Dealer screwed me over on this one what would you do?

Went to purchase the bike after looking it over and negotiating pricing on it and the salesman I was working with sold it out from under me the same day. I guess it's my fault for not using my crystal ball to look into the future or jump into my magical transportation machine to arrive at the dealer within 1 minute of them calling me or expecting them to realize I'm coming to purchase a bike I had "seriously" been going over with them and made an offer to purchase. I know it's my fault for not offering a deposit on the bike when no one bothered to tell me that they took deposits including the salesman and store manager.

I know it's also my fault for checking my voice messages 1 hour after they called on my lunch break so I could listen to them tell me they will accept my offer and that the deal was good till the 26th of the month and NOT "someone is trying to purchase the same bike you're interested in do you plan on buying the bike today?" as a courtesy to me to let me know what was going on with the bike. I know it's my fault for driving 45 minutes out my way to respond to their acceptance of my offer by walking in the dealer to purchase the bike the same day they accepted my offer. I know... I know.. I know... trust me folks I know.

It's all my fault for expecting the dealer to have respect enough for a customer they had previously been working with to purchase a bike from. I completely get it. A little common courtesy is too much to asks for and one time sales mean more than "repeat" business. I know I shouldn't have spent time to decide what bike I wanted and researched it first. I know I should I have just purchased the first bike I came in contact with no questions asked whether it be a Hayabusa or 675R if I see it and touch it I should just purchase it. I totally get it. I was wrong for sending the dealer a "lengthy" e-mail describing my interests in the WR250R along with my offer and for them to E-MAIL me as my first preference or call me. I'm sorry folks for knowing how to negotiate properly and spend less than I have too on a purchase saving myself $400 less than the other guy ended up paying on a bike with 2 years depreciation on it.

The point of sharing my story was just to share my story. My only mistake was putting too much faith in the dealer or better yet my salesman to see me as customer that wanted to give them my business and expecting a little bit of courtesy. Instead I'm just random guy no.341343 walking in the door with money to buy a bike in the MIDDLE OF WINTER! where I'm the only person in the STORE!

Sorry but no sympathy here.  If its on the lot, its for sale until there's money on it.  Period.  Its just business.

When I sold motorcycles, for every "buyer" that said he'll be right down to pick up a bike on the showroom, and actually showed up, there were twenty or thirty others that didn't.  Yamaha hasn't stopped production on these so there will be another one, put money on it and its yours.  If you didn't like this dealer or a particular salesperson, find another.  Go for it!

It may have been another case of "bait & switch". Happened to me as well. They know what you're willing to buy, then tell you it's sold. They are trying to make you buy something more expensive. I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer calls you back at some point, & tells you that the other guy "backed out". So many car & bike dealers are pieces of #%&*! That's why if you find a good dealer, keep giving them your business.  Good luck.

I agree with rvsixer. It's not truly "spoken for" until a deposit is received. It's just business. As to your question on what I would do- I would pursue the option of- request the salesman to honour the agreed upon price (or maybe even sweeten the deal) and delivery of new bike within a week, if answer is yes give him/her a deposit, and spend the next week figuring out where I want to go first with the bike when it arrives.

Did you ever see the movie "A Bronx Tale" with Robert Di Niro? There's a scene where a teenager is complaining to the old wise man about this other kid who owes him $20. The old wise man says .... "forget about it, you got off easy, for $20 you know this other kid is no good and now he's out of your life forever. It's a good deal".

Forget about this dealer. For no money and a bit of hassle you've learned you don't want to deal with them anymore.

Get the bike somewhere else and start riding.

so you went in a bunch of times before without buying anything, and didnt return their call all day? sounds to me like they called you to give you a shot at the bike before someone who actually showed a legitimate interest in purchasing it that day, and never heard back from you.

No money no deal.

danwray wrote:

so you went in a bunch of times before without buying anything, and didnt return their call all day?  sounds to me like they called you to give you a shot at the bike before someone who actually showed a legitimate interest in purchasing it that day, and never heard back from you.

