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Please help with first Porsche purchase (718)


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You've got to find something else to do for a while Ian, take up bonsai, flower arranging or do a home brew  or something.

Forgetting about the car is the fastest way of having it get here, trust me.

 

And the wait is worth it, especially with he sport button on...

Hang in there buddy.

 

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On 3/18/2018 at 11:26 PM, LuNguyen said:

I have! Will give an update in the intro thread by the end of the week. Had some very generous help from @symsy during my search. 

Wow, exciting news! I'm looking forward to your update, and maybe some sweet pictures :)

On 3/19/2018 at 12:43 PM, Lucky Phil said:

Ah the old slow boat to China hey.  Hope its not still stuck in that ice in Bremerhaven waiting for it to melt.  Is your wife still laughing? @Ian718 

So I found out the ship is not actually going to China :) For some reason the vesselfinder.com site rerouted it incorrectly to Shanghai, and then promptly stopped receiving tracking updates from the ship. I started using the marinetraffic.com site instead, which shows that the ship is happily in the Arabian sea travelling to the much more sensibly placed Singapore. I got a phone call from PCSS on Monday basically reassuring me everything was OK with the ship, no pirates, ETA to Port Kembla was still 10-13 April, and I should stop worrying so much :)

No more laughing from the wife... she is quite supportive of me getting the car - she thinks I have worked hard, have always talked about it, and that I deserve it :) Unfortunately she has no interest in the car, except that getting it makes me happy. So I try to limit my conversations about its progress to not bore her to tears. I only tell her the funny stuff, like me watching the ship sitting in a harbour for a whole week.

On 3/19/2018 at 2:32 PM, deano said:

You've got to find something else to do for a while Ian, take up bonsai, flower arranging or do a home brew  or something.

Forgetting about the car is the fastest way of having it get here, trust me.

And the wait is worth it, especially with he sport button on...

Hang in there buddy.

I'm glad you are enjoying your car deano! I'm hoping that the 6 month wait, makes/made us appreciate the car even more. Hell the anticipation and build up is probably an integral part of the Porsche new order experience! (OK I'm grasping at straws now to make myself feel better...)

I'm am *trying* to take my mind off the car, it just isn't working so well :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

An update on the car's progress, and also a question for the forum: Was I justified in being angry today, or was I just being a d*ck?

So I found out today that I was given the wrong ship name, and that I have been tracking the wrong ship like a complete idiot for a little over 6 weeks.

What made it even worse in my mind, was that I was a little doubtful about the ship name being correct last month when it started to head towards China instead of towards Australia. So I sent a specific email 4 weeks ago asking if they could check and reconfirm that they had the name of the ship correct. And they rung me back the next working day and told me that yep, everything was correct, everything was fine, nothing to worry about.

So to me, the situation was either:
(1) the person chose to not bother to recheck anything, and then lied to me that they had rechecked it.
(2) they actually did recheck it, but were so lacking in competence they made a basic reading error twice in a row

To further aggravate me, I decided to check when this ship actually had docked at Port Kembla. According to sites like marinetraffic/vesselfinder the ship had docked at Port Kembla on 7.4.18, it had already left and is presently docked in New Caledonia (which it reached on 10.4.18). 

Yet the PCSS email update on 10.4.18 told me that it still wasn't docked and that it was due at Port Kembla on 13.4.18. And even the email I got this morning told me 'oh wait, the system just updated, the ship actually docked at Port Kembla on 11.4.18'. So even the update this morning was still inaccurate, and they sat with no knowledge of car being on land for 5 days.

So I was pretty pissed off this morning, and I sent an angry email (CCed to GM and General Sales Manager) detailing
(a) I didn't like tracking the wrong ship like a damn fool for 6 weeks
(b) I had issues with either lack of competence (if an error was made twice), or lack of trust (if they lied about rechecking when I asked them to 4 weeks ago).
(c) They were *still* making mistakes even on the email this morning!

The email was angry enough for me to receive a phone call from PCSS within 15 minutes of sending it.

I was further pissed off during the phone call because there was no apologetic tone, it was basically "Why am I so angry about a simple error? Simple errors get made all the time in business. You really hurt <the person who made the error's> feelings. I shouldn't hurt people's feelings."

That sent me over the edge, so I (very unusually for myself) raised my voice during the phone call to further reiterate my points, since he didn't even acknowledge my issues. I did not step over the line into swearing however.

