This Lesson Really Deals It Out

Awesome, Car Dealership, Employees, Jerk, Karma/Comeuppance, South Carolina, USA | Working | July 26, 2022

I have submitted a few stories about my father-in-law, including this one. The company he has worked with for several decades trusts him with purchasing equipment.

My father-in-law was working on a piece of equipment when the owner of the company came into the garage. He told my father-in-law that the company needed some more pickup trucks and to go down to the dealership they dealt with and get a couple ordered. My father-in-law finished up what he was doing and drove over without changing his oil- and grease-covered mechanic’s overalls.

When he walked in, he saw a few salesmen sitting in a waiting area talking and laughing. One of them had his picture on the wall behind him as a top salesman for the dealership. My father-in-law walked over and began to introduce himself.

Father-In-Law: “Hi, I’m [Father-In-Law], and I am from—”

Salesman: “Yeah, yeah. Look, we don’t have time right now for lookers. We are pretty busy.”

Father-In-Law: “I’m here to buy.”

The salesman looked him up and down.

Salesman: *With a smirk* “Yeah, okay. Go over to that office and the new guy can deal with you.”

[Father-In-Law] went over to the office and saw a young man at a desk eating a sandwich. When he saw my father-in-law, the young man put his food down, stood up, walked over, and offered his hand to shake.

Young Man: “Hello, sir. Welcome to [Dealership]. How can I help you today?”

Father-In-Law: “My name is [Father-In-Law]. Are you new?”

Young Man: “Yes, sir. It’s my first week, but I promise you I will do my best to help you find the vehicle you want, and I have a great manager here that can help me with what I don’t know.”

[Young Man] took over three hours going around the lot, showing my father-in-law trucks, doing test drives, discussing what each truck came with, and offering financing options. The whole time, my father-in-law saw the other salesman laughing and smirking, doing pretty much nothing.

As they were sitting back at [Young Man]’s desk, [Father-In-Law] told him which truck he would be getting, but he wanted it in a specific color.

Young Man: “Oh, that is no problem. We can order it. And we need to set up the financing. “

Father-In-Law: “Great. I need seven of them. And this will be a cash sale.”

Young Man: “W… What did you say?

Father-In-Law: “I said seven, cash, and it will be for [Construction Company].”

Young Man: “Will you please excuse me for a minute?”

At this point, the young man about ran out of the office and came back with the manager.

Manager: “Well, hello, [Father-In-Law]! How are you? [Construction Company’s Owner] called me earlier and said you were coming in. How has my new salesman been treating you?”

Father-In-Law: “Beyond incredibly well, while your other salesman — who I think is one of your top producers — was pretty rude to me.”

Manager: *Angrily* “Is that so?”

Father-In-Law: “You have a real gem with this one. He didn’t judge me based on my appearance. He treated me like I was the only customer in the county. He took an incredible amount of time helping me find the best truck for our situation. He was respectful, friendly, and honest when he didn’t know the answer to a question. As long as he is here, this is the salesman [Construction Company] will be dealing with. And he’d better get the entire commission from this sale.”

The manager assured [Father-In-Law] that [Young Man] would. For a span of fifteen years, my father-in-law would not only order company vehicles from this salesman but also personal vehicles, and he recommended him to all his family and friends. He had great respect for the young man, who did very well for himself with his career. [Young Man] eventually was able to open his own dealership in the town and became the one the construction company always bought from.