Ram Dealers begging for positive ratings?

[Loudram]

I guess that explains why the dealership I went to a few months back for some recall work begged me for a 10. I never did do their survey but I am going to use that against them next time I get a truck. Simple.. Give me a 10 deal and I'll give you a 10 rating. Earn your rating.

 

[buddy guy]

Instead of sending them letters, plaster what you wrote in those letters online in the dealer review area on cars.com/autotrader/car gurus/dealers website etc...They likely won't respond to letters just to them, but if you hit them where it can hurt and other people can see, that usually changes things. I know it's after the fact now, but it could help sway others away from them in the future.

if going the social shaming route (or kudos), I would suggest that google reviews and yelp should be at the top of the list. everyone at the dealership can see them more easily. some dealerships won't give a crap about reviews anywhere. some will. funny cause there's a big dealership in calgary that has a banner right along a busy street saying "visit our 4 star rated dealership". funny thing is, if you look at google reviews en masse, a 4 is ok. there's a lot of dealerships that rate higher than 4 in calgary and area. matter of fact, i think everyone of them does! (probably about 13 dealerships in the area.) lol.

 

[Jhuss96]

I've not only noticed that from dealers but from companies I've bought from off amazon. They really want to see you leave positive reviews and ratings. Honestly I'm really happy to see that, I want businesses to be forced to provide great service or suffer the bad ratings. The internet moves much quicker than word of mouth, so businesses with crappy practices are clearly highlighted.

 

[wallacemf]

The only mfr and dealer I cannot complain about is Honda. When my wife’s Honda goes in, we are treated like royalty. You get you vehicle back clean, and fixed correctly. If I tell them we need a vehicle they hand me a set of keys. Sometimes we just hang out and enjoy a cappuccino. They never try to tell me parts are bad unless they are, or up sell me crap I don’t need. This is for a $25000 Honda.

I wish I could get that with my $50000+ Ram....not so much. If Honda ever builds an HD truck that will pull my TT, that’s what I’ll be driving. It’s too bad the domestic mfrs don’t take note of this and make changes.

 

[JoeCo]

if going the social shaming route (or kudos), I would suggest that google reviews and yelp should be at the top of the list. everyone at the dealership can see them more easily. some dealerships won't give a crap about reviews anywhere. some will. funny cause there's a big dealership in calgary that has a banner right along a busy street saying "visit our 4 star rated dealership". funny thing is, if you look at google reviews en masse, a 4 is ok. there's a lot of dealerships that rate higher than 4 in calgary and area. matter of fact, i think everyone of them does! (probably about 13 dealerships in the area.) lol.

Good points! I wasn't aware google and yelp were weighted so much more than the others but I suppose that makes sense since a ton of people look to them. The one time I felt wronged enough to do the social shaming, I just put the same review up in as many places as I could find to do so, and got a call the next day and some money back. When they do shady things, it should be put on the record out there...it's just a shame that so many stories don't get told and therefore no real repercussion for the dealership.

 

[bchap05]

I worked at a Hyundai dealership back in the day for a few months. Basically our commissions were tied to scores and anything below a 10 was not acceptable. So if sold a new car and got all 10's I'd get something like an extra $200 per car, and if I got 9s (still a good score) I'd only get like $50. Something like that I don't remember exactly it was years ago. So while completely ridiculous it was a big deal to ensure all 10's.

We used to tell people if they would bring us a blank survey (so we could fill it out with all 10s) we would give them a free tank of gas

 

[NorthStar1]

The only mfr and dealer I cannot complain about is Honda. When my wife’s Honda goes in, we are treated like royalty. You get you vehicle back clean, and fixed correctly. If I tell them we need a vehicle they hand me a set of keys. Sometimes we just hang out and enjoy a cappuccino. They never try to tell me parts are bad unless they are, or up sell me crap I don’t need. This is for a $25000 Honda.

I wish I could get that with my $50000+ Ram....not so much. If Honda ever builds an HD truck that will pull my TT, that’s what I’ll be driving. It’s too bad the domestic mfrs don’t take note of this and make changes.

