Tasca Automotive Group

Started OK. The more I did my homework, the worse it became I was recently in the market for a Mazda 6 i Touring. I have been holding on to my '01 car for as long as possible, but was trying to convince myself I was recently in the market for a Mazda 6 i Touring. I have been holding on to my '01 car for as long as possible, but was trying to convince myself that it was definitely better to be safe than sorry at this point. I did not want to be stuck with a broken-down car that needed costly repairs to get me back on the road. A working, reliable car is something I need for my job. I'm also a very wary, indecisive, and thought-driven person. I told my story about how I had been looking on and off for over two years, mostly because my car was in such shape that I really didn't want to let it go yet. I was right. Over two years later, and my car is doing fine. After initially seeing the vehicle on Tasca's website, I went to visit the location in Cranston. Had a great experience with Greg Rimay and Bernie Spann. They quoted me $347 for a 12k/39mo lease with no money down and $500 for my car. Not HORRIBLE for a first offer. Came back the next day to put in my application and talk hard numbers. I was then met with a finance guy going over paperwork for me to sign. I never agreed to any price, so this threw me off. After telling the employee that I had not agreed to anything yet, I was met with a confused and annoyed reaction that should have been my first hint as to how it would this experience would go. I left saying that I needed to mull things over and make a decision. This is when I began doing my homework. I called over to numerous other Mazda dealerships in the 30/45min. drive range from me. I was able to QUICKLY get the monthly payment down to $300. I wanted to always relay this information back to Tasca, as I was still eager to do business with them. I was again met with, to say the least, hesitation. I was told that I was being lied to, etc. by these other dealerships. I was also told that any payment under $300 meant a loss to the dealership, so if I went to these other dealerships, I would be met with fees, add-ons, etc. that I would not be happy about (Not sure if <$300=a loss is true or not, but a finance friend laughed when I told him afterwards). I understand that they're just playing their role and trying to make as much money as possible, but they talked the "customer service" game while they walked the stereotypical car salesman game. In the following days, Flood Ford and Mastria Mazda came and went from the picture. After being pressed for details, they quickly backed out. They were definitely throwing in incentives, etc. in order to get these $280 offers they were throwing at me. This is when I was able to start work with the Mazda Gallery. Knowing that I had an appt with them but willing to postpone in order to finally make a serious deal with Tasca (I even wrote to them saying that I would do whatever possible to give them time in order to come up with a deal), I received an email back saying that I shouldn't go up to the Mazda Gallery. Tasca said that if they couldn't do $280 and everyone else backed out after being pressed for details, what did I think the Mazda Gallery would do. I was told that I was going to drive all the way up their and be disappointed. Well, after a measley 20 minutes at the Mazda Gallery, they were able to offer me $275 in writing with all the bells and whistles that I was promised at Tasca... I took that offer and emailed it back to Tasca to let them know. Within the next 24 hours, I was given a call and email stating that because they received an offer in writing and were able to "talk to the Tasca family", they would be able to match it. Talked to the Tasca family? Ok... sure. I was now beginning to feel like I was dealing with the same old car salesmen and not the customer-focused employees that I was told at the beginning. So that same night, just for the fun of it, I went to the Tasca location in Seekonk. One personality-lacking employee and 30 minutes later, I was met with a $269 offer. No prior offer needed. Nothing. Do these employees have more pull than the Tasca family? Hmm... Sending that offer to the Mazda Gallery, I was quickly told they would match it. They stated that they did not want to lose my business. The difference in my eyes between the two dealerships lies solely on how they dealt with customers that act like me. The Mazda Gallery stated up front that their offer was the best they could do, but would gladly match any lower offer from anyone else. Tasca on the other hand would add in cheap sales techniques and talk down about the other dealership(s) (which they ended up being wrong about more often than they were right). This is when I sent a final email to the two gentlemen that I was dealing with at the Tasca Cranston location. I let them know about their Seekonk location beating the Tasca family offer so easily, and the Mazda Gallery beating that. I also told them that I was left with a bad taste in my mouth after the way they handled everything. I ended my email saying that if they wanted to make a serious deal, they knew how to reach me. This is where their true colors came out. Instead of emailing/calling me to say that they were sorry for my experience and that they could not match/beat the Gallery's deal and wishing me the best of luck in my car search, my email was brought to some snotty rep (who stated that he was some high-up person that had great pull) who, for a good 10 minutes, ARGUED with me over how I(!) handled the process. In my eyes, it all boiled down to the fact that I didn't want their original (and after all was said and done, HORRIBLE) offer, and I did my homework trying to lower my payment as much as I could. He continued to ask me why I didn't accept the Seekonk offer... Uhh, for the same reason I didn't accept your $347 offer... I thought I could get a better one elsewhere. He then started TELLING me that I really didn't want to do an offer. After reading a part of my email back to me where I said "part of my indecisiveness comes from the fact that It's hard to trust dealerships because I always feel like I'm being ripped off", he stated that "trust has nothing to do with buying a car"... UMMM WHAT?! I was seriously trying to picture where this guy was calling from because it must have been in a sound-proof office. I was holding the phone away from my ear in my car and was looking around as if somehow another car was hearing this conversation. This is when I thanked him for calling a customer back in order to argue over their decision to go with someone else. How old was this guy? 12? How immature is the whole company if this was seriously what they thought was OK to do after receiving an email from a customer? How do any of them have a job still? As he started to argue back with me, I just hung up. I've been in a customer-focused industry for almost 10 years. I am only 27, and am BLOWN AWAY that this employee that has been in the industry for I-don't-know-how-many-decades (he said at least 25 years) was doing this. If a prospect decided not to do business with me and I called them back and had that conversation with them, I would be out of a job. In. A. Heartbeat. I then received a snarky email that turned my words against me stating that since I had a bad taste in my mouth, Tasca was going to back out of the running for business. They wished me luck. No apology. No nothing. They're honestly blind to just how horrible their customer service was. What started with promise turned quickly to a horrible experience. The brightside to this is that it has reassured me that my decision to go with the Mazda Gallery was spot on. They are well aware of how patient they will need to be with me, and are willing to do whatever it takes to earn my business. Straight from Tasca's website: "Bring us your questions and concerns and we’ll give you honest answers. Our team of salespeople strives for 100% customer satisfaction... We will never make a sale that our customers will be unhappy with..." Haha OK. If anyone is going to be doing their homework and calling around in order to get the best deal possible, just keep this in mind. Some dealerships will definitely handle it different than others. More