10:46 am, December 23, 2010
RUNNING a car dealership is not an easy job. I’m not for a minute pretending to know the amount of pressure, strain and stress that falls upon your shoulders on a weekly, if not daily, basis.
But I can guess it’s pretty trying at times. Especially for the independent dealers among you. Not only will you be worrying about where the next sale is coming from, stressing about the amount of cash you’ve blown on the local paper’s useless Motors section, and fretting about whether Pete the Pole will shake off his vodka hangover to clean some of your cars – there’s a fair chance you’ll also be sprouting a few grey hairs about the cars you’ve already sold too!
We all know customers, to be completely frank, are a pain in the backside. If they’re not moaning about the five year warranty you’ve ‘failed’ to include on the three-year-old ex-rental they’ve just paid a £100 under book for, they’re bending your ear about a scratch only the Hubble telescope would pick up.
Let’s be honest here – and I can, as we’re among friends – if you could sell cars without having to deal with punters, you would wouldn’t you? We all like to say the customer is our number one priority, but really what we really mean is it’s our bank balance.
Ok, so I might be rattling on a bit, and to be fair, most customers are actually pretty easy to please, but still, every single one of you will have dealt with The Car Geek. You may remember him from Big Mike’s rant about this perfectionist in Issue 17.
He’s like a Watchdog presenter on acid. For this breed of sub-human, even brand new isn’t good enough – he’ll still find something to complain about. ‘Oh, the gear knob is 1mm too far to the right – I’m rejecting it under the Sales of Goods Act,’ he’ll whinge.
And then, if you’re brave enough to sell him a car, you know he won’t drive off into the sunset never to be seen again. Oh no. Mr Car Geek, of 1 Angry Street, Complainshire, will be back when the offside rear indicator bulb has blown, demanding you pay for a new one. He is, in short, your worst nightmare.
SHOVE OFF
Wouldn’t it be nice to tell Mr Lifelong-Subscriber-to-Which exactly where he can shove his Halfords lightbulb receipt? Unfortunately, that’s not always as easy as you’d like. When The Car Geek is threatening to sue you, or worse, rattle trading standard’s cage it would be nice to have some solid gold ammunition to fire back in his face.
That’s exactly what we’re offering members of our new Car Dealer Club. In association with a leading law firm we’ve managed to secure our members FREE motor trade legal advice worth £199. Simply subscribe to Car Dealer Magazine for £25 per year and you’ll get access to the 24hr legal help desk.
Run by leading motor trade lawyer Lucy Bonham Carter, you’ll get free legal advice to arm you with the bullets you need to shoot The Car Geek’s complaint dead – before it gets nasty. As you’ll read on p34, Bonham Carter knows her stuff – she’s been helping The Telegraph’s Honest John readers with legal matters for years – and now we’ve secured her services exclusively for you.
There are plenty of other benefits for becoming a Car Dealer Club member too. Not only will you get a copy of this glorious publication delivered to your desk every month, you’ll also benefit from a host of exclusive discounts with leading motor trade suppliers too. We’re adding more benefits all the time and as a Car Dealer Club member you’ll be the first to know about them.
For just £25 you’ll get all this, plus the knowledge to kill those complaints dead with the added benefit of knowing that if you need her, Bonham Carter can step in to help. I hope you agree, at £25, that’s an absolute bargain.
To find out how to sign up, and for more details on those discounts we’ve secured, turn to p34. Or if you’ve heard enough simply type bit.ly/dealerclub into your web browser to be taken to the sign-up page on our website where you can pay by credit or debit card.
It’s like the Beano Club, only better. But with less badges…
Full details of Car Dealer Club can be found here. The latest issue of Car Dealer is out this week.
Or to sign up simply click the button below.