I agree 1000%. My wife's Honda dealer takes such good care of the car, the wife and even a loyal Ram owner so much that I wonder why FCA doesn't copy their model. Fix it right the first time - which for my wife's car is simply do the oil change, wash it and vacuum it out - is what they have done every time with zero issues.

 

[buddy guy]

Good points! I wasn't aware google and yelp were weighted so much more than the others but I suppose that makes sense since a ton of people look to them. The one time I felt wronged enough to do the social shaming, I just put the same review up in as many places as I could find to do so, and got a call the next day and some money back. When they do shady things, it should be put on the record out there...it's just a shame that so many stories don't get told and therefore no real repercussion for the dealership.

4 out of 5 dealerships from ford and dodge that my ex, daughter and I dealt with definitely read the google reviews we left and either responded online or by phone to us. most dealerships have a internet lead/sales person who they have watch social media as well for them. i think they are more likely to know google etc than enthusiast sites unless the owner or manager has a really comprehensive social media and internet strategy for monitoring feedback.

 

[mtofell]

There's a new thing businesses are doing (mine included). You send out a request for feedback through Google or Yelp but it goes through you so you only post the 4 and 5 star reviews. Of course, people could just go directly to Google/Yelp but when you give them the link it's easier and if they are mad they will usually just go that route. If nothing else, it gives me a chance to catch the people and try to correct things before the review goes public.

Google is none too happy about this and there are rumors that they will be taking measures to stop these 3rd party companies but so far they have not. A couple names of these companies are Blipp Reviews and Birdeye Reviews. So, when you see a business that has 1000 reviews and they have a 4.9 average it may not be as it appears.

As a business owner I'm torn because I feel it's a bit misleading but a bunch of my competition does it so I jumped on board. Also, there are a lot of nuts out there with an axe to grind and it's nice to be able to have some defense against them.

Some of the larger companies have also figured out that if you give people an avenue to complain directly to them they will take that route rather then going to the public. It's kind of the old, "let them vent," idea.

 

[buddy guy]

i go to google maps and pull up the business directly and then scroll to reviews and talk **** about them. lol

 

[O.R.T.]

It's all about "CSI" scores w dealerships, from sales, to parts, to service, it's an industry metric that honestly in my personal experience is easily swayed and cheated. Here's a quick reference: https://www.autovisiontv.com/blog/2018/5/9/5-keys-to-improving-dealership-csi

 

[Sherman Bird]

Yes, the feeling I get is that there ARE severe consequences if they get less than a 9 or 10. I mean they seem in constant fear of losing their jobs if they don't get that 10. That's a hostile work environment IMHO.

Here's the latest email from the dealer's manager, with names redacted:

Chrysler Corporation has recently emailed you at xxxxxxxxx.com about your last service visit to xxxxxxx Jeep Chrysler Dodge Fiat. The email is from “dealership experience survey”, if you need to search for it. This is a very important survey about how your experience was with your Service advisor xxxx xxxx. If you could please take a moment of your time to complete the survey in full, I would really appreciate it. The questions about your personal information can be skipped. Some of my Customers find this email in the “spam or junk “ folders.


Scores of a 9 or 10 “Truly Exceptional” are the only scores that count, everything else is considered a zero. If there is anything, I can do that we might have missed that would prevent your scoring a 9 or 10, please contact me and tell me what I can do.

And just remember, if you don't answer the survey, they will harass and hound dog you to death until you do! I recently had my car (not an FCA product) in the dealer for recall and maintenance work done. I got tired of being pestered and answered the survey honestly. A couple of things were below par, and I gave them below 10 ratings. Not long afterwards, The service adviser called me near tears. He claimed that my "Zero" rating was going to result in a 900 dollar hit on his bonus. Talk about using guilt tripping!

The whole thing is a fraud. Not considering and evaluating a mid level rating doesn't foster honesty across the board. It promotes a vitriolic competitive culture. No wonder dealers are so demonized!

