I have this customer I've been dealing with for a few years now. He is relatively easy to work with aside from the fact that he shops the crap out of my pricing every time before committing to doing the deal. He knows my service far surpasses anything else he has ever dealt with, I make the experience super easy for him, which is why i've been servicing him for a while now...

I first sold him a Mercedes R350 when they had some ridiculous deals on them back in '06. That lease has since came and went. I also got him more recently (Fall '08) an Infiniti G35x, which there were no problems. I also sold his father an '07 Accord, and now in the last few months an '09 model too.
He had another MB, a C280 4Matic that he probably got before I came along because I never knew he even had the car. He replaced it today with me with another MB, a C300 4Matic. He still chewed me down like he always does, he still checks everything I do to make sure I gave him the price we agreed on, and the car he requested (I have never faulted him, nor any of my other customers, What they want is what I give them, pricing and options). I priced him out about 7-8 cars until he decided to go with the C300.

The delivery went uneventful, I picked up the car from the dealer, drove it out to his work, about 35 miles from me. Delivered it, showed him all the features, set up his radio stations with him, showed him how to pair his bluetooth phone to the car, everything was good. I picked up his C280 from him and returned it to the dealer for him as well.

It wasn't until I was on the way back to my office and a few blocks away that I get this email from him:

"Just noticed the 55 miles that are on the car are not added to the 10k year figure. Please advise."

Mind you, his C280 lease has about 21k miles on it before going back to return, which is waaaaay under the amount that he was allowed to use on it.

When I read that I was like Are you kidding me?!? I glanced at his lease and saw the mileage on the contracts start at 20 miles, which is what the car had when it left the dealer. I delivered all these other cars for him and put mileage on all of them to bring it to him, he has never commented about it and all of a sudden this?!?

My reply: "Because the mileage reading is as of the moment the car leaves the showroom. They must contract the car according to the mileage that is on the car at the time the vehicle leaves the showroom. If I changed the miles, it would be falsifying the true mileage and would cause a major problem with paperwork and accuracy of information sent to MB and the DMV. Your lease starts with 20 miles as it appears on the lease contracts. That's the cost for the convenience of having the car delivered to your door as opposed to you coming in to the dealership to pick up the car. Whether you picked it up from me and you drove the car to your office or had me bring the car to your office like I did, the car would have the same mileage as it has now anyways, so you would be in the same exact scenario we are in right now with the miles that are on the car. What else can I tell you? Please advise."

I didn't hear back from him.

Aside from that, he left me with a 35 mile ride back with the low fuel light on, so it cost me a few bucks in gas to the car back to the dealer as well..

Oh well.

 

People suck....I know this.

 

 

Some people are assholes, nothing you can do about it. Is he Jewish?

 

VERY.

 

 

Send him a Christmas ham..

 

Fixed..

 

 

Some people are just dicks...he's one of them. You could always refuse his business .

 

What is the cost of over mileage, $0.20/mile? if that is the case I would offer him a $7 credit towards his next car, let him know how insignificant it is with out saying it directly and for better or worse he'll buy another car and you can just include that fee(plus interest) into his next deal.

 

i hate people like this, when someone like you goes far and beyond the norm to help him out and he still has to be a dick. I'm sure there are plenty of customers that appreciate the way you treat them.
If i was him, i wouldve given you a tip for bringing the car me, buts thats just me. When people take care of you, you take care of them

 

Come on Ed. Did you expect anything less from one of our tribe members?

 

You know, sometimes I get customers that I contemplate whether it's even worth it to sell to them. During the sales process, they nit-pick on every single thing, then expect a ridiculous price. I know they will complain about something down the line and cause a fiasco. The complaint usually has no merit and has more to do with the car than the wheel. Don't worry, just treat it as a learning experience on how to deal with difficult customers.

 

Is he an older guy, them old schoolers don't have the same flexibility. So did you basically broker the deal for him, between him and the MB dealer? He tells you the price he wants and you negotiate for him? If so, pretty cool. I am looking at getting my wife either a Highlander or Tribeca and have had no motivation to go talk to the dealers, usually I enjoy the process.

 

That's what I would do-except just give him the $7 now. Unfortunately, you will never be able to please folks like this.

 

Is he Indian? Sounds familiar....

edit: I saw he's one of yours

 

I don't think it's being Jewish. I think it's being clueless.

Unfortunately, that knows no cultural limitation.

 

Nah, send him a Xmas fruit cake. Everyone hates fruit cakes.

 

 

It's time to not give him the same level of service you had before and give it to someone that cares.

 

Yeah that pretty rediculous. Very professional response though. That would shut me up too.

 

Some people just can't appreciate good customer service.

Perhaps you should start doing this.

 

LOL .... prolly gujurati....sighh

 

The guy was probably in his 40's...and yes, that's what I do. I do all the negotiating and haggling for you. I can help you if you want...

I don't know what you're looking to do, but I actually have a crazy deal on a "one of a kind" loaded Tribeca with Nav and DVD for a LOT less than normal. It's a 2,000 mile demo... PM me for more info..

 

I have another one for you...I delivered an MDX to someone a few years back who incidentally, their lease is up in a few months. I delivered the car and the Fuel was 3/4 full, because I picked it up from a dealer a little further out and the drive to me and to him consumed 1/4 of the tank (You know with Honda and Acura stating on their window stickers that the cars are delivered with a full tank of gas and all). He called me the next day to let me know this. I got so annoyed by the phone call, I told him to fill it up and fax me the receipt and i'll send him a check. I did get a faxed receipt from him and I mailed him a check. THAT was annoying.

I did get him an Altima for his son maybe a year after that and I made sure that the car had a full tank. That deal went without incident. You live and learn, I guess... The guy and his family did seem kind of weird though...

 

i get people like that at work also. its hard to turn a difficult customer away. Sometimes their dumb and they dont pickup on your "i dont want to do business" vibe.

But you have to deal with these people also. its life

 

You're good. This had me cracking up for a few minutes.