Haggling

[Acheron2010]

Some of the recent posts on the tow vehicle section mentioned negotiating the sale price with dealerships, and reminded me of a fond memory of my dad.

Dad retired years ago in Deland, Florida, which has a central highway lined with car dealerships, lawn mower dealers, and boats. Dad was thoroughly Irish, and in his senior years would take an opportunity to talk to anyone. He developed an interesting hobby.

In the morning he would have his coffee, comb his hair and get on his uniform of short sleeve shirt, slacks and Hush Puppies, and drive down to a local car dealer. He'd walk around the lot until a sales person zoomed in on him, and his day would begin.

He'd fein interest in a new car, talk about options and accessories, and begin price negotiations. For the rest of the day, he would do nothing but haggle with the salesman over the price, just to see how low he could get him. Dad had absolutely no interest in buying the car, he just wanted the thrill of getting the salesmen and managers in tears to deliver a good number, only to have him walk away at the end of the day.

After a few months of this, word got around, and no salesmen in the dealerships would talk to him. Then he started on the lawn mower people...

[rmkrum]

Great story! Bet he was really skilled and well practiced...

It's a fine art, and my wife has about 1500 years of genetic background and cultural imperative behind her haggling skills.

Truly awesome to behold in action. Has yet to lose a contest.

[55CalCruiser]

Wow. I feel sorry for the salesmen!

[xrvr]

The only bad thing is if he ever really wanted to buy he would have to go elsewhere. Crying wolf! Can be counterproductive.

[HeadWest]

Sad.

Reminds me of people that see how much "fun" they can having wasting waiters and waitresses time in restaurants with stupid questions and games.

[xrvr]

You right man!

[AWCHIEF]

I like to barter as much as the next person but frankly that is nothing to be proud of. In fact it is down right rude.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

I like to barter as much as the next person but frankly that is nothing to be proud of. In fact it is down right rude.

Lying to a car salesman is not rude, he does it to you all the time.

My father was a negotiator not because it was fun but because we were poor. When it was time for a different used car, we'd all get in the old car in shabby clothes, and we were ordered to never say anything good about the potential purchase. Things like "I like this one." were forbidden. We'd spend all day, it seemed, and eventually we'd drive away with the "new" car. I think the dealership finally threw in the towel. I don't have have that skill, so I give in too easily. The owner of the dealership might be a multi-millionaire, but that last $50 is more important to him than me.
I hate car shopping.

Originally Posted by HeadWest

Reminds me of people that see how much "fun" they can having wasting waiters and waitresses time in restaurants with stupid questions and games.

Okay, maybe fast food restaurants. I had a co-worker that would order things that weren't on the menu, but sounded like they should be. McDonalds: "I'll take an order of "Chicken Mclivers and a small potato rings". He'd then watch the employee stare at the register looking for the button with a picture of Chicken Mclivers.


Let's not be so sensitive that we're not allowed to smile.

[rmkrum]

Exchange at the drive through:

Server: “Do you want your drinks in a bag?

Me: “I’d rather have them in a cup!”

Server: “Do you want your drinks in a bag, sir?”

Me: “I’d rather have them in a cup, bags leak too much...”

Manager, while gently taking the drinks from the server: “It’s ok, she’s only worked here for 10 years....”

Server, finally catching on to the gag: “Aiiieeee!!!!”

My buddy in the passenger seat collapsed into hysterical laughter, because I had totally deadpanned the entire exchange.

[ventport]

So the poor salesman went home to his family with NOTHING to show for his day at work. I feel sorry for people that think something like this is funny. I will haggle with the best of them, but in the end I am buying whatever I am haggling over. Not doing it for sport.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

I like to barter as much as the next person but frankly that is nothing to be proud of. In fact it is down right rude.

Then they wonder why they have trouble getting good service. Makes me glad I don't have to deal with the general public at work. I wonder what "1500 years of heritage" means anyway?

[rmkrum]

We have no problem getting great service. For some cultures, if you fail to haggle well, you get looked down upon.

1500 years refers to certain Asian cultures, BTW.

