Pet Peeves

[whispering_surrender]

*mutters* Okay, I know I have a young looking face....and I know I'm a female, but why, oh why, must car dealers treat me like a 5-year old who is picking based on what color they are? To top it off, they look at me like I must be a crossdresser if I ask about drive train warranty, a tranny, or want to pop the hood!

Sorry, had to rant a moment, and since I live alone.....you lucky people got to listen....

I think I'm done now....*wanders off*

Whisper

 

[OldnotDead]

Hey, Whisper,

Used to run a small repair shop. Had a lot of women customers. One of them actually told me she came to our place because me and my guys actually talked to her like she knew what we were talking about.

Just keep looking. Find the salesman that treats you right. And if you are at a dealership because of the brand and the location and you do not want to go somewhere else, ask for the sales manager and tell him you want a salesman that will treat you like a grown up. And if HE doesn't get it ask for the owner. And if HE doesn't get it, then you will have to find somewhere else.

And if anyone want to rant on me for using HE in the above sentences, you need to just check on the statistics of owners of car dealers. Besides, if it were a SHE, Whisper would probably not be having that problem

 

[Vincent E]

We have one of these car dealers buying up every square inch around Boston so that he can expand his car storage area. This asshole is turning every community south of Boston into one big fucking parking lot.

Whisper, these car dealers suck,almost universally.

 

[TheEarl]

I'm with you on that; the worst thing in the world is to be patronised. Like phoning up computer help lines. Yes, I know I'm young. Yes I know that I have a very young sounding voice. But I'm not a complete fucking idiot! I've reeled off the list of my computer's stats, what the problem is, what I think is causing it and am asking you for a possible solution because I don't have your resources and what do you do? Tell mr to check if I've got my machine switched on and whether it's plugged into the wall. Well Jezz, I didn't think to do them. I didn't think the computer needed electricity; I thought the fairies inside powered it. Do I sound like a complete technophobe to you, arsehole!!

Apologies. I needed to vent too.

The Earl

 

[whispering_surrender]

*smiles* Welcome to my vent Earl! Pull up a chair and relax.

And to the others, thank you for your support. *hugs*

Whisper

 

[SlickTony]

Tell mr to check if I've got my machine switched on and whether it's plugged into the wall. Well Jezz, I didn't think to do them.

Yer Grace, I don't doubt that you're the intelligent computer user you say you are. But my husband is in Internet tech support at his work and every day he really does have a certain number of customers who needed to turn their computers on, really he does.

 

[oggbashan]

When I was helping to run a help desk at work the most common fault was lack of power supply.

The next was a forgotten password.

My daughters have had trouble with car dealers. Their first cars were supplied by a local dealer who is a friend. He spoilt them but discussing what they wanted to use the cars for, showing them the difference in fuel consumption and insurance premiums for various choices and teaching them how to choose wisely.

When they moved away they all had bad experiences until they found their own friendly dealer who wouldn't try to blind them with technicalities and would work with them. Such dealers do exist and are valued. They may not sell as many cars or shift the dodgy ones from the back of the lot but they have repeat customers and personal recommendations.

Good salesmen sell the customer what the customer really wants and help them to make an informed choice. If the dealer doesn't have what is wanted they can usually get it, or advise where it can be bought.

Og

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I recommend "Shemale" by David Thomas. There's a scene in t where the woman Jackie, who used to be the man Bradley, is buying a car, and it's really hilarious!

 

[MathGirl]

I am presently car shopping. Last week, I went to look at several cars I might be interested in. I hadn't done any research, just knew I want a high performance sport coupe.

First stop, the Acura salesman assured me that the 3.2CL was rear wheel drive. A glance at the sideways mounted engine and the lack of a differential on the back axle assured me he was full of shit. At least the BMW guy knew a few basic things about the car he was trying to sell.

I found that it's wrong to assume that a car salesman knows ANYTHING about the products he sells. That means the customer had better know something.
MG
Ps. The Lexus guy suggested I bring my Dad in to get his okay.
Pps. *&^(&^%*&^^%$&^#!!

 

[DarlingNikki]

I don't drive, but I've had similar situations with computer salesmen. I was trying to get my old laptop repaired and this one guy started laughing, saying it was a dinosaur and that there would be no point in fixing it as I wouldn't even have the space to install Microsoft Word on it. I told him that I already had the whole Office suite on it, but he just shrugged that off, and started showing me new laptops. He pulled one out and set it up and when it came on said, "See, now look at that blue color of the screen. Isn't it a nice, deep blue?" Whatever.

So I went somewhere else and they guys were willing to repair it, but they wanted $400 for the job. I started to cry (couldn't help it, long, horrible day and I was very, very broke and needed the thing for school) and the price dropped to $100. I guess sometimes sexism works in our favor in the short term, if we're willing to set the women's movement back a few years.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Sorry to say this, DarlingNikki, but if you had flashed a tit, you probably would have had it done for $10...

 

[Guest]

Svenskaflicka wrote:

If you see me in here, please yell at me to haul my butt over to NaNo and continue writing on my story!

 

[Quasimodem]

. . . He pulled one out and set it up and when it came on said, "See, now look at that blue color of the screen. Isn't it a nice, deep blue?"

You want a nice pretty blue so you have something to admire when the Micro$oft "Blue Screen of Death" hits and trashes all your data!

 

[Icingsugar]

Perdita, got yourself a new hobby?

 

[Guest]

Perdita, got yourself a new hobby?

She asked for it; I'm her whip!

