I got profiled and discriminated!

[kaiser715]

Stopped at a large used car dealership. Right next to where we parked was a '22 Wagoneer and we paused for a look-see. Salesman came right out, and his first words were "that one's sixty four thousand, let me show you something else".

Had on clean pants, a clean t-shirt, and I trimmed my beard about a month ago. Was in the '21 Edge.

1st lesson a car salesman is supposed to learn: It doesn't matter what somebody looks like or what they are driving up in, you don't know what they can or cannot afford.

We left pretty quick.

 

[CLRracer]

You should have left an amputated duck on the hood to let him know how you really felt.

Duane

 

[Ron]

Stopped at a large used car dealership. Right next to where we parked was a '22 Wagoneer and we paused for a look-see. Salesman came right out, and his first words were "that one's sixty four thousand, let me show you something else".

Had on clean pants, a clean t-shirt, and I trimmed my beard about a month ago. Was in the '21 Edge.

1st lesson a car salesman is supposed to learn: It doesn't matter what somebody looks like or what they are driving up in, you don't know what they can or cannot afford.

We left pretty quick.

About two years ago we bought Lin a new car/suv/crossover.

She really liked the little Porsche Macan had a specific color, trim whole deal in mind. Google search showed a dealership an hour south had exact what she wanted so we set off to check it out and test drive it.

Summer time - I had on a pair of shorts and a nice t shirt and her about the same. It toook us hunting for a sales rep to help us and the second or third one we asked to actually try and help us. He tried to usher us over to the used car section. Then probably the most offensive bs line I’d heard at a car dealer. “We can’t even get the keys to let you sit in it much less test drive until we run a credit app and verify income. “
Even if I’m paying cash?
I’m afraid so. Ok. She wants to test drive this. We do it your way. A few minutes later they ask if we are sure we don’t wanna look at the cayenne since it’s roomier than the macan (and more expensive )…
We did the test drive and then on our way. Told the GM I wouldn’t buy because of the way I was treated.

 

[1-tonmudder]

Stopped at a large used car dealership. Right next to where we parked was a '22 Wagoneer and we paused for a look-see. Salesman came right out, and his first words were "that one's sixty four thousand, let me show you something else".

Had on clean pants, a clean t-shirt, and I trimmed my beard about a month ago. Was in the '21 Edge.

1st lesson a car salesman is supposed to learn: It doesn't matter what somebody looks like or what they are driving up in, you don't know what they can or cannot afford.

We left pretty quick.

The owner of the tire store I buy tires from bought one,I think he said it was 82K.

 

[rodney eppes]

I've told this a few times, but back when I worked at Clark Forklift, I delivered two brand new forklifts, to a Commercial Cabinet Shop. It was lunch time, as I backed up to the dock. I walked in & only saw one guy. Older gent wearing overalls & pushing a broom. He looked like the janitor, to me. I ask him if Mr. So & so was around. {I had to get a signature} He said He was Mr. So & so, & he signed my paperwork. You Never Know!

 

[awheelterd]

A friend of mines family owns a pretty successful concrete company. His grandfather who started it was a millionaire several times over. He was at Lowe's one day and they asked him if he would like to apply for aLowe's card, that he would save 5% with it. Being a moneywise fellow he said sure! He got turned down because he didn't have a credit score . Old man had paid cash for so long he had next to no credit history

 

[NickMaul]

 

[LBarr2002]

He got turned down because he didn't have a credit score . Old man had paid cash for so long he had next to no credit history

Same just happened to my mom. Both parents are retired, no debt just because they've owned everything they have forever and don't buy new things.

She was going to pay cash for a new chevy trailblazer but they had a 0% for 36 deal, so I convinced her to put the money in a high yield savings and make payments. I was standing in the door of the finance guys office talking to the salesman in the hall and overheard "they won't finance the full amount". I leaned in and said if she doesn't get the 0% for 36 on the full amount we're not doing it. A few minutes later she was approved.

 

[StretchASU]

About two years ago we bought Lin a new car/suv/crossover.

She really liked the little Porsche Macan had a specific color, trim whole deal in mind. Google search showed a dealership an hour south had exact what she wanted so we set off to check it out and test drive it.

Summer time - I had on a pair of shorts and a nice t shirt and her about the same. It toook us hunting for a sales rep to help us and the second or third one we asked to actually try and help us. He tried to usher us over to the used car section. Then probably the most offensive bs line I’d heard at a car dealer. “We can’t even get the keys to let you sit in it much less test drive until we run a credit app and verify income. “
Even if I’m paying cash?
I’m afraid so. Ok. She wants to test drive this. We do it your way. A few minutes later they ask if we are sure we don’t wanna look at the cayenne since it’s roomier than the macan (and more expensive )…
We did the test drive and then on our way. Told the GM I wouldn’t buy because of the way I was treated.

