Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Good stories so far, but there are a lot of customers that try to pull a "fast one" on dealers as well.
Here is a link to some funny stories from a guy that is a manager (I think) of a used car lot.
Look for posts from a user named
Cord, truly funny and at the same time unbelieveble stuff:
Buying stories from a salesman's perspective
Great stories by Cord. This one is my personal favorite.
"Here's a great one from a couple months ago involving our favorite customers from post #126. I'll copy the post here so you don't have to search.
Quote
Another update from the "truck tires slip on ice" people, and this one ended with an unexpected (but entertaining) twist.
We check our voice mail messages first thing in the morning and there is a rambling, barely coherent message from a woman talking about the brakes on her truck. The voice sounds familiar but she doesn't give her name or leave a number so we hit erase and continue the day.
Half an hour later one of the service advisers calls up explaining that Mr. So-and-so is here and he is complaining that he bought a truck a while ago and the tires and the brakes are no good. The adviser is told that both the brakes and tires were fine when they left the dealership and that we will not be doing any free work for these people.
Two minutes later two trucks (dad in one and mom and two kids in the other) come roaring around the building and the whole family comes into the office. He starts to complain that the tires and brakes are no good, blah, blah, blah. He is told that there is nothing wrong with either and that they will not be getting anything for free. He is also reminded that when the deal was done part of the payment involved a post-dated cheque for $500 and that the wife had subsequently told us that we could not cash it because they had used the money to replace the tires that "slipped on the ice." He was told that obviously no new tires were purchased and that we weren't very happy about being lied to. At that, the dad jumps up and storms out, yelling at no one in particular, "Take the plates off, we're just going to park it!"
So we watch as they get into their trucks. They had driven into a relatively narrow lane and the dad made a big show of turning his compact truck around and after about 5 or 6 forward and back maneuvers was now nose to nose with his wife's truck. Her truck was too big to turn around so she began to reverse slowly. The impatient dad kept gunning his engine and ended up pushing his wife's truck until they were clear of the lane. Then he turned onto the street with squealing tires and the wife followed.
As we watched, chuckling amongst ourselves, we notice one of their kids running through our lot waving in the direction of his rapidly disappearing parents. These people had driven away without their kid! He couldn't have been more than 4 or 5. He ran after his parents the length of the car lot but to no avail. One of our guys went outside and called him back and took him inside where he would be safe. The parents wouldn't answer their cell phone but sure enough, about 15 minutes later, the mother drives through and grabs her kid.
Funny and sad all at the same time.
Now that the stage is set...
One morning last fall we get a visit from our friend Mr. Einstein (not his real name ) from the episode above. We greet him with, "How are you today Mr Einstein?" In his usual subtle way, he responds with a bellow, "You can apologize for trying to kill me!" Time to close the office door ....
Mr. Einstein proceeds to tell us about how his truck had just gone up in flames in his driveway. We express genuine shock and concern wondering if anyone was hurt. A basic "No," is the answer. We ask how badly it was damaged and it was hard to keep a straight face as he inventoried the damage:
"Hood, GONE!"
"Seats, GONE!"
"Tires, GONE!"
"Dashboard, GONE!"
I mention that it sounds like it was a really hot fire and ask him if there was any damage to his house. "Naw, I'd moved it away from the house before it went up." Hmmm...
Then he got down to business. "A fireman said it might have started from the a wiring harness. So the way I see it you owe me a new truck."
He is diplomatically told that he needs to deal with his insurance company regarding his loss and that getting a new truck from us won't happen unless he wants to pay for another one.
He makes a few comments along the lines of, "you sell me a killer truck and you won't give me a new one, blah, blah, blah." When he realizes he is getting nowhere he spins on his heel and storms out just like he did last time. He'd even parked in the same spot as last time and had to do the same back and forth manoevering before he could drive off. We have a bit of a chuckle, shake our heads and continue on with our day.
The next morning we get a phone call. The other manager motions to the phone's display which reads "Mr. Einstein" and says to me, "this should be interesting." As I listen to one side of the conversation, I'm a little confused. I hear the manager saying things like, "Which legal firm did you say you were with?" and "It seems to me that as a lawyer you would know that you are not entitled to that." I'm wondering who the heck he's talking to.
When he hangs up the phone he says, "you won't believe this. It was Mrs. Einstein pretending to be a lawyer!" She was saying things like,"You have violated our rights by selling us ... I mean, the Einsteins a faulty truck and you are required to provide a new one." This provides us no end of laughs for that day.
But there's more. After a week or so, we hear from the lender that had financed the truck that the Einsteins had no insurance. It is a requirement of the loan, but apparently they cancelled it shortly after they got the truck. So now they have no truck, have no insurance, and are still responsible for the loan amount and have to deal with whatever recourse the lender has for not carrying insurance.
It is pure speculation on my part but I believe that Mr. Einstein deliberatly set his truck on fire hoping to get a replacement through insurance. Unfortunately, I believe he forgot that he had cancelled his insurance and then hatched up his little paralegal scheme in a desperate attempt to get a new truck.
I wonder if some day that kid will wish that his parents had never come back for him."
