Quality Mitsubishi

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I have to say, overall, my feelings towards Quality Mitsubishi are mixed.

My initial email from their internet manager, Howard Nelms was short, to the point, and NOT a form letter.  You’ll find that obvious form letters are a bit of a pet peeve for me.  He responded specifically to something I mentioned in the comments as well as some of the current incentives being offered on the EVO and like a good sales guy, asked when today I could come in and look at it.

I exchanged a couple of emails with Howard letting him know I was specifically interested in test driving the EVO to see how it handled.  He asked again when I could come in, I gave him an approximate day and time to which he gave me  a simple “Great, I will see you then.”

However, in the meantime I also received two phone calls in the same day from one gentleman and a third the next day from another as well as an email from someone else other than Howard.  Really?  Hey Quality, are you guys communicating with one another over there at all?

This week, I also received in addition to my direct responses from Howard, some apparently automated responses that felt even more out of context considering I had started a dialogue with Howard and even told him when I would be coming in.  Here’s the email I received yesterday afternoon after I had been at the dealership at the day and time I said I would only to find that Howard doesn’t work Saturdays.  Hmm, not off to the best start.

Dear Melissa,

Thank you for reaching out.

My name is Howard, and I’m your Internet Sales Manager here at Quality Mitsubishi Inc..

I wanted to let you know that your request has been received, and I’m working on finding you the perfect Mitsubishi.

To help me serve you better, would you please answer a few questions for me?

1) Would you like to talk via e-mail, the phone, or in person?

2) Have you test driven your Mitsubishi yet?

3) Are you interested in more than one Mitsubishi?

By answering these questions, I’ll know the best way to provide you with what you want: a hassle-free purchase or lease experience with one-price shopping. And, if we don’t have the exact Mitsubishi that you’re looking for, we’ll do our best to find it for you.

You can reach me by email at (email removed)  or by phone.

I look forward to working with you.

Thankfully for Quality Mitsubishi, Chris Clifton came in to save the potential sale.

I have to say, the customer parking isn’t very clearly indicated in my opinion and so I missed my turn the first time around as I wasn’t sure where their drive was (they were between dealerships) and where as a customer I should park.  A frustrated customer is never a good way to start.  You don’t want a customer deciding to not bother with you because they can’t find your entrance, or worse, pulling into the wrong dealership and potentially seeing something they want.

Chris greeted me in a timely manner and asked if I was there to see anyone specifically.  I told him I was and gave him Howard’s name to which he replied that Howard doesn’t work Saturdays.  This wouldn’t have been an issue if when I told Howard I would be by the dealership Saturday afternoon he didn’t tell me that he would see me then.  I told Chris the big reason I was there: to scope out, get more info on and most importantly, test drive the EVO.  As I expected, Chris said they don’t let the EVOs go out without a signed deal.  I told him, that was definitely an issue as that was the only reason I came in and I specifically told Howard I wanted to test drive and wasn’t given any indication it would be an issue.

Chris said he would ask his manager what they could do for me, but in the mean time, would I be interested in checking out an EVO.

I won’t deny it, especially when car buying, I can be a difficult customer.  I know a lot about cars and especially one I’m considering.  I will ask questions that I know the answer to just to see how the sales person will answer as well as questions that I don’t know the answer to.  Chris was awesome.  He was able to answer almost all of my questions and those he wasn’t able to answer, he found an answer to.  This was a welcome change as I have had salesmen in the past try and make something up, patronize me or try to BS me.  If you don’t know something, say you don’t and find the answer.  Not a hard concept.

As I was saying, Chris was awesome.  He was very knowledgeable not only about the EVO but the Mitsubishi line and was able to answer some of my most random questions about the EVO and how it compared within the trims and to the other Mitsubishi cars.  Like a good salesman, early in our conversation he asked what other cars I was considering and was fairly knowledgeable about many of them as well and could point out aspects of the EVO that were different (and of course better).

While it’s great to look at cars, what you really want to do is see what they’re like behind the wheel (and I don’t just mean sitting in one).  This of course looked like it was going to be an issue, but as I told Chris, I had no problem taking out a used model, but it was very important for me to see how the car could drive so I could determine if it was staying on my potential car list…. or getting crossed off.

Luckily for me, Quality Mitsubishi was able to work something out for me and I got to take a car out.  However, that is another post.

Chris did a great job explaining all the features of the car.  I also spoke with his manager, Aaron Moore after my test drive.  I was very open with both Chris and Aaron about what other cars I was considering and that I had no definite time line in mind for purchasing.  Especially as some of the cars I’m considering haven’t come to market yet.  I never felt pressured or patronized and if I decide to buy a Mitsubishi, I will certainly buy from Chris Clifton.

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