I missed the Confirmation Deadline!

[Rail Baron]

I truly cannot believe this! I registered and sent in my deposit on March 30, 2007 and attended one of the road show events last month. I just returned from a 9 day vacation and guess what happened? Yep, I got my invite and it was pulled just before I got back.

I received the invite email on Oct. 26 while I was out of town and when I tried to complete the reservation at mysmartfortwo.com after I returned, I was told that my password had expired. I called Smart in a total panic and they said that I would be "re-invited" in the future. They said when I asked directly that I was not in the back of the line but they couldn't say exactly when I would be "re-invited". I asked and got the following information (outdated/wrong?)

What is the EPA fuel mileage estimate?
Answer: They have not yet tested the 08 Smart (this can't be true)
What is the warranty?
Answer: Not decided at this point
When will the dealers officially be announced?
Answer: Hopefully before the end of the year

The girl said that my registration had been closed on November 2nd. She also said that everyone who got the invite had about ten days to respond. That looks like exactly 7 days to me. When I asked why it was open for such a short period, she said that ten days should have been long enough. I don't understand what the harm would be in keeping the website password open for at least 2-3 weeks. If they have to send in reservations in periodically, they could simply hold those that come in late until the next batch gets sent in.

I gotta tell you, this is pretty aggravating for someone who has waited so long to finalize the reservation. I reserved before the end of March. Has anyone else had this happen to them and if so, how long did it take to get "re-invited"? I did have a message on my answering machine that they did try to call me while I was gone on vacation, but I had no way to know THE INVITE was imminent. What's worse, the message on my machine from "Kyle" with Smart said that if I did not confirm soon, I would likely face "significant delays" on my Smart.

[Rail Baron]

Just a follow up on my situation. I forgot to mention that I spoke to my dealer candidate earlier this week about my situation. He is completing his remodeling for the Smart section but they have not been officially named yet. Even he didn't know when that would happen. He did have some other insights about the ordering and delivery process.

1) He said that he has been a MB dealer for years and said they had a similar process for ordering cars. He said they have something called a bi-weekly or something similar, can't remember the exact name. Basically it is a periodic open period for people to order custom MB's. He said that after a certain number of days, that period is closed and anyone who wants to order a custom MB must wait a few weeks until the next period opens. It also allows dealers to track incoming stock by the period number. He said it sounded to him like Smart is doing something like that. He said that if that is the case, I should be in the next batch of invites. I sure hope he's right.

2) I asked him if he knew anything about how cars would be allocated to dealers. I gave the following ridiculous example: Suppose the first 2000 Smart orders came from, say, Atlanta. If Smart delivers cars as ordered, it means that for some weeks, no other dealers in the US would get any cars at launch. We know that isn't going to happen and that some spec cars are going to be mixed in with all shipments, right? He confirmed that Smart has been analyzing the order patterns and noticed that, not surprisingly, there is a surge in orders in the area that just held a road show event. He said that Smart is likely to do some kind of "leveling" in those cases. He also said he has been told that dealers will have at least a few cars at launch (presumably spec cars, I guess).

3) He confirmed that even at this late date, he doesn't know how many orders have been placed for his territory. He said that at the moment, he has no plans to require further paperwork beyond the initial $99 reservation and the ongoing confirmation process. He said he is happy at this point to let Smart handle the reservations at least until the backlog clears up but that Smart wants to hand off this process to the dealers at some point.

4) He said that he had a dozen or so people on his own unofficial waiting list and presumably they would get a crack at any Smarts that had been ordered and not purchased when they are delivered. He said that is one reason why he doesn't worry about getting more paperwork from those who ordered. He did say they absolutely would not get cars before those who reserved unless there were cancellations and that they would not sell Smarts for above MSRP.

5) I asked him that assuming that I get re-invited soon and confirm the order, did he know when I would hear from him? For example, would I hear before it arrived at his dealership? He said he wasn't sure and there was talk about setting up a tracking system to allow buyers to track their car through the delivery process. It seems to me they'll need something better than this for the benefit of buyers who will need to line up financing.

6) He said that he is very excited to be involved with the Smart line and really likes the way they are involving the enthusiasts.

I hope he is right about my delay not being too bad. As of today it has been exactly two weeks since my invite was pulled according to Smart. Others have posted as recently as today that there recent confimation is looking like a 2nd quarter 2008 delivery according to Smart. It is a little worriesome that with less than 8 weeks until 2008, there is so much information that is not out there like official EPA estimated mileage, warranty info, official announcement of dealers, not to mention any details about the whole ordering process through the local dealers. It is certainly possible that he knew a lot more than he could tell me but I think generally, he was very straightforward and enthusiastic in our discussion. I hope this is helpful in our ongoing discussions about the ordering and delivery process.

