VW dealer rip-off attempt-should i kick butt?

[Amplimator]

Mighty org, what would you do?

I have an '07 VW caddy van that i would like to trade in for a newer one. My partner called our local dealer that we purchased my van from and asked them for info of any that are available in the spec we are after. The sales man emailed us one for 12,995. My immediate response for one this spec/age mileage was thats a bit expensive. Did a search of my own and found the SAME vehicle in a VW dealers in surrey.....for 11,495!

WTF!?!? Can they do this? The van i have now was brought down from another VW dealers at no extra cost. I can understand a few hundred quid maybe added on to get the vehicle from A to B, but 1500 squid!

I have a good mind to print out the email that we recieved and print out the ad from the surrey dealers and go up there tomorrow and ask to speak to a manager to find out why they think they can just rip me off £1500! Should i bother?

Should i ring VW HQ (or whatever) and ask if they should be doing this! Is there some other body (trading standards or summit) that would be interested?

Or would i be wasting my time? :smt102

I am fuming to say the least, made my blood boil :smt091 Bastwads!

Any input would be gratefully recieved. Sensible input preferably, i wanted to go punch the salesmans lights out but dont think it would help much :eye:

Cheers

[svrich]

Was it the same van? If so I'd take the info to the dealer and ask questions.

[Dave20046]

Are they part of the same company, if so this is probably wrong.
If they are different franchises/businesses, then that's business. A price tag isn't set in stone just explain that you want it £1500 cheaper.

[Amplimator]

Defo same van, reg plate clearly visible in both email i was sent and Ad in the other dealers! Both are VW dealerships.

Cheeky fookers

[andrewsmith]

I would see if its the same spec completely.
as an example, the Ford transit has about 13 million variation possibilities

[sauluk]

Some dealerships struggle more than others so need greater margins than others. I'm guessing the other dealership has greater volumes so can discount more.

[Amplimator]

I would see if its the same spec completely.
as an example, the Ford transit has about 13 million variation possibilities

Same van

Same registration

Same spec

Same colour

Same mileage etc etc blah blah

yup, its the same :p

[andrewsmith]

Just seen that ur put that as I posted aswell

Should put your current one forward for :offtopic:

http://www.studio-24-7.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pimp-my-van.jpg

[Amplimator]

Some dealerships struggle more than others so need greater margins than others. I'm guessing the other dealership has greater volumes so can discount more.

This i can sort of understand, maybe im just being anal about the amount? To me, £1500 is one helluva margin. Now £500 i can understand!

[timwilky]

They are entitled to take the p155, you caught them out. simply say I have seen that same van advertised at xyz for 11495 and thought it too much. tell you what, you sell it to me for 11,000 everyone gets a cut and I will be happy.

[Biker Biggles]

The headline price is pretty unimportant when you are trading in your current wheels.You may find the more expensive dealer gives you a very generous value for your van compared to the "cheaper" dealer,or you may be able to negotiate a big discount for a cash sale.The most important thing is that you are doing your homework and know what is available and for how much.Whoever is selling the best bargain then gets your business.

[Dave20046]

Both are VW dealerships.

Cheeky fookers

Yeah but who's name's on the door? It's surely not volkswagen selling direct to the public? i.e round here we have "smith knight fay" and "gilders" if both dealerships in question were Gilders then they'd be blatantly ripping the whizz, if the cheaper price was from another company then they're just doing a back to back deal and putting on a healthy mark up.
All irrelevant really, just go back tell them the price you want it for and tell them what price you'd accept for your part ex and if they accept everyone's happy. If they don't go elsewhere and get the value you feel you deserve or negotiate to something you both agree on...

[-Ralph-]

It's not that unusual to see a vehicle advertised on the web, then go along to see it and the price in the windscreen is 1500 quid more. If some fool walks in off the street and pays that amount, then they'll take his money. They'll get as much as they can for the vehicle and the higher the starting price, the more they can discount to make you think your getting a bargain that can't be missed and secure a sale.

I wouldn't get upset about it and I'd just play the game.

"Thanks for your email. I would certainly be interested in that van, however, please could you double check and confirm, as I think a mistake may have been made? The van is shown on xxx website for £11495 and looking at the prices of similar vans on autotrader, I would expect this to be a more suitable starting point for negotiations."

[Amplimator]

The headline price is pretty unimportant when you are trading in your current wheels.You may find the more expensive dealer gives you a very generous value for your van compared to the "cheaper" dealer,or you may be able to negotiate a big discount for a cash sale.The most important thing is that you are doing your homework and know what is available and for how much.Whoever is selling the best bargain then gets your business.


