I am the only dealership in the country that has accessories like wheels, etc in stock. The reason I know is that 10 Smart dealers from west to east coast have called me to buy accessories from us.
Kevin Ingold
Performance Director
Mercedes Benz of Buckhead
Smart Buckhead
Might need to reword that to read "one of the only." I say that because I was at the Dallas smart dealership open house yesterday. Not only do they have wheels but they also have them in custom colors. I probably should have taken a picture of the wall with many different ones to be able to show here. Didn't think of it though. You can slightly see the yellow one that was at the top behind this picture of a black smart.
As far as the other part? Many have spent months {better part of the past year} trying to gain information. Penske, smartusa, and whomever else isn't forthcoming in keeping those with reservations informed. During which time we've been left to fend for our own. Calling smartusa and dealerships leads us with not much more than additional speculation. People being told they'd hear from smart in the next 30 days only to have that wait time even longer. People expecting to get their cars 90 days after configuration only to find themselves waiting quite a bit longer. Those with 12XX numbers that haven't configured seeing those with 1470's configuring already.
I have no doubt that opening a new dealership is hard work. However dealerships and those that work there are the ones that get stuck in the middle. You're trying to make reservation holders/ customers happy and at the same time comply with Penske, PAG, building codes, safety regulations, contractors and everything else. Is it fair? Maybe not. Life isn't fair. Try to put yourself in the place of all those waiting though. I've always found that if I thought it was going to take 4 to 6 weeks to get something done then tell everyone else 8 weeks. Then if it's done in 8 weeks {delayed but accounted for delay} then I've kept my word. On the other hand if it's done in 4 weeks instead of the 8 I told everyone then I come out looking like Scotty on Star Trek who always seemingly performed the impossible.
Now. If only we could get more accurate and detailed information from smartusa then maybe that would solve the other 1/2 of your battle and some of the reservation holders gripes.
I can tell you they do not have Lorinser wheels, They do not have Scmidt wheels , or Rial . We have the only ones in the country. On 17 inch wheels we have all the tires that go on them. The tires are back ordered or may not be available in US any more. I bought them all 5 months ago, in the 17 inch. Painted to match wheels, that is not a problem. I have factory wheels that can be powder coated.(That is a factory painted wheel on wall) SMART does not even have any factory wheels.
We have the only exhaust for the Smart in the country, and soon we will buld our own body kit. When it comes to tuning our staff managed by me are one of the best, or best in the country. We currently tune Mercedes at our dealership which involve from limited slip rear ends to headers etc. We even build Tuned Mercedes for other Mercedes Dealerships in the south east. As far as the other politics on opening, I am just the Performance Director that is relaying info as it comes. Lets put all the politics to the side and say we are opening, show room done, cars are in, etc. Lets all smile and be happy!
Again did not have a meeting and said"Lets delay the opening so everyone will be mad"
We apologize to everyone that thinks so. The show room is done, displays are in, team has been trained. I am sure there might be some kinks this week , but again launching a new vehicle can be fun yet demanding.
I am sure your car might even be here or on the way. Thank you again for your support
Kevin
Kevin,
Let's start with the awesome stuff. I was at the dealer yesterday and met Emily, Grene, and Loni. What an awesome group of people! The dealer is gorgeous, the Cafe makes a great Americano, and everyone made me feel like I was the only person who mattered. I'll have more on Tuesday when you officially open. It's all good news.
I also know I've been critical of the timing of things but also have always made clear I wasn't placing blame. I do know you and everyone there has been busting it to make everything perfect. But you also need to know that you came across on this forum as very defensive to your future customers who weren't able to get their cars when they were promised. We were disappointed by the delays and changing dates but no one EVER stated that the dealer was intentionally delaying things. I was expressing my disappointment that you all weren't able to open as you told your customer's you would and that I was inconvenienced by having to get alternate transporation due to the delays.
Now that this saga is nearly complete, I know that going forward I will only have great things to say about smart center buckhead and the level of professionalism displayed by everone I've met so far.
(By the way, you have one less set of floormats than you did on Friday. ;))
Cheers and congrats on finally getting to open the doors on Tuesday!!!
Ga Badger: Yes I was defensive. I have the right to explain such as you do to complain on the forum. I have been on Mercedes and AMG Forums for years and I know how some people on the forums can bash others and a company. First I do not think it was ever promised what date we would open up. I believe that we were trying to guess as long as all inspections went ok.
Second, you said some harsh rude comments on this forum and I responded with the facts. Yes you have never meet me. the customers that I have built cars for all admire my experience and back ground. You just do not turn over a 150k AMG to just any one. I bend over backwards for all my customers , From SMART to a McClaren SLR. I have no remorse toward you or anyone one the forum. I am glad that you all did vent your frustrations on here , because this will make us be a better dealership.Keep in mind I was the one that got on here before any of our staff to keep communications open. I am glad you had a great experience when you came by and that is what everyone will receive here. So, all complaints are gone, the frustrations are all behind us. Lets all make the opening a great experience. I have accessories in stock. Some items Smart does not have but I can get on a special order basis.
Please everyone stop by and ask for me. I want to meet each one of you on here and be the person you call on for those accessories. Again, no remorse to any one and I thank all that have held in there!
Kevin Ingold
Smart Buckhead
Performance Director
ga badger, it was great meeting you as well. thank you for being our "guinea pig." i hope everything went well and that you will stop by anytime. i want our showroom to be a happy, healthy place where people can go and feel welcome. while no one is perfect, we hope to create a "different" kind of car buying experience. upfront, no BS, no pushy desperate sales people; that's why i pay living wages. oh well, TMI. once again, thank you soooo much for helping us figure out what the smart selling experience should be.
kevin may still sound a bit defensive, he works hard and may need to go to the mountains or something. but he's great and really is passionate about what he does. take care!
The pleasure was all mine, really. You have done an awesome job of making smart center Buckhead THE place to do business with. I'm sure everyone who has waited patiently (and not so patiently) will find the wait worth it. Congrats and best of luck to you, Emily, Loni, and Kevin tomorrow on your Grand Opening.
Also, Kevin and I took our discussion off line and all is good. When you have people who are passionate about something, sometimes things get a bit "loud". But all is good and next time I have a weekday off, I plan on coming in and meeting him. Having worked in a Mercedes dealer I understand the demands of some of the clients. If he can keep them happy, he's definitely a good guy.
Anyway, tomorrow will be here very soon and soon the streets of metro ATL will be swarming with smart cars!
Less than 24 hrs to go and SMART CENTER OF BUCKHEAD will be opened. Georgia is very exited about this. Thanks Kevin, Emily, and the Baranco family for putting this together. I know at times we all have been alittle impatient including myself but after the smoke clears we know and understand opening up a new dealer line with a new product to the US is not an overnight task.
So I praise you guys up at the MB of Buckhead for all your hard work.
I just wanted to officially thank all of you for the wonderful time I had on Saturday (2/23) at 3:00PM. You were all so helpful and friendly. Emily, you were right about becoming a pro with the shifting. I never use the automatic anymore. As you know, I work for AT&T Mobility and today (Monday) I used my lunch break to show off my new car. I parked it right out front and passed out informational sheets with a few web addresses, including your dealership site.
I never got to meet Kevin, but I will be back soon to pick out my accessories.
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You have done an awesome job of making smart center Buckhead THE place to do business with. I'm sure everyone who has waited patiently (and not so patiently) will find the wait worth it. Congrats and best of luck to you, Emily, Loni, and Kevin tomorrow on your Grand Opening.
Today
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