I just picked up my new 330i today, and it is great! Unfortunately, I had an experience at the dealer that turned me a little sour... but maybe I'm just being overly sensitive about it. You be the judge.
Flash back to a few months ago... negotiated over the internet and phone with South Bay BMW in Torrance, CA for $700 over invoice for a custom build 330i, black, Sport package, aluminum trim, automatic transmission, heated seats, sat prep. They would not budge on MACO ($375), so it ended up being almost $1100 over invoice (profit + MACO + assorted "document fees"). Whatever, I wasn't happy, but knowing from the other posts on this forum, I wasn't getting the worst deal out there. Here's the point of contention -- I could have sworn the salesperson agreed to throw in floor mats over the phone during the negotiations. I mean, I know I ALWAYS ask for them, and it's just one of those things you ask for... right?!
Fast forward to today, car's finally ready and waiting for me after months of waiting! visited e90post.com and got the checklist of things to check out, and I went out to the dealer all smiles. Everything checked out, they told me that I ought to go get a wax right away (is that a good idea?!?!
). Then they showed me how to use the controls, etc.... that's when I noticed. No floor mats. The salesperson I worked with had to go take a call or something at that point, and she handed me off to an assisting salesperson.
I thought maybe they were going to give them to me after I signed the docs and paid, so when we got to the finance guy's desk, I asked them what about the floor mats? This salesperson looked at me and said, oh floormats are $120 extra. I said, I spoke with the other woman and she said over the phone I would get floormats. This salesperson called in the woman I had been working with, and she said she didn't remember giving me floormats. The finance guy just looked sheepish and didn't know what to do. The salesperson said, check in the e-mails we have on file for this transaction, I didn't remember any promise for floormats. By this point, I was getting angry that I might be getting shafted (FOR ALL OF $120!!!), but also a little confused... maybe I was remembering things wrong. But I really did think we agreed to this deal -- I just didn't have it in writing.
So I checked my anger said, come on, you can work in some $120 floormats when I'm about to hand over a check for over $40,000? Isn't there anything you can do to make me go home extremely happy here? I asked. The two salespeople just said, no we can't, we'll get in trouble, we can't give you mats because you only paid $700 over invoice ("plus the MACO," I reminded them, to which they replied, "oh EVERYONE pays MACO")... etc. etc. I couldn't believe I was getting hit with an suggestion that I was lying, and the insinuation that had I just PAID A LITTLE MORE, I would have gotten free mats??!?!?!
The treatment I was getting was cold, and it was hardly the pleasant, "beginning of a long relationship" feeling I thought I was headed for when I went out there this afternoon. It wasn't the stupid mats, it was the
and the benefit of a doubt that I wanted. I told them all, I'm not feeling like I'm having a very good buying experience right now, and I don't think I'll be able to put down that I had an "excellent" experience on the survey I'm sure I'll get from BMW later, and it was too bad that things started off so well, and now I'm being suspected of lying AND paying too little for this car. They said they'd call the GM and see what he could do for me, and with that, the salespeople left the finance office.
Completely distracted by now, I signed my papers and finished up with the finance guy and I was just sad that the situation devolve like this. I went over to the sales office, and the salesperson told me that the GM said given the low profit on this deal, they couldn't give me the mats, sorry. I said, I'm sorry too, and I just want you to know that this whole experience was just unfortunate, and I'll have to honestly reflect that in the survey. She shrugged and said sorry again.
With that, I went home.
And what did I do when I first got home? I took all the dealer-logo stuff OFF my car ASAP.
What would you do, if you were me? Am I just being stupid and petty? Or have people been nickle-and-dimed like this at other dealerships? It's ok, I'll get over it evenutally... the drive back home put a smile back on my face, that's for sure!
