General Fiat Customer Service WORST EVER!

[306maxi]

This is the difference between a personal interest and a professional interest.
This may sound like a very poor taste analogy but it is the only one I can think of with actual personal experience. Intelligent literate people who develop cancer will in a matter of months almost without fail know way more about emerging drugs and treatments long before their GP. The problem here is to then assume that because they do not know about something they must be useless. This is often not the case. With regards a car sales man I bet he could run rings round you with information on the Grande Punto or the Kia Rio.

A car salesman must try to be knowledgable on all cars and not to specialise on one particuler model of one particuler car. I think alot of people really don't realise how difficult a job it is. especially when you are working 50-60 hours a week then people expect you to put your home life on hold so you can research the latest models that are not even out yet.

Sadly I said this a few pages ago and no one listened.

How many people on this thread read papers or research on the internet about their job? I can sure as hell tell you I'm not going to be spending any of my own time at home researching about my job!

Like Rob said, if Fiat haven't told them they won't know.

 

[nottsfiat07]

Sadly I said this a few pages ago and no one listened.

How many people on this thread read papers or research on the internet about their job? I can sure as hell tell you I'm not going to be spending any of my own time at home researching about my job!

Like Rob said, if Fiat haven't told them they won't know.

erm I do!

 

[Ffoxy]

But shouldnt a salemsan (or woman) who works in a fiat franchise, specialise in knowing about fiat models?

Also (and im not being a provocative a**ehole here, I dont actually know) when theres no one in a showroom looking at cars, or testdriving them (which must be a fair chunk of time in the present climate) and when theyve done the (I assume, not massive) amount of paperwork to order cars etc, what does a salesperson actually do? Assuming they are working a 50 hour week? What are those hours filled with?

Also I would expect a bit of time in my working day to gen myself up on the product I am expected to sell, not do it in my own time.

Fiat dealer by me is having an amazing time currently, sales are up! They even bought in 16 1.4 TJet 07 plate 10,000 mile Bravos as they are so busy!

Selling them for £7,995 Bargain!

 

[nottsfiat07]

Fiat dealer by me is having an amazing time currently, sales are up! They even bought in 16 1.4 TJet 07 plate 10,000 mile Bravos as they are so busy!

Selling them for £7,995 Bargain!

Ah then they are too busy selling em to have time to learn about em! Nah mate, sell emselves these Fiats

 

[grimwau]

:idea: Perhaps the showroom computer should have www.fiatforum.com as the homepage and any spare time should be spent browsing the relevant sections.

 

[nottsfiat07]

:idea: Perhaps the showroom computer should have www.fiatforum.com as the homepage and any spare time should be spent browsing the relevant sections.

Maybe they should just have one for the customers then so that when they come in asking questions they can just be directed to it...

 

[Ffoxy]

My point was that not all dealers are "quiet" at the moment. TBH I knew what car I wanted and what its features etc were before I went to look and Test drive both Sporting GP's, all that was left to do was barter Citroen v Fiat on my old cars trade in value and Fiat won, thats the way to do it IMO.

I'll close the door on my way out...

 

[grimwau]

My point was that not all dealers are "quiet" at the moment. TBH I knew what car I wanted and what its features etc were before I went to look and Test drive both Sporting GP's, all that was left to do was barter Citroen v Fiat on my old cars trade in value and Fiat won, thats the way to do it IMO.

I'll close the door on my way out...

Me too, I went in with the printout from the configurator all options specified and priced.

I'll turn out the lights.

 

[nottsfiat07]

My point was that not all dealers are "quiet" at the moment. TBH I knew what car I wanted and what its features etc were before I went to look and Test drive both Sporting GP's, all that was left to do was barter Citroen v Fiat on my old cars trade in value and Fiat won, thats the way to do it IMO.

I'll close the door on my way out...

I appreciate your point, I was just being sarky. Its just me. By all accounts it seems Fiat are doing ok sales wise. when I was talking about what salespeople do, I was talking generally not just fiat specific. Whenever I go into a dealership the sales force always seem to be in a huddle somewhere, then one peels off and intercepts you! Apart from my local Renault one, which I visited with a friend (thats my excuse) and despite looking at every model on the forecourt for several minutes, no one at all came to talk to us.

 

[Ulpian]

I keep up to speed with the knowledge necessary to do my job, and I don't wait to be told. I enjoy my job, otherwise I would do something else.

As for doctors, there are good ones who keep themselves genned up, and there are crap ones who feed their patients to a consultant, or a nurse, or anybody really, and then take no notice. I know the first sort well, and I have direct experience of the others. No GP can know everything about all ailments of course - that's what specialists are for - and the good ones don't pretend to, but they do keep up to speed.

I would hope that a car salesman is interested in cars, for his sake, otherwise what a miserable life, and how crappy meeting people who know more than you do about your product all the time.

 

[Ffoxy]

I appreciate your point, I was just being sarky. Its just me. By all accounts it seems Fiat are doing ok sales wise. when I was talking about what salespeople do, I was talking generally not just fiat specific. Whenever I go into a dealership the sales force always seem to be in a huddle somewhere, then one peels off and intercepts you! Apart from my local Renault one, which I visited with a friend (thats my excuse) and despite looking at every model on the forecourt for several minutes, no one at all came to talk to us.

