how to find your place in wait list

Ever since I placed my order and started reading the posts on the YG I have wondered which applies:

a) squeaky wheel gets the grease.

B) dealers don't listen to a squeaky wheel.

 

Speaking from experience

I hate being nagged.
I never mind someone staying in touch or updating me for color choices or package changes, but good god... if there are 20 people ahead of you for a silver BC car, and I have one allocation, use your head. I did not get 20 silver BC cars on one allocation!!!!!!!!!! It's pretty obvious I have no car for you... especially if I did not call or email you.

Rule of thumb:

1. eMail first. I have 700+ other models of Toyota here and another 200+ in freight or allocated status coming. My boss, patient as he is, expects me to sell a good percentage of those. Not to continue to process orders on cars we do not have and already have plenty of already promised off. I can respond to email after the stuff right in my face, going on in the here and now, is done. I am way more communicative that way. Less pressure.

2. If you are open to other packages, let me know. eMail me with any updates for color or package, if you become aware of other colors or packages that are acceptable. I will never offer you a car I am thinking that you are not open to.

3. Getting in my face about the wait doesn't work for anyone. Honest. It's out of all of our hands and not within my control.

4. If you buy a car elsewhere, email me and let me know. It keeps my list pure for everyone else.

5. If you get tired of the wait and want a different car -- call me!!!!!!! I fleet/internet sell tons of Toyota models annually. Prius is just a small percentage.

6. If you want the hybrid highlander in 2005, let me know via email and I will point you to the form to get in line. I will not guarantee pricing or details... just add you to a list so that I know there is interest, but do me a favor? If you are not going to buy from me, don't do this. You are enabling your own local state dealers to learn nothing about the cars and get they will get no advance info out of regions. When you have all the answers FOR them, they will never bother. If there looks to be no interest in that car where you live in your state, guess what? They will ship the cars to where there IS interest and loads of pre-orders -- CALIF!

Dianne

 

Re: Speaking from experience

You're extremely honest and forthright, Dianne. You hate being nagged because there's not much you can do for someone who's 20th in line for a Silver BC other than to say, "there are 20 ahead of you so you'll just have to be patient". Hence, calls to you from customers would just be a waste of your time. Further, I'm sure you were frank about where the customer stood at the time the customer put down his/her deposit.

Now, assume a salesperson is dishonest and/or not forthcoming with information (for whatever reason). Would you recommend the same approach (i.e. hands off)?

I mean, it's one thing to deal with someone like a Dianne of Carson who says, "....you're 4th in line for a Silver BC, we're getting 2 of those per month, at best, so you might have your car by then end of March". It's quite another, IMHO, to deal with some guy who initially said (when writing up an "order"), "...you should have your car around the middle of February" but subsequently refuses to disclose how many other customers are ahead of you, how many cars have been coming in, how many have been delivered to date, etc.

 

Thanks, Dianne
What you say seems like common sense. I think we just get in the "little kid" mode sometimes and want to ask, "are we there yet?"
(I will let my sales guy know that I'm open to more colors.)

 

again - Speaking from experience

The only problem with what you say here is that no one knows how many cars they are getting till they get them. And, back in August, Sept, and nto October, even I was telling people "maybe Dec, Jan?" and many of them have not gotten cars yet either. None of us had any idea that the demand for these wouldn't be responded to quicker. Logic would have had a field day here... if they ere building 20,000 oldies and I was getting about 15-20 a month, then when they start building 36K of the new ones, you'd THINK that my supply would rise a ratio of that increase. That's what I thought! I had no idea that I'd start off with less than originally.. and that the Pioneers would eat up my first 48 cars off regular allocaions of cars -- and not be "extra cars" like they had been in every single internet ordering experience. Had I known THAT, I'd have stopped taking Pioneers' orders who wanted cars from out of the state and warned them that there towards the end, they'd possibly get a car faster local to them. I mean, who knew! I expected 48 cars that first month because they were Pioneers. It took me 4 allocations, every 2 weeks (2 months) to fill my Pioneer orders. Had I been a small dealership who usually earned 5 cars per allocation, I'd have been in huge trouble. And, I have only myself to blame. I did not ask how the cars would be counted -- I assumed that it would be the same as usual. Stupid me. That put me back 2-3 months in the lineup for everyone else wanting cars... and no one's getting them as fast as I predicted.
If a dealership is vague or clueless, it's because we all are. We have no idea what we'll get allocated next - no clue on color, package, or even how many we will get. :/

Di

 

Re: again - Speaking from experience

Okay, I have a better grasp of the situtation now. But, of course, that's because I'm a member of this group and you, Dianne, have provided this information.

Is there any reason my salesman couldn't have been as forthright at the time I ordered the car (and thereafter) and provided me with the information you have provided in your posts? Instead, when I was at the salesman's desk and considering whether or not to place my order with the dealer, I got a "line" from the salesman about how his dealership could get me a car faster than any other dealer in the area. Subsequently, I haven't been able to get any information whatsoever (for example, I don't even know where am I on the list).

So, basically, I believe Danny nailed it; my salesman is, and was, afraid to share the kind of information you have shared so, initially, he could get my order and, afterwards, not piss me off. I maintain that approach is very shortsighted and tends to piss customers off even more than full disclosure.