We never mentioned to our local dealership that we wanted to trade in our existing vehicle. We merely asked for info on any that are available in the spec we required.

I guess the point of this whole thread really isnt about the 'price'. Its about the whole 'underhand' way of business thing. I just didnt expect such a large franchise to try feeding me such BS.

[Amplimator]

If some fool walks in off the street and pays that amount, then they'll take his money.

If some 'fool' walks in to the surrey dealership to buy the van they will get it at the advertised price, which is 1500 squid cheaper than what i was offered it for. Lucky fool i say.

I get what your saying and playing the game i am, im just a lil miffed they tried to pull a fast one. We have since found newer, better cheaper still! I think i may use this to play the game to my advantage.

[-Ralph-]

If some 'fool' walks in to the surrey dealership to buy the van they will get it at the advertised price, which is 1500 squid cheaper than what i was offered it for. Lucky fool i say.

I get what your saying and playing the game i am, im just a lil miffed they tried to pull a fast one. We have since found newer, better cheaper still! I think i may use this to play the game to my advantage.

Not necessarily, you saw the vehicle on the Surrey dealerships website. You have no idea what the screen price is on the Surrey forecourt, or what price you would have been quoted by email if you'd emailed the Surrey delaership.

The local dealer may not be trying to pull a fast one at all. He will have found the vehicle via the VW approved used programme, and the price on that database, as shown on his computer screen, might be £12995, but the Surrey dealer who actually owns the stock, has decided to drop the price on their website to help shift it.

You are jumping to a few conclusions here.

Website prices have to be more competitive, as if you are searching for a vehicle on the web you will almost certainly have been on Autotrader, ebay, etc, etc, and you know what a competitive price for that vehicle is. If someone walks in off the street, there's a chance to secure a sale (if they are daft enough and many people are) before they get an opportunity to go and compare on the internet. You'd be amazed how many people (particularly older people) when they want a car, walk into a dealership, and walk out an hour later having bought a car, no research, no shopping around.

[Specialone]

Rightly or wrongly, they can put the van up at any price they like, you aint gotta buy it ;)
Deal direct with other dealer, bypass your local one, simple.

How about this for a weird one...

With birthday money i bought a lense for my DSLR on sunday, wanted to pay cash so i didnt have to bank the money so found the lense on jessops online for £405, in shop price £439.
Bolox i thought, didnt want to pay by card, would have to pay higher price.

Rang store to check stock, guy asked me why dont you buy online for collection in store? i said, wanna pay cash, guy said, you can, just order online for store collection and you can pay in store when you collect???
WTF is all that about, i can get online price in store for £405 but cant walk in off street and buy for that price, so passing trade cant get that price and would have to spend £439.
But, they could use their internet phone in the shop and buy online for store collection, pay in store and get it for £405 !!!
I just dont get the whole thing, why dont they just sell it for £405, simple?

[Amplimator]

The only reason i clocked on to the higher price was the fact the vehicle isnt worth the price the local stealers offered it to me. In fact, all the others we have seen with similar spec/age/mileage at all VW branches (inc the ones on the used approved database) are cheaper than the price it was offered to me.

As specialone just pointed out no matter how much logic you throw at it, it still wont add up.

I will just use the 'mis-information' to my advantage i thinks.

[-Ralph-]

But, they could use their internet phone in the shop and buy online for store collection, pay in store and get it for £405 !!!
I just dont get the whole thing, why dont they just sell it for £405, simple?

They are trying to encourage people to use the website, they are removing the cost of sale, 'cos you haven't take up the guys time in explaining, demonstrating, choosing the product. If 50% of the customers that walk though the door are carrying a computer printout, make a collection and payment and walk out of the door 2 minutes later, the shop can employ 50% less staff. Then you've read the spec online, done your own research and made your choice in your time, not theirs. Then to distribute via a shop which they are already paying for and distributing stock to, is cheaper than picking the item in a warehouse and shipping it to you.

Also, exactly what I said above about having to be competitive on the internet where price is everything.

Most places that do that, Argos, PC World, Curry's, etc, all stipulate that you must leave an hour or two between ordering and collection. This is to allow the staff time to get the product off the shelf and ready for you to collect quickly, and to stop you taking all the shop assistants time, then just buying on your iPhone whilst in the shop.

[yorkie_chris]

They are trying to encourage people to use the website, they are removing the cost of sale, 'cos you haven't take up the guys time in explaining, demonstrating, choosing the product. .

Aren't they just removing their own reason to be with that action? why not just buy from the cheapest net place in that case?

[Dave20046]

Aren't they just removing their own reason to be with that action? why not just buy from the cheapest net place in that case?

