smokeless1
Pro
Every Sled I have ever purchased especially over the last 5 years, I have gotten the price over the telephone. If a dealer won't deal over the phone then leave him in the dust. Sales training tells them not to do it because in the end the purchase usually takes place at the last place the purchaser actually went physically into the business and talked with a salesman. I know, I am a salesman. This is how they still train today. They tell salesman to forget about the phone caller.
But like the web, things change. Does that mean that the guy is wrong? No it simply means that they miss some sales they wouldn't have gotten otherwise, assuming they are not over priced and some are.
Most importantly, catch a salesman on a "lean" week, and he will deal. Catch him on a salesmans promo to take a trip to timbucktoo, and you get a better deal. Catch him on an inventory clean out and he will deal. Call him after his wife just served up divorce papers and you will get your nuts crunched. Just life.
But I have gotten super deals calling around. And like some herein, I will go a long way to buy if the price is right. And strangely, there is always a dealer who wants to clear inventory and will deal to get it gone. I like that and respect it.
Now here is something else. I live in SE Detroit area, and most of the dealers in my area, put there sleds away weeks before they should to get ready for all the lawn mowers they are about to sell. So when the manufacturers put the year end clearance deals on the sleds, chances are the sleds are packed up for the summer by the dealers. This ticks me off.
Not only do they miss selling sleds, but they won't even work on fall sleds til the snow is flying again. So you know what?? I buy my sleds where they are still selling sleds. Usually up north. I think I get a better deal, but I am spreading out the dollars to companies that can use them, and I think that overall, those guys have better machanics because they work on the sleds for longer over the year. Now of course that is generally speaking, but I check on the reputation of the dealer before I buy and I also talk to other sledders who have had positive or negative experiences with any dealers they have purchased thru. Anyone can sell sleds. Keeping the customer happy after sale is just if not more important than saving a few bucks on the front end.
So I shop by phone and I have had good results so far. For those who won't tell prices, I take a big felt tip pen and cross them off of the master list. No parts, no sleds, and as far as I am concerned, they don't exist. So they will either conform, or disappear eventually.
But like the web, things change. Does that mean that the guy is wrong? No it simply means that they miss some sales they wouldn't have gotten otherwise, assuming they are not over priced and some are.
Most importantly, catch a salesman on a "lean" week, and he will deal. Catch him on a salesmans promo to take a trip to timbucktoo, and you get a better deal. Catch him on an inventory clean out and he will deal. Call him after his wife just served up divorce papers and you will get your nuts crunched. Just life.
But I have gotten super deals calling around. And like some herein, I will go a long way to buy if the price is right. And strangely, there is always a dealer who wants to clear inventory and will deal to get it gone. I like that and respect it.
Now here is something else. I live in SE Detroit area, and most of the dealers in my area, put there sleds away weeks before they should to get ready for all the lawn mowers they are about to sell. So when the manufacturers put the year end clearance deals on the sleds, chances are the sleds are packed up for the summer by the dealers. This ticks me off.
Not only do they miss selling sleds, but they won't even work on fall sleds til the snow is flying again. So you know what?? I buy my sleds where they are still selling sleds. Usually up north. I think I get a better deal, but I am spreading out the dollars to companies that can use them, and I think that overall, those guys have better machanics because they work on the sleds for longer over the year. Now of course that is generally speaking, but I check on the reputation of the dealer before I buy and I also talk to other sledders who have had positive or negative experiences with any dealers they have purchased thru. Anyone can sell sleds. Keeping the customer happy after sale is just if not more important than saving a few bucks on the front end.
So I shop by phone and I have had good results so far. For those who won't tell prices, I take a big felt tip pen and cross them off of the master list. No parts, no sleds, and as far as I am concerned, they don't exist. So they will either conform, or disappear eventually.
Roadrunner
Expert
I've had deals that were made over the phone not materialize once you got there. They misquoted, or you talked to the wrong person, oh, I thought you were talking about a different model, etc. etc. 
I'm not a salesman, but experience has taught me that the deals not done until the deposit is made and the papers are signed and that means going to the dealer.
I was lucky, DG's is 25 minutes away and if he didn't have the best price I wasn't out much to walk away. The only legitimate price that I have seen on this board that was lower was from Sovies in Potsdam NY, and for the slight difference, I sure wasn’t going to drive there.
Bottom line is you can get shafted either way, you just have to find out who the reputable dealers are before you deal.
Oh yea, by the way, I only put $300 down unlike the $750 that some were charging.
I'm not a salesman, but experience has taught me that the deals not done until the deposit is made and the papers are signed and that means going to the dealer.
I was lucky, DG's is 25 minutes away and if he didn't have the best price I wasn't out much to walk away. The only legitimate price that I have seen on this board that was lower was from Sovies in Potsdam NY, and for the slight difference, I sure wasn’t going to drive there.
Bottom line is you can get shafted either way, you just have to find out who the reputable dealers are before you deal.
Oh yea, by the way, I only put $300 down unlike the $750 that some were charging.
Gilbey
Expert
I've gotten places that stated that "oh....I forgot to add in the setup fee" but personally if I can't get a price on the phone to "prequalify" the pricing I feel that most of the time I am wasting just that - time.