[Old smart]

THAT IS A KICK IN THE STOMACH!!

I have been concerned about that happening to me and called smartUSA to see if I could have an alternate phone number added to my "dossier" (originally I only listed my landline number). They were happy to add my mobile phone number; that much they can do. Hopefully now, if I am away by choice or necessity, and I get the confirmation invitation, they have a better chance of reaching me before the drop-dead date.

[Lewis]

Rail Baron- I had exactly the same worry. I am leaving for a three week vacation in a few days but DID get my confirmation Monday this week- a close call. Last week though, as I worried about missing the confirmation as you did, I called the 800 number and a rep named Jerome took my choices and promised that he'd enter it for me if I was away.

Luckily I did get the email in time so it wasn't necessary. But Smart did come through for me and I appreciated it. I probably should have posted the incident and I wish, after hearing your story that I did to let this nice group know this could be done. Good luck Rail- hope you get it soon!

Funny thing is I bet many Smart buyers are big travellers and this sytem is set up in a way that this problem is pretty predictable.

[jwight]

Sorry to hear about this; not very customer friendly. I know they have to have rules but this is just crazy. Recommend sending a letter VFR direct to Penske and letting him know people on the forum are aware of this (not that he will care )

Hope things turn out OK for you.

[Old smart]

In going back to smartUSA Customer Service to add an aditional phone number, I found that the service representatives have access to our reservation details. We are initially located by Zip Code (a geographic locator), then by name, and then by primary phone number. They can update personal and contact details, but not initial preference info. One thing that they do not have access to is the schedule of sending the confirmation invitations; they are specifically barred from that information.

One of my problems about being away is the email. Unless I change my ISP, I am limited to webmail; I can't get my ISP to accept my outgoing Outlook Express or Mozilla Thunderbird from hotel wifi; though I can receive them. I'll have to bum onto another terminal or call in and do it by phone when I know that I am up.

[Rail Baron]

In another forum someone said about this reconfirmation process that Smart has an important operational reason for doing it this way but wouldn't say what the reason was. I have said all along that it is admirable that Smart is attempting to maintain some sort of priority based on the order that reservations are placed.

But...If it is so important that we respond in a limited number of days, why not say so in the email we get, or post it on their web page somewhere, or put it in one of those newsletters, etc. I think anything they could say about their process without being too specific would be appreciated by those of us that are very interested in their product. Also, if they had some way of letting us know when they will be sending out another batch of invites soon, some of us might know to look at their email more often. It wouldn't have mattered in my case as I did not have internet access where I was except for one day and that was the day my password expired. They should have some process for those who pre-registered then are not available either for emergency or other reasons.

It won't matter much if I am "re-invited" in the next few weeks. It's just human nature to worry that you've slipped back maybe thousands of spaces or more due to this small window of opportunity, which is apparently intentional.

[spdickey]

Originally Posted by Rail Baron

But...If it is so important that we respond in a limited number of days, why not say so in the email we get, or post it on their web page somewhere, or put it in one of those newsletters, etc. I think anything they could say about their process without being too specific would be appreciated by those of us that are very interested in their product.

I sincerely hope you get your reinvite, hopefully your original reservation number will be honored.

As to the notice about the limited time frame to get your confirmation in, my email had the date was in bold and listed twice.

It is important that you complete this process no later than September 30, 2007 to avoid any delays in the delivery of your smart fortwo...

Again, please make sure that you confirm your reservation by 9pm EST on September 30, 2007. If you fail to do so, delivery of your smart fortwo will likely be delayed. Should you decide not to confirm your reservation, you can request a full refund of your initial $99 reservation by calling 1-800-smart-USA.

[ifishcat]

I feel like I'm in a lottery and with each passing day the illusionary intensity and pressure rises..


(rhetorical questions that go around n around)

What reservation numbers are currently being contacted now?

How close are the numbers to mine?

Did smart already send me an email?

Did smart already send me an email that I mistakenly intrepid as junk mail?

Did smart try to call me while I was away and for some odd reason did not, or could not leave me a message (with a call back number)?

~m u s t p r a c t i c e z e n n o m i n d ~
~m u s t p r a c t i c e z e n n o m i n d ~
~m u s t p r a c t i c e z e n n o m i n d ~

Rail Baron my heart goes out to you and if you want, I'll call smart, and ask them where do they get off, if ya think that might help. (heck, for all I know, I will be next in this very same scenario)

[SmartCard]

Bummer man.....I hope this "reinvite" process is quick.

But good insider info from your dealer. Hopefully he can help get you back to the head of the line!