U-Turned Right Away From That Sale

My husband’s old car is on its last legs and we are shopping for a new car. My husband calls a well-known local dealer.

Husband:
“Hi, I am thinking about buying one of the new [Make] [Model]s. Do you have one of these on the lot that I could look at?”

Dealer:
“Absolutely, we can even set you up with a test drive. Come right on down.”

We go down to the dealer. My husband notes that there are none of the cars he’s interested in out front, despite signs everywhere extolling them. I note that the lot mostly seems to be full of older used trucks and SUVs. The salespeople are in a little huddle around the counter, and no one approaches us. My husband speaks to one.

Husband:
“So, I called less than an hour ago about looking at and maybe test-driving the latest [Make] [Model], but I didn’t see any of them out front.”

Salesperson:
“Oh, right. We don’t have any of those.”

Husband:
“I was told by one of your people that you did.”

Salesperson:
“Nah, we’re out. More will be in next month. But we have plenty of options! We have a lot of SUVs, pickup trucks, great deals–”

Husband:
“So I was lied to.”

Salesperson:
“Um, well, I’m sure if you looked around, you’d find something that–”

Husband:
“I am interested in a [Make] [Model]. Not a pickup, not an SUV. If you don’t have the car I want, you have nothing I want, especially if you blatantly lied to me just to get me in your door.”

We left immediately. The other dealer did, indeed, have the car we were looking for on the lot, and we went there, test-drove it, and purchased it the very next day. The first dealer called back two weeks later offering to put us on a waiting list. I took great pleasure in telling them we were no longer in the market.