Red flags from start to finish, and the employee I dealt - synchronicity
Red flags from start to finish, and the employee I dealt with became extremely condescending and pushy when it became clear I was going to say no.
I reached out the other day about a vehicle on their website and was told it was still available, would I like to come down and look at it that day. I explained I was coming from a bit of a distance, so it would be the following afternoon at the earliest. There was some weird hesitation from the employee while talking up the car but I wrote it off as just it being a Subaru dealership and them probably preferring to sell their own cars.
I also dealt with "April," which is apparently their AI assistant, and from what I saw of their customer service I see why this is necessary. "April" arranged an appointment for me and I let it know that I was running a bit late.
When I arrived, I was told that the car was currently up on the hoist being taken apart. This was confusing because 1) they hadn't mentioned it needing to be serviced when I called to arrange to see it, 2) I had an appointment and was even running late, and 3) people had supposedly been looking at it (typical sales tactic to create a sense of urgency) and it had been moved from lot to lot for a while. Why was it only being serviced now? No one mentioned that it wasn't test drive ready.
I asked how long this would take, and was told could be an hour, or three, and would I like to come back the next day. I made it clear I couldn't and wouldn't, so they said they'd try and get it ready for me to take it for a drive in an hour or so.
We got back an hour and a half later, and while we waited for an update observed three of the staff being incredibly rude to a man who was looking for someone to answer his questions. They never even redirected him to the waiting area where there was tea and coffee, just told him they were too busy and ignored him.
Went out to see the car, noticed some bubbling rust on the inside but the employee quickly tried to distract us with something else. There were no offers to lift the hood, no sales pitch about the vehicle itself, just here's the keys and go drive. It was clear she thought it was a done deal.
While driving, we noticed weird noises with the brake pedal, and we pulled over to look at the car properly. This is when we got a closer look at the bubbling rust, and noticed some damage on the chrome on the same side where the car has scratches that suggested a possible accident that wasn't disclosed. Lifted the hood and found large rocks, lots of dirt, rusted screws and bolts, and bubbling acid on the battery. The car is newer than the one we drove to the city in, and we live on a dirt road, and it's not even close to looking like that.
I didn't feel comfortable enough going through with a purchase and decided to say no, and that's when the employee became a totally different person. I was told very rudely that of course there are issues with the brakes and battery, they interrupted the servicing so I could test drive it! The bubbling rust we noticed is just cosmetic, what did I expect for a used vehicle, if I want better quality then I better look at new (and what a coincidence that they have those there too.) Of course there are rocks under the hood, that's what happens when you drive on the road! They haven't even shampooed it yet! Everything we pointed out, she said they were working on, and basically made it seem like it was my fault it wasn't ready yet and they were inconveniencing themselves so I could look at it. At one point she even touched the battery acid with her bare hands?
It felt like they were trying to hide issues to make a sale, so buyer beware. To the dealership, I'd say: mocking your customer's intelligence and acting like they should be thankful you took time out of your day to speak with them isn't a good strategy and AI isn't a replacement for quality customer service. Other dealerships are doing it better, so I'll be going to them.
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