One of the dealers in the area had a promotion wherein if you visited the dealer, they gave you $2. No obligation. So, I stopped by when I was in the area. They brought me into the showroom and tried to hard-sell me. I simply kept telling them "I’m not interested in a car, I just want my $2. Well, they finally brought out the sales manager, who, after asking what a had for a car, loudly stated in front of other customers "I can save you “7,000 right now.” I loudly replied “I can save myself thousands more by keeping the car I have!!”. They gave me my $2 and hustled me out of the showroom. I was having fun mocking them.
Chrysler/Dodge dealers were having a deal recently where if you test drove one of their vehicles they’d give you a $25 gas card. So I did. All the way around their building. They gave me the gas card, no pressure applied.
Speaking of tracking: I heard an internet security expert interviewed today. He said that the policies that stores like Target bought for customers after your card was hacked were accompanied by a questionnaire from the policy vendor, like Experian. Those companies just wanted extra info about you so that they could sell it.
Or the stinking “free service clinics” some dealers hold now and then after hours in an attempt to draw in customers and drum up business. The mechanics got paid straight time so pay wasn’t an issue. What was an issue was someone bringing their car in for a complete checkover including alignment all for free and salesmen swooping down on them like vultures on carrion before they even had the key turned to the OFF position.
“Your car has 30K miles! Holy crap! Have you seriously considered trading it in before the problems start…” is a sampling of one of their lines.
@ok4450
"Your car has 30K miles! Holy crap! Have you seriously considered trading it in before the problems start…" is a sampling of one of their lines.
I like when they try to sell me an extended warranty on something.
I always say “if it breaks before the regular warranty is up…it’s the last thing I will buy from here”.
AS far as the tracking goes, I think it will be more out of hand in the near furure.
How do we know that the local grocery store is not going to sell your info. We already get a reciept that has coupons on the back for things that you bought last week. So they know what we buy!!!
Will they sell the list of your purchases to…maybe your insurance company.
Then your health insurance gets dropped. They will never admit that they used your history of purchases as a basis to disqualify you.
THey just saw that you bought 2 bottles of rum and 2 cartons of cigs every month.
They will never know that you shop for old uncle joe and aunt Mary. They both like a shot before bed and thay smoke a little less that a half a pack a day.
Will they judge you by the butter/ oleo you use…the amount of fat in your pancake mix…or did you buy the ground beef or the turkey…or the tofu (yuck).
I think some of that tracking is out of hand already.
I remember reading an article in a trade publication about 15 or so years ago that involved GM doing testing on some cars that would sense things about the driver and passengers.
The gist of it was that certain sensors would keep a running tally on whether the occupants had consumed any liquor, how much food with salt/fat/etc was being consumed in the car, along with other metabolic functions.
I switch the grocery store cards all the time when I find one on the ground. if I lose mine I never give them correct info for the new one. or I get the counter worker to use the one they always have stashed
We have recieved a report from the NSA and combined with our information secured from our consumer groups that you are in violation of health standards.
Our records show that you have exceded the amount dairy products for the month.
An agent will be meeting with you on monday to confiscate the excess product and administer a enema.
Please be prepared!!!
Chrysler/Dodge dealers were having a deal recently where if you test drove one of their vehicles they'd give you a $25 gas card. So I did. All the way around their building. They gave me the gas card, no pressure applied
Heck, the last two years, I got the “$50 test drive offer” from Ford at the local Auto Show.
Both times (different dealers), they looked at me, my certificate, and said, “You aren’t buying a car, are you? Let’s just fill out the paperwork as if you’ve taken the test drive…you’ll get your $50…have a nice day!”
Before I retired, I worked with a clever, but cynical man. He learned that the city folks could tell by water usage during TV commercials when people were going to the bathroom.
Later, they came out with the grocery store cards to track purchases. He said he didn’t like that they could tell when he went to the bathroom, but he was doggoned if he was going to let them know what he ate for the bathroom trip. He refused to get one of those cards.