Bradan Donaldson
A couple weeks ago, I published an article that shined a spotlight on the murky waters of the Corvette courtesy delivery (CD) process after one of the largest Corvette dealers in the country suddenly announced they would no longer offer the CD option to their customers.
A lot of customers don’t realize the hassle of trying to set up a CD between dealers – especially when the dealer accepting the Corvette CD, suddenly changes the game by charging the customer a nominal increase over the prior agreed upon price, or just giving the customer attitude for not buying the car from them in the first place.
Some of the feedback I received from our readers since I published that article here, was enlightening to say the least. One of our readers contacted me with quite an interesting story about a botched CD that recently occurred.
Chevy Dealership Threatens Not to Accept Receipt of a Customer’s Corvette
One of the last 2021 Corvettes to be built in the last few weeks was ordered for a customer several months ago by one of the large Corvette dealerships. The selling dealer contacted another Chevrolet dealer that they had previously worked with for CDs and the salesman that was responsible for handling those CDs agreed to handle this one.
Once the car had been built and invoiced, the selling dealer contacted the CD dealer to notify them that the car had been built and that they would follow up with that dealer once the car was picked up by Jack Cooper Transport. After sending several emails with no response, the selling dealer contacted the CD dealer and was informed that the employee that used to handle the CDs for the dealer, was no longer there. However, they would still accept this CD and deliver it to the customer.
The car gets picked up by Jack Cooper Transport and the selling dealer contacted the CD dealer to let them know. The employee of the CD dealer informed the selling dealer that they could not do the CD as previously agreed upon and that it was out of his hands and “came from higher up”.
The selling dealer then spoke to the General Sales Manager of the CD dealer who was not only rude, but started screaming over the phone that they are not selling another dealership’s Corvettes in their area and to “F*** OFF!”
The selling dealer ended up having to reach out to get their GM District Sales Manager involved who then had to contact the owner of the CD dealership. After a short discussion, the owner of the CD dealership agreed to do this one last CD, but it would cost an additional $250 on top of the already agreed upon price.
The selling dealer then had to contact the customer and inform them of what had transpired and that it would cost them an additional $250 for the CD. The customer was less than pleased.
In this day and age, it still amazes me how some car dealerships still suck, and some of their managers have the intellect of a Neanderthal.
While you may not be able to sell Corvettes in your area because you don’t get enough allocation, given the fact that most dealers are hurting for inventory right now, that CD dealer could have made a small chunk of change off the CD fee, gained a customer for life who is going to need service and parts in the future, and quite possibly, another new car down the road.
Yet, so many dealers are stupid enough to trip over the dollar bills, just to pick up the pennies.
Some things never change when it comes to the pathetic games that some car dealers play.
Maybe my next article should spotlight how one of the large Corvette – Chevy dealers down south just announced that they’re suddenly tacking on an additional $13,000 ADM to all new and existing 2022 Corvette orders they have…
6 comments
And just like that, Hendricks in Duluth, GA got put on blast!
That rec’g CD Dealer is also short sighted. They just lost the Service and options business that the new C8 owner might have given to them.
Guess I’ll wait and pick up good used one in a few years.
Why not mention the name of the CD dealership? Why keep it a secret? If their business name is put out there, maybe this type of thing would stop happening. Kind of like Corvette Yelp.
Both dealers suck, no surprise there. The selling dealer should have eaten the $250 last-minute up-charge. They didn’t HAVE to pass that on to the consumer. They clearly have zero customer service. Both dealers need to be outed.
Agreed. The selling dealer gets the sale, the profit from the sale and continues to get high allotment along with title of “top X Corvette sales in the US”… The system is broken in that when a hot model comes out, you are almost forced to work with the large volume dealers, or have to wait an extra year plus for the local allotment.
In my line of work, we stand behind our prices and commitments. If the cost goes up beyond what has been contractually committed, we eat it to retain long customer relationships and good market standing.