To give specific details, he thought the ship's names were very similar so it was an acceptable error: Glovis Companion vs Glovis Challenge. I personally thought that was ridiculous. If they mixed up a Porsche Cayenne with a Porsche Cayman, I would be pretty livid. And also the error was made twice, after I asked them to specifically recheck the ship name.

In regards to his Port Kembla docking date mistake in the email this morning, he did explain that the Porsche system that he uses actually said 11.4.18, and he could taken a picture of the screen to prove it. He said they don't use external tracking sites like marinetraffic, and they shouldn't be held accountable for the delay and errors in Porsche tracking system. I had calmed down a bit by that point of the phone call, and I was happy to accept that explanation as a valid one.

He then made a very good point. The most important thing now is to try to make the impending pick up of the car a joyous occasion, not one where I am very angry and pissed off while picking up the car. I was in 100% agreement with that. I want to enjoy picking up the car. It is really in my best interests to just chill out a bit, and try to enjoy the experience of my first brand new Porsche.

In the end I said I apologise for the tone of the email, however I still felt the contents and overall message of my email were valid. I still received no real acknowledgement of any of my concerns.

On the bright side, I should hopefully pick up the new car by the 20.4.18. I just need to chill out, arrange my insurance, ceramic coating, etc, and enjoy the pick up process.

So... what do you think - was I justified in being angry today, or was I just being a d*ck?

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If there are delays like I encountered with my car transported from WA last year (extra volume coming east and then the rail line damaged due to flooding) I was fine and understanding as that is just part what happens. But to provide you with the wrong ship details twice I'd be p*issed off too!

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Life is to short to worry about it.  Never mind your car will be here on the 20th.  When you look back on this in 6 months you will have the answer to your question.

To tell you the truth the story is kind of funny and I am sure that you will see it that way too when you one day have bigger issues to worry about that are real issues not just the fact that you have been tracking the wrong ship for six weeks.

Also never bite off the hand that feeds you.  Remember PCSS have to deliver your car to you!!  Maybe ring up and say sorry.  They will appreciate it and not hold any grudge when your car is being prepared for delivery to you.  You don't want to pick up your car with tension in the air, you want that day to be fantastic and well worth the 6 months you have been waiting for your car.

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2 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

Also never bite off the hand that feeds you.  Remember PCSS have to deliver your car to you!!  Maybe ring up and say sorry.  They will appreciate it and not hold any grudge when your car is being prepared for delivery to you.  You don't want to pick up your car with tension in the air, you want that day to be fantastic and well worth the 6 months you have been waiting for your car.

I'd definitely do this, It's so much easier to get someone to do something for you if they enjoy dealing with you and you aren't known as the guy who went off on them for getting your tracking details wrong.

You never know, there might be something slightly wrong with the car upon delivery which requires some amount of discression or down the track you want to buy a Porsche that has a waiting list and that relationship could help.

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I can understand the excitement you must have. I recall as a young boy i managed to beg my mum to give me my new remote control car on xmas eve, i really did work her down, maybe even beg. But now many years later i regret it. It was worth the wait. And now having kids i'll make em wait til the day too! My point? Time will pass and i think you will look back and think...You were acting like a .... (not calling you one, rather saying you may have acted like one, like you mentioned in your words :) Hey you're a human, you're allowed to- we all are allowed to be excused once in a while.

From their POV you are not their one and only client. And i'm certain they have had another client do the same. Don't let a lack of response reflect on them. They are probably letting you cool of/and or, are getting on with business.

If i were them i wouldn't give a tracking detail- just an eta, update monthly, of when it's due to arrive (under promise and over deliver). IF, it was a old car bought privately from almost anywhere i guess, i would track it due to the risk of loosing it (maybe). My 2 cents :) Good luck. Stay cool.

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hopefully it goes smooth from here.

I'd do as above, just suck it up and make friends, apologise for pissing anyone off, even though you've done nothing wrong and probably are due at least an apology for the c*ck ups.. Say it was the heat, emotion of the impending arrival etc etc. but whats coming up is more important, and it's better you get looked after.

 

Just a few more days.

Wash the windows, cut your grass, empty your gutters, do last years tax return and re box fold your Bonds, because when the car comes you and Mrs Ian will be out cruising soon

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I feel you have a right to feeling upset. By providing you with incorrect information they have made you feel foolish, especially as you did ask them to double check the information that you were provided. Seems to me that perhaps if the dealer had acknowledged why you were upset, and then apologised for putting you in that situation, you would have felt vindicated and moved on with your life. If they had handled this well, your goodwill to the dealer would have increased. It seems to me that instead they have made you feel bad about being upset, which has probably actually used up some of your goodwill.  I'm sure you still have plenty of good will however they may also want to utilise that in the future as well (in a similar way to you perhaps wanting to maintain your goodwill with the dealer.)

