Jesse sent us a copy of the letter he recently sent to CarSoup.com about the treatment his mother received at the K2 Auto Group car lot in Bloomington, Minneapolis.The salesmen who “greeted” them employed a novel sales technique whereby you treat the customer like she’s not rich or smart enough to even own a car, much less one of your beauties. Oddly, it didn’t work, and they left without buying anything. Read on for the salesman’s amazing technique in action.
I don’t normally waste my time with registering complaints, but my experience today was so upsetting that I cannot contain myself. My mother is in the process of car shopping to replace her current vehicle. While on CarSoup.com, I found a few cars in her price range that were priced very reasonable. I contacted the K2 Auto Group in Bloomington this morning by phone to see if we could stop by and take a look. I spoke with a very nice gentleman named John. My mother also spoke to John when we were having trouble locating the dealership. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a very rude elderly man who never did provide his name. From the moment we walked into the door, he began speaking down to us.
He asked us what brought us by, and the car I had really hoped to have her look at was sold. The man then asked what she was looking for. My mother, being rather lighthearted simply said, “A Car!” We were asked what our price range was and we told him between $10,000 and $15,000. The elderly man said, “So, what you really mean is you want a $15,000 car for $10,000.” Assuming he was not intentionally being rude, we asked if to look around at their inventory. He simply said, “Yeah, whatever,” as if to completely dismiss us. There were a few cars she liked. After we had looked at the inventory, we proceeded to the front of the dealership again where the man was seated. Not once we were ever asked if we needed help while looking at the cars.
When we got to the door, my mother jokingly said, “So what happens if I want to drive the car in the back? You’d have to move everything!” The man forcefully replied, “Well, if you want to drive something, go to the bank and get a cashier’s check for the amount of the car and we’ll let you drive it.” Feeling a bit insulted and amazed that someone would be speaking to my mother in such a tone, I unfortunately let the conversation continue. He asked her what kind of a car she had in mind. Not having anything specific, she said, “I’m really open to anything that’s not American, but I did like that 2002 Jaguar.” With what must have required some real guts, the man said, “What the hell would YOU want with a Jaguar? Really, what are you doing here?” The man asked what kind of a car she had and she told him she had a 1997 Audi A6 but also liked the A4. He proceeded to arrogantly tell us how much he knew about the Audi and that she would only be happy with an A4 if she could, “Manage to afford one.” This man also said, “You really shouldn’t be making such a production about this. It’s a used car.” He then told us that if we wanted to look at a car, he had a 2004 Volvo outside that was, “A nice enough car for you and it’s only $14,000, why don’t you go take a look at that.” Not only was this car more expensive than the Jaguar she inquired about, the tone which this extremely rude person spoke to her was completely uncalled for.
I highly doubt that this is the correct venue to lodge such a complaint, but having used CarSoup in the past to look at cars and contact sellers, I was extremely disappointed. I know this is not the kind of service or experience that is typical of dealers affiliated with your web site, and I hope to continue using CarSoup.com, although my mother definitely will not. This much I can say, I will NEVER step foot in K2′s “showroom” ever again. Not only that, I will be sure that I inform everyone I know and even those that I don’t that K2 is a terribly place to shop for a car.
(Image: Getty)
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@QrazyQat: At getting people out the door and buying one at the Lamborghini dealer?
Some people are such masochists. I’ll leave it there.
The salesman needs to be fired. Obviously he doesn’t care about his job enough to treat people with dignity and respect! I would have asked him directly for his supervisor…explained to them what was going on and tell them they are losing a sale for poor customer service and walked out!
I have to call BULLSHIT on this one. If you stood there past the first insult, then you must be into S&M, because I would have thanked him kindly and told him to have a long walk off a short pier. Who lets someone talk to their mother in this fashion?
THEN! I would have driven back by a short while later with my new Jaguar and told him he could have sold this to me if he’d only wanted to.
@baristabrawl: I dunno, “So, what you really mean is you want a $15,000 car for $10,000″ doesn’t sound like an insult to me. I’d say “yeah, that sounds about right to me” – if I got that kind of deal, I’d say I found a great deal and the salesperson who got me that car would be a great salesperson.
And regardless of his attitude, I would never wish a used late-model Jag on anyone without bags of money and the OP’s advice to look at the 2004 Volvo was good advice: I’d take a 2004 Volvo over a 2002 Jaguar any day of the week (ironically both Ford-owned so fuck you, miss “no American cars”). It will have less mileage and repair costs will be a third.
This is the same kind of treatment that I witnessed when I visited New England Auto Sales in Plainville, CT. They never returned my phone call nor emails on a request for a carfax report.
I certainly hope Jesse sent a copy of the letter to K2 as well as to his local news stations. After that, I wouldn’t bother wasting any more energy on that salesguy. He sounds like a bitter person and probably a professional loser, so being him is probably punishment enough.
Heh.
I actually had a very similar situation some 5 years ago, shopping for my first car in States… The salesman mocked my accent, suggested I was a ‘poor immigrant’ and basically verbally flipped me off. Dumbfounded (never had such a retail in good ol’ Europe) I left the lot…
The friend flipped out when he heard what happened, took me back the next day, we shopped for car, picked a nice ’01 Caddy for close to $20K, went through credit check & financing negotiations – and when all was done, walked out with ‘That guy told me I was a poor-ass polack yesterday’ to the store manager. (Not Polish… that was adding insult to injury, there.)
