[cababah]

Found the car I was going to order at a semi-local dealership and was dealing with the internet sales guy. Pretty cool young guy about my age (mid 20's) and found the 2011 GT that I wanted and he told me it would be at the dealer by the weekend. I took that as my cue to go in on the weekend to make the purchase. Turns out the car is not there but I am told it will be here by Monday for sure so I go ahead and buy it.

Monday comes, no car, Tuesday comes, no car..each time they tell me it will be the following day. I realize the dealership was just working off of shipping ETA's and their knowledge is not too far ahead of what I know.

Fast forward, I finally pick up my car on Thursday after it got PDI'd and whatnot and I am happy as ever as the sales guy tells me I will be getting a survey and to fill it out all with 5 stars so he can get a perfect rating. He did take pretty decent care of me throughout the process by answering his phone on his day off and sending me status text/picture messages when the car got there, making sure nobody else drove it, filling it with premium for free.

Now here is the problem.......

I got an e-mail about a survey and forgetting/not thinking it was the same one he was talking about, I filled it out honestly (meaning some of the scores were mediocre to good). A few days later I get a call from him asking why I "roasted" him and he thought I would take care of him since he took care of me. He said he had a 100% rating and because the surveys are A or F (A=all 5 stars, F=anything other than all 5 stars) he is now at a 78%. I honestly explained I did not know it was the real survey he was describing because I was sort of overwhelmed with new car joy and not paying that much attention.

I tried calling Ford motor corporate and high-ranking dealership people and writing lengthy e-mails all over but all of them told me the survey is a done deal and there is nothing possible to reverse it. I really felt bad because the sales guy despite being a cool dude made me feel like I betrayed him or purposely f****ed him over.

Do you guys think Ford surveys are a little bulls***t in how they rank? For example, some of the questions were about the bathroom and I rated that as poor since it was really filthy and gross yet somehow I was supposed to give it a 5 star so the sales guy gets his bonus?

I felt like I was punished and chewed out for being honest..YES the sales guy did kind of help me out and go out of his way but I don't like feeling pressured to lie or feeling guilty as a result of me being honest.

Sorry for the rant, has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[s197gt]

I have been honest all my life, and I can assure you that it does NOT pay. Otherwise, I'd probably be rich enough to buy a new Mustang...and I am not.

What I mean, is that we are trained to tell others what they want to hear, IF we want to get what WE want. I am unable to do that, so I suffer as a result.

Be happy that your answers to their questions were what you felt, in your heart. If they don't like it, it is their problem, not yours. Maybe their bathroom will be cleaner for the next Mustang buyer.

 

[Nathan0490]

My sales guy straight up told me in advance to do all 5 stars because anything other then 100% was an F. I never got the survey though so w/e.

 

[Klunk5.0]

Looks like he deserved the survey. He shouldn't call a customer back and belittle them like that! Just go do a burnout in front of the dealership to show your appreciation of their stupidity. What are people thinking with customer service these days?

 

[DawgPny]

I've heard that rant more often than I've cared to ... "if you don't rate me highest, I fail!!...."

But then they ask you about the bathrooms? Odd.

Odder still, and most troubling ... the dealer CALLED YOU ON IT?!?! Unacceptable!!

Call whoever you need to call ... Ford CS, the management at the dealership, your local newspaper, whatever ... that is WRONG.

 

[Brutal Metal]

This idiot should have taken his commission check and been done with it, I agree the surveys are BS, if salespeople are doing their jobs well the units will be sold and upper management will see that, revenue in the form of CASH$$ is the bottom line with ANY capitalist company! Do you REALLY think Ford wants the surveys to focus on if the salesman was courteous? haha!!

 

[DawgPny]

And interestingly enough, three years ago when I bought my present Jeep, and I realized later that they had bent me over and ... (well, I won't go into details, but I needed a physical after that...)

I got a survey and ripped them a new orifice. And I assumed, maybe correctly, that it was anonymous.

Anyway, I never heard back from anyone. (And let me tell you, I wasn't polite.)

Customer satisfaction surveys are NOTHING if they are not anonymous.

