Never received promotional item

Once again writer's are posting what is not the issue.

David took the dealership up on their offer and expects them to stand
behind their word, but most people here on this site choose not to
write about what this company did wrong but would rather find fault
with the person filing the complaint.

The dealership knows full well when they run a promotion not everyone
is going to jump at their sales pitch.
Sales pitch, that's exactly what the 50 dollar offer is about. It
provides sales a chance to sell their product, and not everyone is
going to snap it up.

What I get out of the letter is if this dealership will not stand
behind their promotion, why should I believe what they would tell me
about standing behind their product.

I also see that a salesperson may not be turning in the required
paperwork to send out the 50 dollar certificate because this shows a
non sale which doesn't look good to the front office.

Now if I couldn't trust the sales people on this why would I want to
trust them on anything else they tell me?

As for not making a purchase right away and saying he is in the market
for a new car in the next year, what's the problem?
Dealership's depend on knowing who is in the market for a car in the
next year, they plan ahead, just as a prospective buyer should.

I plan on the purchase of a travel trailer next year, but I'm checking
them out right now, it gives me a heads up.
Also just like David, maybe in the process of gaining some knowledge
on a major purchase while taking my time, I just might come across
that deal which is too hard to pass up.

Good luck on your new car David, and find another dealer. The loss of
the 50 bucks may have been a blessing, really their loss not yours.

YOUR A MOOCH!!! YOU SERIOUSLY WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP KNOWING DAMN WELL
YOU WERE GOING TO BE IN MARKET FOR A CAR NEXT YEAR JUST TO GET A $50
MORTONS CARD!?! FIRST OF ALL... YOU PROB. DONT BELONG AT MORTONS IF
YOU THINK A $50 GIFT CARD WILL COVER EVEN HALF OF THE BILL YOU WILL
RACK UP (BEING THE MOOCH THAT YOU SEEM TO BE) ALSO, ITS THE CAR
BUSINESS LADY... NOBODY GIVES A CRAP THAT YOU MIGHT BE IN THE MARKET
NEXT YEAR!!! ITS ALL ABOUT TODAY!!! THE SALES GUY PROB. WONT EVEN BE
THERE NEXT YEAR (AND DONT ACT LIKE YOU WOULD HAVE ASKED FOR HIM
ANYWAYS!) YOUR A GREEDY JACK WHO WASTED A SALESMANS TIME!!! BTW- I
HEARD KIA IS HANDING OUT FREE HOTDOGS...JUST FOR WALKING ON THE LOT!
(HURRY BEFORE THERE GONE!!!)

David,

While I do recommend that you pursue this matter further, remember
that there are many paid test drive offers out there that DO pay!

There is an active community at http://www.centsible.net that searches
these out and posts whenever they find new info regarding test drives,
or any problems with getting them redeemed. I suggest you visit
there. Someone may have some contact info for you.

Take care!

Decent letter, valid complaint. The only part that is absolutely fake
is when he writes that he is in the market for a new car in the next
year.
Anyone that was in the market for a Mercedes and had the means to buy
one would not be all that concerned over a $50 Morton's card.
If he was in the market for a Mercedes in the next year it would not
be contingent on anything other than the vehicle. The sales people do
not care because they pegged him for someone looking only for a $50
gift card and not a serious sale, otherwise they would be all over
him.

well off people who take the incentives despite being wealthy. There
is a book out that has been around a while called The Millionaire Next
Door about that very topic.

When we purchased our last truck, it cost almost as much as a
"mid-level" Mercedes, and quite a bit more than many "luxury"
vehicles. Would I decide not to buy that model if the dealership did
not come through on a promised incentive...no. BUT I would definately
not buy it from that dealership (who offered the incentive to get
people to buy from THEM)! And I WOULD question a manufacturer who
allowed the dealer representing their product to the market to offer
false promises and/or not follow through with promises to potential
customers, if the manufacturer did nothing to rectify the situation.

As far as your last sentence, it took me months of looking/test
driving before I made the purchase, and the salesman we purchased it
from (out of four area dealerships with plenty of salespeople who
could order and customize it) was the one who treated me honestly and
with respect, even though the first time he met me I was in jeans and
my boots were covered with manure. He also ended up selling trucks to
my best friend and my parents, on my recommendation. Judging people
based on first impressions is a dangerous game for a salesman and for
a dealership.

>Decent letter, valid complaint. The only part that is
>absolutely fake is when he writes that he is in the
>market for a new car in the next year.

>Anyone that was in the market for a Mercedes and had
>the means to buy one would not be all that concerned
>over a $50 Morton's card.

