Thank you Spdickey. That was very helpful!!! I feel much better now. I will just go wait in my corner. Have fun DRIVING YOUR CAR!
I'm so glad you feel better. I'm having fun driving my car that I received through the reservation process, and did not spend one minute complaining that someone from smart wasn't holding my hand for the entire nine months.
some people claim this is simple.
if it were truly that simple, one would have to believe they would have followed that protocol rather than prolong a system where 30K customers are frustrated.
the things that consumers claim are simple for big business to fix, rarely are.
that has been my objective experience when dealing with big business.
Well, I know nothing is simple in big business. I work for a big business. But successful businessmen listen to every suggestion, and especially suggestions from people who want to buy from them. By the way in my opinion, big business is 700,000 cars a year, not 20,000. And 20,000 cars a year is 416 cars a week(taking a month off) , 83 a day, 42 a shift, 6 per hour (based on a long 7 hour French day.)
Or perhaps there are now over 55,000 paid reservations and NOT quite enough attrition....???
that's possible too. after a certain point, consumers without cars becomes a negative for the company, not a positive. you want demand, but not so much demand that nobody feels like they'll EVER get their vehicle. you want the waits to be reasonable and acceptable. after the first year or so, a 14-month wait time will not be productive business-wise. although a 4 month wait could be very good for business.
the wait is as much a badge for the consumer too. a demonstration of their patience, commitment and interest in being at the front of the pack. it brings with it cache.
Well, I know nothing is simple in big business. I work for a big business. But successful businessmen listen to every suggestion, and especially suggestions from people who want to buy from them. By the way in my opinion, big business is 700,000 cars a year, not 20,000. And 20,000 cars a year is 416 cars a week(taking a month off) , 83 a day, 42 a shift, 6 per hour (based on a long 7 hour French day.)
i have confidence they are listening and that they are doing whatever behind the scenes to improve the process, the experience and most importantly, the success of the business, the bottom line for the investors and the rate of sales for the dealers. this is what every business wants to do. there is no motive to do otherwise.
what is different here from most businesses is that with most businesses the glitches are barely observed by the consumers because they are never a part of the manufacturing/distribution process, most consumers purchase at retail and if it's there they buy it and if it's not, they're none the wiser.
it is only occasionally that an item comes to the consumers attention with enough interest, passion or obsession that they become participants in the entire process from start to finish and it is under those circumstances that the business and every decision they make is under extreme scrutiny. my gut sense is that they already have a plan to address some of these early missteps. but enacting that plan and having the effects of that plan impact the consumer level may take some time.
Not!! Although producing a great product, the international community knows there is no customer focus in ***nce. It's a you need them, they don't need you attitude that is uniquely ***nch. I guess I find it kind of ironic smart manufactures their vehicles there!
To stay on topic, until smartUSA decides to stock it's dealerships like every other dealership in the US with a vehicle inventory and base future shipments on cars sold per month, there will be a reservation list, orphan list and people complaining about both! Ya gotta love it!
Last edited by Dunerunner; 04-21-2008 at 04:37 PM.
I'm picking October 24 (United Nations Day) as the day the reservation system will be declared officially dead. Here's my $5. Who wants to hold the pot for the office pool? There are 364 choices left.
To Jimbo....at first I did not want to reply to your crass statement about my uncle's long wait for a car in the old German Democratic Republic, but I feel that I just had to reply. First and foremost I can understand your frustation that you are still waiting for your smart car. If it was me, I'd call up every two days until someone brings you closer to the truth. The old adage that 'the squeeky wheel get's oiled first' may very well apply here.
As for my uncle's wait...I just wanted to say something positive to you in my own foolish way.
As for me... I was exchanged with another child from the West. We switched clothes and I was accompanied by an adult without incident to West Germany by foot.
I know of three people that died because of that horrible regime. One was a childhood friend who was the main Chef of the then current East German Leader. He got run over mysteriously in East Berlin. I'm sure he heard or saw something that got him terminated. The other two were friends that were caught trying to escape. They both committed suicide.
FYI in the little town that I was born in only a select few had a phone. When someone died... that number was then available.
I visited there a few times because I could do so with my American passport and their desperate need for western currency. I could leave the area...they could not!
You are far removed from that reality living in the midwest and understandably can't fathom being in line early in the morning for, of all things... aluminum foil for example. I was volunteered into that line by my relatives.
So... just a little bit of compassion would be appreciated here. Hope you get your smart soon.
Sorry about you and your families experiances... We did try hard to remove those burdens, and ultimately we were sucessfull...
I doubt the history lesson was necessary in this thread .....
While I understand your point about your uncle and his long wait, it really was not that relevant to the point of this particular car buying experience in the 21st century, in a free country, with the simplistic problem of keeping so called "insider" customers properly and adequately informed
By my account, I have nearly waited as long as your relative for this particular car to be available for sale in my homeland... in 6 days I will have been an "insider" for a full year. I still do not know when my car is due to arrive, still do not have a believable ETA, and my dealer knows even less then I do....
Patience and compassion I have plenty of... tolerance for inept companies..... maybe not so much
My family can relate to very similar East German and other "Iron Curtin" 1938~1984 experiances...That said.... I did not read Jimbo's post as demeaning, derogatory, insensative, or anything other then his frustration that what happend 20 ~40 years ago is not relevant to this car buying experiance in 2008 USA
-Why would any company willingly give up $3m USD in deposits they have sitting on the balance sheet?
-How would they otherwise know what are the most popular configurations, options and market segments without free direct customer feedback?
I gave ZAP a $1K deposit years ago (when it was first announced they were going to import smart). There was zero feedback from them. They used my cash for 2 yrs before I finally pulled out after learning I could finally buy one of their cars for twice the sticker price at some independant guy's car lot.
This was a walk in the the park from that experience. Sign up, pay $99, wait 1 yr. Get exactly what you ordered. I say be happy we can actually buy these cars at sticker price and have a dealer network to service them.
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