Sunset Hills Subaru - St Louis

Sunset Hills Subaru - St Louis responded

Dear reader, This will be our last public response on this review. "ms" wanted to buy a Base model Outback for his wife in GREEN ONLY. We informed him that the base model was not available in green, and he would need to step up a level if he wanted the car in green for his spouse. Over the phone (he has never been here), if choosing an alternative color was an option we provided him the selling price for a base model Outback, and a selling price for the next level up, which is made in green. Was he confused, perhaps? At some point, "ms" alone decided we would sell him the next level up Outback, which was available in green for the base model price. When we informed him, we could not sell the more expensive option for the base model price. He became noticeably upset because we were unable to do what he insisted we should do. We never said it. We know better. If we were trying to do what "ms" suggested we wouldn't have cleared up what he believed to be true before he arrived here to buy the car. We want our customers to arrive with clear expectations to avoid instances such as what was stated in his comments. We are available by phone, email, and text to provide product & pricing information for those who cannot make it in or are simply researching new or used car options. Our quotes are fully disclosed and honored sale after sale, every day of the week. We regret things went sideways with "ms" and made an effort to clear up his interpretation of what we could do for him prior to his review being posted here.

ms responded

MY last public response: Still blaming the customer for THEIR mistake. There was no confusion on my part- I only asked for quote for on Outback in green which I knew was the premium. Sales rep never told me quote was for base model and in fact reiterated that was the all in price for the GREEN car on three different times over the next several days when she was trying to locate a car from another dealer (they didn't have one in stock at the time). Sales rep was nice and pleasant and obviously made a mistake. Mistakes happen but that delayed by several days in my search to get the car as a birthday present. Rather than offering me anything off the car for my inconvenience or even apologizing the sales manager who responds to reviews decided to wage a personal attack on me full of lies and claims that I abuse women. Mistakes do happen-but this kind of treatment of a customer who was prepared to buy a car (and by the way has already done so from a competitor) is inexcusable.

Sunset Hills Subaru - St Louis responded

Dear reader, we expected this type of review would come out due to our meeting with Kevin on 2/3. Kevin was given ample time to check the car out and decided to make a lower offer on the car than what we wanted for it. The used car Kevin came in on was a hot car (good miles priced around $5k); it sold to the buyer who paid our asking price and was standing in line waiting to see if Kevin was going to buy the car at the price we wanted. He didn't, so she did. This is how a healthy competitive market operates. Sorry Kevin, no harm meant.

Sunset Hills Subaru - St Louis responded

Thank you very much for your business and the much-appreciated review of your experience when buying your car at Sunset Hills Subaru! Thanks again from Jim & our whole team :)

Sunset Hills Subaru - St Louis responded

Dear rawber864, I regret that we haven't replied until now. We have been planning to and moving to our new, improved location! The newest dealership in town has ample room for customers, inventory, and employees alike:) We couldn't be happier and neither can our customers. We understand you felt disappointed when you reviewed our old dealership. We felt it every day. It was small, dark, and old! Not enough room for anything. It was a total of 10,000 sq ft! We sold 200 cars a month out of that location, plus serviced hundreds per month, and it was way too little. Now, however, we are sitting on 70,000 sq ft of beautiful new dealership:) The old Johnny Macs Sporting Good location on Watson. You should see what we've done with the place. The price of a used car and the ability to negotiate the selling price is determined by what we paid for the vehicle, how much $$reconditioning we put into it, and profit margin. Our senior management places specific parameters in what we can sell a car for, how much we can spend reconditioning it, and what percentage of profit we can project. It's the only way we can stay in business. If it's been a few years since one bought a used car or was able to negotiate a lower price in the past, that is quickly changing in this day and age of used auto sales. You mentioned the coronavirus in your email, so I do have to address it. There is no other dealership in town that is as proactive at keeping people away from the dealership if they are scared to get out but still want to buy or service a car. Some of our customers have concerns about being older or having a suppressed immune system or living with someone who is high risk. We will come to you with the car you want to look at, so you do not have to get out; we do it multiple times a week for almost a year now. We have delivered new vehicles as far away as Springfield, Mo., and Southern, Il. It has been our practice since way back at the beginning of the pandemic and has since become a standard way of doing business for us. Not only that, we will give a free loaner car to each person who comes in for service, even for a simple oil change! We will pick up your vehicle and bring it back to you after the service is complete if you wish. We get it if you feel our employees were a little too close for your comfort. We have now been able to spread out and alleviate the very cramped conditions we endured in the past. In conclusion, we apologize for the way you feel about our business and welcome a future opportunity to show you how much our new operation has improved. We guarantee you will notice the changes as soon as you drive up to an available parking spot! We have more than enough, now!! Please take care and have a great 2021!