I’ve been looking at Hyundai Elantras and getting an idea of what I’m looking for and what I’m willing to pay. The most interesting part so far has been feeling out the dealerships to see who has the best people. I’ve contacted multiple dealerships and had some really great experiences over the past couple of days. I’ve had positive interactions with many dealerships from New Hampshire to New Jersey. Some of the best local (Western MA) dealerships that I’ve done well at are Gary Rome Hyundai, Country Hyundai, and Hyundai of Keene.
There has been one dealership where I have had particularly negative experiences, Balise Hyundai in Springfield, MA. I started by inquiring about a 2012 Hyundai Elantra in Red Allure with technology package. I initially heard back from “Frank Lewis,” who seemed to be just a typical car dealership employee. But I noticed that the emails were written in very poor grammar and didn’t even include a greeting or a signature. I mean, if you are the internet sales manager, shouldn’t you be expected to properly craft an email? I mean, we’re all busy people, but you can’t take the time to put my name or sign your email?
Frank ended up going dark and not responding for a day or two, so I received an email from “Brian Houser.” Brian initially used flattery and said that I must be a “smart guy” and that he would give me the out the door price. The breakdown wasn’t as good as I had received from other places. Well, that’s good and fine, I tried to negotiate lower. Then Brian decided to do that whole time crunch thing. He said, “If you come down today, we can do such and such a price.” It’s such a crappy tactic, our whole lives don’t revolve around running around to dealerships to get a price.
Here’s where it gets strange…Brian starts calling me “Jason” despite my email address containing my name as well as my signature in my emails containing my name. Brian at least tried to be formal with the “Hey Jasun,” better than Frank. But as it kept going, Brian demanded I tell him where I got the better price from and became very pushy, emailing me a couple times an hour to find out who had a better price.
The grammar in the emails towards the end became just as poor as Frank’s emails were. If you’re asking a question, use a question mark. Use complete sentences in your responses. Proofread your email before sending it. I finally got sick of him calling me “Jasun” and responded
Hi Brian,
I am not sure what’s more offensive to me. The improper use of punctuation- How are you. (statement) or How are you? (question), or the fact that this is the second email you are calling me "Jasun." I thought the first time you had made a typo, but clearly that was a wrong assumption on my part.
Keep an eye out on my blog…I’ll have to make a special post about the "service" that I’ve received from you thus far, and maybe my opinion on Balise after your emails.
Best,
Jason DeFuria
Okay, I figure I’ll get an email apologizing about calling me the wrong name and moving on. But no, Brian gets more pushy, and doesn’t even acknowledge his mistake. His response (after calling and leaving me a voicemail) included the following:
We are just trying to sell you a vehicle and follow up. If you have purchased the car, “Congrats”. If this is offensive to you then you should go to website and write a new blog about growing up.
Okay, there’s that. I cannot believe that a car salesman would say that to a potential customer. I also still can’t believe he didn’t take the time to proofread that email. What became clear to me is the fact that Balise must not take time to train their employees on appropriate email etiquette. What’s sad (but might be true)- maybe this type of human is the only kind that Balise can attract.
I highly recommend that you skip any dealings with Balise Hyundai and move straight to any of the other dealers I mentioned before. The two better Hyundai Dealers here in Western Massachusetts are Gary Rome Hyundai and Hyundai of Keene. Country Hyundai has been slow getting back to me.
Balise, I was hoping more from you based on your reputation online and your commercials on television. I like when bullies get caught. Maybe he “wwebsites as on the internet.”
Do you think it was just the people that I deal with, or have you had equally negative experiences with the Balise Auto Group? Or maybe you think the whole car buying system is engineered to be frustrating. Let me know in the comments.
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