The recently launched Ford Ranger Wildtrak 2013 model is the “I want you” pick-up truck today.
It won Truck of the Year in the 4×2 segment. (The equally great Mazda BT50 pick-up was crowned the Truck of the Year at last month’s Manila International Auto Show or MIAS).
The good thing about it is that there are many customers falling in line. The bad thing is, there are only very few units that are arriving from abroad.
When there are only 5 units and there are 50 people fighting for it including neighbors, government officials, relatives, friends, kumpare, kumare. It spells trouble. Many customers get mad, get inip waiting, umaatikabong tampuhan. Solian na nga kami ng kandila.
And please remember, pag pinipilahan ang kotse, wala pa yang promos or discounts.
Just yesterday afternoon, a friend of mine, Angie, was asking for my help because she said they gave P5,000 to another Ford dealer in March 2012. She claims they were first in line and how come until now the dealer hasn’t given them the Wildtrak. To appease her, we contacted the other Ford dealer and pretended to be a buyer. They have one unit left, but they would give this to a buyer thru financing. Angie is paying in cash. I just advised her to go to the dealer and use her convincing powers. She texted me this morning saying that she was able to get the unit. I believe she paid in cash plus she also paid for the incentive of the dealer which was supposed to come from the bank had they sold the vehicle thru financing.
This afternoon at around 5, while I was having a very late lunch, I received a complaint regarding our staff at Makati Ford. A customer gave a P10,000 reservation for a Wildtrak. Frankly speaking, nagulat nga ako kasi our people accepted the reservation. Apparently, the secretary of the buyer came to Makati Ford. She told our staff that how come other dealers do not entertain her when she tells them they are paying in cash.
I have a feeling that our staff felt awa that she was not given the attention by other dealers. Hula ko lang, that’s maybe the reason why he got Julienne to agree on parting with our one last unit. It’s reserved for a relative that’s buying thru bank financing.
I was able to get the name and number of the customer. He sounded very nice.
I spoke to Makati Ford’s sales manager, Mike. I also called up my daughter, who’s their boss.
She knows about the transaction because she’s the one approving every sale of Wildtrak.
On monday, I will get Charles’s own account of what transpired in his conversation with the customer’s secretary. There’s no doubt in my mind that Charle’s did not do or say anything that’s irregular.
Okay lang to complain, but it’s not okay to jump into conclusions without gathering facts. Always give the dealer the benefit of the doubt. Dealers are not fly by night.
My Kuya Lito used to tell me,”there’s always the other side of the fence”.
Ang kulit ko ano? Di ba in my previous posts, paulit-ulit kong binabanggit, “an informed buyer is a good and happy customer”.
In the spirit of transparency, I am sharing with you my email to the friend of the buyer. I shortened it a bit for brevity and edited some unnecessary portions. His questions are valid, and my answers would be helpful to all current and future buyers, regardless of any car brand.
Dear____
My name is Annie C. Tan-Yee and I work at Makati Ford in Pasong Tamo.
I do welcome your queries, and I am more than happy to answer them. Take my views as coming from a third party; think of me for a minute as someone not connected with any car dealership. I will answer your email as objectively as possible. I apologize for my very long message.
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It’s easy to conclude that something is fishy in a transaction in the absence of a first hand knowledge of what transpired during the discussion. In this particular case- I am confident that what Charles conveyed to customer’s secretary was above board. I would like to get Charles’s own account of what he discussed with her that may have been unclear.
There are notices around our facilities that request customers to pay only to the cashier and ask for a corresponding receipt. This is to make sure that every payment is received and officially acknowledged by the company. Monies received by Makati Ford in payment for vehicles, parts, repairs, are all subject to VAT and are given Official Receipts after their checks had cleared. Customer payments for insurance premiums, LTO, shipping of vehicles to the provinces, and all others which are intended for other companies but are just coursed thru us for facilitation, are given acknowledgement receipts instead. We cannot issue OR for money not intended for us otherwise they would be subjected to VAT and municipal tax. The insurer will issue the OR to the client.
