About 2 weeks ago I was on my motorcycle and lost the keys to my IS300. I have it towed to the dealership and they take awesome care of me and even pay for a new ecu since it couldn't be reflashed.

Fast forward to yesterday when I go to pick it up.

One of my good friends gives me a ride to go pick it up and he was fresh off of work(oilfield) so his pants/shirt are a little dirty. I'm dressed very casual in board shorts, MVP T shirt, and joggers shoes. While I wait for them to bring my car around I go take a peek at the new IS's as I was considering purchasing one next year. I walk around for literally 20-25 minutes and not ONE salesman approaches me, they look at us but don't even come up to answer any questions I may have had. I then go get the keys to my IS, pull it around, and park next to my buddies work truck and go back to looking at the cars on the lot. Within 2-3 minutes of me getting out of my car I was approached by a salesman asking if I was looking to get out of my 300 and into a 250 or 350. I give a little grin and go on my way without replying to him.

Now I don't know if it's just me or not but that seriously upset me that they were not even willing to talk to me until they seen I already had a Lexus. Thoughts????

Regards,
Robert

 

Human beings

 

That's just terrible. It seems you and your friend's "ability to buy" was being judged by your dress at that dealership. I remember getting similar treatment at car dealerships when I was in my younger years--I guess they just assumed I wasn't worth the trouble. But normally they'd talk to me at least, just in a condescending way like there was no way I could afford "this car"--although they were probably right in some cases .

I experience the same thing in boutiques like Tiffany and the like. I usually go in wearing a T-shirt and jeans. I notice that it's quite often that I have to wait around to be helped, and sometimes it seems like the sales people don't think I'm worth the trouble so many walk right by me without saying anything. I once waited 45 minutes before anybody bothered to speak to me and I was leaving when I finally was assisted.

I'm a guy. I don't walk into a store like that without the intention to buy something. Ever notice salespeople tend to look at the bags you're carrying at a mall? Car dealerships may be a little different as it seems more people browse them, but you never know what someone can afford just by their clothing. I've known/know some very wealthy people who never dress the part unless absolutely necessary.

 

LOL I know the feeling. Last year when I had my BMW in for service I was driving around in my beater jeep and I stopped by the Lexus dealer (which is right next door to the BMW dealership where my car was) because I was thinking about picking up an IS over the summer. Now I'm in a basic Eddie Bauer polo and jeans, when I pull up there are 3 sales guys standing around just shooting the **** all of them look at me and I even make eye contact with 2 of them, but yet not a single one came to greet me or even pay the slightest bit of attention to me..........the customer.

So the next day after I picked up my M3 from service I decided I would swing by again and take another look. Well, well guess what..............the same 2 guys that would not even say hi to me were over there in less than 2 minutes. Needless to say I was not happy at all and yes it pissed me off big time.

Now on a side note one of the sales guys was driving a beat to hell 96 Olds which I found pretty funny considering they judged me off of what I was driving at the time and his car was worse than my jeep..........

 

happens to me all the time coz' i look too young. i still remember the priceless look on their face when they saw my ls460l

 

They funny thing is my friend was really interested in an IS. He brings home well over 100k so purchasing it would not be an issue. I could afford it no problem as well but just bought my IS300 2 months ago and would like to pay of this IS before adding something new to the stable of cars. After the service we received though he was kind of discouraged about purchasing one. Just seeing what other peoples opinions are on the matter and how you would handle it

On a side note same thing happened to my boss at a Ferrari dealership. He finally went and snagged a salesman to get his card. He then purchased elsewhere and returned to that dealership with his 360 to let the sales manager know about the sale they lost.

 

LOL that is to funny, to many people make opinions off of the way people look or what they drive instead of getting to know the person...............to bad

 

Guess when it's finally time to buy my IS250/350 I'll have come dressed in suit and tie :P.

 

+1

Overreacting? People overreact even worse, which kind of drives me nuts. But then again, I'm likely different. I don't think money, or the appearance of, is a ticket to service.

Exactly, they're human beings. Perhaps the first thing anyone in sales should be taught, though, is that you can never tell whether a person is going to be interested until they make some kind of communication. They should know that by now. How many people come in not dressed up and buy a car?

