DavidM
Member
- Joined
- February 13, 2011
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Orlando, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2011 XLT
So after what seemed like a never ending eternity, I got the call yesterday.
THE CALL. The one were all waiting for.
Adrenaline starts flowing, mind is racing, Christmas has come.
Time: 1:45 pm
Dealer wants about an hour or so to fill up the fuel tank and get it washed up. No problem with that. I'll be there at 3:45!
I arrive and and am greeted warmly. One of the people I had met with on a prior occasion recognizes me and states loudly, "Oh man, you're here! I've been fending people off all day telling em that this car already has an owner."
You bet your butt it does!
He says it came in the middle of the night and when he got there in the morning there was a small herd of people at the fence drooling like zombie people to get a crack at it. An unknowing sales dope actually got the keys and went to give some of these zombie people a test drive in it before this guy went running over to stop them.
I'm pleased. He walks me out a side door and there it is. It's stunning. I mean stunning! No picture can do it justice until you see it. Mine is tuxedo black, and it has this slight scintillating effect to it's deep rich black, it's just great.
He says we need to go for a drive in it. I was digging every moment. Drives like its on a cloud, the dash is like being 20 years in the future, it's just great.
Now about 3 days ago I was reading through here about the rebates some people are getting. I had an X-Plan but someone had mentioned that if you sign up for a Ford Explorer brochure (by mail or email) from the Ford website, you could also get a $750 rebate. Even if the actual materials don't come to you, the original poster said that you're somehow entered into the system and can be tracked by the dealer for a pin number to claim this rebate.
Sounded WAY too good to be true, but what did I have to lose. So 72 hours before picking up the car, I had registered on the Ford website to receive an email brochure. No email ever came. I had no materials in hand that I would be eligible for a rebate.
Okay, so right before going in to the dealership (while they were fueling it), I alerted my autonation contact that I had signed up for this magical rebate and asked if he could look into it. I felt like a complete jack@ss for throwing a giant wrench in the playbook at the zero hour, but $750 is worth investigating, but he has been super awesome and was more than happy to do so.
He calls me back in 10 minutes and says that I am indeed in the system and eligible for this rebate. I about fell out of my chair. He said he would call over to the dealership and give them this updated information, and that all the papers would be ready to go. All I had to do was sign, the whole process he said would take about 45 minutes. Great!
Back at the dealership, I finish my test drive, and am eager to sign whatever paperwork so I can take it home. My financing company gave me a printable blank check for the dealership, I had my license and insurance papers, I'm ready to go!
And that is when everything turned ice cold. My point of contact, who had been excited for me to come in, was conveniently unavailable with other clients now and would be tied up for the entire afternoon. She had obviously been called by my autonation guy in the moments before arriving to update her about my new $750 rebate.
Now they've been frosty to me ever since I announced myself as an X-Plan holder back in January, I mean there was a HUGE shift in customer service after that moment. No response to emails, un-returned phone calls, eternally unavailable with myriad excuses. It has been an exercise in pulling teeth, but now I imagine they were ready have me "disappeared."
SO Dudley the nobody, who has never met me, has no idea what our arrangements have been, the status of our paperwork thus far, the financing, or any of the other details that my agent knew, is now going to handle my closing. Because she was going to be "tied up with other customers.....allllll day."
The guy tells me I can't have the rebate because I don't have the certificate. I said that I was told I didn't need to bring anything in, because I am in the system. I put him in touch with my autonation guy, as this is an autonation Ford dealership. My awesome autonation guy gives him a pin number and tells him the same thing, that I don't need any papers.
He's huffing and puffing, and fuming, and generally acting unpleasant. He goes away at one point to consult with his GSM. He's gone for an hour and fifteen minutes. An HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES! He's shuffling papers around the table looking confused. He has to put together the Smartchoice price breakdown list for me 4 separate times because each one was missing a part of the deal. One didn't have my x-plan rebate shown, one didn't have my trade-in on it, one had the tax wrong. I mean idiot level stuff here. Each time he had to put a new one together was another 20-30 minutes of waiting.
All told I was there until 10 minutes shy of 8 PM. I got my x-plan discount, I got my $750 rebate, I got the Ford $1000 rebate, and I got a decent amount on my trade in.
My XLT with 20 in. tires, RS 202A, Navi system, and crossbars had an initial MSRP of $37,545. My trade-in garnered me another $3800 off. Plus the rebates. I had put down $1000 when I ordered and so my final due amount yesterday was, wait for it, $31,009!
It was brutal, they did not make it easy or pleasant. I will never recommend these people to another living soul. In fact, they are the exact stereotype of the slimy salesperson that I was really hoping was just a stereotype. But in the end, I think I stole this car. I mean I almost feel bad. Well, almost.
And it was all worth it. I drove it away at dusk, the dash lights came on and I floated merrily home. I'm still in a daze of happiness.
I can't believe the hail mary $750 rebate is in fact a reality. I hope this helps some of you, go for it!. You know, my final sentiment for all of the shady dealers out there, if you give a motivated customer 2 months to do their homework, it's scary what we might hunt up.