 

[Mike Murphy]

When we bought the wife's 2016 Cherokee the salesman stressed for a 10 also. He kept enthusiastically saying that the 10 was for him personally and not for the dealership or the new car. The new car detail was terrible and I felt like a dollar sign when I was in the dealership.

 

[WHYTLIE03]

I worked at a Mercedes Benz dealer for four years. First as a porter (washing cars, moving cars around, taking out the trash, etc.) Min wage was $8 an hour and they paid $8 an hour to start. After about a year I moved onto wholesale parts delivery.

My experience in the surveys is with the service side. The service advisors pay is directly based on the amount of money they and their techs charge and these survey scores. A few 9’s or one 8 in a MONTH could ding them several thousand dollars on their monthly paycheck. Things rated that they couldn’t control but still effected their pay were:

Was the dealership easy to find?

Was the dealership clearly marked?

Was your vehicle clean upon return?

Etc.

So, if the service adviser was an A-hole to the porters, guess who’s customers waited longer to get their car back? And often were forgotten to be vacuumed or windows neglected.

I think the entire culture of 10 or nothing does nothing to help improve anything for anyone. It’s obnoxious.

 

[Pull Ya]

I have a strange theory---Up your game at little(actually a lot) and maybe the honest scores reported by the customers will honestly reflect what they received at the dealership. That might end the ********---LOL
Jay

 

[Lucy Girl]

I just got one from corporate and I don’t like it. Started it but will never finish it. They want too much information. I didn’t get the extra 1500 so screw the whole bunch. Don’t get me wrong as I love my Ram over all the other trucks but they just want your life history and some of mine needs to stay where it is, deep in my, well enough said. Lol

 

[Fitz-0518]

I don't know if this is a Ca thing or just the whole Nationwide social media thing. I would like to think that this passion for "complete our survey" and "give us a great review" is in fact the Ramcare people talking to Reid and the other Exec's up in Warren and telling them that the customer dealer experience at Ram SUCKS! NATIONWIDE. (Some rare exceptions) And this is as a result of Reid telling the fat ass office lizards to get their ass in the field and get the facts and fix it. But I quit believing in Santa Clause over 60 years ago.
I will say and admit that when I look at two dealers, products or companys and compare their reviews. If one has 78 positive reviews by a verified and credible review site and the other has 22 and 10 recent "stay away" reviews,,,,,I do pay attention. But reality is as stated. Most of this review hustle is just that.

 

[chrisbh17]

I worked at a Mercedes Benz dealer for four years. First as a porter (washing cars, moving cars around, taking out the trash, etc.) Min wage was $8 an hour and they paid $8 an hour to start. After about a year I moved onto wholesale parts delivery.

My experience in the surveys is with the service side. The service advisors pay is directly based on the amount of money they and their techs charge and these survey scores. A few 9’s or one 8 in a MONTH could ding them several thousand dollars on their monthly paycheck. Things rated that they couldn’t control but still effected their pay were:

Was the dealership easy to find?

Was the dealership clearly marked?

Was your vehicle clean upon return?

Etc.

So, if the service adviser was an A-hole to the porters, guess who’s customers waited longer to get their car back? And often were forgotten to be vacuumed or windows neglected.

I think the entire culture of 10 or nothing does nothing to help improve anything for anyone. It’s obnoxious.

Several thousand off their paycheck?

Exactly how much are they making?

I agree though, 10 or nothing is the problem. Might as well just give me a good/bad choice instead, they are basically making it that with anything other than 10 being a 0.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[dannyb545]

So I have had the same experience when I bought my truck the salesman hounded me to give him a 10 or the dealership would penalize him sorry folks but there are no "10's" a lot of "9's" but no tens it kind of like ..LIKES on twitter ... ooooh look at me and all the thumb ups I got .....pleas place thumb in .........

 

[Pull Ya]

IMHO--the only 10 is at a bar at 2am after way to many beers!!!! LOL
Jay