Awful Dealership, but do I cancel my order and start all over?
04-24-2017, 02:41 PM
#51
AudiWorld Senior Member
Yeah I agree with a lot of what you said, and yeah it's difficult to chime in when you don't know a person, so apologies there if I had the wrong interpretation... But in either case, it's about the 2 sides not seeing eye to eye, and your end goal, no matter wtf's wrong with that dealership, is to potentially see your family in a freakin awesome car. That's the message I was pushing.
In the case you're in....give him a call and just be like.. Look... I would come in person but I'm deployed. Follow up with my earlier recommendations if you'd like.
Your last point though... I VERY much agree with. If it's not a must at this point, don't push it. Let it ride out. But...don't jump to a BMW or MB (unless you like the MB). But def not a BMW (IMO) compared to the A4
In the case you're in....give him a call and just be like.. Look... I would come in person but I'm deployed. Follow up with my earlier recommendations if you'd like.
Your last point though... I VERY much agree with. If it's not a must at this point, don't push it. Let it ride out. But...don't jump to a BMW or MB (unless you like the MB). But def not a BMW (IMO) compared to the A4
04-25-2017, 07:13 PM
#52
AudiWorld Member
You're right I did miss it (now the part about your (his) wife going in makes sense). But... this is a lesson in business not in filling out paperwork.
At the same time coming from a consulting background, you have to see that this situation is about 1% paperwork and 99% ego; reason why I pointed out my comments above.
The dealership is probably, and unfortunately, thinking... "Whatever this guy is 1 in 200 customers. So be it. It is now no longer worth the time we spent to bring his business here. I'll take the loss".
If that's not something OP &/or wife want to do, that's fine, but if they want to do end up with an A4, and to be frank, most likely in a good relationship with the dealership because they were able to get over this hurdle together, then the approach I pointed out is the one I'd take.
Side story:
When I was shopping around for my A4 and other cars I went to 2 dealerships very close by to test drive different versions of the car (packages, etc) knowing I would not purchase from either of them because I had a friend who'd hook me up w/ a better deal they'd ever be able to offer me. One guy was straight up upset with me (long story short). The problem is that it would also be the dealership I go to for service because it's on my way to work. After I purchased my car, I stopped by, gift card of $20 in hand and thanked him for his time and apologized the deal did not work out, and most likely, for my next Audi, when I won't be in such a finally tight situation having had bought a house right around the same time, I'll go to him. The guy looked at me and said... "I can't believe the amount of respect I have for you right now." That's why I suggested to OP what I suggested. Your end goal needs to be kept in mind.
At the same time coming from a consulting background, you have to see that this situation is about 1% paperwork and 99% ego; reason why I pointed out my comments above.
The dealership is probably, and unfortunately, thinking... "Whatever this guy is 1 in 200 customers. So be it. It is now no longer worth the time we spent to bring his business here. I'll take the loss".
If that's not something OP &/or wife want to do, that's fine, but if they want to do end up with an A4, and to be frank, most likely in a good relationship with the dealership because they were able to get over this hurdle together, then the approach I pointed out is the one I'd take.
Side story:
When I was shopping around for my A4 and other cars I went to 2 dealerships very close by to test drive different versions of the car (packages, etc) knowing I would not purchase from either of them because I had a friend who'd hook me up w/ a better deal they'd ever be able to offer me. One guy was straight up upset with me (long story short). The problem is that it would also be the dealership I go to for service because it's on my way to work. After I purchased my car, I stopped by, gift card of $20 in hand and thanked him for his time and apologized the deal did not work out, and most likely, for my next Audi, when I won't be in such a finally tight situation having had bought a house right around the same time, I'll go to him. The guy looked at me and said... "I can't believe the amount of respect I have for you right now." That's why I suggested to OP what I suggested. Your end goal needs to be kept in mind.
04-25-2017, 07:30 PM
#53
Some may want to call me inpatient or telling me I have given in, but I have emailed the GM, texted him and left him a VM, letting him know that I still do not have the info promised me and that this would be my last attempt and last day to obtain this info. If I do not receive this by end of day, I will cancel my order.
This sucks, but it has become tedious and labersome. I have check in hand and am ready to pay for a car. So if I can't get an A4, I will need to look to see if a MB, BMW or Lexus will scratch my itch. I was just sooooo looking forward to the technology the A4 offers and the B&O system. Maybe the Burester or Mark Levinson will be better, but I don't think anything else would come close to what Audi has to offer, especially at the cost value you get from the A4 when complared to the other luxury brands.
I appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions, but I don't think this dealer is gonna come through with 1 stinking stupid document that should not take 11 days to prepare and email.
