Just completed customer survey

[Chris Ecc]

Even though these things probly never get read i've just completed my Ford Customer Survey about buying a new fiesta, I feel alot better not i've finally been able to vent my anger about the terrible service I had from my dealership which tbh I think has alot to do with my age, also had the chance to comment the tech included with my zetec s so made it clear to ford the standard offering on the 'sports' model is terrible :)

[Michael P]

Show it to the man!

[Chris Ecc]

when fmc gets the survey he's gonna need extra sheets to get his anger across!

[pouly]

still got to fill mine in was yours from evans halshaw wrexham chris, as this is my second car in 3 months went in on fri for bonnet realignment they did not do handbrake can drive it on 5 notches i had reversing sensors fitted dont know if they are in the right place :(

[Chris Ecc]

yer mine was from evans halshaw in wrexham, all i've heard about them is bad things, ChrisZetecS got his car from there too and suffered a similar bad experience, im dreading when the service comes around. Drive on 5 notches :o I'd take that in and complain!

[Nico.]

Even though these things probly never get read i've just completed my Ford Customer Survey about buying a new fiesta, I feel alot better not i've finally been able to vent my anger about the terrible service I had from my dealership which tbh think has alot to do with my age, also had the chance to comment the tech included with my zetec s so made it clear to ford the standard offering on the 'sports' model is terrible :)

i know the feeling mate!! i 17 and its my 1st car a 5 door mk7 fez and they seem like they cant be arsed with me or ewt i say which dus take the mic

[KeithC]

i know the feeling mate!! i 17 and its my 1st car a 5 door mk7 fez and they seem like they cant be arsed with me or ewt i say which dus take the mic

You want to see if they can fix your keyboard as well.

[Nipz]

You want to see if they can fix your keyboard as well.

:P

[pouly]

booked in wednesday first thing

[FMC]

i know the feeling mate!! i 17 and its my 1st car a 5 door mk7 fez and they seem like they cant be arsed with me or ewt i say which dus take the mic

This really annoys me - i've a lot of sales experience, mainly industrial B2B sales but one of the most fundamental principles of every sale, regardless of the product or business, is that it is still a human based decision making process on whether to make a buying commitment and how the whole sales 'experience' makes us 'feel'. Buying a vehicle is one of the most emotive experiences, perhaps second-most to buying a house, that any one of us will ever go through and repeatedly so throughout our lives. So on these bases, i would like to think that a car salesman/woman would see a 17y/o buying a brand new car as a potential cash cow for many, many years to come, and pull out all the stops to make them feel special and a valuable customer, so that they keep coming back! A lot of 'good' salespeople in the car trade manage to retain customers even when they move dealerships and sometimes even if they move to a different brand, becasue they are so good at what they do!

To everyone that has a poor experience during or after the purchase of your car, whether new or used, i hope you take the time to make detailed feedback about every aspect of your buying experience - i just hope that the people receiving your feedback in the customer services departments are bothered enough to follow up on any criticisms and complaints and put right any wrongs, rather than just filling in spreadsheets and graphs.

Rant over, but i am living proof that good salespeople can make or break a deal, no matter what the perceived reputaiton of the business is behind the scenes.

:)

[adzmcp]

To let you know these customer view points are vital to a dealership. Ford Do look at them and each dealership get scored and if that score goes below a certain level they will be pinalized. We always make sure all our customers fill in the form and return it as truthful as possible and we get a good score. Some dealers will say bring in the view point and they will give you £20 fuel. this is so they can stop you sending it if its a bad one or send it on if it is a good one. Just thought I would let you know Ford do read them and do take them seriously. :)

[FMC]

To let you know these customer view points are vital to a dealership. Ford Do look at them and each dealership get scored and if that score goes below a certain level they will be pinalized. We always make sure all our customers fill in the form and return it as truthful as possible and we get a good score. Some dealers will say bring in the view point and they will give you £20 fuel. this is so they can stop you sending it if its a bad one or send it on if it is a good one. Just thought I would let you know Ford do read them and do take them seriously. smile.gif

On the whole that's good to know, thanks for giving your input into this.

However i find the part of your quote (which i've highlighted) somewhat concerning - i don't think that a poor customer feedback should be punitive, instead used as an opportunity to improve.

I've read of many people complaining about poor dealers which in turn puts people off the brand totally. Similarly, poor product quality, which the dealers are powerless to prevent and often unable to totally put right, can also make certain customers associate the product quality with the very dealer which supplied it.

In any case i feel that an honest and full account of every aspect of the sale, from enquiry through handover to first weeks of ownership and product experience is vital, and hopefully Ford can use that to make evrything better for future vehicles and owners alike.

:)

[adzmcp]

We do make sure customers are aware the forms are ONLY on about the dealer. If there is a problem with the car and you are un-happy this can be expressed on the last page under other comments I think it is. We have had in the past bad scores due to faults with cars that were sorted by us but the customer still un-happy about the fault in the 1st place and Ford have now told dealers to make sure customers are aware these view points are based on dealerships not the car. There are tick boxes and unless ticked "Completley Satisfied" Ford will mark the dealer down.

[Girlonmars]

The day i picked up my car, the salesman went through the form with me and told me that it would be unfair of me to mark him in his section anything lower than 'outstanding'! He then proceeded to tell me that if i marked him anything else that he would personally get points deducted and that he wouldnt get any rewards. So i asked him what sort of rewards he would be expecting for his somewhat mediocre salesmanship and he had the gall to tell me that he was in for a £500 windfall last month and another £500 in April!! And he couldnt even throw in mats.....unbelievable he had the nerve to try and make me feel sorry for him! I know how ill be marking him when i get the form!!

