That Fleeced Feeling

Published on 3 March 2024 at 11:03

There are two industries I hate the buying process in.  The cell phone business has a terrible process, but buying a car is either tied or a close second.  I'm not alone.  Buying a car is the most hated experience that Americans have according to a survey done by Edmonds.  A majority of respondents would rather give up sex, Facebook or their cell phone than sit at a dealer and buy a car.  Here's the interesting thing to me, their reasons are the opposite of mine.  Most people hate haggling over price and would rather have a set price that would save them thousands over having to shop around.  Duh, we'd all like to have a price thousand below retail. 

For me, I hate, with a passion, one-price dealers.  My reasoning is pretty simple.  If I cannot get a price that I feel is fair by getting the dealer to compromise, then it's just a one-sided affair where they get what they want and I don't.  I have no satisfaction that I got a fair deal.  I do my homework, I shop around online, call places, look up the value of my trade and talk to dealer friends of mine, so I know what a fair deal is before I go in.  If someone says this is the price and we are a one-price dealer, I leave.  A lot of people think, well, you just wasted your time and got frustrated for no reason.  I'd agree if it didn't work out in the end, but I always get the phone call asking me to come back and I get what I want.  They know I'm a buyer and I'm serious.  It still sucks and I'd rather not go through it, but I'm under the belief that everything is negotiable.  Now, I've gotten used to checking first on the dealer's website and if it mentions they are a one-price dealer, I make sure to never go there.  Their comeback to people like me is that they claim their pricing is lower than dealers that haggle because they set their prices higher, knowing they will have to accept something lower.  If that were true, I'd have to crawl back to them and get their lower price, but it's a convenient lie as I've always found a lower price elsewhere.

I did buy several cars totally online now and that process was both good and bad.  The good part was, the car was what they said, nothing hidden and the price was better than anywhere I had looked in person.  They shipped it to us, and it all went fine.  The frustrating part was that I wanted to look at the car in person, this online seller happened to be local, and at first, they said ok and then said I could not.  They didn't want to spend one penny extra in having to have someone let me in the facility and look it over and I could not pick up the car myself.  Their rules were super stringent and other than my old-school beliefs in not buying something I hadn't seen and other fears of doing a deal this way, it all worked out.  The second time, I found a car online, called the dealer, asked a few questions, got some extra pictures sent to me, made an offer, it was accepted and the car was shipped half way across the country to me.  I was extremely happy and I spent a lot of money on the car and still was frightened, but I'd do it again now.  Today, I went into a dealer and had the typical frustrating experience, got very little enthusiasm for my purchase as I said it wasn't going to happen today and was given the worst trade value I've ever seen.  I said that if that was what you're giving me, I'll never buy that particular brand again, it was a luxury brand, as your cars are worth Yugo garbage.  He wasn't surprised at my disgust as trade values are down currently and of course, retail new prices are sky high.  My car is only two years old and is a very desirable model and spec, so I went across town and got $5K more from their competitor in value, but still didn't buy because it was my first day looking.  I'm not an impulse buyer.  Again, the dealer was put off I wasn't buying today.  I work in this industry, so I have no compassion for salesman that don't get how the process works.  If you walk in and buy that day, you either know exactly what you want, have no trade, are an impulse buyer or you're stupid.  Sales that are that easy are mocked by salespeople.  They say, "that guy had a mattress strapped to his back and was ready to get fucked."  It's true.  

Car dealers do other crap that pisses you off too.  I was told today that because I wasn't buying and the car I wanted was in-transit, that he couldn't get me a price on it.  He claimed that pricing changes every week.  I humored him and threw his card away the second I walked outside.  What bullshit.  He just guaranteed I'll never buy from him.  That was unbelievably lazy and if any of my salespeople did that, I'd fire them.  All he had to do was get me the price based on a purchase today, with the understanding it will change later, and I'd be happy.  But no.  One other thing that guarantees I won't buy is when a dealer advertises a price, with or without an asterisk, and later says that price is only good if you finance with us or some other trick where they raise the price.  I simply say, you had one chance and you blew it.  Goodbye.  I won't sit there for one second longer and take that kind of nonsense. 

So, dealers bring it on themselves, but I do realize that millennials and other younger buyers have totally different ideas of how to buy.  I'm clearly old school.  This couldn't be any more evident than it is in the cell phone industry.  I think the business model in the cell phone business is the most screwed up shit I've ever seen.  They value new purchasers and customers coming from other providers far more than their own customers.  The deal people get by switching used to be a lot better than us suckholes who were stupid enough to remain loyal.  Man, that pissed me off.  The price of the phones are ridiculous and most of the plans aren't really that great.  Today, anyone can get the deals, but they've switched to where you don't own your phone.  Leasing a phone for a year or two and then getting an upgrade is exactly what millennials want, but is hated by the rest of us who want to own our phone.  I could care a less about the newest and best phone, and just want a functional product.  I'm not on my phone as much as the addicted youth of today and I have a separate work phone, so I spend no time on calls.  I take photos, text a fair amount and check hockey scores, so I'm not their target market.  My plan was ended 15 years ago and I am a legacy owner who won't get on the new plans.  Everytime I go into the location closest to me, it's some new kid who says, this plan doesn't even exist.  You're a dinosaur.  Yep, I am.  Then it's a huge hassle to get your data transferred from the old phone and inevitably there is some problem getting off the ground before finally everything is back to normal.  Leasing phones may have even ended now and things have reverted back to owning them, but all the kids today make payments and I refuse to do that.  I pay up front.  I still hate going there and even if you buy online or over the phone with your provider, there is always a problem and you end up at the store anyways.  I just hate the whole experience and when I wreck or damage a phone, my blood pressure goes up just thinking about it.  I also have this hatred for my yearly battle with DirecTV.  

People have speculated that the whole dealership buying process will completely change in the near future.  All buying will happen online and they will not stock inventory any longer.  Salespeople will be a thing of the past.  Other than the service and parts department, it will be a vending machine process and the number of options will decline rapidly.  In fact, through AI, they will contact you when it's time to buy.  In many ways the dealership experience is archaic, but it will not go away completely.  Rivian, the electric vehicle brand backed by Jeff Bezos, started off with the idea of not signing up any dealers, but has now committed to 10 dealers and 41 service locations.  Tesla tried no dealers also, but has changed that stance as well.  People do want to see and touch what they buy and of course, repair facilities will always be necessary.  

So, I've learned I'm old and have old ideas of what being treated like a valued customer are.  Cell phone carriers are catering to the younger crowd, despite the fact they can't afford the phones and the car business is lazy and full of greedy salespeople.  If you're happy paying the price they decree and don't want your best deal and are clenching your butt cheeks until the sale is over, you can live with the state of things at a dealer.  That's not me.  If we can't compromise, then I'm not buying.  Market factors are at work depending on when you buy and it appears to me that right now, buying a used car might be a better deal than buying a new one.  Until large discounts come from the factory, the trade values and interest rates being charged all point towards used as a better option.  Buying online may also be the answer for me in particular.  

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