To walk out of garage after being ignored

[Papergirl1968]

I want to buy a nearly new car. Have decided on another Vauxhall Astra costing about £10,000 so popped into nearest dealer to see what they had. I had existing car from them and have always used them for servicing.
Three salesmen were all with customers so I looked around the forecourt for a while, then looked at the brand new cars in the showroom, then stood and played on my phone for a bit ( so I didn't appear to be eavesdropping conversations about finance), then had another look around the forecourt.
One of them finished with a customer at one point and I caught his eye and went to speak but he said he was tied up with something and went to a seating area that I actually hadn't noticed as it was partly concealed and called over another customer who had been waiting.
Surely the days have gone when men don't take women seriously when it comes to selling them a car?
Fair enough, there were other customers being dealt with first but AIBU to think one of the staff should have asked me to take a seat and said someone would be with me as soon as they were free? And AIBU to take my business elsewhere or am I being precious?

[Roomster101]

What attitude? The attitude that there were other people waiting to be to be served who made an appointment or got there before you?

They could politely explain this and state that they will be with OP as soon as they have finished though. I presume that they get commission on each car sale so if they have half a brain they should treat everyone as if they are a potential customer. Ignoring someone suggests that they have looked at them and made a judgment that they will not make a sale which is quite insulting.

[user1496484020]

I'd take my business elsewhere. I'm stubborn like that.

[sonjadog]

Do people really pay 300 pounds deposit so that a car salesman/woman will give them an appointment to show them the cars that they are selling? Is that normal in the UK?

[Icallbullshit3]

Sod that. Same thing happened to me at Vauxhall and my husband was with me. We went to Toyota and they were lovely.

[UrsulaPandress]

DH had dreadful service from several Mercedes dealerships. He ended buying unseen from a dealership 150 miles away, but who gave him excellent customer service, delivered the car to him and took his away in part ex (again unseen). He gave fabulous feedback on the salesman. Win win all round.

[Crickeycrumbsblimey]

I do this - if people ignore me I leave. You didn't like part of their product - the service - so you didn't go further.

As an aside don't buy a 2nd hand Vauxhall Astra. Google M32 gearbox - the fuckers carried on putting in sub standard gearboxes in cars for years and a second hand one stands a risk of it being knackered. Serious some of them only last 15.000 miles

[IWillCrushYouLikeABug]

Yanbu op. If you're going to spend 10,000 on something the least they can do is ask their client to wait one minute and walk to to the customer waiting area and point out the cofeee machine. It was very clear you didn't know there was a waiting area but previous posters will get nasty because some of them are nasty

[unapaloma]

Do people really pay 300 pounds deposit so that a car salesman/woman will give them an appointment to show them the cars that they are selling?
Its the first time I've heard of this too, and it seems really sad that anyone feels they somehow won, by having to do that to get any sort of interaction with a salesman. I will never drop my standards that far - there is always someone else who actually WANTS to sell you a car!

[IWillCrushYouLikeABug]

It works both ways though...My friend is a car mechanic. She is the manager of a branch in her home town and the amount of men and women who refuse to let her service/repair their cars is shocking! If she greets them on the shop floor, you can pretty much bet that the person will ask to see the manager/senior mechanic, assuming it will be man.


That's not "working both ways" that's the same sexism as described by the op. And more than likely a woman annoyed at being ignored in a dealership for her sex isn't going to be the one who complains when she works on her car. working both ways wouldn't be men receiving equal sexism. Which they don't.

[teenybean]

I can't believe so many people have had bad service with vw, I've always had amazing service with them! We went in there two years ago to look at a brand new car, quite a basic one, but new none the less, oh told the salesman to talk to me as it was my car, salesman did exactly that! (Ended up with free car mats, free insurance, & some other add ons that should have come to about £1500 altogether) went back 12 months later to get car serviced, got a bit distracted by another car (my dream car!) & oh just sat there laughing while they served me & just kept taking him cups of coffee, (I ended up with new car & more free bits again!) & I left a very happy lady! They always acknowledge both of us, but look to me, even on our first visit! They know us now & greet me by name, but need reminding of ohs, we've only been in about 4 times in 2 years, but they are amazing, & couldn't be more helpful to me (even though I'm early 20s & oh is older & knows more about cars & looks older & more knowledgeable about cars!) I guess it's luck of the draw, but I really haven't seen any of the sexist issues everyone is talking about here

[Marmelised]

I don't think it's necessarily sexism or even how you are dressed in all cases. We went into a Jaguar garage on spec with view to making a cash purchase. We were casually but well dressed. We spoke to the lady on the reception desk who told us no one was available. She offered us a brochure and said we could look at the cars 'if we liked'. No attempt to find out what we wanted or to offer us an appointment.
Now admittedly the salesman sitting at his desk with no customers could have been completing urgent paperwork but the showroom was not busy and he could have taken 2 minutes to find out what we were looking for.
We left, went to the dealership in the next town along, got immediate service and bought a car that day. I think some dealerships have a type they look for and if you don't match it then they're not interested.

Point re cash buyers though - not always good from dealers point of view as they make a lot of money on finance deals.

[wisteriainbloom]

I have had bad service from
VW too and Mercedes seems to be renouned for it where I live.