I dunno... I wouldn't say that is something that immediately earns a
"fake" label. When it comes to offers like that, for me at least,
it's about the principle of the offer - not the value of the item
offered.

I'll use the Black Friday sales as an example. If Best Buy says they
are gonna give out CD players to the first 50 people in line, if I'm
first at the door and I don't get my CD player ... I'm gonna be
pissed. :-)

Not cuz I really need the CD player, but because I felt suckered.

the lovely vacations that are free if you sit through a two hour
'presentation'?

I am of the opinion that this particular incentive should definitely
be provided to the OP as he fulfilled his side of the obligation.

I think I'll skip commenting on the MANY off-topic comments below. ;)

i leave for a day and this thing has a life of its own! lol

so, i'm wondering if this guy even heard anything back...

I'm confused. How did such an innocuous letter cause such vitriol?

David, you said you received the promotion in "early January". When
did you do the test drive?

Saturn and Staples had a similar promo for teachers last August: Test
drive a Sky and get a $35 Staples gift card. Since we have 3 kids, a
convertible is not in the picture any time soon.

I took my son with me to the dealership, and I made it perfectly clear
to the salesperson that the promo was the only reason I was there.
She was not offended, but offered me great service. My 14-year-old
wanted to drive around to show all his friends.

It was fun, but I wouldn't buy a Sky. I didn't like how the posts(not
sure of the word) blocked my view when the roof was up. But if one of
our cars dies, I'll remember the Saturn dealer's helpfulness and
consider a car that better meets our needs.

It took about 8 weeks for the Staples GC to arrive. In the meantime,
my son and I reminisced about the neat test drive we took on a cool
fall afternoon.

I do have one comment about the, um, conversation below. I don't
understand how a GC would be handled differently from a credit card,
at payment time. So I'm at Morton's, I get the bill, and I slip both
GC and Mastercard into the payment folder. Who knows but me and the
server? Then I receive the adjusted bill, have the server run the
Mastercard, sign, and leave.

My server won't know I'm using a GC until payment time. My treatment
of the server and my tip should speak more loudly than my method of
payment. (I'd tip on the total amount before GC, of course.)

Maybe it's me, but frankly, even if I did receive one of those offers,
unless I was specifically in the market to buy a new vehicle or
whatever, I wouldn't go. I'm a firm believer in the TANSTAAFL rule
(for those of you who don't know, it's "There Ain't No Such Thing As A
Free Lunch"). I know these are just schemes to bring in people so
they can be pressured into buying, and I like to avoid hassle whenever
possible.

I hope you get your card. Volkswagen had a $50 gas card promotion a
few years back. As a two-time new car buyer of VW (but who had come
to greatly dislike Volkswagen's quality) I went for a test drive
knowing almost certainly I would not buy one of their cars. I pretty
much felt they owed me something (for many reasons I won't mention
here).

The saleman wrote my address in on the cash card, and his writing was
horrible. Two months went by and nothing. Then one day there is was
in the mail.

The irony here is I just placed an order for an Audi. How soon we
forget. Anyway, good luck.

I had a similar experience. I was playing online poker when I noticed
a sparkly ad at the top of the screen "Free $50 Gift Card to
Chili's!". It gave me a list of offers, and I chose to apply for a
Discover card. The agreement was that after I was approved, got the
card, and used it, I would get the gift card.

I got the card, put $600 on it, and paid it off in 2 cycles. My
Chili's gift card never showed up. Since the offer wasn't directly
through Discover, I didn't even know who to contact to complain.

I would rather have driven a Mercedes for 10 minutes than to deal with
all that to realize gift card incentives are a bunch of hog wash.

It kind of reminds me of the offers that stores run in which you get a
certain percentage off of your purchase if you open a charge account.
What they don't mention is that you actually have to be APPROVED for
the card, not just apply for it.

There are many questions that we'll never know the answers to unless
the OP comes back.

We could speculate all day and it wouldn't get us anywhere.

I think we could all use some perspective here. This is, indeed, a
place for respectful debate - not a place to argue or play devils
advocate. Especially when it's clear that arguing is just for the sake
of airing personal grievances.

Additionally, it's unfortuate that others feel the need to take an
already heated situation and add fuel to the fire.

Might I respecfully suggest to all involved that we move on? To some,
this probably sounds hypocritical coming from me, but I really feel
the high road needs to be taken here, by quite a few people. Myself
included, probably.

On the surface, it does appear that the letter writer is entitled to
the gift card, however, as we all know, this is a one-sided version of
the event.