I bet they all would have clocked you though, and be able to describe you to each other just in case you looked like you wanted to buy lol! Salesmen come and go, they do the rounds at all makes sales sites generally. I bumped into the guy who sold us Mrs Ffoxys Stilo 5 years ago, he was at a VW / Audi dealership and had worked his way round Renault, Ford and Toyota dealerships!

5 makes in 5 years and thats not unusual I am told, sorta makes it easier to understand why they are not quite make / model specific especially with new or projected versions.

 

[nottsfiat07]

Well yeah they did keep bobbing up from behind cars like meercats, I wondered what they were up to

 

[306maxi]

My point was that not all dealers are "quiet" at the moment. TBH I knew what car I wanted and what its features etc were before I went to look and Test drive both Sporting GP's, all that was left to do was barter Citroen v Fiat on my old cars trade in value and Fiat won, thats the way to do it IMO.

I'll close the door on my way out...

That's what I don't get. If someone is on this forum and is such an enthusiast then what do they need the dealer for other than to buy the car from?

Does anyone know the CO2 numbers, 0-60 times, price, insurance group and so on of the 500c? Or any other important information? If you don't know and Fiat hasn't let the dealers know then you probably know as much or more than they do!

I aplaud people like Ulpian who go beyond the call of duty but not everyone is like that.

 

[306maxi]

erm I do!

I suspect you're very much in the minority

Most people get into work at around 9 and leave at 5 and think very little about work outside those hours unless they're unhappy about their job.

No doubt any Fiat salespeople who use this board will do the same as you but a lot of them will have families and so on to tend to outside of work hours so keeping up on the latest Fiat news won't be the most important thing on their mind.

Anyhoo there's very little benefit in learning about a model that's not yet been announced as a lot of the gossip you hear on the internet turns out to be false and there's nothing worse than a salesperson misleading you even if it is unintentional.

 

[Nuova500]

When I ordered my smart, the salesguy was telling me about the stop/start stuff and he said he went online to find out exactly how it worked, as Mercedes hadnt told him... an example of a good salesperson.
However, when I went in to sign some paperwork a saleslady remarked that the bodypanels werent swapable like they are on the older smarts.... so I wonder why smart sell them as a cheaper way to change your cars colour still? An example of a not so good salesperson

 

[Venters]

But shouldnt a salemsan (or woman) who works in a fiat franchise, specialise in knowing about fiat models?

Also (and im not being a provocative a**ehole here, I dont actually know) when theres no one in a showroom looking at cars, or testdriving them (which must be a fair chunk of time in the present climate) and when theyve done the (I assume, not massive) amount of paperwork to order cars etc, what does a salesperson actually do? Assuming they are working a 50 hour week? What are those hours filled with?

Also I would expect a bit of time in my working day to gen myself up on the product I am expected to sell, not do it in my own time.

If the paperwork is done and there are no potential customers on the lot. Then you make phone calls. Or you runabout moving cars like an idiot because your sales manager thinks if every single car in the lot is moved 3 inches to the left it will mean you sell more at the weekend.

There is also the point Rob mentions of getting information from Fiat. Always remember that until it's released by Fiat all information on anything Fiat related is simply a rumor. Sure a Fiat salesman could trawl FF or italiaspeed for info that is then wrong. Catch 22 for many.

But then you also cannot judge everyone on a single instance. Some Fiat salesmen do research as much as they can do. As I'm sure not everyone in your profession Notts does as much personal research as you do?

 

[306maxi]

a saleslady remarked that the bodypanels werent swapable like they are on the older smarts.... so I wonder why smart sell them as a cheaper way to change your cars colour still? An example of a not so good salesperson

Dude, are you sure you've not bought a 2CV?

 

[nottsfiat07]

Yes we could learn a lot from the Victorians... 18 hour days, children down the mines, workhouses for the unemployed, people crushed to death in the dark satanic mills, everyone doing their little part for the good of the empire... now THATS how to run an economy! top of the world we were then! Blimey we owned most of it!

 

[nottsfiat07]

If the paperwork is done and there are no potential customers on the lot. Then you make phone calls. Or you runabout moving cars like an idiot because your sales manager thinks if every single car in the lot is moved 3 inches to the left it will mean you sell more at the weekend.

There is also the point Rob mentions of getting information from Fiat. Always remember that until it's released by Fiat all information on anything Fiat related is simply a rumor. Sure a Fiat salesman could trawl FF or italiaspeed for info that is then wrong. Catch 22 for many.

But then you also cannot judge everyone on a single instance. Some Fiat salesmen do research as much as they can do. As I'm sure not everyone in your profession Notts does as much personal research as you do?

Well as I said, not having worked in that sort of arena you do make assumptions in your head so I was interested to hear what the job entailed apart from the bit we punters see when we venture in! To be honest by the sound of it I would stick it for about a day and a half. And I work with possibly the laziest woman on gods good earth so I take your point about my profession!

 

[Ulpian]

Yes we could learn a lot from the Victorians... 18 hour days, children down the mines, workhouses for the unemployed, people crushed to death in the dark satanic mills, everyone doing their little part for the good of the empire... now THATS how to run an economy! top of the world we were then! Blimey we owned most of it!

Well said that man :devil: