The seller judged the couple based on their age group and believed that they did not have the money to buy a Ford car.
February 22, 2024
Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 14, 2023. It has since been updated.
It's true that salespeople, especially those who work in luxury stores, make assumptions about their customers far too quickly and too confidently. They use their judgment to sell better, but these tactics don't work because judging customers based on preconceived ideas gets them nowhere. Something similar happened to the Reddit userand/or yesterday1who shared their experiences and proved that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
The post was captioned "Car Salesman Talks His Way Out of a Sale" and received more than 6,000 votes. After doing extensive research, the man and his wife made appointments with salespeople from Kia and Ford dealerships. The Kia Ceed meeting went well so they were happy to go to the Ford workshop and preferred the Ford Mondeo to the Kia Ceed. However, the meeting with the Ford salesman did not go as planned.
“We both had well-paying and stable jobs and also had the support of a low-interest loan from our parents to finance a purchase. We did our thorough research and came to the conclusion that there were two options for us: a Ford Mondeo or a Kia Ceed with our preference for the Mondeo. We had worked out all the finance we could afford for both (second hand). At this point we found our local dealers and made arrangements with both to have a test drive with the cars so we could make a final decision." they shared .
They explained how the car purchase went: "We liked the car and the salesman was helpful. We happily drove to the Ford dealer for our appointment and were met by the salesman John. John was an old white salesman who clearly had cars had been selling for years, and he had clearly made a quick decision about the young couple in front of him. The second meeting, on the other hand, yielded some unpleasant surprises. The 'old' salesman John sat them down at the table and inquired about their budget, which they were happy to But the salesperson didn't seem to believe their answer and insisted on knowing their salaries and other financial information.
The couple obviously refused to share their personal details and only asked for a test drive of the car, which the seller refused. He didn't even show the customers the interior of the car because, according to him, "they weren't serious buyers." “We left and went back to the Kia dealer and bought the car we test drove earlier. We were very happy with it and kept it for the next 6 years!” the user added, sharing that this discrimination was not based on race as John and the couple were white. But John had to learn his lesson.
The Reddit user explained how they had the last laugh. “For me, however, this was not enough! I took a picture of the Kia and sent it to the Ford department manager to say that we bought the Kia because of John's actions. The manager's response was surprising. He responded that he was devastated because their margins were so tight, and explained that John would be reprimanded for losing their money. Moral of the story: don't judge a book by its cover!'
People in the comments section could very well identify with the incident. "Had one salesman ignored my wife when we bought an extended cab pickup in 1993. Another focused on highlighting the mirror on the passenger side visor. The third dealer was great. Idiots at the first and second dealers didn't know my wife would be the first driver,” sharedu/Fast_Fee517.
"This happens to my wife and me a lot, not just with cars, but with all major purchases. We have both worked in well-paying jobs for over forty years. We feel comfortable in jeans and T-shirts. We put in a 91 square GMC and salespeople running the other way. We laugh about it now, but it took some time to figure out what was going on."u/ohmaintenanceagreed.