[wisteriainbloom]

Ugh renowned

[VoteMe]

Hmm, I buy all our families cars and within the last 7-8 years have bought 3 new BMWs, a new Peugeot and a new Skoda - I visited a lot of other showrooms whilst looking.

I'm a normal (on the outside at least 😂) 45 year old woman... I can't think I've once had bad service. In fact I've consistently been impressed at the good service I've received it's been polite and non pushy. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Im reasonably knowledgeable about cars but not massively so and I always feel that the salesmen/women pitch things well. It seems like they let the cars sell,themselves rather than trying to give the hard sell IYSWIM

I think the staff at the OPs garage should have been a bit more helpful but It wouldn't register with me as being rude. They were busy with other customers.

[Alittlepotofrosie]

I wouldn't be very happy if i was talking to a salesperson and they buggered off to talk to someone else. They should focus on the sale they're dealing with not the customer who just walked through the door.

[Papergirl1968]

Thanks, everyone. Maybe I shouldn't have gone on a Saturday. I don't work at the moment so could have gone in the week but had a spare hour and was child-free for once. It really wouldn't have occured to me that I needed to make an appointment.
Just to be clear for those who may not have RTFT, I wasn't looking to jump any queues, just a "we will be with you as soon as we can" would have been appreciated. And I don't know it's because I was a lone female - it was just a thought. Really interesting to hear everyone's experiences.
Hadn't heard about that gearbox problem, Crikey so will look into that, cheers.

[Botanicbaby]

I would make an appointment to speak with someone before turning up on a busy Saturday at the car dealership I bought from before.

I don't think it was because you were a woman that you didn't get served simply that you weren't next in the queue.

If I hadn't pre-booked an appointment but was a walk-in instead, I'd have gone to the reception desk. You can't expect salespeople to drop existing customers to deal with you. That said, if no-one was in reception and you were clearly loitering around looking like you needed help, one of them could have asked you to take a seat and wait till a salesperson was available. ((Which may be some time on a busy day!)

I have never experienced sexism thankfully when I last purchased a car I knew exactly what I wanted as I had researched it to, I brought my DP along as I needed him to drive me there, not once did the salesperson try to discuss the sale with him as he knew it was my money and the decision sat with me. As it should be! I bought for cash that day after haggling some off the listed price for a nearly new. When i buy again I will go back to this family run business. Excellent customer service. Great reception desk where they acknowledge you and don't leave you aimlessly and awkwardly hanging around.

[ImNotReallyReal]

Sadly it's true, a deposit means you get the full attention that you should really get for free. If you see a car on their website most will take a refundable deposit subject to a test drive. Sadly they seem to get a lot of 'window shoppers', especially at high end dealers at weekends. You register your interest via a deposit and they'll treat you like royalty. I've had coffee, cake, and someone remove the children's seats from my car and put them in the test drive vehicles.

DH and I once wandered into an Audi dealership in central London when the TT was first released and were completely ignored. We had every intention of buying a top spec car. I told the snooty receptionist that I was off to BMW with my money expecting a reaction. She just shrugged and looked even more snooty. We bought a BMW where we were treated nicely.

Good manners at a dealership are paramount, if they are going to be looking after my warranty they better treat me nice when I'm buying.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

Vote Me I am a badly dressed nearly 60 year old and completely invisible.

Wait till you get to my age before saying you haven't got a problem.

I too was a cash buyer but I went to every single I think showroom in our area selling every brand of car and only 2 people spoke to me. And that was because on those occassions I had my dc with me. Funnily enough the Mercedes dealership was one of them.

When life throws you lemons make lemonade or at the very least use them as a free coffee shop

[differentnameforthis]

They could politely explain this and state that they will be with OP as soon as they have finished though Yes, and I acknowledged that!

[Nelly5678]

It looked like you were browsing not waiting to be served as you weren't in the waiting area. I think your being precious and will know for next time

[Crickeycrumbsblimey]

www.eco-torque.co.uk/single-post/2016/12/02/M32-GEARBOX-Guide-To-Faults-Fixes

This is one list!

[Defuzzing]

Surely the days have gone when men don't take women seriously when it comes to selling them a car?
Sadly no. I went to buy a car and the Salesman told me to "come back with my Husband at the weekend" Arrogant Twat. I said I could. ..but I'm the one with the money so I don't see why my Husband needed to come. I left and bought a different car in another garage down the road.

[Papergirl1968]

I don't think a couple of you who are still calling me precious or criticising have RTFT. There was no one on reception and I hadn't spotted the concealed waiting area.
It's also difficult to browse these days as you used yo be able to peer in through the window to see the mileage under the speedo. You can't do that anymore as on most cars it's displayed electronically. I wanted a low mileage car and although one or two had the mileage displayed, the majority didn't.
There was one particular car I'd seen on the website that I was interested in, so I'm a dilemma now as to what to do as a search within a 50 mile radius hadn't really shown anything else that grabs me.
Still need to check out this potentially dodgy gearbox though, thanks to Crikey.

[Aeroflotgirl]

Actually it is poor customer service on their part, I don't blame you for walking out. Mabey once you caught his eye, you should have asked him for assistance.