and although in hindsight wish I had one nuts I simply said, "I'm sorry you feel that way goodbye."
I'm guessing he was furious he didn't get his bonus or meet his sales target because of me but I'm shocked and angered that he thought it was perfectly acceptable to use that word in such an aggressive manner and get away with it.
I feel I should be able to report this somewhere so if anyone knows then please let me know. I suppose I should take comfort that because of me he has not achieved some reward and as a punishment for his behaviour towards me today that's something I guess. Still angry though.

pendragon_arther

If he has a boss report him. You have witnesses.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

jbindebt wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this but I'll try anyway and no doubt someone will point me in the right direction.


Very briefly, over the last three weeks I have been looking to buy a new car and trade mine in. After being giving the run-around with several dealers (I appreciate it's their job) I tried the honest approach of emailing up front that I was being given the runaround and the finance is already in place if we can just make an honest deal.


One such dealer replied after two days and sadly for me caught me with a bad case of man-flu. As I snivelled through the call he told me how "he was feeling exactly the same, I shouldn't be using that as an excuse and we were on a level playing field."
Yep, I should have just slammed the phone down but the car was what I wanted and I was getting a bit fed up searching elsewhere.

Over the next two days I had two discussions regards the trade in of mine and the offer I made towards his but each time I got the impression he really couldn't care less and if someone else came along my interest was null and void. Despite telling him my finance company were ready to go on any genuine deal he finished his last call to me with, "Well I'll leave that with you to think about". It was as if I was another call on his long list and he couldn't care less if I called him back.

Today five days later I was sitting in my car at home by chance on my mobile when my partner said I had a call indoors from a salesman. I came indoors with the caller (my brother) still on the mobile and asked who it was. Once I realised who it was I said "I'm sorry but I'm not interested any longer" to which he replied, "You know you're a c**t".

My son was beside me and both he and my brother who was still on the mobile held to my other ear heard what he said. I was shocked and although in hindsight wish I had one nuts I simply said, "I'm sorry you feel that way goodbye."
I'm guessing he was furious he didn't get his bonus or meet his sales target because of me but I'm shocked and angered that he thought it was perfectly acceptable to use that word in such an aggressive manner and get away with it.

I feel I should be able to report this somewhere so if anyone knows then please let me know. I suppose I should take comfort that because of me he has not achieved some reward and as a punishment for his behaviour towards me today that's something I guess. Still angry though.

You've done allot of E-mailing toing and froing with these companies who often get a gazillion spam and tire kicking e-mails per month.


As you've already got you own finance set up there's no incentive for a sales man to listen as you've basically taken away a chunk of commission from them, and your a cash buyer now.


its not nice to be told your (insert nasty word here) for declining the call and saying your no longer interested but, there is no real harm done here other than a little shock at the audacity of the man to end the call like that.


Its simple really, what you do is don't buy from that dealership, call the dealership manager or better principle of the dealership who called with a foul mouth or write a letter saying, although I had e-mailed saying I was interested, I politely declined the call because I had just returned home from work, to which the your employer called me a (insert nasty name here) I was going to pay a visit on the weekend to view one of your cars, but judging by the lack of training of your employee's etiquette on the phone I have now changed my mind.


May I suggest that when your dealership calls a potential customer in the future make sure your salesmen have washed their mouths out with soap first.


end of letter.




Personally I would have exploded all over that call, and put it on hold so it kept the line open even if he hung up and called the dealership from my mobile, and ask to speak to the manager.


and said you know the guy at his desk who cant ring out at the moment because he is stuck on the other line with me, well he he called me a (insert nasty word) sort him out or I'm going to pay him a visit very soon but not to buy a car, but to stuff washing up liquid down his throat to wash his filthy mouth out.


youll be on the merry go round if you keep e-mailing. Its time to get up get your coat and visit some places in person. or your going to be ignored all the time with a few little bites form dealers who will waste your time if they think your wasting theirs.

Nodding_Donkey

jbindebt wrote: »

my brother who was still on the mobile held to my other ear heard what he said.

He must have ears like Joderell Bank

hollydays

Ok.someone swears at you. Move on, be thankful you've given them nothing.

mandragora_2

It must be a miserable job, and from their perspective, they want to move quickly to customers who will make purchasing decisions quickly, easily and in the most profitable way for them - I don't let that affect me at all when buying a car, but I completely understand how they're not going to love seeing me come into the dealership because I will never buy on their finance; never buy on first viewing; never buy without shopping around; never buy without haggling.

I don't mind if their shoulders slump a little as I come back into the showroom, because it's the third time I've been to look at a particular car, but I also try not to mess them round and always make it clear what my intentions are - if I'm perusing, I say so. If I'm ready to do the best deal I can and either buy it or walk away, I say so. It keeps the misery to a minimum all round.

So I can understand a salesman feeling miffed from time to time. However, that doesn't give them the right to say what he said. If it was me, I'd find the name of the most senior person in the dealership and I'd ring them and speak to them in the first place. I'd make it really clear right from the start that this is not part of a bargaining ploy - you will not be buying a car from them, full stop. However, they need to know what their salesman said to a customer. At the end of the day, it's up to them as to whether they choose to believe you, or take action, unless you intend reporting it to the police (behaviour likely to cause distress or alarm).

If I was his boss, I'd want to know. It may be possible that this was an absolute one-off and he's let fly at you for some reason and in all other circumstances is a sweet and reasonable chap, in which case he may need a bit of support/mentoring or similar. However, it's perhaps more likely that he has let rip at others in the past too - other customer complaints, possibly, or, more likely, similar incidents with colleagues and he has a bit of a reputation for a bad temper/abusive language towards others. Talk to the boss, be reasonable yourself, and take it from the perspective of 'You need to know what he's doing'.

If the dealership is associated with a marque, or is part of a larger chain and if you don't get anywhere with the local boss, you could always go to the head office level. If you're not after money/compensation/deal, then letting them know what he said should be straightforward.

Do you want him spoken to? Sacked? Retrained? Do you need to know what happens next, or, having informed them, are you happy to leave it there? If it was me, informing them and then letting them get on with it would be my choice - means you can move on, and he doesn't get to do this with impunity. If he has any sense, he will already be regretting what he said, and either preparing to lie about it or confess.

meer53

Sending emails before you visit a dealership to ask them about "making an honest deal" sounds a bit OTT. They won't take any notice of your email, all they want is someone in the showroom who doesn't already have finance in place.

It would never enter my head to send emails to dealerships before going ! They already have an impression of you before you go. To be honest, the impression wouldn't be good, i think you shot yourself in the foot.

missile

Op does sound like a ... to me too :-)

jbindebt

Thank you for the advice folks. What the salesman didn't realise was that I was actually sitting in my new car when he called so he had already missed his chance.
I'm certainly no shrinking violet and I'm actually surprised that I didn't give him both barrels in return but I think that's what he wanted as he remained on the line to hear my response. Twisted of him? I don't know.
Although possibly not his intention it resulted in an abusive sales call which can be reported to Ofgem. Their additional advice is also to report it to the police which I have done. I don't condone wasting Police time but the non essential line assured me that the local constabulary would be more than happy to have a quiet word with this "General Manager". I asked that they clearly make sure his boss is aware of his behaviour by their presence and I'm happy to leave it at that. If he feels that his behaviour is acceptable then a local Bobbie turning up in front of his work colleagues should hopefully teach him a valuable lesson in life.

marliepanda

I can't belive you called the police, and I dont believe for a second they're going to go round and tell them off for swearing at you... If you believe the police are going round you're in a dream world.

bod1467

OFCOM not OFGEM is what I suspect was meant.