Dealership begging for good CSI scores

"The Stig's former college room mate" (das-stig)
08/03/2016 at 09:31 • Filed to: None

Last friday night I picked up my new truck. Yesterday i got the survey in my email, so I went online and completed it. While I was generally pleased and chose to do business with them because of good experiences in the past, they didn’t do everything perfectly and my scores reflected it. In fact, the exact truck i wanted was at another dealer that is closer to my house, but because I did not have a good experience buying a car there in the past, i drove an extra 45 minutes and had that dealer go get the truck. All in all, a good experience, but they made a few mistakes: wanted a tonneau cover, they ordered the wrong size. truck looked like it was just run through a car wash and not detailed- could still see sticker residue on the windshield, water spots all over the truck. Pretty sure the F&I guy screwed me out of a factory incentive by not offering financing through the manufacturer’s bank. (i would have ended up screwing him, though, if i took it. i would have financed to get the rebate, made 2 payments then paid it off. Dealers get charged back from banks when that happens because they get a kick back on the interest.)

So anyway, this morning I get an email from the customer service rep at the dealership saying that i will be getting a survey soon and to please give them all 10s otherwise they fail, and if i won’t be giving 10s to please let her know what she can do to fix the problem. Sorry, but you’re too late. and i still don’t have my tonneau cover.

DISCUSSION (24)

crowmolly > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 09:34

customer service rep at the dealership saying that i will be getting a survey soon and to please give them all 10s otherwise they fail,

That system is so insanely broken. That’s not how any of this is supposed to work, assholes.

Reece-Current Stinger GT owner > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 09:35

Just to weigh in on from the standpoint of a dealer, we have to beg because the manufacturers screw us with these CSI surveys. I once had a customer blast me because of a New York State Fee, that had to do with his title having a lien, and complained that we should take care of it, when we legally can not and it is the customers responsibility. The system is broken, and I’m sure your dealer made mistakes, but given them a chance to fix it, they’re human and no human is a 10/10 but the manufacturers think we should be.

TysMagic > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 09:37

if you were unhappy by the time financing came around, you should have taken the full rebates and let them take the charge back. It’ll make you feel good inside - and as someone sitting in the manufactuer’s bank’s seat, thanks for the short term patronage haha

Reece-Current Stinger GT owner > crowmolly
08/03/2016 at 09:38

You have no idea, it’s gotten to the point where customers know if they don’t give us 10's we get screwed, so they will use it as leverage and demand outrageous things or flat out say they will fuck us on the survey. On the flip side it’s a shame that I “mis-keyed” your email when I entered it ma’am

The Stig's former college room mate > crowmolly
08/03/2016 at 09:38

it should just be 3 questions.

were you happy with your salesperson? yes

are you happy with your vehicle? yes

would you buy another vehicle from this dealer? yes

and then a comments section.

Batman the Horse > crowmolly
08/03/2016 at 09:38

This is where we’re at with anything customer service-related. I am brusquely informed there is a survey and to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give all 10s. Sometimes, if it’s a phone-based survey, I am implored to give NINES ONLY PLEASE because 10s sometimes get recorded as 1s or 0s.

crowmolly > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 09:53

No, it can be way more detailed than that.

It’s the “linking performance to surveys” that’s the issue. You either punish good workers for an honest, reasonable response or you force them to beg for 10's.

The survey results are dripping with bias.

The Stig's former college room mate > Reece-Current Stinger GT owner
08/03/2016 at 09:54

You’re right about getting screwed by CSI, but a lot of times it’s because of the pay structure at that dealership. Of the 4 brands at the multi-line dealer i work for, one has a CSI based pay plan for salesmen while the others do not. So that one brand has their salesmen jumping through hoops and doing all sorts of ridiculous things just so they’ll get 100 on the survey. Otherwise, they lose a huge chunk of their commission. The salesmen at the other brands have a minimum CSI they are expected to maintain, but it’s a realistic number and doesn’t directly affect their pay.