:
Presenting Harrison, my new Explorer
THE CALL. The one were all waiting for.
Adrenaline starts flowing, mind is racing, Christmas has come.
Time: 1:45 pm
Dealer wants about an hour or so to fill up the fuel tank and get it washed up. No problem with that. I'll be there at 3:45!
I arrive and and am greeted warmly. One of the people I had met with on a prior occasion recognizes me and states loudly, "Oh man, you're here! I've been fending people off all day telling em that this car already has an owner."
You bet your butt it does!
He says it came in the middle of the night and when he got there in the morning there was a small herd of people at the fence drooling like zombie people to get a crack at it. An unknowing sales dope actually got the keys and went to give some of these zombie people a test drive in it before this guy went running over to stop them.
I'm pleased. He walks me out a side door and there it is. It's stunning. I mean stunning! No picture can do it justice until you see it. Mine is tuxedo black, and it has this slight scintillating effect to it's deep rich black, it's just great.
He says we need to go for a drive in it. I was digging every moment. Drives like its on a cloud, the dash is like being 20 years in the future, it's just great.
Now about 3 days ago I was reading through here about the rebates some people are getting. I had an X-Plan but someone had mentioned that if you sign up for a Ford Explorer brochure (by mail or email) from the Ford website, you could also get a $750 rebate. Even if the actual materials don't come to you, the original poster said that you're somehow entered into the system and can be tracked by the dealer for a pin number to claim this rebate.
Sounded WAY too good to be true, but what did I have to lose. So 72 hours before picking up the car, I had registered on the Ford website to receive an email brochure. No email ever came. I had no materials in hand that I would be eligible for a rebate.
Okay, so right before going in to the dealership (while they were fueling it), I alerted my autonation contact that I had signed up for this magical rebate and asked if he could look into it. I felt like a complete jack@ss for throwing a giant wrench in the playbook at the zero hour, but $750 is worth investigating, but he has been super awesome and was more than happy to do so.
He calls me back in 10 minutes and says that I am indeed in the system and eligible for this rebate. I about fell out of my chair. He said he would call over to the dealership and give them this updated information, and that all the papers would be ready to go. All I had to do was sign, the whole process he said would take about 45 minutes. Great!
Back at the dealership, I finish my test drive, and am eager to sign whatever paperwork so I can take it home. My financing company gave me a printable blank check for the dealership, I had my license and insurance papers, I'm ready to go!
And that is when everything turned ice cold. My point of contact, who had been excited for me to come in, was conveniently unavailable with other clients now and would be tied up for the entire afternoon. She had obviously been called by my autonation guy in the moments before arriving to update her about my new $750 rebate.
Now they've been frosty to me ever since I announced myself as an X-Plan holder back in January, I mean there was a HUGE shift in customer service after that moment. No response to emails, un-returned phone calls, eternally unavailable with myriad excuses. It has been an exercise in pulling teeth, but now I imagine they were ready have me "disappeared."
SO Dudley the nobody, who has never met me, has no idea what our arrangements have been, the status of our paperwork thus far, the financing, or any of the other details that my agent knew, is now going to handle my closing. Because she was going to be "tied up with other customers.....allllll day."
The guy tells me I can't have the rebate because I don't have the certificate. I said that I was told I didn't need to bring anything in, because I am in the system. I put him in touch with my autonation guy, as this is an autonation Ford dealership. My awesome autonation guy gives him a pin number and tells him the same thing, that I don't need any papers.
He's huffing and puffing, and fuming, and generally acting unpleasant. He goes away at one point to consult with his GSM. He's gone for an hour and fifteen minutes. An HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES! He's shuffling papers around the table looking confused. He has to put together the Smartchoice price breakdown list for me 4 separate times because each one was missing a part of the deal. One didn't have my x-plan rebate shown, one didn't have my trade-in on it, one had the tax wrong. I mean idiot level stuff here. Each time he had to put a new one together was another 20-30 minutes of waiting.
All told I was there until 10 minutes shy of 8 PM. I got my x-plan discount, I got my $750 rebate, I got the Ford $1000 rebate, and I got a decent amount on my trade in.
My XLT with 20 in. tires, RS 202A, Navi system, and crossbars had an initial MSRP of $37,545. My trade-in garnered me another $3800 off. Plus the rebates. I had put down $1000 when I ordered and so my final due amount yesterday was, wait for it, $31,009!
It was brutal, they did not make it easy or pleasant. I will never recommend these people to another living soul. In fact, they are the exact stereotype of the slimy salesperson that I was really hoping was just a stereotype. But in the end, I think I stole this car. I mean I almost feel bad. Well, almost.
And it was all worth it. I drove it away at dusk, the dash lights came on and I floated merrily home. I'm still in a daze of happiness.
I can't believe the hail mary $750 rebate is in fact a reality. I hope this helps some of you, go for it!. You know, my final sentiment for all of the shady dealers out there, if you give a motivated customer 2 months to do their homework, it's scary what we might hunt up.
:Presenting Harrison, my new Explorer