Perdita

 

[destinie21]

poor svenska I bet she humming tied to the whipping post right now

I'm not much for whips but a little spank now and then is not out of the question.

 

[Guest]

As Hamlet said to mummy, "I'm being cruel only to be kind, so there."

Girls can be Hamlet too.

Elizabethanly, Perdita

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I found that it's wrong to assume that a car salesman knows ANYTHING about the products he sells. That means the customer had better know something.

It's not just car salesmen.

When my son was young and going through his lizard-keeping phase, we went to the big chain-store PetSmart to buy a couple of newts. (You know, when you've got that urge for newts you've just got to give in to it.) They only had two left, two different species, one bigger than the other. "You're sure they'll get along?" I asked. "Oh, yeah. No doubt about it." the salesman told me.

Of cource in the morning, there was one fat newt and one vanished newt, and I got all pissed off and was going to call up that salesman when it occurred to me: What had I thought? That the minimum-wage sales people at PetSmart are all PhD zoologists? That PetSmart gives them a crash six-month course in animal ethology before they're allowed to put on their little red vests?

Caveat fucking emptor.

---dr.M.

 

[OldnotDead]

I found that it's wrong to assume that a car salesman knows ANYTHING about the products he sells. That means the customer had better know something.
MG
Ps. The Lexus guy suggested I bring my Dad in to get his okay.
Pps. *&^(&^%*&^^%$&^#!!

MG,

At the risk of starting all sorts of flames, I've found the most knowledgeable car salesmen from a technical view point are on the used car lots of dealers. They know the cars that get TRADED for the good ones that they sell, so they can give you some insight into competition that the guys in the NEW showroom rarely come close to.

How do you find one? Walk into the used car lot and do not look at the brand of the dealer. Look at all the other brands. When a salesman approaches you, ask for the manager. Don't talk, insist on the manager. If you don't you get whomever is 'up'. Then tell the manager you want to talk to the most knowledgeable of his staff that will not be condescending to a woman. It won't always work, but it's better than taking 'pot luck.

Of course, there are some real idiots there, too. Like the guy that tried to convince me that a Subaru had Air Conditioning. "See that control that says 'A/C'. That means Air Conditioning" Idiot didn't know that Subaru then delivered all cars with the controls and ductwork for 'factory' air, but the dealer was the one that either added it to the car . . . or not. This was an 'or not'.

Somebody say 'Caveat Emptor' ? Ditto.

 

[whispering_surrender]

I'm so ashamed to admit it, but I caved and resorted to the brother method. Something about a 1 ton pickup pulling onto the lot with a 6'3" guy getting out got a lot more attention, and less bullshit.....*hides face*

On the other hand, it looks like it was successfull, so I won't argue the method too much. *Grin*

Whisper

 

[Guest]

Whisper, us gals have done a lot worse to save (or earn) money.

Perdita

p.s. only one of my brothers would be worth taking to buy a car.

 

[whispering_surrender]

*grin*

The twins are both helpful, but one is....how do I say this nicely?....pushier than the other. And of course I drafted the pushy one!

Whisper

 

[Mhari]

I thought a bit before posting this, because I didn't want to possibly piss people off. But then I decided, eh, even if I piss people off, maybe it'll still be helpful.

Whenever I know I'm going to be engaging in some activity that will inevitably wind up with some jackass male patronizing me, I *always* do my research first. Before we bought our house, I read everything I could possibly find and had lists of smart-assed questions to ask the contractors, along with lists of what the right answers should be. (Since I knew that I, naturally, would be the one doing most of the interaction with the contractors, not my then-husband.) Though they started out trying to pat me on the shoulder and tell me not to worry my purty lil head about things, they quickly learned not to do that. Being tall and not afraid to use my height as an intimdating factor helps, too...

As for car salemen... *rolls eyes* The last time I went car shopping, the moron tried to talk to my *husband* about MY CAR. Now, I have this little thing I do, of arching my eyebrows and giving a sarcastic little grin, and it means, "I'm becoming annoyed, but I'm still amused, for which you'd better be grateful." It controls my college students pretty well, and it works on Men, too. I turned this look upon the car salesman and said, "You'd better start talking to *me*, not *him*, right now, or we're leaving." This had a nice effect on his behaviour. It also helped that I'd done a ton of research and narrowed my choices down to...one. Pending the car's handling on the test-drive. Which it did.

I guess by these babbling tales, I'm trying to say: make sure you really *do* know what you're talking about going in, and don't be afraid to intimidate the life out of the guys. If you only sort of know what you want/need, people can tell, and they'll start giving you the "purty lil head" line. And I know that a lot of women are afraid to appear "not nice". I see my sister, one of the toughest people I know, do this. She'll back down in a sales-type situation because she doesn't want to appear mean. So I'll do it for her. I suspect that teaching (mostly male) college kids has helped me get over my fear of seeming mean.

Anyway...my .02.

 

[sweetnpetite]

This seals it. I am going to become a car dealer and use this sexism to my advantage. I will treat the women like gold, and let the men think that they are outsmarting me. If they try to leave the lot without buying, I will break down in tears and claim that if I don't sell a car soon, I will probanly get fired. Yjey will then buy a car so they can "rescue" me- and get me to stop crying

 

[The_Fool]

The best way to deal with a car saleman is to know more than he does. Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds, Consumer reports and the applicable corporate website are what I used the last five or six times. That and a calculator that does payment calculations. The last few times I have done this, I have gone in with list price, invoice price, average trade-in value and monthly payments.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is that if you are unhappy with a dealer, call the manufacturer and complain. They don't like dealers with bad attitudes about customer service.

Fool