No. They just called to say they would agreed to my offer we were negotiating the price on the bike. The other guy came out of no where. How much more legitimate do you need to be than spending 2 hours in a dealer looking at the same bike making an offer on it the same day and coming in the next day to purchase it? Calling someone and them showing up in person to seal the deal is not exactly "Not hearing back from them".

rvsixer wrote:

Sorry but no sympathy here.  If its on the lot, its for sale until there's money on it.  Period.  Its just business.

When I sold motorcycles, for every "buyer" that said he'll be right down to pick up a bike on the showroom, and actually showed up, there were twenty or thirty others that didn't.  Yamaha hasn't stopped production on these so there will be another one, put money on it and its yours.  If you didn't like this dealer or a particular salesperson, find another.  Go for it!

Not asking for sympathy just sharing a story.

There's a difference between the random guy saying he'll buy a bike and a guy who you've been working with to pick out a bike over 2 weeks. I came up there there three times, the first time to look,the previous time to certify, and the 3rd and last time was to purchase after negotiating the price. I only left the dealer because I didn't have time to wait for him to finish doing his chores. I had to return to work and notified the sales guy I would contact him later with my offers. I also had to contact the insurance company to get the insurance quote on the bike. I didn't even know the dealer took deposits if they had suggested it I would have done so. Again, at the same time if you have customer who you've been working with and you know they're interested as in "negotiating" a price on a purchase and not just "browsing" and they've driven 40 minutes to your store to look at the same bike and gave you a date they're looking to purchase the bike before I think that says a lot more than "I'll be right down to pick up a bike and not show up". Guys that say that more than likely have not negotiated a price,seen the bike, or visited your store, or had are actually working with you. When you're working personally with a customer it's your responsibility as a salesman to assist them with their purchase or has the concept of salesmanship gone out the door?

That's just shady,desperate, and poor salesmanship to cheat one customer whom your working closely with to let someone else snag a deal you're in the process of negotiation. Were talking the same day as within 24 hours not You call me Monday and I show up on Friday afternoon talking about "where is the bike?" This is the reason why Salesmen have the reputation that they do and why 9/10 people don't trust a word that comes out of their mouth. I work in sales also and I'm not a fan of +1/-1 or Gain a customer and lose another. As you said there's more of these bikes out there. The correct thing to do would to have taken the guys information and informed him another customer was interested in the bike as well and that he could check to see if they bike was still available to be sold. Contact me again as this time the bike was being sold and not just a "we'll take your offer" message that had no sense of urgency to it, and let me put down my deposit and come pick up the bike, get on the dealer computer and search for another WR250R call the guy back and offer him a decent deal on the additional model you can get to your store and gain both customers sales. +1 +1 = 2 Sales for you! = more money! You see this is the difference between just being a "salesman" and actually knowing "how to make money". You don't EVER turn one sale down just to gain another.

I would go to another dealer.
When I bought my bike the dealer didn't have it in stock.
I told them what I wanted, we agreed on a price.
They had me one there in 3 days.

RRM707 wrote:

It may have been another case of "bait & switch". Happened to me as well. They know what you're willing to buy, then tell you it's sold. They are trying to make you buy something more expensive. I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer calls you back at some point, & tells you that the other guy "backed out". So many car & bike dealers are pieces of #%&*! That's why if you find a good dealer, keep giving them your business.  Good luck.

Yeah and thanks. Actually where I'm located there aren't many "trustworthy" bike dealers. There's a lot of bikes but the shops around here stay full on inventory because they try to enforce those BS fee's we all know and love that makes the bike not worth the purchase. People think I joke when I tell them bikes here in my state have "Canadian" prices on them. By the time you're done buying a CBR250R out the door you might as well have brought a CBR600RR you would of paid about the same.

f3joel wrote:

I would go to another dealer.
When I bought my bike the dealer didn't have it in stock.
I told them what I wanted, we agreed on a price.
They had me one there in 3 days.