One challenge I suspect many Porsche enthusiast faces is that when dealing with dealers/ mechanics/ providers we are generally excited about our car, or the purchase of our car. Because we carry that level of excitement, we tend to subconsciously expect those we are dealing with to be as excited as we are. Reality is that for dealers/ mechanics/ providers, Porsche cars are their job and most suffer the grind that we all face in our day to day.  Therefore the dealer struggles to understand why you'd really car about which boat one of 25 (wild guess) new Porsches they are delivering this month is on. For you this is a major high point in your life, small details of your journey are to be savoured, after all, this stuff is on your mind whenever your mind isn't on anything else.

So, I agree it's ok for you to be cranky about this, however also try to move on and treat it as part of your journey as well. Your car is going to be awesome and once you own it, you truly become part of a exciting and welcoming community. Share your excitement with those of us who share it with you, then hope your dealer isn't incompetent in the things that actually matter.

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Aahhh....First world problems ?. Frustrating, but at least we are not being bombed with chemical weapons!

Once the car keys are in your hand  everything leading up to that moment iwill just be a small blip on the radar of life.

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Honestly man, just relax, you will live longer... whilst it’s frustrating to you right now, this isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of the joys you’re about to be on the receiving end of! You will look back and laugh at this. 

When my order locked, I just left it at that and asked an approx. delivery date, from there, it’s in their hands, I just waited for the phone call... couldn’t have been easier! 

There is simply too much other stuff in life you can better spend you’re energy on! Positively at that!

Make sure you post pics when you get it! 

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Time will disappear , when you are behind the wheel along with those details of the email.  It will be you who fails to check those little things when the women is nagging you for not being home on time ;)  because that extra bit of road called you and your talking and extra level of porsche stories at cars and coffee.  

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Thank you for the replies and advice everyone.

I woke up this morning slightly embarrassed that I had over-reacted yesterday. A phone call was made. Pride was swallowed. Apologies were well received. All is good.

AND I SHOULD BE DRIVING MY FIRST PORSCHE IN A WEEK!

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a dealer once said.. reminds me of a few stories

A car salesman (Ford)  once said words to the effect of "is there a chairity sign above my office? "' to my father in law when negotiating.. New purchase went elsewhere.

A car salesman (Mazda) said to me, while looking at the  updated MX5, "just dreaming or serious"' , I got back in the BMW (worth double the value)  and bought the next one instead.

I can take a joke, but being rude and arrogant isn't needed if you want someones business.

Glad you've chilled Ian!

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On 12/04/2018 at 3:24 PM, Ian718 said:

 

So... what do you think - was I justified in being angry today, or was I just being a d*ck?

Jeez, I’d be too embarrassed to pick it up myself after a dummy spit like that, maybe you can get an agent to get it for you. 

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13 hours ago, Ian718 said:

I'm picking the car up tomorrow... and I can't go to d*mn sleep!

I feel like I'm 6 years old again and it is Xmas eve...

:Jumping:

Yeah for you.  I just love that feeling.  Everything seems so clear and you will remember everything from the moment you get up to the minute you have the car home.  It is like Christmas I agree.

You must have it now so don't forget to post the photos.  

13 hours ago, Ian718 said:

I'm picking the car up tomorrow... and I can't go to d*mn sleep!

I feel like I'm 6 years old again and it is Xmas eve...

:Jumping:

See that 6 months went quickly didn't it

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14 hours ago, Ian718 said:

I'm picking the car up tomorrow... and I can't go to d*mn sleep!

I feel like I'm 6 years old again and it is Xmas eve...

:Jumping:

I think we can all relate to that feeling good luck with the car and post lots of photos 

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Thank you everyone for all the help I was given in this thread! Sorry I took a while to respond... I have been preoccupied with driving. Sometimes driving purposefully to a destination. Sometimes driving with no destination in mind. Sometimes driving along completely unnecessary detours to reach my destination. But always driving with a stupidly large grin on my face.

I am not good at linking pictures directly to the forums... so I gave up and made my first ever instagram post (its like a free image hosting service really...). It is not a fancy shot, it's just sitting outside my driveway. I am not a photographer... but I still think the car looks beautiful no matter how bad my camera skills are.

PS I woke up in the middle of the night last night... and I went down to the garage and just sat in the car for a bit. Like a lunatic.

 

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