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Originally Posted by SAMIAM
You describe yourself as a "good,down to earth,honest guy" and I'm sure that is true but I do not agree that every dealer in the lakes region is as dishonest as those you discribe.There are many marine dealers who have been in business for decades and would NEVER do some of the things that you related. I have a sneaky feeling that you are one of those "customers from hell" that is never happy unless you get what you want for next to nothing......but,of course, your trade is always worth top dollar.
Tell me......how could any of these business' survive.....some for 50 years....if they attempted to cheat and lie to every customer as you say they did to you?
Shep Browns,Irwins,Lakeport Landing,Channel Marine,Melvin Village and Trexlers,just to name a few, are some of the most respected business' on the lake.....and I don't think it's fair to paint them all with the same brush,since you didn't name the ones who you were unhappy with.
You may have had a bad experience but I will bet that if you polled the members of this site,that most would express loyalty and satisfaction with their dealer.
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Samiam - Hmm hit a nerve have I? You almost sound like a guilty salesman, but I'll defer on speculation. Could I mention the dealers? Why bother you really think they are going to change? Also I don't find it prudent to mention places by name when speaking ill of them in print. Ask me on the street, well that's an entirely different story. Two of the worst I dealt with are in the list you provided above and have been in business for "decades" and would "never" treat a customer like I suggested? Don't be foolish, they do this because they can get away with it that's why. Unless you as a customer are savvy enough to really pay attention to what the sales guy is saying can you begin to pick up on how the story and information can change drastically in a very short period of time. Actually, and this is almost not fair, but just to test how honest a sales guy is the first thing I'll do is ask him/her something that I know they won't know. Usually mechanical questions get the best baloney answer, and wait to hear their response. That way right off the bat I can gauge their honesty. That's why sales guys don't like me because I know more about what I'm looking at than they do. I have more respect for somebody who says I don't know than a fast slick answer.
If I polled the users on this site on their satisfaction it would only be fair to first establish how educated they really are first about what the dealer is doing for them so that they really know they are getting what they paid for. Greeting somebody with a smile, a special parking spot, and a free trinket or two and making you "feel good" does not mean the dealer is either reliable or honest. But to some that is enough to make them happy. For me the more of that I see the more suspicious I get. No offense to anyone reading this... if you can afford to not care.
If you would consider a guy like me a customer from hell, fine, but I deal in facts and play chicken very well. I listen intently at what I'm told and look for inconsistencies which may indicate somebody is not being truthful. Fact is I wanted a cash deal meaning there was no place to hide things under the veil of a monthly payment which made some places clearly uncomfortable.
I DID pay all the money for what I ended up with. I never suggested I was trying to get something for nothing, I'm not that foolish. I also did not work my old boat into the deal, that complicates the numbers, plus I wanted to sell it myself anyways. However to call one sales guy's bluff on "we don't use the book here", I opted to corner him by suggesting I wanted to trade in my current boat, to which out of his drawer comes the very book he said "we don't use here".
It also doesn't take much to figure out that price is derived from condition therefore if I see a boat that has a price tag of 20K and the high retail book value is 20K then that boat had better be good as new both cosmetically and mechanically as described in the book. Is that so much to ask for? I don't think so. If it's more than book and the dealer's attitude is "I'll get that much for it, I just have to wait for the right person to come through the door" (yes I actually was told that) welp I rest my case. At that point it comes down to how bad you want it.
It's very easy to deceive a customer when they don't know any better and yet make them feel darn good about it at the same time.