Smart man and good salesman.

sophijo wrote:

No money no deal.

... and that's a good way to lose out on a sale. Although in this case I had the money and they didn't want to wait to complete the deal. That must have been a long 5 hours for them.

Motonoob,

Have a little perspective. What happened to you is not the crime of the century. It's every day business. Find another bike and move on.

gatorfan wrote:

Motonoob,

Have a little perspective. What happened to you is not the crime of the century. It's every day business. Find another bike and move on.

Well, it's easy to make statements like that when you have your bike. If the shoe was on the other foot I'm quite sure you wouldn't be so happy about the situation either.

There are no dealers within 90 miles of me that even sell these bikes. Moving on is fine but not when it's an "inconvenience". I would have to go rent a trailer spend a weekend driving up to another store negotiating another bike haul it back to my state deal with the DMV etc. etc. It's a bigger hassle and annoyance.

It's not so much the bike as it is they were low enough to sell a bike to someone else who was already in the process of buying. That's not "business" that's called desperation. If you did that in a real business deal it would burn bridges and earn your company an unfavorable reputation in the long run. Just as in this case dealers that do that do that to customers lose their business and future potential sales altogether. If you want to shoot yourself in the foot in the world of business turn another company that would have otherwise worked with you into your rival. It's always good to do make a sale but there's a right and wrong way of doing things. Having respect to turn down someones offer and not mislead them or let them know of another parties interests is a good way to still earn that persons or companies trust in a sale. It can even offer you the opportunity to make more money if the original party is willing to pay more to seal the deal. That is what "real" sales people and companies do. You don't shut out one sale for another you turn it into a competition. Give them both a chance to put up their best offer and THEN you go with the highest offer.

As for me I'm pretty much done with this dealer they lost my business for good. I more ticked off about their lack of customer loyalty than anything else.

I'm going to side with most of the others here as well.

No money, no sale.
Money talks - everything else walks.

If you never put down one single dollar on the bike, and some other guy walks in and has money - the dude with money wins.
Plain and simple.
Not bad business. Just business.

You were all talk.
The guy that bought the bike was all business.
The sales guy lives on commission. The dealership lives on sales.
They sold the bike to the first guy willing to pay an agreed upon price.
That's just business man.

Now pull up your big-boy pants and re-think your strategy.
Find a used bike and save yourself a thousand or more dollars.
There's a valid reason people call dealerships stealerships.

motokid wrote:

I'm going to side with most of the others here as well.

No money, no sale.
Money talks - everything else walks.

If you never put down one single dollar on the bike, and some other guy walks in and has money - the dude with money wins.
Plain and simple.
Not bad business. Just business.

You were all talk.
The guy that bought the bike was all business.
The sales guy lives on commission. The dealership lives on sales.
They sold the bike to the first guy willing to pay an agreed upon price.
That's just business man.

Now pull up your big-boy pants and re-think your strategy.
Find a used bike and save yourself a thousand or more dollars.
There's a valid reason people call dealerships stealerships.

+1

Quit being a victim and go find a bike to buy!

I think that their decision to sell the bike to someone else was reasonable too, but I think that you're also Looking at this wrong.

They need you to buy a bike from them more than you need to buy it from them. Use their behaviors against them to get a bit better deal, or now that you know their price, shop it. Another dealer WILL beat it. Take a train or catch a ride there and ride it home.

You're in the drivers seat here.

Motonoob wrote:

gatorfan wrote:

Motonoob,

Have a little perspective. What happened to you is not the crime of the century. It's every day business. Find another bike and move on.

Well, it's easy to make statements like that when you have your bike. If the shoe was on the other foot I'm quite sure you wouldn't be so happy about the situation either.

There is no "situation". Read all the comments here. It's all in your head. The dealer owes you nothing.

90 Miles is big deal?

And the reason I have a bike is because when I decided I wanted it I reached into my pocket and handed the guy my credit card.