The mention of a cash price probably didn't help the situation. We all know these dealerships make a bunch of their money on the back end with financing, service packages, etc. Same goes for using your own financing. I just always leave the conversation as "I have a good relationship with my lender but lets see what you guys can offer before I call them". Magically the initial 14+% interest rates they like to hit people with plummet back to planet earth once you just start saying, NO. When it makes sense, I will use their financing to cash in on any rebates and financing deals available. In some cases the dealer will get charged back if you walk out and refi or pay cash within a certain amount of days. At one point I know Chrysler Capital would do this within the 90 day mark. When I bought the Ram I had a handshake deal with the finance manager that I wouldn't pay off or refi within that window because he maxed out my rebates using CC vs my bank. Granted the points difference was more, but the amount financed was considerably less after their rebates and I had no intention of letting the loan go full term.

 

[Ron]

The mention of a cash price probably didn't help the situation. We all know these dealerships make a bunch of their money on the back end with financing, service packages, etc. Same goes for using your own financing. I just always leave the conversation as "I have a good relationship with my lender but lets see what you guys can offer before I call them". Magically the initial 14+% interest rates they like to hit people with plummet back to planet earth once you just start saying, NO. When it makes sense, I will use their financing to cash in on any rebates and financing deals available. In some cases the dealer will get charged back if you walk out and refi or pay cash within a certain amount of days. At one point I know Chrysler Capital would do this within the 90 day mark. When I bought the Ram I had a handshake deal with the finance manager that I wouldn't pay off or refi within that window because he maxed out my rebates using CC vs my bank. Granted the points difference was more, but the amount financed was considerably less after their rebates and I had no intention of letting the loan go full term.

Totally understand.
I didnt mention the cash thing until they said we coudlnt test drive without a credit application and I had already spent 15 minutes chasing a sales guy.

 

[gslander]

Cool stary bra, TLDR story time:

I ran into this big time when buying a couch of all things in 2006 when my 23yr old self was outfitting my first apartment. I was couch shopping with my GF, now wife, and we were sitting on a massive leather sectional, just checking it out, when a salesman came up and asked us to look at the price tag, and then told us we would be more comfortable in the clearance section. Dick!! The next place we were sitting on a medium sized couch, and a sales man came up and randomly told us that could doesn't fit very well in an apartment, WTF?!? Flash forward close to 15yrs and we were at a furniture store at the hickory furniture Mart when I first moved down here and we may as well have been invisible to the sales people, it worked out better because we found some smaller.ppaces who were more appreciative of our business anyway.

I used to work in the private aircraft industry and it really exposed me to rich vs wealthy and never judge a book by its cover. One of our based customers (kept aircraft at the facility), he owned a Gulfstream 4, two helicopters and had a helipad at his house. This dude never shaved, always had paint covered ripped jeans, shaggy hair, flip flops on at all times and drove a used Prius looked like he could have jumped out of a dump truck, multi millionare. The people driving lambos and Ferraris tended to be the people renting the jets and total assholes, mean while the people who owned the jets they were renting were pretty low key, usually had an older car and often times a shit box relatively speaking. I'm glad I worked in the business as it really opened my eyes up.

 

[shelby27604]

The first time I went shopping for a NEW car, I was blown away by how poorly I was treated. I was shopping in the meaty middle of car prices at the time. I had one dealer tell me they were closing in 10 mins and to come back the next day sometime.
I grew up in a small town, and a small state....when I was a 16yo kid without a dime to my name I was treated better than I was by any single dealer in the state of NC.

 

[Bebop]

A friend of mines family owns a pretty successful concrete company. His grandfather who started it was a millionaire several times over. He was at Lowe's one day and they asked him if he would like to apply for aLowe's card, that he would save 5% with it. Being a moneywise fellow he said sure! He got turned down because he didn't have a credit score . Old man had paid cash for so long he had next to no credit history

I'm not a millionaire but I've been in this position a lot.

 

[UTfball68]

I've had this experience with jewelry. Was out watch shopping a few years back, told them what I was looking for 'wouldn't you be more comfortable looking at xyz'...walked out and went to their competitor across the street and came out with a couple bags of what I wanted. Never even looked back at the other store to see if there was a reaction, but they've since closed and my 'watch guy' is still very much in business. Another time I was having a custom ring made for my wife, I hand picked every stone, every design, every detail of the ring. Made my deposit, told them I'd be traveling the next few weeks, so call and I'll handle the rest of the payment when the ring was done. Never heard from them, got back in town and went over to the store...asked where the ring was...they told me they sent all the pieces back because they figured I wasn't coming back and 'travel' was just an excuse. They had the nerve to tell me I wouldn't be getting my deposit back either...I did. The Diamonds Direct in South Park also tried redirecting me to 'diamonds I could afford' and 'there was no way I could tell the difference anyway'. Got to the point of the sales person laying out 10 diamonds and telling me to rate them most to least expensive...when I asked for a light and a loupe, I think she realized she messed up.