So, what do you think about a salesperson telling a customer, who ordered a car in the middle of November, that delivery would be around the middle of February and thereafter refused to provide any further information?

 

While I'm sure there are dealers who could care less about when or how long your wait is on this car, I also tend to be more optimistic - that is, that most dealers are willing to help you as much as possible, and are just as frustrated when their customers don't receive the cars either - especially since then there's no commission!

That being said, I think it's very important to bring it up with your dealer right from the start - ask them 'ok, when should I start calling and pestering you?' or 'do you prefer me to email you, and how often should I check in?', and don't take an ambigious date for an answer - let them know that you'll be trying them again in 3 weeks, or whatever, so at the very least they have a chance to let you know that the time frame should be different. Just my 2 cents!

-Matthew

 

Nice thought but.......as it happens, my dealer required a $1000 deposit (credit card that is charged or check that is cashed) before they would write my order. So, in my dealer's case, it's really a matter of reduced commission rather than none at all; they already have one grand worth! :cussing:

 

Yeah tag, sounds like your dealer is one of those that I mentioned in the first part of my post - one just looking to take the deposit without concern of your wait time, etc.

-Matthew.

 

Still it *would* be nice to find out how many of what model have arrived each month and to what area of the country they are allocated. Surely someone knows! Perhaps we need a spy.......

 

Just so you know that not all deals go sour. I placed a $1000 dollar deposit 11/21/04, the credit card was processed and showed up on the next statement. I picked up my car Saturday. Within the time frame predicted when I placed the order. I did contact the salesman every 2 weeks to remind him that I still existed and to get an update. The reason I used the credit card is to keep open the option of disputing the charge if thought the dealer was not playing fair.

I love the car, it was worth the wait . We have kept our current Civic 12 years and I expect to keep the Prius at least that long. I would think about that to put the wait in perspective when I got impatient.

Good luck! John

 

Re: again - Speaking from experience

Tag, I told people when I took deposits in July, August and Sept to expect cars in 3-4 months!

I keep telling you here -- WHO KNEW? Not even I knew how horrible this Prius ordering and requesting and allocation system would work out for us all. Your salesman is clueless because he\'s just clueless -- because his region\'s clueless too.

TAG:So, what do you think about a salesperson telling a customer, who ordered a car in the middle of November, that delivery would be around the middle of February and thereafter refused to provide any further information?[/quote]

 

Re: again - Speaking from experience

I know, Dianne, and I keep telling you here that my salesman told me to expect the car in 3 months in the middle of November. My point is that by that time he SHOULD HAVE KNOWN (and probably did know but lied so he could get my order).

You were telling customers 3-4 months through September. Were you telling them the same thing in the middle of November?

 

Re: again - Speaking from experience

Yep! No one told me we'd be getting 200-300 cars a month in the entire region... I was even telling people who presented me with orders in December that we're looking at March. I am trying to tell you -- no one is lying. I have stopped taking deposits - I have tried to not even take orders anymore unless someone's clear on the fact that it may be June/July at this point. Your salesperson had no clue -- and they are not liars. Our regions have no clue what to expect with allocations.

 

Re: again - Speaking from experience

Yeah but by December, my dealer was already sending out a form letter stating that the cars weren't coming in as fast as they had hoped. So, they knew, no later than December that they were going to have problems.

I further suspect they knew they were going to have problems much earlier than December. After all, this is sort of a mid-volume dealership in the far northwest burbs of Chicago, not Carson Toyota with its history of selling a ton of Classics. Actually, another local dealer contacted me shortly after I placed my order and was kind of shocked to learn that my salesperson had told me mid Feb for delivery. As I recall, his line was, "they either don't have very many Prius orders or they're being hopelessly optimistic because at the rate we're getting cars, we're telling people 4-6 months".

 

As Tag knows, I too am a Chicago-area "waitee" (88 days now) and have had a similar experience as his with my dealer. I am becoming convinced that my dealer/salesperson is as frustrated and confused as I am. But, if so, then he/she should just say "I don't know" rather than making up a timeframe that might make the customer feel better in the short run, but bitter (and eventually distrustful) in the long run when it doesn't happen.

If the dealer can't get any reliable info, who can? Does ANYONE in the Toyota chain-of-command know the real situation? It sure isn't the salesperson, the sales manager or even the regional distribution people - all of whom I've talked to. Maybe the suggestion put forth on the Time to take off the gloves with Toyota NA posting isn't all that bad - a sort of "class action" demand of accountability from Toyota headquarters to explain exactly how the allocations are/will be done. Heck, I'd feel better if someone from on high would at least publicly admit they screwed up with their marketing plan and offer an apology for the delay. Dianne, is there anything a consortium of dealers could do to get some kind of public statement from Toyota to their prospective customers to help clear this up? Would they have any more clout? Isn't goodwill worth anything anymore?

Sometimes I think this is like waiting for a quantum fluctuation to spontaneously create a Prius in my garage out of the random dark energy of the universe - the odds are vanishingly small, but not zero, so I'm still hoping.