THE DATA POLICE HAVE ARRIVED
Most recently there has been a bold new wave washing over the automotive dealership landscape. Beginning with TrueCar, whose CEO bragged about using data to eliminate dealerships and lower profits below True Cost. He arrogantly taunted us with claims of "Transparency" which has become the "Buzz Word" of every vendor using our own data to virtually put us out of business, to steal our customers information, and sell it, pass it on to their affiliate companies, and otherwise resell it to third and fourth parties.
WELL, the revolution is here... and we, the dealers, managers, and industry loyalists are committed to locking down the DATA. Remember, cockroaches run when you shine a light on them.
We realize that vendors need access to SOME DATA to be able to perform their services BUT, virtually every vendor taking Data from the dealers- Data that ultimately shows up elsewhere being used against us - every vendor is taking far more Data than necessary and making dealers sign agreements that they can resell it, and pass it to affiliates, and that the VENDOR OWNS your customer data.
So many Dealers have signed contracts that THE VENDOR OWNS YOUR DATA.
THAT IS SO WRONG. By what right does any vendor you are paying have to claim to own your customers? That is total backwards crap and you know it. DEALERS-Your data is your BLUE SKY and you are signing contracts that allow vendors to own your customers and steal your legacy.
These vendors include, DMS Providers, CRM Companies, Lead Providers, Third Party Aggregators... and others, there are even OEMs (Manufacturers) stealing data from service and sales and even finance information on your customers and redistributing it.
The purpose of this BLOG is THE FIRST SHOT in the Data Reclamation Revolution.
We intend to educate Dealers as to what vendors are lifting your DATA... what they're doing with Your Data... Who they're selling it to or passing it along to.
Remember, the dealer is legally and liabilally responsible for the privacy and security of your data, not the vendor that contractually stole it and sold it.
AND we urge Dealers to responsibly call all of these vendors to task... either rewrite your contract or Cancel Them.
It is the purpose of this BLOG to expose those vendors and publish the offending parts of their agreements here. Remember, the vendor that screams loudest is probably the most guilty. JIM
Comment
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Comment by Thomas A. Kelly on February 19, 2012 at 10:28am
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Comment by James A. Ziegler on February 19, 2012 at 10:05am
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I would only hope that consumers and car buyers would read these posts and wake up that TrueCar and companies like TrueCar are collecting and merging huge amounts of DATA about them personally. They are positioning themselves as consumer-friendly, when, in fact they are building files on all of their unsuspecting customers and the customers of the dealers they are extracting out of dealers' computers by force and threat.
WE ARE TRYING TO PROTECT OUR CUSTOMERS FROM TRUECAR AND COMPANIES LIKE THEM.
To all of us posting on these blogs... all of your posts have great weight and value. We are grateful you are on the point watching out for the industry BUT, we also must remember, TrueCar and other Data Pirates ( my conceptual perception of these people) cannot do anything with that data they collect all over the universe without Dealers to do business with...and, from what I am seeing, nobody wants to do business with them.
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Comment by doug wolford on January 25, 2012 at 1:08pm
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Jim you nailed it with your help to that Chrysler dealer. I brought that up a week or so ago when I was featured. Your connections with all your dealers should do exactly what you did with that Chrysler dealer.
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A Chrysler dealer I do business with recently we had an audit of of DMS... he is a substantial dealer and we found more than 87 different vendors extracting Data from his DMS. Some of these vendors he wasn't even doing business with anymore. Data Wars are heating up.
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Pass my affection to the dealers that will not trade with TrueCar dealers at lunch today Jim. That is taking a stand and they have my respect.
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I am speaking today to a group of more than 90 dealers and managers. It is an all day event, I am the only speaker. Last night at dinner, the dealers asked me to have lunch with the dealers only, without the managers present, to discuss TrueCar and Data Pilfering by our vendors. The overwhelming sentiment among these dealers is hostile toward TrueCar, even the few who are using them apparently hate them. Where they get all of these supposed happy dealers is rapidly beginning to look like BullCrap to me. Before I leave here tonight I feel I may have another 15 or 20 dealers ready to cancel and tell their friends to do the same. There is a growing trend as dealers get angry and get rid of these people. I am hearing that even in states they get their model reinstated, nobody (relatively) is going to participate as dealers who do business with them are becoming isolated by other dealers. I am hearing that some dealers won't even do dealer trades with them.
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A Dealer Friend of Mine sent me this message on Facebook...Jim, I just received 7 invoices from TrueCar for vehicles we did not sell. I was already in the process of cancelling, when they arrive this morning. I'm done with TrueCar in both my stores. Just wanted to get the word out to your followers to double check all invoices from TrueCar.
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Comment by Zach Ziegler 2 hours agoDelete Comment
I'm older now and a lot more responsible. I really wish this didn't have to be posted here but I can see why Dad did it. Mr. Dietz was trying to blackmail us and use what I did years ago against my family.
I haven't had any more tickets in years, I work every day and love my family. Sorry this had to come out this way but it is better than my Dad being secretive. ZACH ZIEGLER
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