I also just can't stomach the thought of having to deal with them for service or having to drive 62 miles to the next closest dealership to get the car serviced.
Cancelling and going to the other dealership would not be an issue, but with no pricing on 2018 cars yet and no idea of wait times, my financing is out the window and my credit would have just taken a hard inquiry for no reason.
So darn close, car completed and at Emden waiting to get on a boat to cross the pond.....what a shame these folks just don't see a gift horse in their house.
This sucks, but it has become tedious and labersome. I have check in hand and am ready to pay for a car. So if I can't get an A4, I will need to look to see if a MB, BMW or Lexus will scratch my itch. I was just sooooo looking forward to the technology the A4 offers and the B&O system. Maybe the Burester or Mark Levinson will be better, but I don't think anything else would come close to what Audi has to offer, especially at the cost value you get from the A4 when complared to the other luxury brands.
I appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions, but I don't think this dealer is gonna come through with 1 stinking stupid document that should not take 11 days to prepare and email.
I also just can't stomach the thought of having to deal with them for service or having to drive 62 miles to the next closest dealership to get the car serviced.
Cancelling and going to the other dealership would not be an issue, but with no pricing on 2018 cars yet and no idea of wait times, my financing is out the window and my credit would have just taken a hard inquiry for no reason.
So darn close, car completed and at Emden waiting to get on a boat to cross the pond.....what a shame these folks just don't see a gift horse in their house.
04-25-2017, 07:49 PM
#54
LOL... I think what you're doing is a complete mistake, further waste of your time, and will end up to you not really being happy in the end.
Your goal is to get the A4 and you're willing to give it up based on your experience so far at the dealership...that's so stupid, I'm sorry for being direct. That dealership sells cars every day, otherwise they wouldn't be in business, so there's obviously 2 sides of the story here. Yeah you're furious about the situation, but serious situations like this are not dealt with over a text message or email. When that guy saw a text message from you with your demands he probably showed it to 2 other associates and were laughing at the situation.
I would go in ask to chat with the GM for 5 minutes. Here's what I would say
Ok... Look. There has obviously been a ridiculous turn of events, and I don't think either myself or the dealership have handled them in the best way possible. From my end, my bad for being a difficult customer (etc). My goal is to to buy this car cause I like it and have a good relationship down the line. Your goal is to sell this car and make customers happy about their purchase. I want to start on a clean slate, look at the documents and talk about what I'd like to have. Let's work on this together.
I've done this in numerous cases so far in my life, and it's landed me in positive outcomes.
Your goal is to get the A4 and you're willing to give it up based on your experience so far at the dealership...that's so stupid, I'm sorry for being direct. That dealership sells cars every day, otherwise they wouldn't be in business, so there's obviously 2 sides of the story here. Yeah you're furious about the situation, but serious situations like this are not dealt with over a text message or email. When that guy saw a text message from you with your demands he probably showed it to 2 other associates and were laughing at the situation.
I would go in ask to chat with the GM for 5 minutes. Here's what I would say
Ok... Look. There has obviously been a ridiculous turn of events, and I don't think either myself or the dealership have handled them in the best way possible. From my end, my bad for being a difficult customer (etc). My goal is to to buy this car cause I like it and have a good relationship down the line. Your goal is to sell this car and make customers happy about their purchase. I want to start on a clean slate, look at the documents and talk about what I'd like to have. Let's work on this together.
I've done this in numerous cases so far in my life, and it's landed me in positive outcomes.
Last edited by jorgecopa; 04-25-2017 at 08:12 PM.
04-25-2017, 09:57 PM
#55
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Totally agree with you but he is deployed. Sounds like its all about profit or very little of it. The dealership should just be honest and let him know they are not interested in the deal. Being difficult asking for a crazy discount on the new one and wanting almost retail for the trade is not helping. My cousin works for Lexus and I hear this stuff all the time.
I'm not sure where your location is, but please let me state that I was only able to get 9.23% off MSRP. While that may seem like a lot, there were people in other areas of the US that were getting anywhere from 10-12%. I checked myself and had I been in the Miami area, I would have been able to get the same exact car $1,000 cheaper. That discount also went down when I added the sports package at full MSRP.
Since you did say your cousin works for a dealership, you can confirm this with him if you like, but dealerships make more of a profit off of custom orders than they do from regularly allocated cars....why do you ask, because the custom order cars don't sit on the lot. And since they don't sit on the lot, they don't have to worry about insurance costs or the interest costs back to the car manufacturer, which are typically $5-10 per day and eats up their dealer holdback, or any other overhead cost, that cars sitting on a lot months at a time, have to absorb.
