Amazing Dealership Experience... (long read)

[BlkwdwR8]

I wanted to take a moment to write about my experience working with 2 amazing Audi Dealerships, and Audi HQ over the last month. It's these kinds of customer service experiences that keep me loyal to the brand and specific dealerships.

Earlier this year I was pushed into a situation where I had to sell my 2011 Audi R8 Spyder, but I knew it was only a temporary situation.

I went to my local dealership Audi of Henderson (Nevada) and explained to them my situation with having to sell my car, and that I had intent to buy another R8 in the near future and if there was anything we could do to help make my loss (negative equity due to depreciation) minimal.

This is where the GM Jim Diguilio and my sales associate Joe Sirna stepped in and began the process of making my life easier. I told them my long term solution of wanting another R8 (most likely a 2012 model) and the magic began. Jim, Joe and I sat down to work through some of the logistics with regard to my Spyder. It didn't make a lot of financial sense to trade the vehicle in at wholesale when the car still had very strong market value, so we got really creative and worked out a semi-consignment type deal so I could re-coupe the value of the vehicle the best I could, but they would handle the sale from the paperwork/bank/logistics side to further benefit me later on my new purchase. They figured out the optimal time to sell the car from a timing perspective so that all of the cards would fall in place with regards to my future 2012 car purchase.

This was only the beginning. It took me about a month to find the right buyer for my Spyder, and in that same time I wanted Jim to keep an eye out for an available R8 GT allocation. If I could get one, I wanted to go that route, but if I couldn't I intended to buy a regular Coupe.

Enter Audi of San Diego (California). Jim had a strong relationship with a head sales associate Kevin Pizzuto and the GM over at Audi of San Diego, George Athan, and they had a GT allocation that was available (keep in mind, I still hadn't fully sold my Spyder). I'll come back to this in a moment.

I sourced a buyer for my Spyder (Thanks R8Talk forums!) who was working with a dealership in St. Louis. Keep in mind the car is in Nevada, the car I'm intending to buy (The GT) will be in California, and the buyer for my Spyder is using a dealership in Missouri. The logistical aspects of this deal were intense to say the least.

Jim and Joe went over and above their duty to make this process as smooth as humanly possible in selling my Spyder knowing full well they weren't going to be the dealership to get credit for the sale of the GT. They were looking out for one person, me, the customer. Kevin Pizzuto picked up the ball on the San Diego side and kept me informed, up to date, and held my hand every step of the way to ensure I locked the GT allocation up so no one else could get it while I dealt with the Spyder sale.

In the end they managed the paperwork process to ensure San Diego got paid for the sale of my Spyder as a trade in, negotiated the price of the GT on my behalf at a point where it made sense for me to purchase, and handled all of the Spyder paperwork, GT paperwork, and shipping/delivery of both vehicles in under a weeks time. But it didn't stop there. The GT allocation was ordered with a California spec grill/filler plate (This is a $1,241 part), and Nevada doesn't require it so the customer service got elevated again. Audi of Henderson along with myself contacted Audi HQ to discuss the possibility of Audi of America swapping the grill/front filler plate to Nevada spec so I didn't have to come out of pocket. (For those that have seen an R8 with the license frame, it's ugly .. the car should never have been equipped with it, but hey it's the law right?). Anyways, after a brief call and some negotiating, Audi again delivered on the best interest of the customer and sent the $1,241 Nevada spec grill to Audi of Henderson to swap on my California spec'd R8 GT at no cost to me, so I ultimately ended up with a Nevada spec front filler grill and a better looking car.

To say these guys put in effort would be a discredit .. Everyone involved, Jim Diguilio, Joe Sirna, Kevin Pizzuto, Kevin Kao, and George Athan really worked hard to jointly co-ordinate a 3 state, 2 car logistical nightmare of a transaction, and to me .. it was as easy as signing the dotted line and watching the truck show up to drop off my car in my driveway.

I can't thank everyone enough for all their hard work, dealing with me constantly calling for status updates and information, and being patient with me, my bank, the buyer, and the logistics of moving two cars across several states and ensuring everything lined up in a timely manner. I also want to say thanks for trusting me on my word that I would deliver on my commitments with nothing more than a hand shake. It's this kind of service that sets the bar in a buying experience, and why I stay loyal to my dealership and the Audi brand.

If anyone is fortunate enough to live near these two dealerships, and ever has a question or concern on an Audi product, I would highly recommend you reach out to these folks. They always were looking out for me to ensure I had a positive customer experience, and for that I am grateful.

[sundowner]

Great to hear of your very positive customer experience with these two dealerships.

I find it interesting that your local dealer in Nevada actually negotiated the the price of the GT for you with the San Diego dealership. What was the discount you received on the GT? Thanks.

[gazza1]

Nice post for any forum members looking for some great people within Audi dealerships that see long term relationships as first.

I have had similar experiences with the over and above the call of duty..with my churn of R8's.

My dealer is what has kept me fiercely loyal to the brand as well.

Loving the car is a major as well.

[dailydriver]

Thanks for sharing. It is an extreme example of customer service from some dealers that "get it". My dealer will also do anything that is in the best interest of a customer - understanding that the loyalty, good will, referrals generated, positive buzz, are all things that are well worth it to them.

[the_buch]

Great story! I'm finding the folks at Open Road Audi in Vancouver really get it in this way also. They're 'at bat' for me right now on an important matter.

Any organization that doesn't understand the relative cost-benefit of retaining a customer isn't going to win over the longer term.