If I were you (and, as maybe you can sense, be glad that you're not), I would go absolutely bat$hit crazy on this, and find myself an a$$ on a platter. As our dear Prez states, I would find out "whose a$$ to kick."

 

[MustangChris810]

I ripped my Ford dealer during a survey. They deserved it.

If they would have called me about it, I would have told them to do a better job next time!

 

[Murda Inc.]

i always give surveys based upon the actual performance.

 

[mustang62]

For the salesman to call you in that manner after you honestly responed to the survey is unethical and a violation of privacy. This is also a conflict of interest.

The right thing to do is pick up the phone right now and let Ford know exactly what took place during the conversation. What happened to you is a clear violation of ethics, and a conflict of interest.

 

[taylorm]

These surveys are meaningless without honesty, you did the right thing and the saleman had no business calling you about it

 

[Polarman]

I made a thread not long ago about this sort of story. I received this "Survey" and filled it out online. I was honest in my answers and left a big comment.

If these guys call back mentionning the survey, they can go FTS.

 

[cababah]

i agree with you guys, thanks for confirming what the appropriate thing to do is.

he said i "roasted" and "burned" him on the survey in those words just because some of my scores were 4/5. i am sorry but i left the dealership a happy customer but there is always room for improvement.

as someone said, the guy sold a car, he should be happy about that instead of calling me out over the survey.

i was going to go back there for my first oil change/service but now i am worried a little that there is bad blood because of this survey and am looking to take it to a different dealership.

by the way, i even told the sales guy that despite the survey fiasco, i am overall satisfied and would recommend him to any of my family or friends if they wanted a ford (i would). shouldn't that be enough or the ultimate goal of a dealer/customer relationship? but nooooooo, they just want the numbers and %. just being happy doesn't get them their bonus and sales number streaks. i left this voice mail on his machine and have not heard back from him so i am just assuming it is a f**** you to me. i just hope they don't tamper with my loan info or sabotage my car if i bring it in for service as revenge!!!

 

[richm2256]

I am a professional salesperson (not auto), and what that idiot did was completely unprofessional and uncalled for. In my eyes, he just earned an even worse evaluation.

You need to take this further, and don't be intimidated by this knucklehead. Contact Ford and file a complaint with them, ask them to have the Zone sales Manager contact you, and speak to the dealership owner (not the GM or Sales manager, the OWNER!). This guy is giving that dealership - and by extention, Ford - a horrible image.

if you don't do this, he'll go on belittling everyone until someone has the balls to call him on it.

He's a SALESMAN, for God's sakes, there's nothing to be afraid of him for it.

Do yourself a favor by the way, speak in person to the Service Manager, and let HIM know that you are afraid of taking your car to them now. He dserves to know, and he will definitely want your business. I've been in countless dealerships in the auto parts business, and I can tell you that Sales and Service are two different entities; the service guys don't hold grudges, they want your service business. They'll fix that assclown ASAP, believe me.

 

[2010gt1]

i think i gave my dealer like 90% job well done, only because he wasn't too knowledgeable on some things which was sort of annoying. but overall A-

 

[mattr12]

In my company, anything under 9 out of 10 is on a survey response is "terrible". When I was in school and got anything over 5 out of 10 I was ecstatic. As a customer, I rarely give 10 out of 10. I just got a survey about my purchase, and too, was asked about the condition of the dealership. It was nice, but not like a Las Vegas hotel so I gave it a 7. If my sales person gets a bad rating for this then that's not my problem. Not all surveys are anonymous. If they're based on a specific sale then they can't be anonymous! But for the guy to call you back on it is unacceptable.

 

[Tara]

I saw an "example survey" on the sales guy's desk when I was there, with 5-stars filled out on everything. I doubt he'll be getting 5 stars from me, as he didn't seem very willing to order the car for us, keep us updated, etc. Guess I'll have to check the bathrooms out at the dealership next time I'm there to be prepared to rate that LOL.

What your sales guy did was very unethical and stupid. What is the point of doing those surveys without honesty? Then nothing can be improved upon.