The internet strikes back - First state ZL-1 debacle

"505Turbeaux" (505turbeaux) 01/13/2014 at 11:15 • Filed to: None

7

33

Working in internet dealer advertising, I do alot of reputation management for car dealers. Just for fun I decided to audit First State in light of the Hooper/wrecked ZL-1 situation. There is no way you can bring your online reputation back from this without first doing the right thing, and then spending alot of money rebranding yourself. First state made a really bad choice by pushing back on the Hoopers, no matter who was right in the situation. Luckily the dealers I work for are really pretty stellar in situations like this and never let it get out of hand. Someone makes a complaint, even online, and the dealer is really proactive about fixing it, or I won't work for them. That is part of the deal. I hate to think of who has the job of smoothing this over. There is a tiny blurb on the homepage of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! but that is all. It is pretty much saying, we weren't open, so it wasn't on us. Lame. Nice OPPO ranking on google results though, even signed out of personalized search :)

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:18

1

Yeah, they dun fucking goofed. I guess the owner/sales manager didn't realize the power of an internet scorned.

505Turbeaux > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. 01/13/2014 at 11:20

4

they had some piss poor consulting from whoever handles their online marketing too. I would have advised them to take the hit on a new car right away. And that would be just based on monetary concerns, not the morality of the thing

STREPITUS > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:20

20

I was joking with a friend that Ford should jump in and give the Hoopers a brand new GT500. Would win over a GM family and get more positive publicity than any other $60k worth of advertising.

That and I think the GT500 is a much better car than the ZL1.

William Byrd > STREPITUS 01/13/2014 at 11:23

3

That's genius. Are you listening Ford?

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:23

0

that's what I'm thinking.

Aaron James > STREPITUS 01/13/2014 at 11:29

1

That would be brilliant. Can you imagine the press that would get.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:31

2

The dealer I work for does things the right way.

Customer bought a new SUV from us. They signed all the papers, I did my info-overload for them.

Problem was, the back passenger door handle trim was broken. It had been scratched, and someone in either service or detail, it does not matter who it was, tried to "fix" it and it got ground down to the bare plastic under the chrome.

This was pointed out to the customer before I did my in-car portion. The promise was made that a new handle would be ordered, and the bad one replaced. I would assume for free as well, since it was a new car.

Customer was obviously unhappy with the bad handle, but okay with us fixing it.

Until her husband talked to her. He was not pleased that replacing the handle would involve removing the interior trim, and that, "The car would never be new again." Our sales manager, with whom the customers have had a long-term relationship of purchasing cars, assured him that it would never be any different.

They returned the car and are waiting for another of the same color to arrive, while driving one of our demo cars.

Meanwhile, the returned SUV door handle was fixed, and the car sold again. No issues whatsoever.

McMike > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:32

3

It's worse than I thought.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > STREPITUS 01/13/2014 at 11:35

0

It's a damn good idea.

Honestly, even the local Ford Dealer could do it.

505Turbeaux > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 01/13/2014 at 11:36

1

I have heard some of this, oh it wont be new if X or X happens. Whatever. You all did the right thing there. And everybody wins. I work for some Lexus dealers and they have a pretty great reputation to uphold. Car still sold, you lose a demo for a few weeks, all good

505Turbeaux > McMike 01/13/2014 at 11:36

0

hahaha nice

505Turbeaux > McMike 01/13/2014 at 11:37

0

fyi you were in the grey odd enough, just FYI

Tom McParland > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:39

0

And it's not like they are really taking a "hit" that is what you have insurance for!

Victorious Secret > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 01/13/2014 at 11:41

1

That seems...absurd.

Not even a week after owning my Focus Titanium the drivers side window switch assembly borked itself, and replacing it required removing that entire door panel just to get at the harnesses and the module.

It took two hours, I waited at the Ford dealership while shooting the shit on the slow day and even drove a few cars and just entertained myself. They came back two hours later, detailed what went wrong and what they replaced, handed me the 'bill' which was nothing more than a service order with no fee, just for my records, and I was off on my way.

Could've fooled me that they basically ripped apart the door to fix a 5cm by 5cm panel, but oh well. I guess I'm less inclined to be concerned over stuff like that.

