Comment

Comment by Sean V. Bradley on September 1, 2013 at 2:52pm

Thank you Mike for chiming in. I think that it is good to hear from TrueCar directly-

Comment by Michael Hills on August 31, 2013 at 6:03pm

Having a policy is a fine idea. The debate needs to center on the fairness of the policy for both TrueCar and its dealer partners. I understand that a number of dealers on your Dealer Council were unaware that you accepted write offs previously; these dealers clearly don't spend any time on lead attribution or analytics. Since we do, we know empirically that a number of sales that TC claims credit for are bogus. The new policy will allow for a reduced charge only if the customer has converted from the dealership website or the OEM website no more than 7 days prior to TC. All other 3rd party lead sources, walkins, previous customers, referrals are irrelevant according to TC and they want their $299.
While TC claims that their model results in a lower acquisition cost than other sources the facts are startling different. If in fact we paid all the billed invoices from TC including ones that are clearly not attributable to TC our cost per sale would exceed $500.
So having a policy is a great idea. Lets just write it so dealers don't get the short end of the stick.

Comment by Michael Timmons on August 31, 2013 at 4:09pm

I understand the frustration surrounding the lack of advanced communication with our 6500 dealers regarding rolling out TrueCar's write off policy. I couldn't agree with you more that the delivery of our formal policy was less than ideal. I doubt that any company wants their communication strategy to be an advanced copy of something that ends up in the media prior to distribution to their customers. We wanted to be able to effectively communicate the policy to our dealers by prominently displaying it on our dealer portal and following up with phone calls to our dealers who have questions. Unfortunately, Joe Webb received a copy (that wasn't even final yet) and with social media we all know the result. 

This policy has nothing to do with investment bankers or our shareholders, our TrueCar dealers have been requesting formal guidelines of how credits are issued and to assure that all dealers are treated equally we formalized the policy. Prior to joining TrueCar two years ago, I was their largest volume customer with AutoNation. I realize how difficult it is to try and determine the attribution of a sale and it is impossible without clear guidelines. I would evaluate the overall program for your dealership and I wish everyone the best in whatever marketing programs you employ. 

Comment by Michael Hills on August 30, 2013 at 8:29pm

We were contacted abruptly by a representative of TrueCar that we had never encountered about 3 weeks ago to demand that we stop contesting invoices. When asked whether this was a national policy or a unilateral policy affecting only our dealership we were told that at that point it was directed only at us but a national policy was in the works.
We have routinely contested about 30% of the invoices presented to us as it was clear from our CRM that We could not attribute the sale to TrueCar. They have always pushed back but reluctantly voided the invoices in question. For the record we have been told on several occasions that we are TrueCar's largest volume dealer in New England across all brands. We have gladly paid over $150,000 in fees for legitimate referrals.
Apparently TrueCar's investment bankers have told them that they need to increase their return on investment and this is their way to accomplish that. They claim that they are a new form of marketing and not a lead provider; only the PR people at TrueCar who wrote the new policy could possibly believe that. The reality is that they are positioning themselves in every market to become remotely involved in a high percentage of transactions so that they can lay claim to a commission at one of the dealers regardless of whether they actually influenced the sale.
This will not be the death of TrueCar. However, dealerships that never contested invoices have been, and wii continue to be, fleeced out of thousands of dollars each month under the new policy.
As for us, we will evaluate whether the huge increase in fees that TrueCar is attempting to collect merit continuation on the program. And the investment bankers may discover that, in their greed, they have taken 1 step forward but 2 steps backward.

Comment by Steve Duff on August 30, 2013 at 6:39pm

Had we been told about this 90 days ago, dealers wouldn't have as much of a gripe. That's because Truecar has a 90 day window on their leads (yes, they are leads) where you have to pay. So the dealer who finds out September 1 and doesn't like the new policy cancels. But they have 90 days worth of leads that now won't be written off if they are duplicates or prior engagement customers. That stinks no matter how far away you are standing.

Comment by Sean V. Bradley on August 30, 2013 at 6:21pm

Chuck, I have to be honest... I am not sure why you didn't find out directly from TrueCar. I do not work for TrueCar. I agree, if I were you I would be disappointed in how you found out and then the response you did or did not get. I am not defending how they rolled out the information, I am agreeing with that. My points in my video response were:

* I did NOT agree that this was "The End" of TrueCar. (I could be wrong...but I doubt it). 

* I did not disagree with their Write Off Policy (As long as I know that there are ALWAYS exception to the rule). 

* I did not agree with nationally recognized trainers posting negative comments and perpetuating drama and then taking money from the same vendor... 

* I also took offense to people calling TrueCar "Scumbags"... Especially since a very close friend of mine is a senior executive with TrueCar, Ken Potter. 

But, I appreciate your comments and feedback- 

Comment by Chuck Capps on August 30, 2013 at 6:15pm

It comes down to principal for me. Why do I have to read about it from someone else? TrueCar never said a word to us about it. When I e-mailed two of my reps neither responded or addressed it. Then one of them sent me something else (Asking for my manufactures rebates because they can't seem to get them...) and I asked again. Then finally I get a call from one of their bosses. I told him the same thing I told the reps that never responded. Why am I finding out about this from a third party? Is it true? If so, then either exempt me from it or cancel my account effective 8-31-13. Needless to say we will be done with TrueCar 8-31-13...

I would like to say THANK YOU to Joe and Brian!

Comment by Sean V. Bradley on August 30, 2013 at 5:29pm

AND... I tried to call Joe Webb several times earlier today BEFORE I posted my post to let him know what I was posting and why. He never answered or returned my calls..

Comment by Sean V. Bradley on August 30, 2013 at 5:28pm

beginning

Comment by Sean V. Bradley on August 30, 2013 at 5:27pm

Alan, it was brought down. But reach out to Jim Ziegler, he is the one that brought it to my attention. I am not sure if he screen shotted it or not. I will say this, TrueCar is aware of this and has had a conversation with Pasch about this...

Again I disagree with you... how simple can it get? You write an article that is titled "Is this the begging of the END of TrueCar". What do you expect? This company has 6,500 dealerships on the program. They help dealers sell a tremendous amount of cars. Joe's article was inflammatory. That is my opinion and I detailed WHY  I feel the way I do.

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