LOCAL CAR DEALERSHIP TURNS AWAY A QUOTE REQUEST

As a Mother of 3 and a professional Mommy Blogger/Consumer Educator I set out on a quest about 3 weeks ago to see if as a WOMAN I could purchase a car with ease, without fear of stepping onto a lot, without pressure and if it really was possible to negotiate the sale in the same manner that the readers of my blog had been telling me it is not possible to do.  Most of my readers are Moms and after being polled and endless emails I learned about horrendous stories of car buying.  As we are in the market for a new vehicle I decided to make this a learning experience and an adventure that I would blog about as I visited the dealers.  I am also committed to not name spilling on the dealers, but I will INDICATE brand so you have some idea of where I was.

The whole process has come down to this last weekend. I had visited a Ford Dealer I really thought had it 'together' .    I wrote about my visit, extensively. The family business(construction) are FORD owners to the core purchasing upwards of 14 FORD TRUCKS, Tandems, One Tons, etc and because of this felt secure in getting a quote for another FORD.    Normally he would just go to his company salesperson, but since I had told him about my POSITIVE Experience and he knew the project I was working on was about female cary buying so he and I figured I could just continue writing the piece on this and move forward and see if I could get the quote and make my own deal. (I had not done this since I had purchased a vehicle after college, since then we had done these purchases together)

I submitted a generic email to the sales person I worked with. My email simply asked for what I wanted on my FORD and a final price with numbers worked in, and additionally I said this person could scan it or email me the quote. Easy. So I thought.  Here is the rest of the story.  As a female I feel that I have now fallen into what so many people had said had happened to them, a NEGATIVE buying experience, but I think you will see this exceeds Negativity, it actually SHUNS a buyer.. and imagine in today's economy someone wanting to purchase an Expedition being turned away for a quote! UNIMAGEINABLE!

HERE IS MY STORY as it appears on my blog.

As you all know, I have been working on purchasing a new car.  My current car is 9 years old and it is time for US to part ways.. I have enjoyed its size, and comfort but now we need a new one.

I have found dealerships that are really great to work with, and those .. well not so much! No matter what I have kept the wind in my sails and moved forward.. I do believe until today! My husband has been a true backbone in the commitment: when we go to the dealers he redirects all the sales questions to me and reminds the sales people that I AM THE ONE DRIVING AND ENJOYING the VEHICLE.

I sent an e mail this morning requesting a price for a new vehicle at a local Ford Dealer. You might recall I was writing previously today about someone who really understood a woman purchasing a car and that I had the ability to LOOK without being badgered.. I guess that was too good to be true because today, after simply requesting a QUOTE for a vehicle.. I was told NO THANKS FOR MY BUSINESS. I did not mention what dealership nor will I.   I have just been trying to address all of the concerns each of you has addressed when car buying and I have found the same thing every where I have gone!

While the local FORD dealer has issued an apology, it by no means can explain why when requesting a quote I was given the following:

I think it is funny that he would attempt to be of further assistance to me after telling me he could not provide me anything!  I was taken back when I read this e mail and I searched for a reason that someone would write back to a product/inventory search/quote with this aggressiveness.  I guess I can say with certainty that car buying is NOT an Easy or FUN task.  I can also tell you this person SHOULD not sell cars because they are not earning business by TURNING IT AWAY!

YES, my first call was to the dealer and their first call was here….. I have spoken with the dealer, who is nothing less than apologetic, and I have spoken with Ford Corporate. That however does very little to CHANGE the experience, the e mail or the situation and it only ADDS another story to the endless list of items being said from women about car buying.  While I am sure it is not the FORD way, this happened at a FORD dealer, making it pretty hard to separate the 2.

Waiting to see how this all will turn out? Stay tuned.  I wonder myself how this tale will turn out because right now, I am just seeing stars from what I would consider a RUDE response to a general inquiry for a specific vehicle.  Simply stated, color, price, and features, scanned or faxed and e mailed to me. Nothing more .. nothing less.  I also think that being a LADY with a sale is not EASY and not a Great process, the e mail just talks to that even more.

I have attempted to address every concern that has been posted from not being talked to to not even understanding what you might purchase.  All along I have kept up with the idea that somewhere out there is the Perfect car and  dealership, trying to negate all those e mails that have told me NO such thing exists!