[AndrewL]

On both the Fez's I've bought now at different dealers the saleperson got the form out and showed me the bits that it was imperative that I ticked 'completely satisfied' on.

I thought it was a bit rich seeing as how the only time he was remotely interested in me were whilst I was deciding whether to buy or not and when he was spinning some sob story to ensure he gets his Christmas bonus! In fact the only time the showroom manager spoke to me was when he came over to tell me about the customer satisfaction form. Ford are too target orientated in my opinion and all of this goal setting only seems to add to the 'just about good enough' service that myself and a lot of others seem to have recieved.

[Liametc]

Remind me never to sell any of you lot a car, my flipping questionnaires results would be shocking!!!

We as a dealership get paid a bit more for getting comp sat, but get deducted £40 if we don't so think of us when you are filling them in, you can say what you like about the rest of the delaership but as adzmcp said as long as the one about the sale person is comp sat we're ok.

As sales we get such a bad rep but if we don't sell any cars we are on below minimum wage!!! my opinion is different to many in that if a customer doesn't want to buy they won't, no point pushing it, hopefully that way people will have an enjoyable experience buying from me...

[coysht]

I was amazed that my local Ford dealer seemed totally un-inerested in selling me a car. I went in two days in a row, test drove the car, went through all the options and then he offered me the car at about £100 off list price, take it or leave it. I left it and never heard from them again!

In total contrast to the dealers I ended up buying from who gave me a pretty big discount and managed to get me a brand new car to my spec in 8 weeks.

Only complaints were that the dealership was too hot the day I had to sit there filling out forms and they managed to spell my name wrong when they registered the car! Otherwise pretty good. Car has gone alright so far as well (fingers, arms, legs, etc crossed now that I've said that!).

[FMC]

Remind me never to sell any of you lot a car, my flipping questionnaires results would be shocking!!!

We as a dealership get paid a bit more for getting comp sat, but get deducted £40 if we don't so think of us when you are filling them in, you can say what you like about the rest of the delaership but as adzmcp said as long as the one about the sale person is comp sat we're ok.

As sales we get such a bad rep but if we don't sell any cars we are on below minimum wage!!! my opinion is different to many in that , hopefully that way people will have an enjoyable experience buying from me...

:o

If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been in sales?

In my experience, the only salespeople who "get a bad rep" are bad salespeople - i think you need to re-evaluate your own performance if you are categorizing yourself as "bad" lol

And as for the ethos that "if a customer doesn't want to buy they won't, no point pushing it", then i suggest you need some much needed training ;) There's ALWAYS a sale to be made when a customer walks into your showroom! Half the decision is already made, you really just need the convincer and close the deal.

Man, to think i've been out of a job for almost a year and i hear people coming out with statements like this!! :o

[Focus_ST-3]

To let you know these customer view points are vital to a dealership. Ford Do look at them and each dealership get scored and if that score goes below a certain level they will be pinalized. Just thought I would let you know Ford do read them and do take them seriously. :)

Very good to know, my old dealership (and in particular the service manager) will be getting bottom marks for everything

[Liametc]

:o

If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been in sales?

In my experience, the only salespeople who "get a bad rep" are bad salespeople - i think you need to re-evaluate your own performance if you are categorizing yourself as "bad" lol

And as for the ethos that "if a customer doesn't want to buy they won't, no point pushing it", then i suggest you need some much needed training ;) There's ALWAYS a sale to be made when a customer walks into your showroom! Half the decision is already made, you really just need the convincer and close the deal.

Man, to think i've been out of a job for almost a year and i hear people coming out with statements like this!! :o

3 yrs thanks,

I don't consider myself to be bad, just whenever you say you sell cars people almost always roll their eyes!! You sound like my boss FMC, you'd be surprised the amount of people that come in to just have a look but won't buy a car unless they actually see what they want there and then, a bit hard when you can't have everything in @ once. 90% of people I get sat down will buy a car but not bcause I've put the thumb screws on them. Yeah sure you have to push a bit but only when you would never get a decision otherwise.

:)

[FMC]

...

Don't get me wrong, i hate the hard-sell approach, but like some others on here, i've wandered around a showroom, without anyone approaching me for over 10 minutes - now that;'s just plain laziness lol

Once i had to knock on the sales office door, again after being in the showroom for quite a while, and the salesmen in there seemed quite bothered that i disturbed them. Ironically that was the dealership i just bought my Fiesta from, but that was the time when i was looking for a Focus ST, and becasue they were all too lazy to come and deal with me i purposely went elsewhere and bought one :P

Horses for courses, i know, just sometimes certain salespeople seem content to do sod all, while others will go all-out to get a sale, and some can do this effortlessly :)

[Liametc]

Believe me you wouldn't be left alone by half the sales team!!! Love it when someone if quite blatantly just looking but people keep asking them 'can I help' then after they are bored of asking I just pop up and swoop for the sale!!

[Tynesider]

I found it odd that they made me sign a form to say that I would say I was" completely satisfied " this was even before I even saw my new Fiesta. The manager in Shiremoor North Tyneside, shook my hand and said don't for get to say " completely satisfied and not just very satisfied! The actual service from the salesman was very good and he gave me a followup phone call a few days later. I told him the Fiesta was underpowered and couldnt get up hills, he said to bring it in for the service team to look at. Ive read on this forum that just about everyone says the same and that it has little acceleration. So is the survey about the salesperson and the car or just the salesperson?

[Stoney871]

It's so the salesperson can be put in for a customer satisfaction bonus at the end of each month.

[Tynesider]

Thanks, I think I will hold back and see what happens with my car before filling it in.