Strange Dealership Interaction

[hemistar1]

If you signed non refundable deposit then it is what it is. Like me your are nice guy and willing to give people chances but it’s your money.Next tine just walk away or confront them and ask is there a problem? It will take some courage but remember it’s your money. How do you think they will treat you when you have a problem with car??

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[Stratman397]

So I had contact with a salesman from our local dealership a few weeks ago when I expressed interest in ordering a GT. We talked on the phone on Saturday he asked me to email him my build sheet off the website and a copy of my license, I was prepared to put a deposit down, however before I even mentioned it he told me they would not need one. The following Monday I received the email from Ford acknowledging the order and on Tuesday I received the build order from my sales guy. Then received the email with a production date and VIN a couple days later.

Fast forward to last week (two and a half weeks after the order) I get a voicemail from my sales guy acting kind of odd and he said his sales manager wanted him to verify we wanted the yellow exterior with the red seats. I sent him an email showing that Ford had it correct with the yellow exterior and the emberglo seats. This is where things started to get weird…he then thanked me and replied back an hour or so later with “my sales manager says we need a $1,000 non refundable deposit since we do not sell many yellow cars and this one is very expensive.” I told him I’d be in Saturday to pay it. Well I go in Saturday and my sales guys looks shocked to see me and says he needs to go figure out how exactly to handle this. Next thing I know the sales manager comes over and very aggressively tells me to come to his office, he takes the deposit with no conversation at all and then gruffly says that my sales guy will handle it from here. When I asked where he is I was told he’s out there somewhere go find him yourself. I have never been treated so gruff when I was ordering something, it was like I somehow offended him by showing up to pay the deposit. Any ideas what happened here?

I would have gone right over the sales managers head

 

[Stratman397]

The dealership just doesn't want to get stuck with a car they think they'll have a hard time selling.

Probably true, but if he went up there and paid the $1000 they should have been nice to him. I probably would have said screw it and gone somewhere else to order, it then I,also,would have called the sales managers boss

 

[Stratman397]

I wasn't there so obviously I don't know what happened, but my guess based on your description was the sales person/manager looked at you and decided your credit-worthiness based solely on your appearance. I hope I'm wrong, but there are still people out there who will make a snap decision based on looks.

I walked into the dealership wearing shorts and an old t-shirt because I learned my car came in while I was doing yard work. The salesman looked at me in disbelief when I told him I didn't need financing, I just needed the amount for the bank check. The finance guy came over and offered to beat my bank's rate, and again, I explained I had the money just needed to get the amount for the certified check. Not all people in shorts & t-shirts are broke, and definitely not everyone in a suit and tie has big money in the bank!

"You work on commission, right? Big mistake...huge!" - Pretty Woman (1990)

Back on 2018, our Dodge Jeep dealer, Would not even come out and talk to me when they saw me out looking at Jeeps, yet with my headphones with me, they’re all over us. My husband told me to go find the jeep I wanted, and he would come up and pay for it. Well, when they would not come out on the one time they should have, I went to another dealer, found my rubicon Recon(sales guy was outside talking and came right over to see if I needed anything) told him I wanted that Ted jeep and went inside, I called husband and he drove the 45 minutes up there to pay for it.

 

[Zig]

So I had contact with a salesman from our local dealership a few weeks ago when I expressed interest in ordering a GT. We talked on the phone on Saturday he asked me to email him my build sheet off the website and a copy of my license, I was prepared to put a deposit down, however before I even mentioned it he told me they would not need one. The following Monday I received the email from Ford acknowledging the order and on Tuesday I received the build order from my sales guy. Then received the email with a production date and VIN a couple days later.

Fast forward to last week (two and a half weeks after the order) I get a voicemail from my sales guy acting kind of odd and he said his sales manager wanted him to verify we wanted the yellow exterior with the red seats. I sent him an email showing that Ford had it correct with the yellow exterior and the emberglo seats. This is where things started to get weird…he then thanked me and replied back an hour or so later with “my sales manager says we need a $1,000 non refundable deposit since we do not sell many yellow cars and this one is very expensive.” I told him I’d be in Saturday to pay it. Well I go in Saturday and my sales guys looks shocked to see me and says he needs to go figure out how exactly to handle this. Next thing I know the sales manager comes over and very aggressively tells me to come to his office, he takes the deposit with no conversation at all and then gruffly says that my sales guy will handle it from here. When I asked where he is I was told he’s out there somewhere go find him yourself. I have never been treated so gruff when I was ordering something, it was like I somehow offended him by showing up to pay the deposit. Any ideas what happened here?

Sounds like someone got a little ahead of their skis (new sales guy still learning the local process??) and then the sales manger panicked. Could have been a bad day. How has subsequent interactions with them been?

 

[Diocletian]

It's already been said but there is never EVER any reason to have a non-refundable deposit. That's not legal and you got screwed.

A lesson to everyone, you should never feel like you are forced or rushed to buy a car, and if something sounds shady to you, it probably is. Just walk away!

 

[Rio Lobo]

sounds to me like their plan was to just order your car and not really care if you actually buy it when it arrives (hence no deposit). But because it is a less popular color, now they'd have a harder time moving it if you didn't buy it (hence the change in mind about the deposit). And the sales guy got in trouble for telling you no deposit required before realizing it was a less common configuration. They were expecting you to back out and panicked when you actually came in to pay. The plan was to convert your order to a different color, but now they're scared a yellow car will show up even though you put down $1,000.

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

In the days of internet dealer listings, there’s no reason to be worried about an “odd color combo”. There’s someone out there that wants it.

 

[2024S650]

Am I the only one thinking about Ronald McDonald with that color combo?. I bet it will look spectacular. I saw a Challenger with a similar combo on tv and even though I never would have ordered it, the colors looked great together.

 

[Mljh85]

I don't understand people's willingness /tolerance to being treated like sh*t. Dealers are a dime a dozen I have roughly 6 within a 45 mile radius and drove 4 hrs to get mine. I don't tolerate that crap, no one should. If someone wants your business they'll work for it if they don't, walk. See how many times that same dealer calls you weeks later seeing if you're still interested.

 

[dfwford]

It's already been said but there is never EVER any reason to have a non-refundable deposit. That's not legal...

That's not always true.

It depends on the state (some have poorer consumer protection laws than others) and the terms of whatever agreement you sign.

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