Here's one to end the week.
With few selling days remaining in our year, there are certain individual and group goals that are within range and so we have been advertising about a dozen units a day for the last few days at prices well below our cost just to pad the numbers for the salespeople and for our department. For the most part, the people that have bought these vehicles almost always try a half-hearted attempt to negotiate a lower price. But when told, "No", they pretty much all realize they won't find a cheaper one and happily pay the sale price.
We advertised a late model SUV for $22995. This is about $6000 below our normal retail price and is priced about $3000 lower than the cheapest of 18 comparable vehicles that we could find on the internet in our area. It truly was an excellent price.
So we have Mr. Middle Age, his wife and their 12 or 13 year old son come in nice and early this morning to look at the advertised SUV. They go for the 20 minute test drive, pronounce that they like the vehicle, and come back into the salesman's office. As expected, the man attempts to offer $20,000 and the salesman tells him that there will be no negotiating of the sale price. The man tries again, explaining that the SUV is used (duh), that he should get a discount (why?), and that he has seen them all over the place with less mileage and for less money (then what the hell are you doing here?). When all his attempts fail he asks to speak to the manager. He then tells me that the salesman has been very rude in not even writing up his offer. I tell him that the sale prices are not negotiable and that if he doesn't feel the value is there that we are glad he came in and to have a nice day." And with that I leave to go deal with other salesmen that are waiting for me.
Just as I begin a conversation with another salesman the man barges into my office with, "How dare you humiliate me in front of my son! I'm trying to show him how to buy a car and its like you are all mocking my efforts."
As you can imagine, I'm a little bit stunned by this emotional plea from this obviously fragile man. I tell the man I have no interest in mocking him, only in selling some cars. And that he is welcome to buy the one he came for if he pays the sale price. He calms down a bit and we exchange a little small talk and then he says that he will pay the sale price but only if he can take it for a drive by himself for an hour or so. Against my better judgment, I agree. He provides me with his driver's license and we fill out the necessary insurance form. Off he goes.
The hour passes. Another hour passes. We call his cell phone - no answer. We were extremely busy today so a little more time passes and then after about the 4th hour we begin to think about what we should do. We decide that in another hour we will call the cops and let them find him. About half an hour before our deadline, he calls. In what sounds like a poorly rehearsed speech he starts straight away with, "In light of how I was treated there earlier, I'm willing to offer you $21,000." At this point I've lost all interest in diplomacy. "If you do not return the vehicle within 30 minutes we will call the police and report the vehicle stolen. And unless you pay us the price that you agreed to, we will launch legal proceedings against you seeing as we have had to turn people away all day on that vehicle." Click.
I laid it on a little heavy regarding the legal action but we had turned 7 or 8 people away on that vehicle during the time it was gone.
He was back in about 15 minutes. Or at least the vehicle was - with just the wife inside. It's been a while since I had seen anyone look so absolutely mortified. She and the salesman quickly did up the paperwork, she wrote a cheque, got her plates and insurance and left. The salesman said she was so embarrassed that she refused the offer of filling the gas tank or washing the vehicle. Poor lady. Poor kid.
