[QUOTE=Monty]
I dont see why you didn’t just say, “Excuse me” to the salescritter and then walk to his manager and tell him exactly why you weren’t going to be buying a vehicle from his dealership.
[/QUOTE]
Perhaps because, according to the OP, the car was already bought, and the “last straw” occurred over the phone.
Or did you mean at a point before the whole “stereotypical Asian accent” thing?
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]
What was the salesman’s race?
[/QUOTE]
I was going to say “jackass,” but I’m starting to wonder if maybe they aren’t a different species.
Fear Itself, I appreciate that.
Boyo Jim, he is white.
Those of you advocating a written response have me on it. I will write out a letter, and let it sit for a day and re-read it, then post it in here. 
THEN, send it in to everyone. I’m good at this shit, i will get real people’s names right up the corporate ladder, and send a registered letter to each of them.
To be honest, I had sealed the deal when he called and was so incredibly offensive. It was an hour before I was going in to get the car. Could I have killed the deal? Sure, he only had a deposit.
As I tried to articulate in my OP, NOT buying the vehicle would have cost him nothing. He’d have sold it to someone else immediately and I’d have lost a vehicle that is hard to find at that price. So," voting with my wallet" would have been quite hollow a victory here.
More meaningful will be a written response. featherlou is likely correct- the fish rots from the head. I will not send this letter to the dealership. Instead, to the District Management and to Nissan North America.
The problem here, and it is a problem, is that I have zero proof. Maybe I’m a disgruntled customer with Asian kids who is bitching because he didn’t get a better deal and wants to screw with the salesman? Maybe I’m one of those people who loves writing negative letters to companies? Who knows. I will compose and send a letter but I have no idea how it will be taken by the higher-ups.
And, a big step back. My OP Title is a cheap shot at used car salesmen. Well, I am a salesman now for the first time in my adult life. I do other stuff too but I sell. I’m SO painfully aware of how salesmen/women are perceived. Hell, how I perceive them ! This wasn’t really meant as a cheap shot at used car salesmen as much as it was a rant about this offensive asshole. He could have been selling me anything and said and done the same things.
I read the OP as getting that call prior to exchange of funds. The offending dude, of course, is tactless. I’m stunned that he’s managed to stay there. And I say that in full knowledge that a number of dealerships are desperate for salesman.
Cartooniverse, I think you handled yourself remarkably well in the situation. In hindsight, a quiet word to the salesman the first time he offended you with the fake “bro” banter might’ve prevented the more outrageous behaviors. Almost any salesman will change his patter if he knows it bothers the mark (obsequiousness, thy name is salesman). A good salesman will realize it isn’t working and knock it off without being told. An exceptional one won’t try this kind of crap in the first place.
I think the letter writing idea is a good one, but it may not be necessary. From the context of your posts, ISTM that you bought your Quest from a factory dealership. Chances are you will get a survey in the mail asking about your “buying experience”. These surveys typically don’t go directly to the dealership, but to a regional marketing director or a 3rd party marketing firm. The scores from these surveys are used to reward or punish the dealership. Negative reviews carry a lot of weight.
Of course, even if you do get a chance to express your displeasure in a survey, I’d still have the letter ready to send. But be aware, that salesman WILL get fired over it. If that’s not what you want, don’t send it, or send it only to the salesman himself. Just my 2¢.
Cartooniverse;
I had to read the OP a coupla times to even suss the offense, not on your part, but because I can’t understand the humor in the guy’s reasoning for finding it funny to pick up the car with “fried rice and pork dish”. It’s just stupid. Asian cars have been mainstream for two decades for good reason, they work well. Really, WTF???
My wiseass self, hindysight, would be to say, then, “Heyyyy, you didn’t tell me that you offered a free cultural food bonus with every car. Mebbe we oughta re deal now. If I buy a Ford from you, do I get a whole half a hog, dressed, and cole slaw on the side?” (I’m workin’ on a Southern model, here, Hon) Or " Well, that’s nice, I’m sure my Korean daughter will enjoy the snack you’ve provided on the way home…"
Nah, that doesn’t do it. It just wasn’t funny in any respect. The most productive response would be to point blank ask the guy what he meant by that remark, and listen to his explaination. It’s a kooky patter to him because his understanding is minimal. The point of having to explain it to you, with your daughter right there, would hammer his shallowness home.
If that moment has passed, send it on to his superiors. That remark is really mind boggling in it’s doltishness.
This sounds like an episode of The Office, where Michael Scott turns into a car salesmen for a day. Except it’s not funny. If you really were offended though, you really shouldn’t have bought the car if for no other reason than peace of mind. That’s not the only used Nissan Quest around and every time you get in it you’ll know that asshole made some money off of you.
