Mike B. Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I posted earlier this year after Peterborough show that I had tried to buy a new van and after numerous emails & telephone calls no-one had got back to me (Van was £74k and dealer was large well known national) After 6 months still no joy and decided against it. (Was berated on here for complaining by other Traders and told basically it was my fault and dealers were busy!) However, on deciding to keep this van we visited NEC last week to see what was on offer and were quite impressed by a stand showing Van, Caravan & Motorcycle covers. The stand was very busy with customers/enquirers and as there were only 2 people manning the stand I left my details and asked to be contacted after the show. On Monday morning I emailed them the pictures of the van & trailer and the reminder that I wanted further information and to probably place an order for a bespoke cover. Guess what? Now a week later and no contact whatsoever-not even acknowledgement of the email/photos/info request. Before any other traders tell me to 'stop bleating on here and contact them again' (quote from last post!) I have once again decided to save my money and keep the one I already have. Can I just ask what it is about British companies that they do not follow up leads? I thought there was a recession on, yet requests for information from 5 companies all exhibiting at the NEC have gone unanswered. Ironically the French guys selling Rose pruners have contacted me twice to offer me cut price extra blades! As I said on my previous post, after 40 years in sales 25 of which were sales management, I am not surprised we cannot climb out of recession if this is the way we treat our potential customers. I'm sure I am not the only one to be ignored ..............................am I??? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Mike B. - 2012-10-28 3:09 PM I am not surprised we cannot climb out of recession if this is the way we treat our potential customers. I'm sure I am not the only one to be ignored ..............................am I??? Mike Hi Mike; not personal wxperience but I have mates who have test driven Range Rovers and top-end Audis in the last year who have dropped the cars off and not heard any more from the dealers; I can't believe it either! cheers alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendipman Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Many years ago I saw in a newspaper that a Swedish man went into a garage in his home country and wanted to put deposits on 40 new Volvo cars.he had all the information.colours,type etc in hand,the first two dealers thought he was nuts so said no...the third dealer asked where he had come from...the antarctic was the answer.He was a whaler and had come home early to order new cars for his mates.. (!) (!) (!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Hi Mike I fully agree with your sentiments & guess if had been your sales staff in the past they would be walking down the road with P60 in hand. Forget any Trader who berated you, obviously not the type of company I would want to do business with. How any Salesperson who's income depends on commision can afford to ignore a potential sale, in the current economic climate, beggars belief. I'm sure his MD would take a very dim view & if upto his position should also be taking such events into consideration during any annual salary appraisal review. So IMO, inform the MD of any salespersons lack of action. >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairweather camper Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 In my experience there are two kinds of Salesperson one who won't leave you alone and follows you round the store pestering you, or one who completely ignores you, and when approached is indifferent to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Two years ago I tried to buy a Smart car from a Mercedes dealership. It was agreed that I would have a test drive but the salesman neither called me back nor returned my calls. Eventually I said to the receptionist that I was developing negative feelings about them because if an organisation was treating me so badly as a prospect then how much less inattentive would they be to me as a customer. Even that didn't prompt a callback. I never bought the car. I have recently done a deal to change my car with another quality dealership and had an altogether much better and more attentive experience. I have to say however that the motor trade (and some other branches of commerce) are extraordinarily poor at dealing with written communications be they e-mails or letters. Most often they don't respond at all but otherwise respond verbally. In my past life e-mails were expected to be acknowledged almost immediately and substantially dealt with the same day unless there was a very good reason for not doing so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I believe nobody is going to beat a path to my door to offer me a bargain. I have got to go out and find it. So if a salesperson 'follows me around' I am unlikely to buy. I would just go somewhere else where they let me walk around unhindered to make up my own mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan D Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Yes, it`s still going on. I went to my local dealer and spoke to the salesman regarding a new motorhome, he said he was busy and would ring me back. After a week I called in to look in the accessory shop and saw the salesman. When he saw me he said he would ring me back. Bearing in mind they had a forecourt full of stock and they spend thousands of pounds on advertising, what kind of customers are they looking for? I then looked up a dealer further afield, who had spent a lot of money on their website with a great tour of their conversions. I sent an e-mail and after a week I rang them. They initially denied receiving the e-mail until I asked them to check on the date and time I sent it. Yes they said it looks like we did get it and we will ring you back. This not only extends to buying,, it also includes selling. There are dealers who advertise, at great cost, every month in the mag that they are desperate to buy your van. Oh no they are not, so why waste the advertising costs? Bearing in mind the large outlay for a new van , which can be twice the price of a new car, it beggers belief. Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 We had the exactly the same response (nil from all the dealers contacted) from our visit to the Newbury show 3 years ago, when we were searching for a motorhome. We made sure that we only contacted dealers within a reasonable drive from our home and gave them our list of requirements. By chance we spotted a motorhome that met all our requirements so we placed a deposit and purchased it a fw weeks later. It could be said that the other dealers were correct in not contacting us but it was a very small chance to find a motorhome that met all our needs and that we are still happy to keep for the forseable future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Unfortunately it seems if you don't want a telephone call from the dealers, you get one. If you want a call, you do not. We are looking about and thus are quite happy to have information on email about various vans we are considering, No chance, However, I've had a few telephone calls from dealers instead of an email response. The problem may be that the dealers have no internal organisation to record their interaction with customers. They rely on memory and pieces of paper. They need to get some technology to help them better manage their customer relationships. However, the prospect of that happening in this industry is pretty low. Or perhaps dealers can spot what they perceive to be a tyre kicker and only focus on those genuine buyers - when the pigs fly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 For a country in recession this is truly bizarre, I really can’t understand it. I too have had a couple of experiences myself, both different companies of course. 1. Wanted to order a garage door £500+ fitting, no one got back to me. 2. Interested in booking a £9,000 30 day trip to Australia, no one got back to me. As with the other posts, these companies are spending a fortune so as to attract customers, but don’t seem interested in selling anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Well I'm glad to hear it's not just me it's happening to-thought I was turning into Victor Meldrew! However, from the responses it's obviously happening to lots of people as we on the forum are anly a fraction of the UK population. I still haven't heard a dickie bird from the cover people. Sad really that as a nation of 'Shopkeepers' we can't manage to sell anything! Wonder if any Dealers/Manufacturers read this forum? If they do, it would be a good topic at their next National Sales Meeting wouldn't it? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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