Car salesman fobbing me off?

lucylou

Registered User
Messages
134
Hi all,
I recently traded in my car with a very reputable and wellknown car dealer on the southside. The day after i collected my new car and left in my old, i realised i had left something under the front seat of my old car. Without saying too much this item was worth about €150. My own fault i know. Anyway i rang the salesman the next day. I was told of course il check for you, all nicey nice. He rang back about 20 mins later to say yes, found the item, will put it behind the desk with <gave me the name of receptionist>
Went to collect about a week later and was told this item had not been found, by the same guy who told me he had it in his hand and was putting it behind the desk as we speak!!! I tried to argue and he said he never had it!
Im soooo annoyed over this. i realise it was my own fault for leaving it in the car but he told me he found it!!
Along with this issue there are a few other things that annoyed me about the whole transaction. He put new mats in which i hadnt asked for and charged me €40 for them. then the car which was "fully serviced" had no water in the washer.
i just found the whole thing disheartening not to mention annoying. the salesman's attitude completely changed once the papers were signed. He was a completely different person. i realise sales people are like this and cest la vie but do i have any comeback over the item which he said he found??
I will never go back to this dealer for a service or anything else.:mad:
Sorry if this is the wrong forum!
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

Go to the dealership and ask to see the owner or manager and let him/her know what has happened. If you get no satisfaction contact the manufacturer (Toyota Ireland, Ford Ireland etc).
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

Sounds like a very poor set up; you should write a formal letter of complaint to the manager of the garage, detailing your grievances and see what happens....
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

Thanks, thats what i was thinking of doing anyway.... I had to take the car back over a fault in the door, and when i rang to arrange bringing it back and getting a replacement car for the duration, i found the salesman was rude, and he didnt return my call when he said he would. Yet when i first approached him and took the car out for a test drive and went off to think about it, he was able to ring me both in work and on my mobile to see if i was still interested!!
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

Go to the dealership and ask to see the owner or manager and let him/her know what has happened. If you get no satisfaction contact the manufacturer (Toyota Ireland, Ford Ireland etc).
I once had a problem with the local Toyota dealership, who were not too helpful. I wrote to Toyota Ireland and got no reply. When I later telephoned them, they said they had "no record" of my letter - presumably, because someone binned it. I then wrote to Toyota Japan, who were able to elicit a response from Dublin. I didn't really get anywhere but at least they stopped ignoring me. The higher up you go, the more effective it is..... Hope you get sorted....
Your statement: ".....the salesman's attitude completely changed once the papers were signed. He was a completely different person....." is spot-on.....
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

After looking into it, it now seems that the guy i dealt with is actually the director!! Should i ring him first with my issues and then go higher if i get no response? Or go straight to the X Ireland?
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

I would ring him first but let him know that you will go to X Ireland if you do not get satisfaction.
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

Are you sure that a company director of a new car dealership would risk his career/business/reputation over something the value of an ipod and a set of car mats ? Its your own fault over the item worth 150 euro to be honest if you were that unhappy with them and worried about the item why did it take you a week to collect it? Why did you just not return the mats and ask for a refund and say you did not order them? Its 40 euro im sure if this is a major problem for you they would refund you usually they put mats in a new car for free to be honest.
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

AS I SAID in my OP there were a few other issues that were annoying me, at the time the mats were not a problem and i let it go but combined with the other issues, yes now it is a problem. As you said they do usually put them in for free but not this time. In conjunction with the fact that i have spent so much money, yes i do require and deserve proper customer service and professionalism which this salesman clearly did not demonstrate. As you have pointed out he is the director and if he displays this level of service im glad i did not deal with one of his hench men.
Among other issues were a service not fully completed, making me now question what other omissions he made when signing this car off as serviced.
One thing that is bothering me now is the fact that he rang me back to say he had the item and would out it aside. Now he is denying that he had it in the first place. therefore he was lying to me, or it has been misplaced, or even worse, stolen. So yes i am annoyed, and i am going to complain about it.
PS its not an ipod???
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

Lucy, I see where you are coming from. But as many people have suggested you should be contacting the garage to resolve your complaints. A good starting point for this would be to fax/write down the individual problems and then your contact number and decide yourself what you would like to achieve as a minimum outcome. If you want them to fill the windscreen washer then im sure they will oblige, if you want a refund for the mats you did not order im sure they will oblige,if you want your item replaced then you probably should have picked it up when he told you he had it so if its gone missing in the intervening period then they cannot be held responsible for an indefinite amount of time. If you got your first service for free then this might be a good outcome for example and may leave everyone satisfied? If you are having second thoughts about paying a wad of cash for this car then ...maybe its too late. Its a pity that some people take the customer for granted. Best thing you can do is try and have your issues resolved ...then tell all your friends about your experience and maybe the garage will learn to put the customer first. If they are part of the renault franchise ask them to read bill cullens book.
 
Re: Car salesman fobbing me off??

You could also contact the police and report the item stolen.
 
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