'We've decided we can't meet your expectations': Unreasonable haggler who demands a $3,000 discount hassles car dealers

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 22, 2023 5:00 PM EDT

"Tom was a royal PITA from the start," lamented a fed-up car dealer, sharing the story of a nightmare customer. 

Car dealers have a reputation for being shady characters who want to sell you the finest car with lots of upgrades you don't need. They can sweet-talk you into buying warranties you don't need or features that will add four more digits onto your new ride. But this person is telling a story from the car dealer's point of view, and their struggles trying to make a deal with a customer who just would not cooperate at any stage of the process. 

The OP, u/ImbambiB****, told their tale to r/pettyrevenge. It seems that "Tom," the customer, was hoping to buy a specific type of vehicle that was very popular at the time. The OP writes that their dealership actually had a great deal going on, and knew the car would go fast. That didn't seem to matter at all to this crabby customer, who insisted on plopping down in the OP's office and refusing to make a deal. At least this dealer got some sweet revenge on the customer! Keep scrolling to see the whole story. 

Up next, this teenager accused their history teacher of claiming they were cheating on an assignment with AI…but this student insists they never cheated. 

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  • 01
    Car - 125 RUS 'Tom forged a dealer offer sheet from a competing dealer, trying to get us to give him a $3,000 discount. Tom called our auto group HQ several times to complain.'
    via Pavel Anoshin on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/ImbambiB 1 day ago "we've decided we can't meet your expectations and wouldn't want you to be disappointed in your vehicle. Therefore we have decided to refund your money!" 8 Back when F150 Raptors were hot and hard to get, I was selling a car at our dealership. We were one of the few dealerships not playing any games on the Raptors. The deal was MSRP minus any rebates you qualify for, plus our $299 dealer fee and TTL, which was super reasonable. Then came Tom.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 03
    Font - Tom was a royal PITA from the start. First off, he thought he was going to haggle, and it got so bad that I straight up told him, "Here is your deal. If you like it, let my manager over there know, and we'll take a deposit and order the vehicle, but I have other customers to attend to." Then I got up and left to meet my appointment. (Tom was scheduled for noon, and it was now 3 PM, a full three hours later.)
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 04
    Font - While Tom sat at my desk for a solid 15-20 minutes, I saw him get up and walk over to my manager's office. My manager ended up taking his deposit, explaining the process, and sending him off. FYI, out of the 1,000+ customers I've sold, there was only one customer that I did that to, and it was Tom. Tom was special. It got worse. Here are the things Tom did:
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 05
    Font - Tom forged a dealer offer sheet from a competing dealer, trying to get us to give him a $3,000 discount. Tom called our auto group HQ several times to complain. Tom called Ford HQ several times to complain. Tom was repeatedly caught in lies. His lies would normally be "Bambi Manager said" or "Bambi said" when we didn't. A few weeks before his vehicle was due, he sent out a massive email that included our CSRs, myself, my manager, my GM, basically listing his demands and being incredibly u
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 06
    Font - So I went to my GM and said, "Let's sell this Raptor to this new guy who seems super chill and nice and can easily afford it, and let's refund this d his money and tell him we can't do business with him." My GM agreed.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 07
    Font - So my GM told me to write up the email and CC certain individuals. I wrote up the email: Dear Tom, After careful consideration of your last email and your past experience, we've decided we can't meet your expectations and wouldn't want you to be disappointed in your vehicle. Therefore, we have decided to refund your money.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 08
    Font - We have instructed our accounting department to cut a check and overnight it to the address on file. You will be receiving a refund in full. We hope you can find a dealership that can match your expectations. We wish you all the best.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 09
    Smile - Then I called up my customer from earlier and said, "Hey man, we got a new Raptor that just became available. I can send you the window sticker, and it's yours for MSRP + $299 dealer fee + TTL." I sent over the window sticker.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 10
    Font - After I did that, Tom called me, furious, telling us he was going to sue us. I passed the call to my GM, who gave him our law firm's phone number and told him his lawyer could talk to our lawyer and asked Tom not to call back again.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 11
    Font - Then the new customer from that morning called me back and said he was on the way to meet me to place a deposit and start on the paperwork.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 12
    Font - TL;DR: This was petty revenge because we took away a hard to get vehicle from a di and gave him to a nice customer. FYI I had ChatGPT fix the grammar, any thoughts?
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 13
    Human body - tardigrade-munch. 1 day ago It is very satisfying firing a sty customer. It needs to happen more often.
    via u/tardigrade-munch
  • 14
    Font - Technomage1 1 day ago Bullet dodged. Even if he'd gotten the vehicle he would have continued to be a pain. He would have wanted free service, he would have found fault with it somehow and wanted a partial refund, etc. Regardless he was always going to savage you on the review* so that's going to be a wash. If he tells the full story to a lawyer, and he probably won't, any reputable lawyer will laugh him out of the office. When he lies he will have to provide the email firing him and that
    via u/Technomage1
  • 15
    Font - Fast_Fee517 edited 1 day ago +2. 1 day ago. Hopefully you gained a new repeat customer. Well played by you and the dealership
    via u/Fast_Fee517
  • 16
    Font - MerelyWhelmed1 . 1 day ago Good move, because once Tom got his vehicle, he would be in the service department complaining he was sold a lemon. He would be calling you weekly about how awful it is, and how he needs a partial refund (or he'll sue and go to the media.) How do I know? Because I sold for a dealership for 10 months when I was 21. I had a Tom early on in my time there. I left the dealership amicably. We all agreed I wasn't meant for that job. I have a feeling they were cursed wi
    via u/MerelyWhelmed1
  • 17
    Font - Scenic Pineapple. 1 day ago I love being able to let customers go like that. It breaks their brain that the business doesn't even WANT their money anymore after all the hassle. We had a few customers like that during the covid BS when pet food was really hard to come by. Had a customer who came in EVERY day looking for the same food for her cats. We had told her maybe 30 different times the situation with nestle and how terrible of a company they are with communication. She refused and wo
    via u/ScenicPineapple
  • 18
    Font - fumblebucket - 1 day ago When I worked retail I'd get entitled customers that would bring items to the register and try to point out some nonexistent flaw or damage and demand to buy it at a fraction of the price. I would simply take the item from them and shove it under the counter and apologize and say that they are absolutely right. The item it deeply flawed and it would not be right to sell such a product. Their dumbfounded faces were priceless.
    via u/fumblebucket
  • 19
    Font - +1. 1 day ago This is always a great way to go. Masrim Whenever a customer mentions litigation, oh I'm sorry, because this has become a legal matter any further conversations must be though our legal department and we have been advised to not participate in any further conversations.
    via u/Masrim
  • 20
    Font - +2 - 1 day ago Tom called me, furious, telling us he was going to sue us. db2 How do people not realize that ends any kind of conversation with them right then and there?
    via u/db2
  • 21
    Font - +1. 1 day ago Yup over my 1000 customers I did have a few that resulted in lawyers getting involved. ImbambiBi OP We were trained on this, turn over call to GM who provides them with our law firm information. The second you bring in lawyers is the second I step off.
    via u/ImbambiB****
  • 22
    Font - Savethebreadties 1 day ago You dodged a bullet. Dude would've tanked your CSI so bad it wouldn't have been worth it. Reply Share 15 ImbambiB OP +1. 1 day ago That was part of our reason as well
    via u/Savethebreadties

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