That'd be somewhere in the reasoning. We make like a quid on some net purchases just so we're competitive, whereas we'll actually make some profit on the same product if bought in the real world (but still cheaper than all rivals).

[Specialone]

I understand what your saying Col but it's still stupid, I could go in the shop and spend half an hour getting advice on the lense, go home and buy it cheaper online from somebody else, or I could buy it from them in store on my iPhone, wait 10 mins, which it was, then walk out at the lower price anyway, so I just don't get it.

If the website said online price only and you had to buy and pay online, I could understand that completely.

[-Ralph-]

Aren't they just removing their own reason to be with that action? why not just buy from the cheapest net place in that case?

1. People don't have to wait for delivery
2. People have a shop assistant to take it back to and eyeball if they have a problem, no dealing with customer services by phone and having to ship the product back to the supplier
3. People are buying from a name they trust, not just fly by night online shop which will take the money, but not ship the goods
4. They don't pay for it until after they have it in their hands, they can inspect in the flesh to make sure it is as it looked on the photos on the website, and can change their minds and walk away at this point.
5. Cant think of one right now, but I'm sure there are others.

[appollo1]

when my wife was buying a new car (new to her) a few years ago when i was in the Falklands, she told me all about the car and dealership. I went online and found the actual car on Autotrader for £500 less. With this information she went back to the dealer and got an even better deal on the car!!

[-Ralph-]

I understand what your saying Col but it's still stupid, I could go in the shop and spend half an hour getting advice on the lense, go home and buy it cheaper online from somebody else, or I could buy it from them in store on my iPhone, wait 10 mins, which it was, then walk out at the lower price anyway, so I just don't get it.

If the website said online price only and you had to buy and pay online, I could understand that completely.

That's a risk any shop takes. As you said, you can go and spend half hour getting advise them buy online from a completely different company! They will have to deal with that and bear the cost associated with that anyway, just by virtue of having a high street shop that people can (and will) take advantage of, so if they can get you to order it from Jessops website at a cheaper price, and you collect it ten minutes later, it's better than you going away completely and ordering it from someone else.

[Specialone]

That's a risk any shop takes. As you said, you can go and spend half hour getting advise them buy online from a completely different company! They will have to deal with that and bear the cost associated with that anyway, just by virtue of having a high street shop, so if they can get you to order it from Jessops website at a cheaper price, and you collect it ten minutes later, it's better than you going away completely and ordering it from someone else.

Or, sell it for the best price and I walk away with it there and then, then didn't have to waste mine and their time messing around.
Its stupid IMO .

[-Ralph-]

Or, sell it for the best price and I walk away with it there and then, then didn't have to waste mine and their time messing around.
Its stupid IMO .

Then your back to the argument above about a car screen price being higher than the price on the website or autotrader. The very fact that anybody would buy it at the higher price in the shop, tells you that they haven't done their research on the web. If they can sell it at the higher price, they will.

I agree that it would make sense for the buyer, if you gave a shop manager the power to sell at the online price, if somebody challenged the shop price and said "look how much it is on XYZ website", it would save you farting about with your iphone and waiting 10 minutes.

It doesn't make sense commercially for the retailer though as the shop is targeted, measured and rewarded on sales, so the manager would cut the internet deal for every customer that walks in the door in order to secure the sale, and then write it down as an internet price match. It would get abused by their own managers, so they don't allow it.

They want to sell a proportion of their products at the higher shop price, because if they sell in the shop at the internet price all the time, they don't recoup the costs of running the shop. If they don't have the shop they loose some of the competitive advantages I listed for YC above. Staying competitive is all a balancing act.

[fizzwheel]

WTF!?!? Can they do this?

Yes they can, they can sell it at whatever price they like, you dont have to buy it.

Personally. I'd print out the cheaper internet advert you have found and then go back the higher priced dealer if thats local to you, and politely ask them to match the price and see what they say...

I would think it would some involve some red faces and squirming, but you'd more than likely stand a good chance of getting it at the cheaper price.

[suzukigt380paul]

its a well known fact that most vw audi dealers are a bunch of -n-ers,have you ever tried to get spares from them,not saying they might have changed over the last couple of years but i no for a fact there was a email going round vw audi dealers telling them if some body wanted parts to repair a car/van and there was more than one part listed to sell them the wrong part,i assume in a effort to get people to get them repaired in the garage so they could make a bit more money

[454697819]

I agreed to buy a Focus Ghia some years ago, saw it online for 8750 agreed the price paid a deposit.

got there and it was up for 10 999.