As for the Honda Odyseey trade-in, well all I can say is that the Odyssey vans keep their value very well and are in high demand. The KBB instant cash offer was higher than what the Audi dealer offered and I can assure you, just to verify the KBB instant offer, my wife took it to an independent location that buys and sells cars. They also confirmed the van was worth more than what the dealer offered by offereing more themselves. However, we decided to take the trade-in offer because of the tremendous tax credit......The trade in offer is for $24,000 for a van that that is going to sell for more than you think. Part of doing our research was also checking what vans in the local dealerships are selling for and the range for the same trim and similar mileage is $28,888-32,998. While I know they will not sell for those prices, I think you can see we did not ask for a value close to retail. Heck, even with the tax credit, the total trade-in value will come out to $25,525....that's more than $3k below the cheapest priced van in a local dealership and less than what KBB said we would should request through a private sale ($26,500-27,150).
We are not greedy people. We are very thankful for what the Lord has provided and allowed us to have. But all we are asking for is a fair deal that benefits both sides and to be treated as others would expect to be treated.
Last edited by Nuttz4Sports; 04-26-2017 at 08:46 AM.
04-26-2017, 07:27 AM
#56
AudiWorld Senior Member
Totally agree with you but he is deployed. Sounds like its all about profit or very little of it. The dealership should just be honest and let him know they are not interested in the deal. Being difficult asking for a crazy discount on the new one and wanting almost retail for the trade is not helping. My cousin works for Lexus and I hear this stuff all the time.
04-26-2017, 12:38 PM
#57
This is about as irrelevant a post as I've ever seen. The issue here has to do with the dealership simply treating a customer with some respect and actually answering questions and providing information when asked. It is called customer service. Hopefully your cousin's dealership does a better job but if all you hear from your cousin are complaints about "crazy" customers then I seriously doubt it. The dealership has the option of saying no to a deal. If they say yes, as they did in this case, then I think it is not at all unreasonable to expect that they treat the customer well and provide customer support that is the best. They should not have some sort of different levels of customer support based upon how well the dealership liked the deal. Apparently you seem to think that if the dealership thinks the customer asked for too "crazy" of a deal, then it's OK for the dealership to drag their feet and to provide some lower level of customer support.
Last edited by jorgecopa; 04-26-2017 at 01:46 PM.
04-26-2017, 01:10 PM
#58
Jorgecopa - thank you for your feedback. At the risk of sounding defensive, please let me provide a different view from my perspective.
I'm not sure where your location is, but please let me state that I was only able to get 9.23% off MSRP. While that may seem like a lot, there were people in other areas of the US that were getting anywhere from 10-12%. I checked myself and had I been in the Miami area, I would have been able to get the same exact car $1,000 cheaper. That discount also went down when I added the sports package at full MSRP.
Since you did say your cousin works for a dealership, you can confirm this with him if you like, but dealerships make more of a profit off of custom orders than they do from regularly allocated cars....why do you ask, because the custom order cars don't sit on the lot. And since they don't sit on the lot, they don't have to worry about insurance costs or the interest costs back to the car manufacturer, which are typically $5-10 per day and eats up their dealer holdback, or any other overhead cost, that cars sitting on a lot months at a time, have to absorb.
As for the Honda Odyseey trade-in, well all I can say is that the Odyssey vans keep their value very well and are in high demand. The KBB instant cash offer was higher than what the Audi dealer offered and I can assure you, just to verify the KBB instant offer, my wife took it to an independent location that buys and sells cars. They also confirmed the van was worth more than what the dealer offered by offereing more themselves. However, we decided to take the trade-in offer because of the tremendous tax credit......The trade in offer is for $24,000 for a van that that is going to sell for more than you think. Part of doing our research was also checking what vans in the local dealerships are selling for and the range for the same trim and similar mileage is $28,888-32,998. While I know they will not sell for those prices, I think you can see we did not ask for a value close to retail. Heck, even with the tax credit, the total trade-in value will come out to $25,525....that's more than $3k below the cheapest priced van in a local dealership and less than what KBB said we would should request through a private sale ($26,500-27,150).
We are not greedy people. We are very thankful for what the Lord has provided and allowed us to have. But all we are asking for is a fair deal that benefits both sides and to be treated as others would expect to be treated.
I'm not sure where your location is, but please let me state that I was only able to get 9.23% off MSRP. While that may seem like a lot, there were people in other areas of the US that were getting anywhere from 10-12%. I checked myself and had I been in the Miami area, I would have been able to get the same exact car $1,000 cheaper. That discount also went down when I added the sports package at full MSRP.
