Are you Happy? Signed: Honda Corporate

[bbshop]

I apologize if this has already been posted, but I did a seach and nothing came up.

I received a phone call today from Honda Corporate to ask me about my buying experience with my local dealer. I was pretty impressed that I got this call (something new since I bought my first V in 1998.) I had to rate my dealer on a scale of 1-5 (five being the best) on several questions related to my transaction.

One of the questions was whether or not I had heard from my dealer since I picked up my car on Friday (3-16) to which I answered "no". Amazingly enough I got a phone call from the dealer within 15 minutes of hanging up the phone with Honda Corporate. :rolleyes: I got some satisfaction from knowing that Corporate really did what they said they would in contacting the dealer with my feedback.

This one simple act really impressed me.

[alirose4]

They did the same to me. But my seller had called a couple times. The day after and a week after.

[NLPayne]

I got the same survery call from Honda and my salesman had already called me. I bought the CR-V five weeks ago and the salesman has called me once and emailed me two times to see if I'm having any problems.

Norm
2007 CR-V EX AWD

[sleeksilver]

I regularly get satisfaction surveys from Acura, and once I gave Pohanka Acura a HORRIBLE review and they called within 2 hours to appologize and offered me a couple free oil changes. I declined. They will never get my business ever again (service dept that is) :evil:

I've only gotten one call from Honda....

[Niea]

I also got a call from Honda Corporate and rated my experience so-so (we had to go in and redo the financing paperwork 3 times before they got it right!!!!).

Got a call from the local dealership the next day and my salesman was pissed. He said he'd been yelled at all morning because of my rating and he missed a bonus, etc. Whatever, dude. I told him that it was the financing guys that really screwed up, not him, and even said so in my survey. But he responded that all the scores go to him, regardless. He wasn't happy when I said he needed to complain to his management, then, if he's getting dinged for someone else doing a crappy job. Oh well. Can't say for certain I'll never be back, but I can't rightfully recommend them to someone else.

[sleeksilver]

Got a call from the local dealership the next day and my salesman was pissed. He said he'd been yelled at all morning because of my rating and he missed a bonus, etc. Whatever, dude. I told him that it was the financing guys that really screwed up, not him, and even said so in my survey. But he responded that all the scores go to him, regardless. He wasn't happy when I said he needed to complain to his management, then, if he's getting dinged for someone else doing a crappy job. Oh well. Can't say for certain I'll never be back, but I can't rightfully recommend them to someone else.

Absolutely innapropriate. I would have been FUMING if that person had the nerve to call me up and chew me out like that. It isn't your fault that you had a bad experience. He had no right to call you and give you an earfull. I would have called Honda Corp. back and reported the incident. :evil:

Whew. I'm really glad that didn't happen to me!

[profJohn]

Absolutely innapropriate. I would have been FUMING if that person had the nerve to call me up and chew me out like that. It isn't your fault that you had a bad experience. He had no right to call you and give you an earfull. I would have called Honda Corp. back and reported the incident.

Me too. Actually, I think my first call would be to the manager of the dealership. If you'd like to (rightfully) seal the jerk's fate, follow it up with a certified letter to the dealership explaining that you'll treat any further contact by their employee as threatening harassment.

Personally, I appreciate the fact that there's a clear person who's held accountable for the quality of my car buying experience. When I purchased my new CRV last week, I explained to the salesperson up-front that I knew that receiving top satisfaction feedback was important to him, and that in order for that to happen...

1. The experience (good or bad) of negotiating over the price of the car would go into my overall satisfaction rating.

2. I knew upfront that I was not interested in an extended warranty or undercoating for the car, and sitting through protracted badgering about it from anyone would absolutely show up in my feedback ratings.

I didn't treat or approach this like some nasty threat. He wanted to sell a car and get great feedback, I wanted to have a good car buying experience, and sharing that honest information helped us both come out ahead.

John
p.s. For whatever it's worth, I had an excellent experience with my Honda salesperson. I'm a prof in a Negotiations & Conflict Management grad program, and I plan to invite him in as a guest speaker for one of my classes.

[mdugan7000]

When I bought the 04, I explicitly informed the dealer that if anyone called me, I would be quite displeased. I would call if I had an issue. I hate unsolicited phone calls. I never did get a call, but I did get the survey in the mail and gave them top ratings.

[bing]

Personally, I have pretty good buying experience in general. Perhaps that is because I go in knowing exactly what I want. Just give me the car, let me pay for it and let me enjoy it from then on.

I am glad Honda is making sure the buying experience is good because there are dealerships out there that prey on the inexperienced buyer.

On a different note, I do dread taking the car in for service, especially if it is warranty related. Perhaps someone can start a different thread talking about experience getting their Honda serviced?

Thanks,
B.

[nearmsp]

I got a call last week from American Honda to rate my buying experience. I gave 5/5 for the sales person. I gave no more than 2/5 for the questions related to satisfaction with the business office. The business office lady at Hopkins Honda just would not stop pushing for protection packages. If I had any advance knowledge of the way things proceeded, I would have curtly cut her off and told her not to waste my time. Every time I said no, I thought it would be the last time and it just went on. Later when I came home I was angry at myself for having let myself be badgered like this without having told her to shut up.

I also mentioned to American Honda that Toyota evaluates every contact by a prospective buyer. Unlike American Honda which only evaluates successful sales. I had a tough time even getting quotes from some twin cities dealerships. Having a shortage of a model creates a sense of importance and lethargy and indifference towards customers. Imagine if Ford dealerships behaved like some Honda dealerships...! Honda makes fine cars but they don't manage their dealerships as well as Toyota or Lexus. I hope things improve when we replace our next car, because I sure will buy a Toyota!

[bbshop]

I arranged for my financing through my Credit Union and not the dealership - came in carrying a check... I only saw my salesperson (no one from the finance area) to do the paperwork and he never once asked me if I wanted any of the "extras" - which I would have graciously declined.

I wonder if the "extras" get lumped into the "financing" and because I wasn't using their financing department to buy the car - it never came up.... I only buy a new car every 9 or 10 years so perhaps someone can enlighten me.

Things that make you go hmmmmm