505Turbeaux > Tom McParland 01/13/2014 at 11:43

0

exactly, the insurance company probably doesn't want to shell out, but that isnt the end of it. If it was my dealership I would have had a check written to Chevy for a replacement, or a CPO replacement on hold somewhere before they even came in the dealership to talk about it. 60K is a bit of money for a 140 car dealership, but I can guarantee they probably spend 30-40K a month in advertising, so not really all that much.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:44

2

It would have been one thing if it had been major body-panel damage or a huge scratch in the paint.

But, it's just a door handle. The service techs pop interior trim off in their sleep. And since it's still new, the clips don't break.

Oh well. I have not heard the customers went elsewhere yet, so I assume it will be fine once their replacement car arrives.

Tom McParland > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:45

0

Or lose 60k now...or thousands upon thousands of lost sales later. I guess they did the math and figured they won't lose 60k in lost sales for at least a few years.

McMike > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:45

0

Really, as in unapproved?

KINJA!

KB Garage > McMike 01/13/2014 at 11:47

0

It's been doing this randomly to several people.

thebigbossyboss > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:47

0

Ha this was great. I had to scroll through probably close to 100 reviews before I found one that wasn't 1 star. You shall rue this day first chevy, ...well...start ruing!

McMike > STREPITUS 01/13/2014 at 11:49

1

That's great idea, and Ford should really do it, since it would turn out to be free advertising.

Why free? The owners are really stuck on this ZL-1, and would never take the Mustang.

McMike > KB Garage 01/13/2014 at 11:50

0

Kinja has been accidentally randomly everyone for about a year now.

505Turbeaux > McMike 01/13/2014 at 11:50

0

yep. KINJA!!!

505Turbeaux > Tom McParland 01/13/2014 at 11:52

0

I project they will lose it as quickly as 3 months, or as long as a year. This hit national news and blog coverage, so the local effect might not be as bad as the numbers suggest, but it isn't only sales that will take a hit, who wants to bring a car in for service after this?

KB Garage > McMike 01/13/2014 at 11:54

0

Touché

Grindintosecond > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 11:56

0

Interesting response. Completely use what the public does not know against them. Disown the employee. Employee action was their own. Really? NEVERMIND that the dealer clearly hires low moral people that can't keep your car safe becuase the dealership gave them the keys to the building. If it was locked up then how did the employee get in? Oh they have the keys. Simple. I guess good help is hard to find. and bad help hiring the next layer of bad help.....bad place. I wonder how many "not my problem" issues theyve had in the past....I wonder what their rating was before this incident...

505Turbeaux > Grindintosecond 01/13/2014 at 12:04

0

from what I saw actually pretty good standing. Dealerrater is getting some feedback even on them. 1 glowing review a year ago and the flood of negative has just started. they had a pretty decent rating, around a 4 before this happened on Google. Looks like they pulled their facebook page recently too. shifty

BeaterGT > STREPITUS 01/13/2014 at 12:14

0

Good luck trying to get a couple who parted with 2 Camaros for ANOTHER Camaro to get a Mustang. They know what the superior car is, the only problem is going through a dealership.

Meatcoma > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 12:20

0

We should flood their contact page demanding they resolve this. I realize they did offer another ZL1 that was far and away below what they had, but I agree with 90% of the people that they should give him a new one and then prosecute the employee that took the car.

505Turbeaux > Meatcoma 01/13/2014 at 12:26

0

I think the employee is criminally not on the hook, though financially he very well may be. I am sure they have been getting flooded already in leadfills from the site. That is one internet sales manager position I dont want right now either...

Meatcoma > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 12:31

1

I agree, I would assume he had keys to the dealership, therefore had authority to be there so he did not break in. Although I bet if the dealership prosecuted him, they could probably make some sort of theft stick.

Maybe Vandalism or employee theft?

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > BeaterGT 01/13/2014 at 14:20

0

more like: good luck getting someone NOT to take a free Mustang GT500.

BeaterGT > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/13/2014 at 14:33

0

Good point, they could sell it and buy a ZL1 elsewhere.