So I just bought a 2012 white TSX last week.

I really like the car so far, but um, the guy who sold it to me was kind of a dink.

Anyways, today I got a call on the phone from Honda, or Acura, or whoever to take a survey on the purchase experience, but I was too busy to do it then.

I've been through this deal before from the new accord that I bought a while back. Honda dings the sales guy if you don't give them all 10's on the questions from what I understand.

So how should I do this?

I don't want to be a jerk to this sales guy, but I sure wasn't all that impressed with him, or his ability to sell a car.

Are there any sales people that read this board?

 

If you're afraid that your response will have a negative impact on the sales man, just don't answer the survey. They call at the most annoying times, but I recognize the number enough to just ignore it.

 

yes, dealers do lurk on here.

i say be objective. it's a learning experience for the salesman. sure you can give him all 10's and then when the survey person asks if you'd like to add any other comments you can tell them your impression. corporate may also send you an email survey as well.

 

the sales guy gets f'd when bonuses roll around if his scores aren't all 10s...id really consider the transaction and see if the guy was being a salesman that you would absolutely hate to be in the room with, if he was that guy, then i'd rate him poorly...but if you otherwise felt as if it went well, give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

Ask yourself if you are ever going back to that dealership. If so, then you may not want to burn your bridges.

What did the salesman do that was bad? If you feel strongly about it, then you may want to have this discussion with the store's GM. Lay it on the line but have specific recommendations. If you feel that you were somehow wronged, then propose a specific resolution - for example - "The salesman's inability to do X, caused me Y harm and I'd like Z as a remedy."

 

I dont think that they actually say who gave them the bad rating...it should anonymous if I remember correctly. My salesperson told me that it affects his bonus and also if you get consistently high scores Acura/Honda gives them swag like paid vacations and stuff.

I would say just rank them honestly. If they were bad at X or Y reasons, mention it. In the same retrospect, if they were good at X and Y, say that as well. The world needs more accountability these days anyways and its not like you are purposely trying to screw him over. If he was bad then that's his own fault.

 

My finance guy was very rude and a huge jerk. He forced me to listen to all his crap of trying to sell me extra crap. I told him he doesn't have to go over all that with me because I'm not buying anything extra and he said you still have to listen because I have to go over this stuff with you.

He later mentioned that I will get a call from Acura and said if I don't give them all 10's, it's basically a score of 0 they receive. He asked if I can give them all 10's and I had this look on my face like yeah, right. I said, uh... not sure... He changed my phone number on my paper work by one number so that Acura would call the wrong number, so I never got that call. If I would have gotten that Acura survey, I would have complained about my finance guy.

 

That's the thing. I will be going back there. I like the service that they give. The mechanics know what's up.

As for what the guy did....

Well it started with him trying to get me to lease. I told him that I was cynical about leases, but to please email me the contract, with the small print, so that I could make an informed opinion on the matter. All's he sent me was the monthly payment number, and the buy back number. It was as if he thought I was too stupid to be told about the rest.

Then later, we had argued about the trade in value of my 2004 tsx that I traded in. It's a long story, but he wanted to shaft me another 800 bucks on the trade in over the tires. He claimed that they all need to be replaced, and I didn't believe him seeing as how I just put two new tires on the thing less than a year ago. They were on the back.

Whatever. I ended up going over him to the numbers guy above him and didn't end up paying for 4 new tires on the old car.

The wheeling and dealing is par for the course, I get that. He treated me like I was dumb, and that I wasn't worth his time.

I was almost to the point of driving the 100 miles to the next nearest Acura dealership, and having them deliver the same car there.

I didn't have much leverage, cause I wanted a stick shift. There is currently only one left in the whole state. In a color I don't want.

Anyways, thanks for all the replies about this. If it effects his bonus, I'll prolly just give all 10s and just let it go. I personally ding Honda for making them get all 10s. I think that's stupid, and unrealistic.

Now my wife just told me that when she took it back in to get the side molding on it, dinkboy told her that he "only got $200 commission on that car, when normally I get $800, so you guys got a great deal".