Maybe your communication suggested you wanted to be left alone. Maybe they can't read. There's so many ways.

I don't think car dealers see me roll up in my not-late-model, dinged up car, which I love...

Yet, I haven't had problems getting what I needed while I was there.

Anymore, I don't wait for service. If they're helping someone else, okay. If not, I walk right up and start asking questions.

I also don't get offended: I don't seek others' approval.

Although one time...

A while ago I walked into a Lexus dealer and spent a whole...5 minutes waiting for someone to ask me if I needed help. They were busy. There were a bunch of people waiting around. I don't remember exactly but I think the one guy was helping a bunch of people at the same time, and he skipped over me (possibly accidentally?) to ask others if they needed help.

In between, he came by to check on me.

It's complicated. At first I was kind of wondering--did he choose to skip me? If so, why?

But he did check, and was it busy!

Anymore though I don't care. We'll see what happens when I walk into the BMW and Mercedes dealers though(!)

Note: I was dressed very poorly...worse than any of you as you've described.

 

i won't give a damn. i will get it elsewhere and come back here with the car

 

Well the thing that got me was that he knew I was out looking at the 250/350 cars but would only approach me once he seen my IS300. How else would he have known that if he didn't see me out there prior. I glanced over at the few salesman standing outside on multiple occasions. I guess since I'm a salesman myself I expected more from them. I don't judge anybody when they come in the shop. You can be driving a 88 hatchback civic or a Porshe, either way I treat you the same.

 

My brother has become very close friends with the general Manager at Bentley Dealership in Pasadena and he told me this story. A women that lived in Inglewood recently won the lottery and purchased a brand Bentley Gt convertible from Pasadena. When the general manager asked her why she purchased the car from Pasadena the lady replied that she went to the Beverly hills dealership and not one person even acknowledged her!

I will say one thing about the Pasadena Bentley no matter what you are wearing
they are the most courteous and nicest people around! They even letting my brother drive a Flying Spur demo for a week; and don't think for a second I won't be borrowing that car either

I was say don't judge a book by it's cover

 

That's normal, although I've found it happens less at Lexus dealerships. At Lexus/LV for example, usually within minutes someone always comes up to me to make sure I've been helped.

When I visit MB, BMW, or Audi dealerships in my area, wearing my typical jeans and white sneakers, I never get helped unless someone out front saw me pull up and I'm driving my Lexus or whatever. I remember one time when I visited MB in the Turbo, and two salespeople were pretty much fighting to get to me. It's pretty silly, but expected. These people have to make sales, and who is more likely to buy? You have to look at it from their perspective.

But I must add that I have different views about all this. Unlike others who said they would wear a suit when they go car shopping, I personally would never dress up or drive a nice car when I'm actually going to buy a car. The reason being that I want to be able to haggle down to get the best possible deal I can, and so I don't want the salespeople to think I have a lot of money because then they'll assume I can pay them off. The possibility that I'll decline a deal because I may be less able to afford a car is always powerful leverage, and that's one way I always approach car purchasing and I believe it's helped me in the past. I've mentioned in prior threads that I paid invoice for two of my Lexus vehicles and well under MSRP for the third. The gig is always up once I pay in cash, though.

 

According to the story, two "country hicks" came to Harvard and wanted to talk with the president. A haughty secretary resisted the couple and made them wait for hours. In exasperation, she finally asked the president to see the visitors, which he did if for no other reason to get rid of them. The couple told him their son had attended Harvard for a year and he had loved it, but had been killed in an accident and they wanted to build a memorial to him. The president discouraged them, saying they couldn't erect a memorial to every student who had died. The couple said they were thinking of donating for an entire building in their son's honor. The president discouraged them and mentioned how much all of the buildings at Harvard were worth. The lady commented to her husband that if that was all it took to build a university, they ought to construct their own. So...Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford went to Palo Alto, California and built a school in honor of their son...a memorial to a student that Harvard no longer cared about.

 

That's a great story and I was actually going to post a reference to it myself. Perfectly relevant here.