experience I have ever had with any dealership. For reference, I used to work in the industry and was a new car sales manager for years - I 100% understand the game played.
Been shopping for a well optioned Cayenne for a while and saw they listed one, fresh in, no pictures. I called and spoke with Joseph to see if the car was able to be seen and test driven, he assured me it was and invited me to come in. So, we packed the 3 year old up in the 110 degree heat and made the 31 mile trek to Beemer Haus.
My well dressed family showed up in our Tesla Model S (painting the picture and you will see why) and Joseph met us outside and welcomed us in. Right away he took us the where the vehicle was, as it was still being detailed. We had some small talk about why we were shopping for a SUV, Cayenne specifically. Told Joseph we have been looking for a while and that the options on this car were very exciting. He asked me if we would be purchasing the vehicle today and I responded, "if you ask my wife, yes, but I don't think we have time to finish today. I am 50/50" He then told me he would need my drivers license and insurance card in order to go on a test drive - no worries, I am an a State Farm insurance Agent and own a local office down the street, let me grab my insurance card out of my car.
Again, Saturday, 110 outside, wife is sitting in dealership with 3 year old who is beyond bored. Going on a "joy ride" and wasting time is the LAST thing on my mind. At this point, if Joseph was a salesman, he would have been able to notice my wife was already excited about the vehicle, told him she wanted it and was already giving me a hard time and telling me to purchase it.
This is where things took a very weird turn.. Joseph returned to me standing there, with license and insurance, and told me, "my GM (Kalin) doesn't feel comfortable allowing you to test drive the vehicle since you aren't buying the vehicle today." UMMMM WHAT?! How in the world am I supposed to know if this is the vehicle I want without test driving it? It's over 100 degrees out and I drove almost an hour with my 3 year old in the car - IF YOUR GM CAN'T DETERMINE WITH THIS INFO ALONE THAT I AM A SERIOUS BUYER - HE NEEDS TO BE RE-TRAINED. Beyond that, if that is how Kalin felt, why didn't HE come out to tell me that? Instead, Joseph was cowardly sent out to tell me the news.
I was beyond offended that my family and I were profiled like that by Kalin, a gentleman that I have never spoke to or shaken hands with. I immediately walked over to my wife and told her we were leaving. Not once did Joseph or Kalin attempt to stop me to clarify or apologize.
After leaving I sent Joseph a text to confirm what was said and this was the response. "that was the GM. Please dont take offense, we like the first test drive to also be the last. We are happy to have you back in and have it be the last car you shop for"
He continued to say, "we just dont take vehicles on test drives unless they are committed to buying" news flash, I was committed, just didnt have time to sit there in finance for hours on end that day.
I thought to myself there is no way the owner knows customers are being treated and profiled like this by his own General Manager. I decided to send an email to the 2 owners listed on their website to explain what happened and see if they felt the same. The Owner, Charbel, responded very quickly (on a Sunday, credit where credit is due) and began to apologize at first but his email started to run off the rails as well.
In his email he said his GM, Kalin, told him "you (I) made it clear to the salesman (Joseph) about not being ready to buy that day" and goes on to say "I hope you now that these guys spend their day in the heat helping customers. They need to clean the cars before and after the test drive. They get so many people who walk in every day just wanting to take the vehicle on a joy ride."
IT IS THEIR JOB