I think that's just plain tacky for him to say that. what a jackazz.

Everyone else there -and I've been going there for years, even before the 2004 TSX when I had my civic- has been great.

 

Oh, and he added an extra $500 charge into my financing, which he told me nothing about. When I got home, I did all the calculations myself based on our agreed sales price, TTL, and finance charges, and noticed I was charged $500 extra (the way he did my paperwork, it didn't show each charge itemized so that the $500 would be hidden into the total) I went back to the dealership and told him about it, and he said he'll take care of it. He re-did my financing to remove the $500.

 

I'm kind of on the fence on this one. If I were a salesman, I would want honest feedback about my performance. Yes, I would enjoy a paid vacation, but I don't think I'd enjoy it that much if I knew it wasn't because I really did a good job, but because I asked someone to give me 10s.

There really are a lot of shady dealers out there. That's why I like my dealer. First impressions count. When I first inquired about my lease, there was no pressure, and like OP I asked for a copy of the lease contract. It was faxed to me, no questions asked. My saleswoman later told me that nobody's ever asked to see the contract before.

Anyhow, I liked them so much that I went back and got another TSX. I believe good work should be rewarded, especially because these days most people don't do good work.

 

Based on what you described here, I would do one of the following: 1. Not participate in the survey. 2. Be honest.

And knowing me, I would likely choose #2. The fact that he told your wife about his commission is beyond tacky. That was nothing more than trying to make you guys feel guilty for getting "too good of a deal" and that kind of emotional manipulation lights my fire. He was basically telling her that you guys cost him money. That is so tasteless. If anyone cost him money, it was the dealership. They didn't have to agree to the terms of the purchase but they did. Why blame the customer for trying to get the best deal available?

 

Based on that final commission comment, I would go to the GM and say "I was willing to overlook all of the other petty little dealership games but because of that comment I am not giving the dealership all 10's and am complaining to Honda corporate. I'm putting you on notice right now that this had better not affect the service I receive here in the future."

If you really are willing to follow though, I'd bet that you get immediate apologies and a free service or two. Even better, you can bring a draft letter to Honda with you and give the GM an advance copy.

 

Before I left both the salesman and finance guy asked "you gonna give me all 10s?" I think I gave the salesman 8,8,9-just because I believe someone has to go truly above and beyond to get 10,10,10. It's not that he did "bad".

The finance guy was another story, he was a dick because of my age and condescending the whole time. I reamed him on the phone survey and wrote a small book on the one from corporate.

I don't give a crap about their bonuses, they are already making money off me.

They still call me asking me monthly why I haven't used their service department. I answer "the one thing I asked you to do (get my radio and navi codes since they didn't come with the car) you couldn't handle.

 

yeah, this also happened to me when I bought new cars from honda years ago. They all do it, looks like to me.

This gets to the heart of why I created this thread. The survey is stupid. The sales people should be judged on a curve against their peers IMO. And they shouldn't be allowed to talk about it with car buyers.

Whoever tried to hose you for another 500 bucks should be fired. Without ceremony.

 

Honda/Acura introduced Top Box methodology in Canada about a year ago - meaning, in their draconian implementation of the system, that unless the customer gave a 10, the score is considered a zero. This is following a recommendation from JD Power and Maritz. Honda was concerned that their dealerships scores were mediocre compared to many others in the industry. But it's a fact that some other manufacturers financially reward dealers for good scores. Some even go so far as paying customers for good scores. Regardless of that the system forces salespeople to coach customers, whereas previously, where averaging was the norm, the sales person did not need to worry. An 8 or 9 would count as that and not adversely affect his score much. And any decent sales person is going to get that.

At my dealership scores have shot up since we got this thrown at us. Our pay does have CSI bonuses, so we need really high scores. Absurdly almost everyone now qualifies, even though nothing has been changed apart from coaching customers. But sometimes things do go wrong for all sorts of reasons - even things totally beyond the dealerships control - like paint defects from the factory. So it's now even more important to make sure these customers do not get surveyed. And there are ways to make sure they don't.