[Stefrobrts]

That's awesome! I say car dealers get what they deserve.

[ventport]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

That's awesome! I say car dealers get what they deserve.

And what is it that you think hard working tax paying people that support their families deserve?

[SteveSueMac]

I don't want to insult a fond memory of your dad, but I'm troubled by the story to be honest.

If I went to the deli counter and feigned interest in 50 different products - it would be an insult to the deli worker, counter productive for commerce, and a waste of the time of the countless other people who need that person's assistance.

If I were the car sales person being toyed with for sport, I'd want to know what would cause someone to think it was ok to intentionally prevent me from earning income for my family just for sport.

The vast majority of people are hard working folks trying to do well for their families. I'd even argue that the vast majority of bad experiences we have are brought about by bad process or a handful of greedy/unethical people who pull way more strings than the average car salesperson or deli worker (or fill in the blank) can control.

I'm sure your dad was a fine man and again I don't want to insult your memory of him. Nor do I think we should all become humorless droids incapable of having a laugh. I'm just hoping the scales tip far more on the side of laughing with, as opposed to at, one another.

[McDave]

I'm going to come down on the side of Acheron's dad, not because I don't think car salespeople deserve to make a living, but because I hate the system they work under. Acheron's dad is the only person I’ve ever heard of who actually enjoyed haggling for a car enough to do it for fun. I think 99% of the rest of us would just as soon pay the dealer's price if it weren't for the fact that we would feel like fools for doing it. I had hopes that the free sharing of information on the internet would bring an end to the practice of haggling for cars, and maybe it will someday, but the last time I wanted to buy a car and went into the dealership armed with the internet information, I couldn't find any dealer willing to sell me a car for that price, so I had to resort to haggling anyway. And of course when you think you're done haggling, that's really just the end of round one. Round two takes place in the finance manager's office. So when I hear about someone causing problems for a system I hate, I really don't feel like getting sanctimonious about it, anymore than I would if there were someone who particularly enjoyed listening all the way through, and asking all the questions they could think of about some telemarketer's spiel, even though they have no intention of buying whatever product or service the telemarketer is trying to sell.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by ventport

And what is it that you think hard working tax paying people that support their families deserve?

In the real world, everyone doesn't get a trophy.
What do I think hard working tax paying people deserve? An opportunity.
My neighbor as a kid worked at Wendy's. He said they'd play games with customers. One day they'd get every order wrong, the next day they'd get everyone's change wrong. That Wendy's closed.

[Countryboy59]

It's a game. He probably thinks he brought the salesman to his knees but I'm sure they were laughing when he left.

I've had jackwagons try to "bargain" on used cars I had for sale. I send 'em packing. I even junked one car to prove the point. It was a $600 Mazda pickup from the South with zero rust. The guy insisted there was a miss in the engine. Came back begging for it later. I showed him a pic. I even got $400 for scrap

[gandttimes]

I've worked for all kinds of dealerships from honest to downright dishonest ( didn't stay there long)
Country boy is right. Everyone who likes to haggle and comes out of the dealership thinking there won is sadly mistaken.
They, the dealership, haggles for a living. 1or 200 times a month depending on size of dealership. They always know how low they can go and just let you get close enough to make you happy. Then of course off you go to the finance of fine and lay down for all the extras.
The best dealership experience I ever had and the one I made the most money at and the one where I had the most happy repeat customers was a One Price Dealership.
We posted the lowest price on the windshield along with the MSRP and left the lot open for people to browse.
The problem with haggling is the consumer always goes away withing they'd gone lower and the salesman working on commission always wanted to hold out for more. When you take all that out of the equation, there is more time to pay attention to what the customer wants and not which car or truck is going to pay the most commission.
Personally, I hate haggling. Show me a fair price and great service.
Much better than the back and forth to the office.
When that dealership changed hands and went back to the old way, I retired. I had a lot of calls fom old customers who said that they didn't like the change and asked me to recommend another dealership.

[Mattirs]

Glengarry Glen Ross keeps coming to mind.