Okay, I haven’t read the entire thread, but I just need say this: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Actually, I shouldn’t be that surprised. Many of us know how this whole racism thing works: You look like me, so you must think like me, right? I just KNOW that Bro knows where I’m coming from. Dontcha, Bro? And after we close this deal, we’ll head on over to the local pub, grab a few, and kick back. And maybe we’ll have some fried rice while some Asian “massage therapist” ('cause aren’t they all?) love us long time.
(And I’m glad, Fear Itself, that you reversed your position. When I read your first post, I was like what. The. Fuck? Not just because …well, for obvious reasons, but also because I was recently reading your posts in another thread (forget which thread, though), and you seemed to be making so much sense there, and then I saw this, and, well, y’know.)
Cartooniverse, I think that, from the get-go, you should’ve done what **Monty ** suggested. Believe me, I understand how economic pressures can far too often put us in a position where we feel that we have to deal with these assholes, but…well, I guess the other alternative would’ve been to speak to the manager immediately and ask for another salesperson.
Now that the deal has been done, I would absolutely take the advice offered by **silenus ** and monstro. (Though, with all due respect to silenus, I’m not sure what kind of legal action you could threaten that would be effective.) But, yeah, my first thought was for you to send a letter (and maybe your post here) to the management and to Nissan’s corporate offices (and to the corporate offices of whichever brand the dealier is affiliated with, if it’s not Nissan). And yep, to the local media, too (though you might want to prepare yourself for a chorus of “Why’d you buy the car, then?”)
And I forget who implied that getting the guy fired for this might be too much, but you know what? FUCK THAT SHIT. One of the reasons people like this (talking about all manner of racist, homophobe, sexist, what-have-you) don’t learn their goddamn lesson is precisely because people pussy out and say, “Welllll, maybe he shouldn’t be fired, but just reprimanded.” Hell! No! His behavior was disgusting and incexcusable, and if he’s not mature enough to understand what he should and should not say to customers, then he needs a job where he doesn’t have to interact with other human beings. Really, it’s just that simple. Fuck him.
ETA: Okay, now that I’ve calmed down a little, if I were the customer, and depending on how deep I felt the offense was, I *might * settle for telling the offender, in that moment, something like, “Look, dude, that shit ain’t cool, and you really need to realize that you never really know who you’re talking to.” (Remember, I’m Black, but I’m also a Jew (among other things)–which you can’t tell by looking at me–so you can imagine what people think they can get away with saying in my presence.) In my mind, though, there are very few situations where this course of action might be all that’s required.
So, yeah, dude, I’d say that nailing him to the wall wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I hope you’ll let us know what happens.
Oh, and I love that you told your daughter and took here along with you. It’s a shame that she has to know that people like this exist, but…well, she really has to know. And maybe this’ll make the dickhead think twice about doing this kind of stuff in the future. Whether ir does or doesn’t, I still second **silenus’s ** and **monstro’s ** advice.
:smack:
Clearly, “dealier” = dealer.
Oy!
Oh, and that should read: “took **her ** along with you.”
C’mon, Li’l Pluck–get it together, man!
:smack:
[QUOTE=Li’l Pluck]
Whether **ir ** does or doesn’t…
[/QUOTE]
Okay, y’all, that’s two days in a row that I’ve had to do these multiple corrections on my own posts outside of the edit function’s timeframe. I don’t know what my problem is, but I’ll stop. I promise.
:smack: :smack: :smack:
[QUOTE=Li’l Pluck]
And I forget who implied that getting the guy fired for this might be too much, but you know what? FUCK THAT SHIT. One of the reasons people like this (talking about all manner of racist, homophobe, sexist, what-have-you) don’t learn their goddamn lesson is precisely because people pussy out and say, “Welllll, maybe he shouldn’t be fired, but just reprimanded.”
[/QUOTE]
You may be talking about my post, so I’ll clarify. Cartooniverse is probably not going to “get the guy fired” unless the manager/owner of the dealership is on board. If the manager/owner is on board, he’s not going to have to write a bunch of letters to the BBB and his local news station, he only needs to talk to the manager about it, once.
If the manager/owner is not on board, there is nobody else to go to. Dealerships are generally independantly owned, the staff is hired/fired by the owner, not by Nissan. You think Nissan is going to dump a dealership who may have been selling their cars for 30 years because one dude who bought a used Quest is pissed about some stupid racist joke?
So, with this in mind, I would not “go to great lengths” to try and get the guy fired, because great lengths are not necessary if the manager agrees, and will not make a difference if the manager doesn’t.