Since you did say your cousin works for a dealership, you can confirm this with him if you like, but dealerships make more of a profit off of custom orders than they do from regularly allocated cars....why do you ask, because the custom order cars don't sit on the lot. And since they don't sit on the lot, they don't have to worry about insurance costs or the interest costs back to the car manufacturer, which are typically $5-10 per day and eats up their dealer holdback, or any other overhead cost, that cars sitting on a lot months at a time, have to absorb.
As for the Honda Odyseey trade-in, well all I can say is that the Odyssey vans keep their value very well and are in high demand. The KBB instant cash offer was higher than what the Audi dealer offered and I can assure you, just to verify the KBB instant offer, my wife took it to an independent location that buys and sells cars. They also confirmed the van was worth more than what the dealer offered by offereing more themselves. However, we decided to take the trade-in offer because of the tremendous tax credit......The trade in offer is for $24,000 for a van that that is going to sell for more than you think. Part of doing our research was also checking what vans in the local dealerships are selling for and the range for the same trim and similar mileage is $28,888-32,998. While I know they will not sell for those prices, I think you can see we did not ask for a value close to retail. Heck, even with the tax credit, the total trade-in value will come out to $25,525....that's more than $3k below the cheapest priced van in a local dealership and less than what KBB said we would should request through a private sale ($26,500-27,150).
We are not greedy people. We are very thankful for what the Lord has provided and allowed us to have. But all we are asking for is a fair deal that benefits both sides and to be treated as others would expect to be treated.
Last edited by jorgecopa; 04-26-2017 at 02:28 PM.
04-26-2017, 09:51 PM
#59
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I just bought my A4 from Audi South Austin - some ordering snafus related to my manual transmission car, but the general manager, Tom Ditzig, made it right, then closing the deal once it came was painless.
I'd recommend them and I'd go right to Tom with your story because a sales person will listen but not hear you. If you do, tell him Steve McMillen with the white A4 manual trans told you about him. Tom will then hook you up with a salesperson.
I'd recommend them and I'd go right to Tom with your story because a sales person will listen but not hear you. If you do, tell him Steve McMillen with the white A4 manual trans told you about him. Tom will then hook you up with a salesperson.
After all of my attempts to get Cavender Audi to provide the info I was looking for, my wife made her mind clear that I should cancel the order. So i had given up and wrote my cancellation request email, but then I remembered Steve's post. I saved my cancellation email as a draft and I told my wife that I would give it one last shot by contacting Tom Ditzig.
I reached out to Tom and sent him an email explaining the entire situation, including the idea of transfering the sale to his Magna Society Dealership. Now keep in mind, I'm 8 hours ahead, so when I drafted this email and sent it, it was the middle of the night for him and I was expecting him to receive the email when he went into work the next day. But sure enough, I received an email back from him at 6:45AM his time.
He offered to speak with the dealership owner and overall GM, explain the situation and see if they would be willing to resolve the issue or transfer the sale to his dealership. I did express to him that this was the last shot and that I was willing to give it a couple more days, but if the situation were not resolved or Cavender was not willing to transfer the deal, then I would cancel it. He agreed and asked me to give him the time to take care of the issue. I agreed and he kept in touch every day this week letting me know what was going on.
So last night, I get an email from Tom, telling me that he has spoken with the right people at Cavender and he copied them on the email he sent me. He informed me that they would be reaching out to me to resolve the issue. Sure enough, while typing my response, I get an email from the big GM expressing his apology for the communication issues and asks what items I was still waiting for.
So I let him know about the document and the questions outstanding and I ask him to please understand that I agreed with Mr. Ditzig to give the situation a couple of days to get resolved and if it wasn't resolved by Thursday at noon his time, I would heed my wife's advice and cancel. I didn't want it to sound like an obnoxious ultimatum, but I just wanted to make it clear this was the last chance.
About an hour later, he responded with the document and answers to my questions. It's sad that it took me 2 weeks of trying, plus reaching out to AoA, and going to another dealership's GM, to get 1 document and 2 questions answered. But I expressed to Mr. Ditzig that I am a man who prefers to honor his committments, and since I placed this order and did want this car, and finally got what I needed, then I will honor this committment.
There is one thing I learned here, there is a huge difference in the level of customer service between a Magna Society Dealership and one that is not. So while I am going to purchase my A4 from Cavender, I will be enjoying the 125 mile roundtrip with the B&O when I take my A4 for service at Mr. Ditzig's dealership.
Last edited by Nuttz4Sports; 04-26-2017 at 09:53 PM.
04-27-2017, 03:52 AM
#60
AudiWorld Senior Member
First let me thank Steve for giving me Tom's name.
