Audi Chantilly

Audi Chantilly responded

My Dealership participates in the DealerRater.com Certified Dealer Program. We are committed to providing high quality customer service, but based on your DealerRater.com review, you did not share that experience. That is very disappointing to us, and through this program we have the opportunity to work with you to resolve any issues with your experience at their dealership. We have found, through our experience, that most S4 buyers are sensitive to the mileage when they purchase. This was the only reason we did not allow a test drive. We obviously did a poor job communicating that to you and a sales manager should have had that discussion with you. I sincerely apologize for that and can assure you that we are not difficult to deal with. We are a brand new dealership that had been open less than 60 days at the time you visited us. We take your comments very seriously and as a learning experience. I hope to have an opportunity to earn your business in the future. Please feel free to contact me directly at 703.956.2126. Roger Kaiser, General Manager.

mikemellina responded

Roger, Thank you for taking the time to reply. I began shopping around for my new car in mid May. I was interested in checking out the S4 and at that time, the Richmond dealer did not have one available. My wife wanted to take the family to the DC Zoo and I knew that there were multiple Audi dealers in the DC area. We were coming from Richmond so I made arrangements with Tysons Corner Audi to check out their S4. Unfortunately they sold their S4 that morning. I contacted your dealership and spoke to Ava, who advised me that they had two and to ask for her. If it is truly your policy to not put miles on your S4, that should have been strategically explained on the phone. For example, “Mr. Customer, I’d love to meet with you and show you the S4, unfortunately we have found that these cars are difficult to sell if they have miles on them. Management is requiring a signed sales order with the note, pending successful demo and credit approval before we can test drive.” I could accept that and would have still asked Chantilly Audi to send me a quote if I decided to go with Audi. By waiting till I arrived to explain that, you’ve wasted my time and left me with the impression that your dealership wanted to “size” me up for an easy sale before they denied the demo. The second statement could be a misconception, but it could easily be perceived as that. The second clue that I had in reference to your dealership being inflexible was when I asked about placing an order for an S4. If I was unhappy with the performance after I put down my deposit and did a test drive, would your dealership work with me. As you know the answer was that I would have to take delivery. I would think that a dealer who wanted to work with a potential customer might say something like, “spec out the S4 that you would like on the Audi website. Send that spec to me and if it is something that I believe we could sell (ie. not bright yellow with red interior), we might be able to work something out should it not be a good fit for you.” Maybe offer to try and sell the car for 30 days and give me a partial refund on my deposit once it is sold? I did eventually get a test drive at my Richmond dealer and then requested quotes from the other DC area dealers along with the Virginia Beach dealer. As a courtesy to the Richmond dealer who took the time to do a demo with me, I gave them the opportunity to match my best price, which they did. I then sent Ava a copy of my purchase order (I’m not sure if she shared that with you). As you know, first impressions tend to be lasting impressions and I did share my experience with friends and co-workers. There are many Audi dealers within a 2-3 hour drive from the Richmond area and I think the best thing we can do is chalk this up as a learning experience for both of us. I might have not been the ideal customer in that I was going to take the time to shop around to get a fair deal (ie. not an impulse buyer that had to have the car right now at any cost). With that said, I’m sure your dealer employees many people/helps support their families and I hope that continues to be the case. Sincerely, Mike Mellina