 

[sammi_davis]

I get misjudged all the time , makes me chuckle to be honest. I typically wear wrangler shorts , some sort of button up shirt and tennis shoes. Its comfortable and efficient but a lot of folks jump to conclusions. Its their loss not mine , there are plenty of folks out there who will treat me decent and sell me what I want.

 

[V1Rotate]

I used to work in the private aircraft industry and it really exposed me to rich vs wealthy and never judge a book by its cover. One of our based customers (kept aircraft at the facility), he owned a Gulfstream 4, two helicopters and had a helipad at his house. This dude never shaved, always had paint covered ripped jeans, shaggy hair, flip flops on at all times and drove a used Prius looked like he could have jumped out of a dump truck, multi millionare. The people driving lambos and Ferraris tended to be the people renting the jets and total assholes, mean while the people who owned the jets they were renting were pretty low key, usually had an older car and often times a shit box relatively speaking. I'm glad I worked in the business as it really opened my eyes up.

Same experience! I’ve since moved on but used to be a contract pilot for a few of folks/companies that had King Airs and Citations and the actual owners were awesome.. laid back, normal looking folks who were often quite frugal and extremely nice. The turds they leased to were something else though… all-hat-no-cattle types that showed up to show off to their buddies and spend money like it’s going out of style.

 

[gslander]

Same experience! I’ve since moved on but used to be a contract pilot for a few of folks/companies that had King Airs and Citations and the actual owners were awesome.. laid back, normal looking folks who were often quite frugal and extremely nice. The turds they leased to were something else though… all-hat-no-cattle types that showed up to show off to their buddies and spend money like it’s going out of style.

The worst was lawyers or finance guys on golf trips!! I used to work for Atlantic aviation at a few of their FBOs.

 

[CLRracer]

Got to the point of the sales person laying out 10 diamonds and telling me to rate them most to least expensive...when I asked for a light and a loupe, I think she realized she messed up.

So did you get the lineup right?

Duane

 

[UTfball68]

So did you get the lineup right?

Duane

I did...at one point in my life, I knew more about diamonds than any straight man should.

 

[Monkeynono]

Their was an older man in my town growing up. He was the grave digger and used a very old tractor. Dude put a barred in his window when it broke... He was a multi millionaire

 

[Loganwayne]

Cool stary bra, TLDR story time:

I ran into this big time when buying a couch of all things in 2006 when my 23yr old self was outfitting my first apartment. I was couch shopping with my GF, now wife, and we were sitting on a massive leather sectional, just checking it out, when a salesman came up and asked us to look at the price tag, and then told us we would be more comfortable in the clearance section. Dick!! The next place we were sitting on a medium sized couch, and a sales man came up and randomly told us that could doesn't fit very well in an apartment, WTF?!? Flash forward close to 15yrs and we were at a furniture store at the hickory furniture Mart when I first moved down here and we may as well have been invisible to the sales people, it worked out better because we found some smaller.ppaces who were more appreciative of our business anyway.

I used to work in the private aircraft industry and it really exposed me to rich vs wealthy and never judge a book by its cover. One of our based customers (kept aircraft at the facility), he owned a Gulfstream 4, two helicopters and had a helipad at his house. This dude never shaved, always had paint covered ripped jeans, shaggy hair, flip flops on at all times and drove a used Prius looked like he could have jumped out of a dump truck, multi millionare. The people driving lambos and Ferraris tended to be the people renting the jets and total assholes, mean while the people who owned the jets they were renting were pretty low key, usually had an older car and often times a shit box relatively speaking. I'm glad I worked in the business as it really opened my eyes up.

100% agree on rich vs wealthy. The people i deal with in construction are the same way. You always know the people that are buying the 1.2 million dollar townhouse in the 3-6 mil community are going to be a pain in the ass while the other people your building their 2nd or 3rd home and take you to lunch when they come into town.

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

I currently look like a poor hobo, I'm currently a step or two ahead of a poor hobo. Just married is the main difference.

 

[Noel]

If they profile me, most days they are probably correct

 

[1-tonmudder]

There's a guy here they call "barefoot" cause he's bare foot most of the year.He has crack head written all over him but they say hes wealthy.For years he hauled cars on a cut off (open cab) blue bird school bus.They say he bought some cars in Canada back in the early 90's and they liked just a little fitting on the bus.Suppoesedly he crossed the border sitting on the bumper of one of em.He had took the drivers seat out.

 

[1-tonmudder]

Totally understand.
I didnt mention the cash thing until they said we coudlnt test drive without a credit application and I had already spent 15 minutes chasing a sales guy.

another story for another time but recent events have shown me that trying to use cash for large purchases can be quite the inconvenience. My naivete when it comes to such things has become pretty obvious. Cash offer doesn't mean "hey here's my money". It means "hey here's a letter from my bank saying I have money".