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak]
You may be talking about my post, so I’ll clarify. Cartooniverse is probably not going to “get the guy fired” unless the manager/owner of the dealership is on board. If the manager/owner is on board, he’s not going to have to write a bunch of letters to the BBB and his local news station, he only needs to talk to the manager about it, once.
If the manager/owner is not on board, there is nobody else to go to. Dealerships are generally independantly owned, the staff is hired/fired by the owner, not by Nissan. You think Nissan is going to dump a dealership who may have been selling their cars for 30 years because one dude who bought a used Quest is pissed about some stupid racist joke?
So, with this in mind, I would not “go to great lengths” to try and get the guy fired, because great lengths are not necessary if the manager agrees, and will not make a difference if the manager doesn’t.
[/QUOTE]
I hear ya.
And I think you’re right in that complaining won’t get the guy fired, especially w/o proof that it happened. And while I don’t think that Nissan–or any other automaker–would dump a dealer over what they would likely consider to be an isolated incident, I do like the idea of starting a paper trail. Suppose that it’s not an isolated incident, and others write in to complain about the same thing, and then it builds and builds, perhaps even culminating in unfavorable publicity? Which might then spur either Nissan or the dealership to some kind of meaningful action.
Yeah, I know–fat chance, but a guy can dream, right?
And even if nothing comes from Cartooniverse’s complaints, at least he can take some kind of satisfaction from knowing that he’s done the right thing and complained to the proper authorities. No *real * victory there, I reckon, but still, might be worth something. (Assuming, of course, that he tells other people in his circle just why, if they’re ever in the market for a car, they should not patronize this particuar dealership.)
Yeah, you’ll never get any kind of legal action against the poltroon, but the threat of legal action is usually enough to cost people some sleepless nights, and usually prompts more stern action from higher-ups.
[QUOTE=black rabbit]
Mayn… Mayn, bro… Bromayn… Dog! High five!
[/QUOTE]
It’s dawg. If you’re going to be racist, at least read the manual. 
What ever happened to FormerMarineGuy? He is/was a car salesman, wasn’t he?
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
Fear Itself, no, I don’t believe the salesman would have done that. Quite a stretch. Nice try at rationalization though.
When’s the last time you heard a racist joke, comment, or accent that was directed at a German? 1945, maybe. Gimme a break.
[/QUOTE]
Quite beside the point, but I heard one about 2 weeks ago directed at a friend of mine. When I pointed out to the person that I am mostly german they directed it at me as well. Just because it isn’t overly common doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
[QUOTE=Sitnam]
This sounds like an episode of The Office, where Michael Scott turns into a car salesmen for a day. Except it’s not funny. If you really were offended though, you really shouldn’t have bought the car if for no other reason than peace of mind. That’s not the only used Nissan Quest around and every time you get in it you’ll know that asshole made some money off of you.
[/QUOTE]
Michael Scott: “You’re pretty exotic looking. Was your dad a GI?”
The suggestions to contact the media (instead of the BBB or whatever) make me think that there might be a slightly off-angle way of going about this.
Columnists are always looking for material, for subjects they can babble about for however many column inches they’re expected to fill two or three times a week. Rather than making a business- or salesman-specific vendetta about this, what about suggesting to said local columnist a general topic: “Sucking it up to save a buck.”
Relate the incident as above, but vagueify the identifying detail about the auto lot, e.g. “a two-generation family-owned operation near the airport,” such that anyone who thinks about it knows which one you’re talking about even if you don’t use the actual name. It’ll insulate you, a bit, from accusations of trying to “get” the bad guy, because really the more interesting question is why you did what you did, choosing the dollars over telling the jackass to stick the contract in his ear.
If I were a columnist, I could easily make an entire initial column out of the original incident. I’d then solicit other reader stories, and ride that horse for weeks. I think it would be very interesting to hear a range of stories along the same lines as yours: somebody was offended by some behavior exhibited by the representative of a business, but they chose to swallow their offense rather than risk losing a good deal. In other words, they put a dollar value on their limit of tolerance.
Basically, it’d be a gift from heaven.
And, of course, there’s a good chance there would be consequences for the business and/or salesman, even if that “wasn’t your intention,” nudge nudge.
Something to consider.
Excellent idea, Cervaise!
Well, depending on how far you want to mess with this, you could always get one of your friends to go in there and try to buy a car. See if the same salesman also talks to him with “Bro” and “Mad Dog,” (incredibly unprofessional, IMHO). See if he proceeds from there to insensitive racial comments. If it’s allowed, have your friend wear a wire.