When I bought my Acura the salesperson cocked up big time (way worse than the OP), and I never got a survey. I did get a photostatted letter from the owner though saying I would be surveyed and that it was vital to give a 10, and that if I felt I would do otherwise to call him.

I hope someone at Honda/Acura is reading this and realises what utter BS the whole thing is, as now implemented. Better for customers to check out Google or Dealer-rater, which can also include comments by people who did not buy. And surely Honda/Acura should be more concerned about them. Perhaps the OP should make his feelings felt there. Honda real believes that unless the customer gets a wow experience they are far less likely to be a repeat customer. Whereas the reality is that repeat custom depends on how the car performs and the experience when it needs servicing. If that is good, but the initial sales process was crap, the customer will most likely just go to another dealer of the same brand.

 

While I agree with everything you said, I can also see some of the reasoning behind this system. I think the initial purchase experience has a lot to do with future sales and customer referrals. While it may not apply to large cities with multiple Acura/Honda dealerships within a 100 mile radius, it can definitely affect sales in a small town. I do not think the typical car shopper would be willing to travel over 100 miles to get a car of the same brand from a different. People with poor sales experiences also tend to not go back to the dealer for service, which affects purchase decisions.

In the same retrospect, I really like my salesperson and dealership. He was very honest and upfront and while the finance person tired to upsell me on things, they didnt pressure me after I said no. My experience there has really influenced me to not only recommend my car/dealer to my peers but also consider purchasing another Acura in the future from them.

 

Yeah, but expecting all 10s is unrealistic. 8s and 9s should be acknowledged as someone who is doing very well.

At my dealer, they said something along the lines of, "The only thing that counts is all 10s, so if you felt we did a good job, please give us all 10s, nothing less. I'm not asking you to give us 10s if you were dissatisfied. Please fill it out honestly, but remember that all 10s is the only thing that counts for us."

Still odd, but I at least appreciated that they weren't blatantly telling me to just put down 10s even if I was unhappy.

 

I don't really like when people ask for you to take their survey and then tell you to give them all 10's...

Nobody is perfect and we all have our own opinions. If I'm going spend my time completing a survey I'm going to rate him on what I feel is appropriate. It's not my fault Honda "dings" it's sales reps for not having all 10's obviously they need to make an adjustment on the way they rank.

 

I get along great with my Acura salesperson, Sales Manager, GM, and Service and parts folks. All good people. However, I agree with you that its a silly system to have a ten point rating scale and then tell you that they are dinged if they only get a 9 on something. Essentially it negates the usefulness of the rating. a 9/10 is a good score on most ratings!

 

They need to just switch to a scale of 1-2 instead of 1-10

 

Years ago when I had major service (tranny replacement) performed at Acura they charged me for work they didn't perform (tire rotation), left parts off (engine and battery covers) they should have re-installed, and scratched the finish. So, I dinged them slightly on the written survey with an explanation of the issues. Within a week I got a call from the pissed-off service manager trashing me for not giving them all 10's. He reviewed my service record, said I didn't give them enough business, and banned me from further service at the dealership.

 

thats when corporate gets a call, and that dealership pays for the rest of my service at another dealer lol

 

bingo

 

All was forgotten in 2010 when I bought my TSX at the same dealership. I told the salesman (that I'd bought 2 previous cars from) the service story and say no deal. He calls me back later and says they have a new Service Mgr now, that the owner's son had personally looked into the issue, and found out it was apparently all a big misunderstanding. They would be honored to service my new vehicle. Whatever. But they know me by name now and I get a little respect.

 

I'm not sure if it's just easier on them to tell you to give all 10's or what but if anything it should simply be press 1 for yes or 2 for no and then at the end allow you to speak your opinion if you have anything to add.

And back to you mentioning you get along with everyone you've dealt with at the dealership. I've honestly only had two days of interaction with my dealership and everyone was nice and friendly but it's really hard to tell these days who's genuine and who's just looking to get a sale. It takes quite a bit more interaction and a real issue (which I'm hoping doesn't happen anyway) to really know who's there to help and who's just there to make a dollar.