So on my survey, they probably got a 95. They did good. Not perfect. Nobody’s perfect. But there’s so many ridiculous questions on these surveys, you’d have to lie to give them 100. such as: Was the dealership clean and modern? Honestly, no it wasn’t. It’s an older building that predates the corporate fascia that the newer dealers have. It’s on a small lot, so it’s cramped. the showroom is tiny, there’s only a couple desks, and they only have one F&I guy. But none of that matters. I would have bought from them if the dealership was an old Winnebago parked in an abandoned lot.

My wife recently bought from another brand and it took her over an hour to complete the survey! And sales managers complain that they’re not getting enough surveys back. Go figure!

TysMagic > Reece-Current Stinger GT owner
08/03/2016 at 09:56

NY has some ridiculous fees. Had a similar situation, but the customer wanted the fee waived on an extension on her account. It doesn’t just work like that when the state mandates the fee. People don’t seem to get that

The Stig's former college room mate > crowmolly
08/03/2016 at 10:00

They are extremely biased. I am familiar with the survey for the brand I work for and they ask the same question at least 3 different ways. i really don’t think people even understand some of the questions. one question asks what online resources were used when car shopping. We generally get 10-20% of people saying “dealership app.” we don’t have an app.

nermal > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 10:07

What did you end up getting?

Also, don’t feel bad about the dealers getting hosed on something. They wouldn’t blink an eye if it was the other way around and you were the one getting hosed.

Takuro Spirit > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 10:16

Manufacturers base so much on CSI and survey scores its ridiculous. Its gotten so bad that if the scores tank, the manufacturer gives the dealer less money, so the dealer being oh so wise and noble takes it out of the respective sales or service person’s pay.

Its a sticky situation and one I am glad to not be much of a part of, working in PARTS. See what I did there?

But yeah, if they effed up to begin with, they deserve a low score. They can balance out yours by kissing the ass of the next 20 people through the door.

The Stig's former college room mate > nermal
08/03/2016 at 10:16

2016 Ram 1500 Rebel. Very nice truck.

And not all dealers hose their customer. I have seen first hand salespeople, service writers and even department managers being fired on the spot when the owner found out about them doing something dishonest, unscrupulous, unethical, or misleading toward a customer.

JCAlan > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 10:24

Some manufacturers (GM) directly pay the salespeople on top of what the dealership pays them as a part of their overall compensation package. It’s out of the dealer’s hands whether they qualify for that pay or not, and one 95% survey can mean losing that income on all new car deals for the entire quarter. It’s all utterly ridiculous. A 7/10 is a C in my book, which is not only passing but average. But if you don’t get a 10/10 in every category, you fail.

This goes to a larger point that I see as a conflict in the near future. The big push for the dealership experience is for everything to speed up. In and out in an hour, or something like that. Yet the manufacturers are going the opposite direction, demanding that more and more time be spent on the delivery process, and they take away your pay if you skip even one thing. Setting up Onstar requres 3 signatures and a 20 minute phone call, for instance. Customer must be introduced to the service manager (who frankly has better things to be doing). Etc, etc, etc. More and more gets added to the dealership’s scorecard with every model, and meanwhile customers just want to get the heck out of there and enjoy their car. They can google how to reset the trip odometer if they need to.

The Stig's former college room mate > Takuro Spirit
08/03/2016 at 10:28

They certainly didn’t eff up. They probably got between a 90 and 95 out of 100. That’s a good score in my book. But a lot of the questions either force me to lie or give them a negative. example: did the dealership have the vehicle you wanted? No they did not. I went there knowing that. I had already run a search and found the exact truck i wanted, so i went in armed with a check book and a vin number. I drove a similar truck there, same model just with wrong options, and upon a satisfactory test drive, i told them to get the truck i wanted. which they gladly did. But i had to answer no on that question. why does that matter? they certainly had a good inventory. they had 3 other trucks like mine. but i’m picky and wanted an odd combination of options. specifically, i wanted the built in trailer brake controller but not the tow mirrors, because the standard mirrors power fold and i need to fold my mirrors to fit in the garage. I did not want tube steps. i wanted a back up camera, nav, and spray in bed liner. and i wanted a specific color. And a limited slip rear axle. So you know how many trucks were built exactly like that within 150 mile radius? one.

