• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Business response from Internet query

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I am pretty pissed off, I went to several commercial truck websites (Mitsubishi, Chevy, GMC, Isuzu, Sterling, International, etc) and each had a page where I could ask to be contacted by a salesperson. These were the corporate sites that I went to, not local dealer sites.

So on each I entered my company information, my contact information, etc.

I got one return call to my office voice mail, zero email responses. The one call I got was from a Mistubishi-Fuso truck dealership 3 hours away in Indianapolis. I know there are a couple other Mitsu truck dealers within 30 miles of where I sit, but the call I get is from someone 140 miles away.

What about the rest of the manufacturers?

Or more generally, why are so-many businesses so ingorant to the internet?
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
I am pretty pissed off,

Well, just to add fuel to the fire Bob, I went to your web site to see how your company responded to a web request for information, but I was completely unable to submit the request due to the errors reported on the page.

The first error wouldn't allow a space between my first and last names (DUH!)
I Tried to fix the second error by using an email address without a hyphen in the domain name, and it still failed. I am guessing because there is a period in my username (similar to about 99% of user names).

I guess I don't really have a point other than....shit happens.
 

Attachments

  • Bob Error.jpg
    Bob Error.jpg
    53.9 KB · Views: 126
  • Bob Error 2.jpg
    Bob Error 2.jpg
    60.3 KB · Views: 126
  • Bob Error 3.jpg
    Bob Error 3.jpg
    54.2 KB · Views: 123

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Odd because I actually get inquiries sent to me from our website all the time. I am the one who usually follows up!
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
Odd because I actually get inquiries sent to me from our website all the time. I am the one who usually follows up!

Someone must have made an "improvement" :yum:
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Well my 3 propeller heads who live in the glass room in the corner have been notified. I'm waiting for their reply!
 

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
Well my 3 propeller heads who live in the glass room in the corner have been notified. I'm waiting for their reply!

Do they also have pocket protectors full of pencils and screwdrivers? Sounds like the form script they are using is set a little too restrictive on the fields content.

You have hit on the 2 major problems with business web sites. First gathering the proper information and then, and most important, having a way to follow up in a reasonable amount of time.

Jim
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
jim slagle said:
Do they also have pocket protectors full of pencils and screwdrivers? Sounds like the form script they are using is set a little too restrictive on the fields content.
From outward appearances, one of the 3 "looks" pretty normal. :hide: But he is the one who I have the hardest time talking to without a translator. Nice guy, but very technically boring. My eyes glaze over when he walks into my office even before he utters his first words.

I'm thinking Dave was correct in that they made an "improvement" to the site. That is probably what caused the problem. Now they have to go back to the clearly inferior system, you know, the one that actually works!
 

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
From outward appearances, one of the 3 "looks" pretty normal. :hide: But he is the one who I have the hardest time talking to without a translator. Nice guy, but very technically boring. My eyes glaze over when he walks into my office even before he utters his first words.

I'm thinking Dave was correct in that they made an "improvement" to the site. That is probably what caused the problem. Now they have to go back to the clearly inferior system, you know, the one that actually works!

They probably got carried away trying to make sure the incoming data fit their version of the proper format.

You need to watch the one who is trying to blend in. He's up to something. :yankchain:
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Jim. . . I think you are correct, they do get overly technical sometimes.



DaveNay . . . do me a favor and try again. They claimed to have made changes, I need to see if they made enough!
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
Jim. . . I think you are correct, they do get overly technical sometimes.



DaveNay . . . do me a favor and try again. They claimed to have made changes, I need to see if they made enough!

It went through.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
I can just see them now:

Propeller Guy 1: F**k! Bob's away so I try to update the site and suddenly some freakin' friend of his tries to use it!

Propeller Guy 2: Ha Ha - Probably one of his "tractor" buddies.

Propeller Guy 1: Screw it, I'll put the old inferior POS system in and wait until some script kiddie hacks our servers and steals all out customer info.

Propeller Guy 2: Yup - being proactive never pays off.

Propeller Guy 1: I'm gonna go rub my nads all over his fancy leather chair!

Propeller Guy 2: Too late - I did that already.

;)
 

Bu Yong Xie

New member
I think some dealers make "deals" with the manufacturer so that they are the ones who respond to inquiries. I don't know how to convey exactly what I mean here, but I think some dealers are favorites or something that allows them to try to get the internet business. I ran into this price shopping a personal truck last fall. Just my opinion, no facts or anything smart like that!
 

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
Vehicle internet sales (even commercial) goes against everything that automotive sales people are taught. Been there, done that personally.

The main objective is to get the 'mark' into the store where you make them drive the vehicle as soon as you can. This will envoke emotions in the 'mark' that a good sales person uses to make the quick sale for the big 'smack' (ei. large profit).

This works all to well most of the time, 60-70%, even with cold calculating commercial buyers. That's why all the sales people do it.

Sales people are taught to only work the 'chiselers' for a short time and if they dont 'flip' then 'cut 'em loose'. They are not worth the fight when someone else will be along shortly and 'lay down'.

