Today, I walked into the Bill Heard Chevrolet Dealership at 8705 E Mcdowell Rd, Scottsdale, Arizona at 2:25pm to take a test drive of a new Chevy Malibu. There is a local radio station there, 987 The Peak and one of the Radio Personalities, Monica Nelson, had just announced on the radio, "that for the first 3 people to come over to Bill Heard Chevrolet and take a test drive, she will hand them $100.00 cash just to take a test drive". I was on my way over anyway because I am shopping for a new car. I can not purchase a new car until January but I am in the process of "test driving" different brands and makes of automobiles so when I am ready, I will know which car I will want to negotiate. I parked my existing car in a space and walked into the dealership. I waited five minutes or more for a sales man to approach me. No one did. So, I walked up to the young lady at the receptionist desk in the middle of the show room and I asked her, "how does someone get a salesman around here?". She quickly yelled to a man named "Ashe". She asked Ashe if he was busy and he said "no". He then introduced himself to me and asked me to come inside his cubicle. I followed Ashe. He asked me various questions such as what kind of car do I have now, is it paid off, how much am I willing to finance, etc. I told Ashe that I simply wanted to test drive a new Chevy Malibu. I told Ashe that I can not buy a car today, and that I want to take a car for a test drive. I told Ashe that I will be ready to purchase a car in January and that I have already tested another brand and now I want to test the Malibu. Ashe again asked me questions such as "if I find a car for you today and make you a great offer, will you be buying it today?" I again repeated myself to Ashe telling him "no, not today. I am looking today for a purchase in 6 weeks". Ashe asked me to fill out my name and phone number on a small piece of paper while he then got up to talk to another man. I waited another 5 minutes and he came back to me again. This time he said to me something about them being out of a gift card today, but I can come back tomorrow between 10:00am and 1:00pm and he will give me a gift card then. I said I could possibly come back tomorrow, but I wanted to take a test drive today. If he is too busy for me, then I will find another salesman who will help me. Ashe again left me in his cube as he went outside to talk to the radio station. I saw him talking to them and then Ashe came inside to me. I walked outside to the radio station to see what he had said to them and the radio station personnel told me "Ashe told us that you are not really going to buy a car today and you are not a serious shopper so therefore you can not get the $100.00 cash we were going to give to you!" I said "what? Why did he lie to you?" I never said that to Ashe. I told the radio station personnel exactly what I told Ashe inside, no, not today. I am looking today for a purchase in 6 weeks, but I am in the market to purchase a new car and I am simply taking a few selected models for a test drive. That is why they call it a test drive, right? By now, Ashe had gone into the "tower" area and was talking to other sales people. I walked right into the tower area and I point blank asked Ashe, "why did you lie to the radio station personnel??? I never told you that I was not a serious buyer! I told you that I am seriously going to make a purchase, but that I need to wait 6 weeks!" Next thing I know, this sorry excuse for a human being named "Sonny" who was sitting behind the counter in the tower, started yelling at me and he ordered me out of his tower at the top of his lungs! I looked at him in complete surprise because he was way out of line. Sonny again yelled at me to get out of his tower and to leave immediately or else he would call the police??? Again, I stood there amazed that such a slug would speak to any customer that way, let a lone to speak to a well dressed, well educated 47 year old woman customer!!! Sonny yelled something to the effect of "well, if you are not going to buy a car today, then get the hell off our lot and leave immediately or else I will have you physically removed". Another co-worker to Sonny also sitting behind the counter then allegedly dialed the police (even though I think he was full of it!) because I heard this clown talk into the phone and say, "yes, I'd like to report a police situation and I need a police escort immediately as he was looking at me!!!" I would have loved to have seen a policeman show up and try to escort me off the lot. I did absolutely NOTHING wrong and even if I had done something, this is certainly NOT A WAY TO TREAT A CUSTOMER, A POTENIAL CUSTOMER, or ANOTHER HUMAN BEING!!! I then left and went back to the receptionist area and calmly asked the young lade who the manager is. She told me it is a man named David Ledderman. I asked her for a piece of paper and a pen and for David Ledderman's extension. She gave it to me. I then walked right back into the "tower" area and looked at Sonny and I asked him his name. He told me "Sonny". As soon as he saw me write it down on the paper, he leaped up, reached over the counter and actually grabbed the paper out of my hand and again ordered me out of his tower. He told some of the other men in the tower to throw me out! When one of the employees attempted to touch my shoulder, one of the men said "oh no, you can't touch her. Don't touch her" so they stopped from touching me. I walked out of the tower area again and was standing there VERY UPSET and humiliated that someone would talk to me like that. I have NEVER been talked to like that from anyone, especially from a car salesman? Seconds later, another older gentleman came up to me and asked me what happened. He introduced himself as David Ledderman, the Manager. I explained to him what had happened and he clearly saw how upset I was. David actually apologized to me for the actions of Sonny and the others in the tower and David calmly explained to me that since they are such a busy and large dealership, that it is their policy to NOT let customer test drive their cars on the weekends because it is a time management challenge. They simply don't have enough salespeople to allow customers to test drive the cars on the weekends because they are soooooooo busy with customers who want to purchase cars!!! I almost started laughing then and there. I told him that I had never heard of "no test drives on the weekends policy" and that why didn't Ashe simply tell me that in the first place. David told me that if I want to make an appointment with him or with Ashe to come back in on Monday, then they would be happy to spend as much time as I would like to test drive any car I want to. Yeah, right David. Like I'm ever coming back to give you, Ashe, Sonny or Bill Heard Chevrolet any of my money. NEVER!!! I told David that no matter what their policy is, it is completely uncalled for and unneccesary for any customer to have been spoken to or treated like that! David again apologized to me for what he heard and saw happen up there in their "tower" and he offered me his hand to shake. David assured me that he will talk to Sonny and the others and he will make sure that this does not happen again. Too little too late, David. The damage has been done!!!
Ashe quickly also apologized to me and he made sure that the radio station gave me $100.00 cash for all of my inconvenience!!! Yes, the radio station did indeed give me the $100.00, but I will NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THIS DEALERSHIP AGAIN!!! I will make my next purchase from another dealership that knows how to treat a lady, knows how to treat a customer, knows how to give test drives even on the weekend, and more importantly, knows how to treat another human being!!!
Kim
Scottsdale, Arizona
U.S.A.
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