I would like to re-post this article I found online. I think most dealer principals and GMs are completely unaware of these facts which could be having a very negative effect on their business. I don't know if I'd call it theft, a simple case of manipulation or something totally innocent. What I do know it was no accident considering it was most likely written by an attorney.  I'll leave that up to each individual reader and manager to determine for their self.   

Advertising Vendor “Skating” Your Dealership?

What you don’t know won’t hurt you. Right? Well, when it comes to third-party vendors (i.e. advertisers) you may get the shock of your career at how little you know about who is really in control of your sales leads and customers. Every day I read scores of privacy policies which transfers the control of leads and even CUSTOMERS to the advertiser and possibly away from the dealer. This is accomplished in a way often undisclosed to and/or undetected by to the dealer.

So here is how it works: The dealer purchases or is provided free of charge an add-on  service consisting of  a text tab which goes on their website along with a chat tab. Once the customer texts their information they are sent a privacy NOT between the dealer and customer but between the advertiser and customer. Through that privacy policy the vendor gains the permission from YOUR customer to have their conversations with your dealership monitored and recorded, to make future contact with the customer for future solicitations and possibly that customers’ information share or sold to other dealers. If that isn’t bad enough THEY OWN THE DATABASE of customer YOU paid for. Wow! I wonder how the whole monitoring thing would fly should a civil rights case ensue.  “Yea, there was a privacy policy but putting a customer who is in a rush for information in that situation might take on a little different angle.”          

It was brought to my attention recently that a major publisher is actually selling leads which the dealer believes were captured by their text messaging/chat service posted on their website. They intend to look into the process deeper hoping to get to the bottom of it. Another dealer said, “We have used this company (their vehicle advertiser) for years and had no clue they would be capable of this. We have posted our cars with them and others. I was surprised and a little bit ticked-off to say the least.”  Another large dealer’s General Manager who didn’t want to be mentioned by name stated, “I thought I looked over the contract pretty good. I never thought to look at the privacy statement they were sending our customers when the customer texted in for OUR information. This almost seems like a scam now. He went on to say, “We treat our customer with honestly and respect and we expect the same from our vendors. This just seems a little sneaky to me. I just hope we can get out of the agreement. If so, we won’t be doing business with them again.”

According to a University law professor, third-party agreements need to be looked at closely prior to doing business with any vendor and revisited often to ensure you’re satisfied not only with the language in the agreement but with any communications they might have with your customer. While there is a third-party involved you very well could find yourself in court or even held responsible for actions of the vendor representing your business.  Some courts may interpret the vendor’s actions as an extension of your own.

When was the last time you reviewed the privacy policy being sent out by your vendor to YOUR customers? Did it allow your vendor to contact, monitor conversations between your employee and your customers or even solicit to them without your consent? From conversations with many dealer principals and general managers, not one said they would have agreed to this verbiage. In fact, they saw major concerns where their employees were not made fully aware of this possible invasion of privacy despite having signed previous intercompany employee agreements. And lastly another dealer principal seemed a bit agitated when he questioned the ability of the customer to subpoena those phone records and recorded calls in the event of customer-dealer litigation.  

We have all watched in amazement as customers sign their lives away never reading the fine print. Turns out they are not the only ones caving in to rushed deadlines and everyday business demands.

Try this: go to your dealer website. Then open the text box on your website and go through the process of requesting information by text. When you get to the privacy policy read it and determine for yourself if any of the language looks like what I have described. I think you will be a bit mortified. Still in doubt? Take it to your attorney and see what they think. The results may not be what you wanted to hear but may save the dealership from future legal action.