He basically said if someone walks of the street and is interested there is room to move he said, over the internet people expect the lowest price straight away.

call them be honest and if they take the **** buy from someone else... simples :-)

[Sir Trev]

1. People don't have to wait for delivery
2. People have a shop assistant to take it back to and eyeball if they have a problem, no dealing with customer services by phone and having to ship the product back to the supplier
3. People are buying from a name they trust, not just fly by night online shop which will take the money, but not ship the goods
4. They don't pay for it until after they have it in their hands, they can inspect in the flesh to make sure it is as it looked on the photos on the website, and can change their minds and walk away at this point.
5. Cant think of one right now, but I'm sure there are others.

Got to agree on this one.

Have also arrived to the dealers to find the car I'd called about and seen on-line had a higher screen price. And the shark tried to say that was always the price. I left minutes later - the guy was an ****.

Interestingly the camera I'm getting for Christmas from Jessops has the same price in store as on-line. Which is no more expensive than other internet-only places. Some retailers are getting smart enough to sell things at parity now but the specialist stuff (like specific lenses) may well still have a difference.

For me point number 1 above from Ralph is a reason I'm happy to pay a little bit more in a shop...

[Amplimator]

Ok a lil update.

Contacted VW UK head office and they were not impressed. ALL VW branded dealerships are expected to work together to get as many sales as possible. Their used prices are based on the database they all share so prices should be the same or at least very close. A small charge of £150/£200 can be issued to get the vehicle brought to the local dealers but that is it.

They said a £1500 hike in price is unheard of and unacceptable, and even though we were just making an enquiry (just asking can they do that?) they were adamant that this gets filed as a complaint. We were told to contact the dealership, tell them that we know the price of the vehicle elsewhere and see where it goes from there. If they are unhelpful, contact head office again and they will deal with it.

I found out also from head office that the salesman who gave us that price is the sales manager! Nice. :smt070

We have just found a newer van, same spec with similar mileage at another fairly local VW dealership for £500 cheaper than the 'lower' price of this one. So if they dont play ball i shall go elsewhere. You never know i may get it cheaper or even a few extras thrown in. I intend to use this to my advantage.

[454697819]

result..

just ensure its not Ex hire or ex lease, My dad Vw was from a Vw garage Ex Hire van and wasnt the best shall we say politley :-)

[andrewsmith]

nice one mate!

I can see a van for £10k coming

[-Ralph-]

I'm certainly not a fan of dealers, but I can see a ****ed off dealer who won't give any further discount, or do any favours when it comes to service time. Especially if it were just a simple mistake on the part of the dealer (ie: he wasn't intentionally trying to rip you off), or a typo on the other dealers website (so you're working on the wrong info from the start), and now he has a complaint put against him with HQ. I'd have taken it up directly with the dealer and got some clarification before escalating it.

[Amplimator]

Just so you know, we contacted the salesman before VW head office. He said they added the price because the vehicle had to be transported from surrey to barnstaple. After we contacted head office his story changed to it being a 'typo' as you put it.

****ed off or not, the guy is currently bending over backwards trying to get the price down and beat the other prices i have found. As for service time, not only is sales and service/parts totally seperate but theres no such thing as favours esp in such a large franchise. I buy a new-ish van every 2 years and have my services done by the book. I spend a lot of my hard earned cash on VW just not from that branch from now on. I will have to travel a bit, but i wont get screwed over by the other local branch's as they are also aware of this incident, as well as being aware of the fact im no pushover.

I have a VW salesman driving a van 60 miles to me just so i can view it tomorrow morning first thing. The same salesman immediatly knocked off £500 from the listed price. Thats the type of service i expect when spending 12k.

Am i expecting too much? Maybe. But do i deserve to be ripped off? Hell no!

[-Ralph-]

Just so you know, we contacted the salesman before VW head office. He said they added the price because the vehicle had to be transported from surrey to barnstaple.

theres no such thing as favours esp in such a large franchise.

Am i expecting too much? Maybe. But do i deserve to be ripped off? Hell no!

Well in that case he deserves everything he gets. What ar$e would try to justify 1500 quid with the excuse that it's transportation costs? It's so unplausable, he's basically admitting that he tried to rip you off. Could stick a car on a truck and transport it half way to Spain for that money.

I think you can still get favours in a main dealership, or you can get the opposite if they are ****ed off, ie: looking at a list of available courtesy cars for a particular day, then coming back and saying "sorry sir, we don't have any available for that day", just 'cos they are ****ed off that you moaned about something, but if they really want to, they can say, "we don't have any of our courtesy cars available sir, but I could ask sales dept to give you a demonstrator?"

No, you're not expecting too much, I think they are damn lucky you are still buying a van off them.

[BernardBikerchick]

give them hellllllllllllll !!!!!