jcjr

I was so disgusted by your experience that I e-mailed the dealership and asked for a response....Here is what i got back:

Hello Mr. Cordero,



Thank you for contacting me. I will be responding to the Club Lexus posting directly on Club Lexus.



Thank you again for contacting me directly,



Chris Brunner
General Manager

Park Place Lexus Mission Viejo
28242 Marguerite Pkwy
Mission Viejo, CA 92692

I will be interesting to see what they have to say.

difs

I read over the original post a couple of times, and I must say I am having a really hard time believing this is the same dealership we've bought from (and continue to service with) over the past few years.

We've purchased two new vehicles - a 2008 LS460 and an ES350 - plus three pre-owned cars for my folks and the kids - from Park Place Lexus Mission Viejo and our experience with them has always been outstanding. The sales personnel are knowledgeable (refreshing, since half the time we know more about the cars than the people on the floor do) and they come to the table ready to work with us on price. They seem to get that the competition is stiff in these here parts, and that we don't have to waste our time dickering when another dealership is chomping at the bit to do the deal. We also service our cars with them, as do my parents, and frankly their advisors kick butt (pardon my French) compared with the other dealerships we've gone to in the past. BTW. if you need a good one, ask for Doug Williams. He rocks.

I think the big difference here is we actually have a relationship with the people at Park Place. I know a lot of our Lexus-owner friends are like the original poster - calling up every dealer in Southern California trying to squeeze out the cheapest price and that's the extent of it. Maybe we're just rubes, but we figure our Lexuses are going to last us a long time so we might as well get to know the people who are selling and servicing our cars, and treat them with the same respect we expect to receive back. In return, the people at Park Place have been extremely gracious (especially with my elderly parents, which I really appreciate), given us great deals, and always keep us posted on progress when our cars are in for service.

To me, the real test of a company's integrity is how they take care of you after you've worked with them over a long period of time - long enough to see them warts and all - and they continue to impress with their high level of service, like Park Place has for us. It seems unfair to cut down a company after one "hit and run" transaction where you admittedly didn't care who it was, you just wanted the low price provider. Maybe the saleperson should have done a better job communicating, or being more responsive. But that's a big leap from the assertions you made on their intentions and integrity.

JMHO, for what it's worth.

xuningshen

iTrader: (1)

^^ I think that the guy above me is the dealer's response haha. come on don't be shy


also yea i second what tom said, roy, is an awesome guy.

vinh

iTrader: (8)

Damn what a waste of time and effort for you. Simple communication is not hard, even if it is bad news.

But yes i agree with the above posts^

Roy is straight pimpin.

*Batman*

I completely disagree with this. Every profit maximizing business treats its long-term high value customers well. That cannot possible be a real test of integrity when almost every company passes that test.

The true test of a company's integrity is how they treat EVERY customer. This case is pretty black and white, they made a sales commitment to a customer, and they did not honour it.

CBrunner

ERC4 and Club Lexus members,
This is Chris Bruner, General Manager of Park Place Lexus Mission Viejo. I appreciate you bringing your recent experience to our attention, as we take customer service issues extremely seriously. While it is never our intention to underperform or disappoint our clients in any way, unfortunately there are occasions when we do. This is one of those times.
Few things are more exciting than taking delivery on a car you've always wanted. And few things are more frustrating than having to wait an excessive amount of time to get that car. It only contributes to the aggravation when the company you've bought it from isn't adequately proactive in keeping you up to date on the situation, and isn't sufficiently responsive in getting back to you with answers to your questions. We fell short on both counts.
Part of the problem lies in the manufacturing process as it stands today. During the build, Lexus does not provide the dealer with status updates. Since "no news is no news," we tend to simply wait until we receive word the vehicle is complete and is ready for delivery to contact the buyer. When the wait is lengthy, however, as yours was - this is not an acceptable standard operating procedure. It's our responsibility to stay in touch with you, whether we've received manufacturing information on your vehicle or not, if only to let you know we are actively watching for your order to come through. This way you have confidence we are on the job, and aren't in the frustrating position of having to contact us first. There's also no excuse for not getting back to you in a timely fashion when you do contact us.
Please accept my apologies on behalf of the entire Park Place Lexus team. We work very hard to exceed expectations, and know that in today's marketplace, there's no margin for error. I hope you will give us a chance to make things right, and I extend the invitation to you and all other members of this board to contact me personally with any questions, concerns or recommendations. I can be reached by email at cbrunner@parkplacecal.com, and my direct line is 949-347-3401.
Best regards and a Happy New Year,
Chris Bruner

difs

Sorry, it's not at all black and white IMHO. From what I read, the company DID honor the original agreement - they gave the buyer a very competitive price on a custom car and ordered it from the manufacturer for him. No commitment broken there. The buyer canceled his order on his own volition (because he didn't get phone calls back as fast as he thought he should). Only AFTER the buyer canceled (again, by his own choice) and tried to reinstate was there a mention of a possible increase in price since many months had gone by. The whole assumption that the dealership purposely strung him along so he'd cancel his order and buy it again for a higher price is ridiculous. The time and energy and conniving it would take to pull that off couldn't possibly be worth a small increase in price they thought they could get. I mean REALLY.

My guess is the dealership would have honored the original price if the buyer went through with the deal. Was that the case or not, ERC4? I guess it would change my mind if they weren't going to, but I'd like to hear it from the source first.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

regardless of the outcome i think it's great that chris gets on the forum and posted a reply. at least to me it tells me that chris cares about customers and he's trying to make things right. hope the best!

well, i can't say i agree here at all. looking at OP's post, i think everyone can draw the idea that he never ever got any replies from the dealership, and

1) he said he would cancel the order if he doesn't hear back from dealership. he hadn't canceled the order yet
2) it's the dealership who told him the order was canceled (not by OP) but they could place the order again with substantial price increase

here's a direct quote from OP

i honestly don't think there are many ways to interpret it, unless OP didn't mean what he said

and i also can't agree with you entirely about

establishing good relationship over a long time is often beneficial, i agree. as a repeating customers i do feel a lot of times i get extra courtesy and consideration from my dealerships.

however, integrity of a company is not just by that. first impression and how a person is treat the very first time is just as important. otherwise in this case there will never be any "new" customers coz' they might all be receiving horrific treatments?

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

Thanks for signing up and posting on Club Lexus Chris. That in itself shows concern and commitment to address whatever issues may have existed.

Javier

xuningshen

iTrader: (1)

^^ yea its actually nice seeing dealerships post on CL

difs

Obviously companies should treat all customers well, whether it's the first transaction or the 200th. But the longer you work with a company, the more "opportunity" they have to screw up or continue to perform at a high level. I own my own business; I wish I could say we do everything perfectly on the very first interface with a new client but unfortunately we don't. A one-shot experience that may not have lived up to someone's expectation doesn't merit using names like "low lifes" etc. No one we've ever worked with at that dealership has been anything less than professional and reponsive. I just can't see the motivation in purposely fouling up a deal with a buyer, especially in this economy, as the GM said in his post. Wires were crossed, i's weren't dotted, leave it at that. And generally, when something like this happens, there's some blame/responsibility on both sides - including OP's.