Now buying ones first Porsche 911 should be an unforgettable experience, and so it definitely was for me, but alas, for all the wrong reasons!
I had first seen the car of my dreams when it was being sold, as an ex demonstrator by Porsche Centre in Nottingham some fourteen months earlier, when it sold very quickly.
Now coincidentally, this very same car reappeared in a Pistonheads advert at the beginning of last November. Not wishing to lose the car a second time, I made contact with the garage concerned, one xxxxxxx, whose business traded under the erroneous and laughable banner of "TREATING CUSTOMERS FAIRLY" .The salesman with whom I dealt, was perfectly polite and helpful throughout. I had explained that it would be a condition of purchase that my wife would need to be in full agreement in what would be a major expenditure.
As an added inducement to buy, I next received an unsolicited email from xxxxxxxx offering to deliver the car to me. The email offer was described as "thinking outside the box"¦." Fine, thank you I thought, that was the clincher.
I next spoke to the salesman and agreed on this basis to take the car and a card deposit payment made with numbers given.
My next call from the garage was from the Sales Director to say that the MD did not want to deliver the car free to London -----and furthermore the word "free" had not appeared in the offer email, which was of course true---but why send the email? And what about the matter of taking the deposit? I was told this had not been "put through" so technically they had not taken the deposit!!!!"¦"¦to me these sounded like weasel words, I then sent them an email to explain that being Sunday, I could not get any legal advice, but that I would get back to them first thing on the Monday. Sure enough later that same day back came a "WITHOUT PREJUDICE" email , containing a complete fabrication of what was actually said. Why lie? The whole exchange at their end was being conducted with a bunch of amateurs, who were making promises they could not keep. Their shadowy MD was not supporting his sales team, and the loser was inevitably, the customer, in this particular case myself.
So, because I had set my heart on the car, & going against all my natural instincts, I decided to pay for and collect the vehicle myself. Collecting the car would also give me the opportunity to confront the company's MD, for some sort of face to face explanation. As you might guess, when the opportunity arrived he was indisposed, on an important call I was told, probably trying to pacify some other badly treated customer!
Finally, if xxxxxxxx regard themselves as the "UK's Number one prestige and sports car specialist", it does not say much for the rest. The sheer logic of their treatment of me, with so many expensive cars to sell, among them many Porsches, is hard to fathom. They were a very BAD experience for me personally, and if this summary helps someone else avoid this amateurish operation, in beautiful xxxxxx, then maybe some good will have come out of it.
In the meantime, importantly, I am fully enjoying the use of my Christmas present to myself and hopefully never need to give xxxxxxxx another thought!
Edited to remove Trader's name, please read the name-and-shame rules!
I had first seen the car of my dreams when it was being sold, as an ex demonstrator by Porsche Centre in Nottingham some fourteen months earlier, when it sold very quickly.
Now coincidentally, this very same car reappeared in a Pistonheads advert at the beginning of last November. Not wishing to lose the car a second time, I made contact with the garage concerned, one xxxxxxx, whose business traded under the erroneous and laughable banner of "TREATING CUSTOMERS FAIRLY" .The salesman with whom I dealt, was perfectly polite and helpful throughout. I had explained that it would be a condition of purchase that my wife would need to be in full agreement in what would be a major expenditure.
As an added inducement to buy, I next received an unsolicited email from xxxxxxxx offering to deliver the car to me. The email offer was described as "thinking outside the box"¦." Fine, thank you I thought, that was the clincher.
I next spoke to the salesman and agreed on this basis to take the car and a card deposit payment made with numbers given.
My next call from the garage was from the Sales Director to say that the MD did not want to deliver the car free to London -----and furthermore the word "free" had not appeared in the offer email, which was of course true---but why send the email? And what about the matter of taking the deposit? I was told this had not been "put through" so technically they had not taken the deposit!!!!"¦"¦to me these sounded like weasel words, I then sent them an email to explain that being Sunday, I could not get any legal advice, but that I would get back to them first thing on the Monday. Sure enough later that same day back came a "WITHOUT PREJUDICE" email , containing a complete fabrication of what was actually said. Why lie? The whole exchange at their end was being conducted with a bunch of amateurs, who were making promises they could not keep. Their shadowy MD was not supporting his sales team, and the loser was inevitably, the customer, in this particular case myself.
So, because I had set my heart on the car, & going against all my natural instincts, I decided to pay for and collect the vehicle myself. Collecting the car would also give me the opportunity to confront the company's MD, for some sort of face to face explanation. As you might guess, when the opportunity arrived he was indisposed, on an important call I was told, probably trying to pacify some other badly treated customer!
Finally, if xxxxxxxx regard themselves as the "UK's Number one prestige and sports car specialist", it does not say much for the rest. The sheer logic of their treatment of me, with so many expensive cars to sell, among them many Porsches, is hard to fathom. They were a very BAD experience for me personally, and if this summary helps someone else avoid this amateurish operation, in beautiful xxxxxx, then maybe some good will have come out of it.
In the meantime, importantly, I am fully enjoying the use of my Christmas present to myself and hopefully never need to give xxxxxxxx another thought!
Edited to remove Trader's name, please read the name-and-shame rules!
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