1. Vehicles that are readily available because the manufacturer or distributor have many inventories usually go on sale with promos, discounts, and other freebies. Buyers are given big discounts. Eto yung mga promo that we see for example: NO DOWN, ZERO INTEREST, all in promo (eto yung with free insurance), free back up sensors, free this and that. Again, basta ang kotse ay maraming supply, mas maraming promo. You can get good discounts. The big discounts come from the manufacturer, not from the dealer. Dealers only have a small profit, so they could only give a small discount.
When you see “P150,000 discount”, that’s definitely not from the dealer. Either from the manufacturer, or bank, and the dealer also shares a portion.
2. Banks have their own promotional campaigns. Eto yung mga Auto Madness, for example, BPI gives discounts and freebies, BDO, Eastwest, etc.
If you have your vehicle financed by for example BDO, then you get the promo package given by BDO. Banks also give a little something to the dealers for bringing the banks clients. Dealers apply this for whatever extra discount, expenses or freebies given to the client not covered by the subsidy from the manufacturer or bank. There is no fixed amount, it’s a case to case basis. there are times that dealers get nothing, sometimes a few thousand. This is what is called DI. Dealers Incentive
3. If a customer is paying in CASH, and is given discounts, free LTO, free tint, floor mats, etc. Then the dealer, in many cases, end up with little or no profit at all. If dealer gives away a lot of discounts from their own profit, and customer is paying in cash, that means, there is no bank that would give the dealer some commission at least to help defray the cost ofthe freebies and discounts given to customers.
Sales managers do not ask for commissions from the customers.
If they are caught doing that, that’s a ground for termination.
When the vehicle you are buying is a hot seller, for example, there are only 5 units arriving from abroad, and there are 250 persons waiting in line. How does the dealer allocate the 5 units? Who among the 250 people waiting in line get it? First come first served? Who pays cash? Who buys thru financing?
The Ford Ranger is one of the most sought after pick-up truck today. The demand is greater than the supply. The Wildtrak 4×4 Automatic is very limited. Minsan isa lang, dalawa, versus dozens people who want it.
Assuming you are the seller, and you only have one unit left. Tapos merong sampu gustong bumili with no discount, no freebie, and thru bank financing which the company would get some bonus from the bank. Here comes Buyer X, paying in cash, asking for discount, nagagalit pa, gusto free Ipad Mini, free nito. Kanino mo ibebenta? If you choose to sell it to MRS Y, because she is not asking for any discount and freebie, and happy na dahil nakabili sya, is that illegal?
2. Does Ford Philippines or specifically Ford Makati tolerate this practice?
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If you are referring to illegal, immoral or schemes to dupe customers. NO, NEVER. We are not doing business to cheat customers. We want our customers to come back. We want them to be satisfied with our service. If we tolerate misdeeds, we will lose our customers.
It’s beyond our human capacity to have 100% customer satisfaction. There will always be unhappy customers, regardless of which dealer.
I have always believed that “an informed buyer is a happy customer”. The more the customer knows, the better for all of us.
Trust is very important. When in doubt about something, contact the company and ask, ask and ask questions until buyer is satisfied. Ask, inquire, do not accuse.
Buy only from dealers that you are comfortable with.
Buying a car can be stressful. You have to feel good about everything.
But first, you have to learn how to trust.
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I was offended when the daughter of a good friend of mine said that as the business owner, it’s good to be on top of things and know if there are things in the company that I don’t know about. I know she didn’t mean to offend me but it felt like she was lecturing me.
I am a business owner and admittedly, I do not know the details of every transaction that happens in our businesses. I do not remember the names of all our customers who had their vehicles repaired at our shops. I do not memorize the names of every person that walks in. It would really be nice to be able to remember the faces and names of all our clients.
I also have trouble remembering lahat ng mukha at pangalan ng aking mga kasambaho.
We trust and hope though that our people are doing their jobs properly. That they are honest, trustworthy, and competent. Time and again, we always indoctrinate that we do things simply, we just want our customers to be happy, so they would keep on patronizing our business.
Our people have mistakes, which we always try to correct and keep human errors to a minimum. We don’t have any elaborate schemes to dupe customers. If any of our people are caught doing hanky panky, they are thrown out and away.