petebmwm > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 10:29

Fucking surveys.... The worst, I get a csi bonus, i’m the only one effected by it, but questions in the survey include, were there enough snacks and coffee in the waiting area, was the beverage selection acceptable, did it smell nice in the dealership and were you offered a stuffed animal..... fucking ridiculous, and if you need all 10's or you get dinged for it, then you’re asking for lies. a perfect survey is as big a lie as a terrible one. no honest effort is being made to improve anything, nothing is being taken from these surveys to make the experience better.... it’s all a lie....

Takuro Spirit > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 10:34

Well then that’s the fault of a poorly worded question on the survey.

The service one has a “Fixed First Visit” question that irks people, because it basically forces people to lie.

Your “First Visit” is basically the entire time it took to write up your vehicle, diagnose, order parts (if needed) and repair. The survey doesn’t care if the manufacturer had parts on backorder, or sent a mispackagaed or damaged item. It wants you to lie and say that while YOU had to make two or three visits to the dealer, as far as the paperwork is concerned your CAR never left. Its still on it’s “First Visit”.

Monkey B > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 10:35

It’s a poor system and manufacturers need to come up with a better one. There are a lot of people that do not understand the car buying process or the business and a lot of time create their own poor experience. Dealers are truly negatively affected by these CSI scores, and so many times the negative ones aren’t their fault.

Just remember, that lady that complains at every restaurant to get free shit also buys cars. Imagine what she does on these things....working people are the ones affected.

The Stig's former college room mate > JCAlan
08/03/2016 at 10:44

unfortunately, the average new car purchaser it utterly clueless. We have a new owner orientation night where we invite everyone who purchased a vehicle in the previous month to return and learn more about the dealership and their vehicle. Some of the questions they ask are ridiculous. I so want to ask them “Did you even open the fucking owners manual?” but instead i have to walk them out to their car and show them how to change the radio from FM to XM.

The Stig's former college room mate > Takuro Spirit
08/03/2016 at 11:28

fixed it right the first time should be interpreted as: they told me what it needed, they did it, it worked. regardless of whether or not it was fixed right then or they had to order parts.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 11:32

Not just car dealers. My investment guy has become a friend over the years and his employer (a large bank) sent out a survey. I gave a 10 on every category that related to him, but downgraded the bank’s scores because of a recent shitty customer service experience, as well as similar past experience. I even wrote in the comments section that the investment advisor was great and the bank’s customer service sucked (and why it sucked). He got called into his boss’s office and was asked why his scores were so low. He then made one of those WTF calls to me, so I told him to go get the actual survey responses and show them to his boss, which he did. Bottom line is that no one looked at anything other than the number scores, and and even then the organization’s failure was then blamed on the one employee with whom I have a completely satisfactory relationship. Eff those surveys.

tythegeek > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 11:59

I personally hate this concept of I have to have a perfect score or I fail. Very few customer service interactions are literally perfect. There is often something slightly out of sorts, that often isn’t the direct fault of the people involved. Personally I think it indicates that those rules are created by people that don’t actually get customer service and have never actually done it. Generally 90-95 percent perfect is good enough.

CaptDale - is secretly British > The Stig's former college room mate
08/03/2016 at 17:47

Yeah I hear the service writers here say that to customers too. Stupid ass scores. Honestly it’d be very hard to get all 10s. Hell I don’t even score my work 10s cause they aren’t good, but yeah, unless its a 10 the manufacture calls it a fail.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Takuro Spirit
08/03/2016 at 17:47

Same here, glad parts isn’t affected.