The only thing we do know from this letter is that a test drive was
ONE of the requirements to receive a gift card, and that the letter
writer did go to the dealership and test drive an automobile. It's
entirely possible that the test drive was followed up by income
verification and/or credit check, which might have disqualified the
letter writer from receiving the gift card. Without having the
advantage of actually seeing the promotion or any documentation that
the letter writer might have signed prior to the test drive, we have
no way of knowing whether or not the dealer was obligated to follow
through with the promotion.

I realize that most people who write letters via PFB do not bother to
look at the comments, but the fact that we have heard nothing from
this particular letter writer makes me wonder just how entitled he is
to the gift card. But that's just my opinion.

I would think he was serious about test driving. When I was in the
market for a new vehicle (back in 1993), I really really really wanted
a Mitsubishi 3000. Could I afford it? No way. (I ended up buying a
vehicle for about 1/3 of that cost.) But when I went there to test
drive it, they said I'd have to pay a deposit. I said, "No thanks."
I think it was their way of weeding out the 20-something who just
wanted to drive a cool car. I don't blame them.

They didn't HAVE to let him testdrive a high-end vehicle. By letting
him testdrive it, they are obligated to follow through with the gift
card.

I don't know what recourse he has -- $50 is a decent amount of money,
but... well... it's only $50 and in the course of things, it's maybe
better to chalk things up to "bad business" and move on, and don't
deal with that dealership again.

I mean, they're selling Benzes. They can afford to follow through on
the damned $50.

If it's still that big of a deal to you, David, I think you should go
to the dealership in person and demand the card and not leave until
they give it to you. If they threaten to call the police, act HAPPY
about that: "Great, maybe THEY can help me get what you owe me."

While I do agree that it does seem obvious that he only test drove the
car in order to get the gift card (why test drive now when he's not
purchasing until later in the year?), I do think the dealership should
honor its promise.

I wonder.....did it say something along the lines of "while supplies
last" maybe? I would like to see this promotion that you recieved. If
it didn't say anything about while supplies last or something that had
to be done that you didn't do then they should send you the card. Even
if it said something that you perhaps missed, they should still be
better about explaning what happened to you.

I don't understand why people are labeling this OP a "gimme pig." All
this person is asking for is what he was promised. He completely
fufilled his end of the bargain, and had every right to expect a
business to follow through.
On the OP's side (again), this IS potentially damaging to the
business, and he had every right to inform them of that. Maybe he
isn't going to buy a Mercedes from them this week, or even this year,
but they just wrote off a potential future client over a gift card.
I, personally, can't afford a luxury vehicle this year, but when I
finish my degree, I will be in the market for a "status" vehicle, and
if I were in his shoes, I can tell you what I wouldn't buy, simply
because they are incapable of following through on a promise BEFORE
the deal. I would hate to see how one is treated AFTER they have his
money! To write him off with their treatment of him is extremely
short-sighted of them.
And I echo SW's points, especially to leave the personal attacks out
of it. they have nothing to do with this letter.

What one earth is wrong with you people?

The response to this simple letter by several regulars is appalling.
Not one of you has any idea what the OP's motivation was in test
driving that vehicle. He states he will be in the market soon. That
should be enough. IF the situation is as he says it was then he
fulfilled his end of the bargain and he should get his card. Would I
bother to write a complaint letter if I didn't get one? No, I
wouldn't, but who am I to judge what is important to others. It
appears he has a valid reason to complaint whether I would or not.

Not one person here is in a position to intelligently debate his
motivation, income level, or ethics. There is not enough information
to do so. This comment was particularly offensive:

"I doubt he can afford a Mercedes. Morton's is a gourmet steakhouse.
Very expensive. I'm guessing that the only way the OP could ever eat
there is with a gift card. Note, I did say guessing... but honestly,
Morton's is the type of place that only middle to lower class use a
gift card to pay for their meal. I would actually be very embarrassed
to use a gift card there."

Could this comment be any more snotty or judgemental? I would be
"very embarrassed" to have something I'd written that was this
offensive posted on a public bulletin board.

Lastly, to see a childish, immature cat fight take place over an issue
so unimportant as to be laughable is simply amazing. This type of
behavior is not what this board is about.

I'm not a regular poster here and not part of the "group", so I
thought you all should know what you look like to outsiders.

I've said my piece. You can now turn your attention to me and shred
my grammar, spelling, ethics, or just judge me as "lower class" to
your heart's content.

I would just like to point out that I NEVER SAID THAT HE SHOULDN'T GET
THE CARD. If you'd like to disagree with me then that is fine. I'm
not one to shy away from a disagreement. I've even been known to have
my opinion swayed by a persuasive point but putting words in my mouth
is not disagreeing. It's arguing for the sake of arguing.

Was this a test drive with intent to purchase or with intent to get a
free meal?