Friday, October 30, 2009

A Tale of Two Showrooms

Yesterday we returned the '06 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease we've had for the last 39 months. The dealer we got it from originally, has been among the many to lose their Chrylser/Jeep franchises. The dealer we were instructed to return it to is a Dodge dealer, among other brands. Let me say, the showroom was completely empty when we arrived. Not a person to be seen. We eventually met our contact person coming around a corner. We took care of all the end-of-lease stuff fairly quickly and easily. On our way out, all the salesmen had appeared. Turns out they were in a meeting earlier. But the place was still dead. It must not have been a good meeting.

To contrast that, we left, heading directly across the street to the Honda dealership where we had leased our Civic from in May. What a difference! The showroom was full. People were talking and laughing. We were greeted immediately by one gentleman while others were taking phone calls. We met with our salesman Tom, easily and painlessly taking delivery of our new CRV. Which is so much more versatile than the Jeep was, by the way.

Two dealers, separated physically by just a road, but so much farther apart than that.

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