Have I mentioned how slimy and disgusting I felt as a car salesman? All the cliches are absolutely true. The only people worse are the 'business managers' or the finance office people. In my opinion what they do is border line criminal.
 

California

Charter Member
Site Supporter
Sales people are taught to only work the 'chiselers' for a short time
I think that means me. I've left a Toyota saleslady in tears while her colleagues laughed at her. When it came time to write up the options she couldn't get permission to give me the prices she had promised me, and I wouldn't budge.

I think I paid too much (probably average) for my last car. My old Trooper had been crushed by a tree and I needed wheels right now.

But for the one before that, my purchase (Subaru) was the guy's last ditch effort before he got fired. I got rotated through several experienced salesmen and finally down to this pathetically eager guy. I think he gave away his whole commission. I went in Monday with my check and it was 'Stefan who???'.

Nobody would help me complete the sale. (And there were no other customers). I finally followed the shift manager into his office and found the papers I had signed Sunday, but then it took an hour to get away from the 'closer' (Scotchgard, wax sealer, etc) without buying anything. I had him down below half on his extended warranty but I still didn't buy that or anything else that he demanded I buy or he was going to cancel the sale.

They handed the car over with several fuses missing (causing only one headlight, no horn, and a couple other sabotage items that became apparent in 24 hours) so I took it to another dealer (who had quoted $3,000 more, including his 'Extra Profit' line item) to finish the dealer prep - I didn't trust anybody who worked at the selling dealer.

For the purchase before the Subaru, I had been on continuous business travel all over California for a month and spent all my evenings in showrooms jawboning. I finally was driving to a dealer in SF with my checkbook when I made one last stop at another dealer who hadn't moved a single unit ('88 Trooper) in the month I drove by his place. He said, and I believe, that his 90 day factory floor financing was up on that fleet and he really had to move a couple to pay his bills. I told him I was literally in transit, checkbook in hand, to his competitor to buy a repo that had 300 miles on it. (Somebody's check bounced?) I got this guy's new Trooper for the repo price, $1,500 - $4,000 lower than the comparables I had looked at for a month.

Chisler - or economically rational? Why pay more?

Why are cars sold this way, anyway?
 

daedong

New member
I have got that way I do not send emails anymore trying to get quotes, It simply doesn’t work here, they never reply and if they do its always RRP.
WTF some companies have websites is beyond me. Less than .0001% of sites advertise their prices, why, if I walk into a store normally everything has a price tag on it.
 

beds

New member
Av8r3400 said:
Vehicle internet sales (even commercial) goes against everything that automotive sales people are taught.

I agree with this and feel it extends to other markets. Real estate. I will go to my local car dealer when I am ready to purchase and get his best deal. I'll then email all the dealers within a 1 hour drive and ask them to beat it. Some dealers don't even reply. How many times have you done what Bob did and not get any answer? I contacted some real estate agents through their email address that they have posted and never gotten a response! Hilarious. It really makes them look very bad. Very 1980's kind of thinking.
 

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
Rule #1 (through 1000?) in auto sales is NEVER GIVE PRICES unless the customer is sitting in front of you. Only window sticker is given over the phone or on website/advertising.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Av8r . . . I recently purchased 2 cars over the internet without ever seeing a photo or anything else. I knew what I wanted, I contacted several dealers, layed out the vehicle I was looking at, and bought both from the same dealer. All without even a phone call. Heck I had the deal wrapped up before one of the dealers even responded.

But in this case I was just looking to get dealers to call me about trucks to work on ordering one. You'd think the dealer would at least reply???
 

Wannafish

Floppy Member
SUPER Site Supporter
I had the same experience this spring. Drove thru a dealership on a Sunday where I have purchased 4 vehicles in the past 10 years. Saw a used truck ($24K) I was interested in. Found it on their web-site and sent an inquiry.
Automated response: "Thank you for your interest in...someone will contact you...":blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: .:toilet:

Long story short - after not being contacted that week, I spotted a new truck ($36K) at a dealership 15 miles away while visiting my tractor dealer.
Looked them up online and sent an inquiry - next day they contacted me in the morning and I signed the papers and picked up the truck that day.:applause: :thumb:

Guess I'm batting 50% so far.
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Wannafish said:
Long story short - after not being contacted that week, I spotted a new truck ($36K) at a dealership 15 miles away while visiting my tractor dealer.
Looked them up online and sent an inquiry - next day they contacted me in the morning and I signed the papers and picked up the truck that day.:applause:
Do you contact the first dealer and tell them they screwed up?
 

Wannafish

Floppy Member
SUPER Site Supporter
bczoom said:
Do you contact the first dealer and tell them they screwed up?

Yes Sir, but only after I had signed the papers at the other dealership. Called the Sales Manager I had dealt with for several years and explained the what and why of what I had done and hoped they would respond faster in the future.

Thinking about it afterwards, maybe I should have called him before I bought. Then I remembered - as the customer - IT'S ALL ABOUT ME!
:D
 
Top