Somebody should have said, “Hmm. That doesn’t seem like a good idea, Christie.” Someone should have told me to go to the park instead. But traveling down to the Hyundai dealership as a before-lunch outing with Hamish seemed harmless at the time. Did I mention that it was the first day of my period? Yeah, it was, and I should have gone to Crumbsby’s for a chocolate cupcake or simply just stayed close to home.
But there I was at 10:30 am asking questions about the 2009 Hyundai Tucson and letting Mr. I’m-So-Ready-to-Sell-You-a-Car know that my family is in the market for a new, safe but affordable vehicle.
It’s hard to say whether locking my car keys in my Volvo 850 and thus preventing me from retrieving Hamish’s car seat in order to do the test drive was the moment I should have called the whole thing off. Because, you see, it also could have been the test drive itself — which occurred after my husband Loch came and rescued me from a bus ride home — when I accidentally ran a red light.
Or maybe, just maybe I should have said, “Thanks, I’ll talk to my husband and think about it. Gotta go…” when Hamish started towards the brand new Genesis in the showroom with my car keys in his hands. At any rate, I did not call the whole thing off. When I left, Mr. Salesguy shook my hand and jubilantly stated “congratulations!” and I looked down to see my overtired and sick — he had a cold — baby in his stroller and a bill of sale in my left hand.
Now, to my credit I agreed to many things yesterday but it is impossible for me to have agreed to all the financing terms because he couldn’t tell me what they were. I also agreed to turn over the Volvo for a whopping $1500 trade in credit but, really, the car is in Loch’s name so Loch needs to do the legitimate sign over.
Despite feeling rushed by Mr. Suave, despite having hormonal surges that swept my mind clean from clear decision-making, and despite giving him a $500 deposit (completely refundable, I was informed), I repeatedly stated that nothing would happen until I consulted Loch.
I felt my feminist membership card slip through my fingers when he said, “OK, I’ll just write ‘subject to husband’s approval.'” I wanted to protest the language, but decided that I was drowning and this was the only way my butt could be covered.
“Yes,” I confirmed, “we’re a team and I’m not doing anything without consulting him first.”
My excuse is that everything happened so fast. But, really, I allowed that young guy who I know makes less money than I do to walk right over me.
From the moment I realized that I locked my keys in the car, I stepped outside of myself and looked at me from his perspective. What I saw was a perfectly discombobulated mother. A woman with a snot-nosed child who cried every time she turned her back. A brainless bimbo who had no respect for traffic safety. A vacant over-burdened woman who could be talked into anything.
I am, of course, none of the above. And, Hamish — to his wee little credit — was very well behaved. But every one of his small protests was magnified by the fact that my self-possession was caught in an inconceivable tornado. I felt completely frazzled.
Last night I didn’t sleep well because I was too busy beating myself up for my transgressions. Really, though, it was a classic case of falling prey to pressure sales and not having my questions answered. I mean, the guy couldn’t even confirm if the price he was offering me was a sale price. He claimed not to know what kind of interest I’d be paying despite telling me my payments would be $250 bi-weekly.
Needless to say, I did not stand my ground and ignored the fact that the ‘Sales Consultant’ was crossing my boundaries, left, right and centre.
One day later, I came to my senses thanks to a pep talk from my sister-in-law. I decided to contact my Hyundai dealer and call the whole thing off. I would be firm and I would ask for my money back.
I called and my friendly neighbourhood car salesman told me to come down to the dealership to get my money back. It turned out to be more complicated than just simply having the charges to my Visa reversed. I had to go through dude’s boss and then dude’s boss’ boss. At the end of the line, I spoke to the store manager who still tried to ‘sweeten’ the deal’. I stated my case for the fifth and final time and simply told him I was not buying the car, that I was feeling way too much pressure (his telling me that they had already ordered the car didn’t help. Who orders a car when they have not even let the consumer know if they qualify for financing? And, might I add, why wouldn’t I be informed that a car was ordered? Why wouldn’t I get a call letting me know that the Tucson Limited was available in Nautical Blue or asked if I was still interested in the Black after all? Wouldn’t this just be standard good customer service?)
I let him know that this has not been a positive experience for me. He promptly apologized for the negative experience I had in his store and promised to reverse the charges on my credit card.
I’m working on my boundaries these days. Loch knows this, which is probably why he made me follow through to the end.
“Get on the phone and tell them ‘no’. Tell them to give you your money back, that you are not buying a car from them.”
I’m not sure why it was so hard. I’m not sure why I got sucked in. But you can bet your ass that I’m going to finesse the next car deal. You can bet your ass that next time, I’m going to do this right. And, nobody, first day of menstrual cycle be damned, is going to walk over this discombobulated mother again.
Photo Credit
“Turn back-tornado warning” US Weather Observatory
I have had a very similar experience. Maybe there is some kind of invisible cycle in everyone’s lives that propels us to occasionally walk into a car shop and have an almost premeditated horrible sales experience that will ruin our day.
Sorry for the typos – I’m on my iPhone. 🙂
Thanks for the comments. Standing my ground was actually very challenging. The update on this story is that I had to call the store back two weeks later when the charges had still not been reversed. I fuelled myself with a wer nip of scotch and actually got angry at the store manager. Apparently threatening to tip off the media touched a nerve because he informed me that he was a business man who treats people with respect and, in turn, deserves to be respected. Whatever, just give mey money please….sir. I did get my money back & I did buy a Hyundai. But, I went up to Duncan for the purchase. I still think it’s a good media story, though.
I can totally relate to this, although on a smaller scale. Everyday I think of that horrid saleswoman that ran right over me when I bought my dishwasher on a day like you had. I only wish I had told her “no”.
Good for you for standing your ground.
First rule of shopping as a mother – never, ever shop for an important purchase with a small child in tow, no matter how well behaved he is. You are bound to be distracted and hence more easily persuaded into the purchase. Good for you for having the guts to demand your refund and for posting about it here.