After all of my attempts to get Cavender Audi to provide the info I was looking for, my wife made her mind clear that I should cancel the order. So i had given up and wrote my cancellation request email, but then I remembered Steve's post. I saved my cancellation email as a draft and I told my wife that I would give it one last shot by contacting Tom Ditzig.
I reached out to Tom and sent him an email explaining the entire situation, including the idea of transfering the sale to his Magna Society Dealership. Now keep in mind, I'm 8 hours ahead, so when I drafted this email and sent it, it was the middle of the night for him and I was expecting him to receive the email when he went into work the next day. But sure enough, I received an email back from him at 6:45AM his time.
He offered to speak with the dealership owner and overall GM, explain the situation and see if they would be willing to resolve the issue or transfer the sale to his dealership. I did express to him that this was the last shot and that I was willing to give it a couple more days, but if the situation were not resolved or Cavender was not willing to transfer the deal, then I would cancel it. He agreed and asked me to give him the time to take care of the issue. I agreed and he kept in touch every day this week letting me know what was going on.
So last night, I get an email from Tom, telling me that he has spoken with the right people at Cavender and he copied them on the email he sent me. He informed me that they would be reaching out to me to resolve the issue. Sure enough, while typing my response, I get an email from the big GM expressing his apology for the communication issues and asks what items I was still waiting for.
So I let him know about the document and the questions outstanding and I ask him to please understand that I agreed with Mr. Ditzig to give the situation a couple of days to get resolved and if it wasn't resolved by Thursday at noon his time, I would heed my wife's advice and cancel. I didn't want it to sound like an obnoxious ultimatum, but I just wanted to make it clear this was the last chance.
About an hour later, he responded with the document and answers to my questions. It's sad that it took me 2 weeks of trying, plus reaching out to AoA, and going to another dealership's GM, to get 1 document and 2 questions answered. But I expressed to Mr. Ditzig that I am a man who prefers to honor his committments, and since I placed this order and did want this car, and finally got what I needed, then I will honor this committment.
There is one thing I learned here, there is a huge difference in the level of customer service between a Magna Society Dealership and one that is not. So while I am going to purchase my A4 from Cavender, I will be enjoying the 125 mile roundtrip with the B&O when I take my A4 for service at Mr. Ditzig's dealership.
After all of my attempts to get Cavender Audi to provide the info I was looking for, my wife made her mind clear that I should cancel the order. So i had given up and wrote my cancellation request email, but then I remembered Steve's post. I saved my cancellation email as a draft and I told my wife that I would give it one last shot by contacting Tom Ditzig.
I reached out to Tom and sent him an email explaining the entire situation, including the idea of transfering the sale to his Magna Society Dealership. Now keep in mind, I'm 8 hours ahead, so when I drafted this email and sent it, it was the middle of the night for him and I was expecting him to receive the email when he went into work the next day. But sure enough, I received an email back from him at 6:45AM his time.
He offered to speak with the dealership owner and overall GM, explain the situation and see if they would be willing to resolve the issue or transfer the sale to his dealership. I did express to him that this was the last shot and that I was willing to give it a couple more days, but if the situation were not resolved or Cavender was not willing to transfer the deal, then I would cancel it. He agreed and asked me to give him the time to take care of the issue. I agreed and he kept in touch every day this week letting me know what was going on.
So last night, I get an email from Tom, telling me that he has spoken with the right people at Cavender and he copied them on the email he sent me. He informed me that they would be reaching out to me to resolve the issue. Sure enough, while typing my response, I get an email from the big GM expressing his apology for the communication issues and asks what items I was still waiting for.
So I let him know about the document and the questions outstanding and I ask him to please understand that I agreed with Mr. Ditzig to give the situation a couple of days to get resolved and if it wasn't resolved by Thursday at noon his time, I would heed my wife's advice and cancel. I didn't want it to sound like an obnoxious ultimatum, but I just wanted to make it clear this was the last chance.
About an hour later, he responded with the document and answers to my questions. It's sad that it took me 2 weeks of trying, plus reaching out to AoA, and going to another dealership's GM, to get 1 document and 2 questions answered. But I expressed to Mr. Ditzig that I am a man who prefers to honor his committments, and since I placed this order and did want this car, and finally got what I needed, then I will honor this committment.
There is one thing I learned here, there is a huge difference in the level of customer service between a Magna Society Dealership and one that is not. So while I am going to purchase my A4 from Cavender, I will be enjoying the 125 mile roundtrip with the B&O when I take my A4 for service at Mr. Ditzig's dealership.
It's a shame more people do not have the moral character you seem to have. The US is very fortunate to have someone like you in the service. Thank you for all of your hard work for our country.