So, yea. If a salesman is being a buttplug, make sure he gets hit where it hurts the most.
I’d like to point out that this car dealership exists on the same block as single-family residential homes. That should have been their first clue. Next clue should have been that the repair shop across the street and the repair shop next door seem to have more cars sitting than the dealership.
You know…if I’d been a little ol Lady….I’d have hauled off and punched him in the nose. His co-workers and the cops would have laughed and laughed.
Maybe he was just an angry old man who was waiting to have his car serviced, and he wanted to drive potential customers away from the dealership. Did he show you a business card?
when they are doing bait and switch.. call from ur mobile phone while ur AT the dealership. that way when the say the car is here, you can ask them where it is located..
on another note.. i once started screaming at the top of my lungs because they wanted all my information (SSN included) and i was just looking at a car (not even trying to test drive).. people just started leaving en mass..
Insane. I’m not sure if I believe this story 100%, but I can honestly say I know the older population, especially women, aren’t used to standing up for themselves as much as they SHOULD be. But, her son was a pussy for letting such disrespect happen. If I go anywhere with the ma-in-law, I’ll be the first to point out bullshit service. (Very rare thankfully) but she’ll actually get upset because I very civilly brought up an issue with a manager, and if I don’t get the proper results within a reasonable amount of time I’ll walk out. She’s one of those classic “What will they think of us?” old broads.
I tell her who the hell cares what they think of US. They’ll never see US again.
A 2002 Jaguar for less than $14,000? I call “shenanigans” on this story!
As for the rude salesman, I’m skeptical about that. The worst car salesman I’ve personally experienced practically begged me to buy the car. I was turned off by the hard sell and the three card monty style when they started throwing numbers at me.
Well, that’s still not as disturbing as the time a used car salesman felt me up with his shoulder under the guise of reaching across the seat to grab something. Ew.
Hey its not BS.
Many moons ago I went to an Autoworld in Petersburg VA. I traded in my High School Ford for a sweet Toyota Supra. I think they were pissed off because I went through pricing as financed and then we ended up paying cash as my grandmother had went with me to cosign but for some reason decided to pay
cash (more on that later)… After I paid for the car I reminded the salesman the stereo was in no way coming with my trade (I had a big custom system) and he was fine with that. I told him I would be out of town until Wednesday and I would bring him the factory unit Wednesday after work. Again they were fine with it. The car I traded had custom rims and the owner declared that they were all the cars value so I had to leave them on.
Fast forward to wednesday when I get back from vacation. My mother is pissed as they called EVERY hour all weekend asking about the radio and nagging them to come to the dealership to finalize the transaction… They were no part of it. Then they called monday and tuesday asking for a way to contact me while I was out of town… I was a little upset as mom wasnt wired for that kind of hassle.
I went down there with some friends and carried the factory am/fm radio that came in the car. The owner kept stating “thats not the factory radio” It had a cd player. uhm in 1982 cars were lucky if you had FM! I told him that was it and it was all I was giving them. He insisted on going to an audio store and buying a new cd player for my trade in and I told him no bottom line the deal was done. You see I had the title since I paid cash and it was all transferred and done. He started yanking off his jacket and yelling we could settle it right then in the lot if that was how I wanted it. I busted out laughing and went outside to leave… He was still shrieking in the office.
Later I found out why my grandmother was so pissed. He (the owner) was my uncle on the bad side of her family.
Not sure how it works in Minneapolis, but in PA; all dealerships and salespersons must be licensed by the state. If it’s possible I would launch with the state.
Just remember most used car salespersons work on commission, just leave if they’re disrespectful or rude.
I recently bought a car and had the complete opposite treatment down here in Mankato (just 1 hour south of where this story takes place)
The guy selling was unbearably nice and wouldn’t stop smiling. Bought the car over a year ago and I still get cards from him on every holiday. It’s annoying…
I did get a sweet deal on the car though.
why is every consumerist post now littered with comments telling the poster what he SHOULD have done. The poster didn’t do anything wrong here. Could we possibly limit constructive criticism to posts where the consumer contributed in some way to the terrible experience??
This site has gone from a positive source of consumer enpowerment to a cluster of know-it-alls. No thanks!
Did you never once shove your verbal foot up his ass for talking to your mother like that? No one is rude to my mom but me.
What dealers in the Minneapolis St.Paul area are owned by the K2 group?
Curious minds want to avoid future hassles.
@FrankReality: I’m praying it’s Denny Hecker. I hate that guy, all over the buses and billboards. He creeps me out.
I’m pretty sure there’s something illegal or at least unethical going on at
K2. First off, it’s a dealership in the middle of a suburban area, second,
they’re an entirely indoor dealership and third, I frequently see their cars
on Carsoup listed for *far* below their Blue Book value. Not just “priced to
sell” kind of low… we’re talking $5,000-$7,000 below book value (or more).
No legitimate dealership lists cars that cheaply. I almost guarantee there
is something going on there. Either it’s a front for something illegal, or
the cars are being obtained illegally or unethically and being unloaded as
quickly as possible.