I did a "Kia" search and nothing came up. Curious if anyone has done the Kia shops and can report any experiences with it? Thanks

I did a Kia dealership shop a week ago. I thought the pay and the requirements were fair. I believe that the last date for shops was January 24th, but I suppose there could still be stragglers or re-shops somewhere in the country.

Thanks. I signed up for one.... I found it a bit weird that you must give the dealership your real name and real address - or no pay. I guess I'm just too paranoid but if a shopper had negative comments - - -and the staff knows who said it - -- - well, these days, I trust 95% of the folks to be ok. It's the other 5% I worry about especially when the OEMs hold the dealership owners, management and staff sort of hostage over these things (believe me, it's worth a lot of them..).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2023 01:38AM by BabyBooey19.

In my area, there are currently 10 available shops for four dealers; the pay is from $30 to $35. You must make both a pre and post web visit and take a test drive.

Weird, the MSC sent out a "$40 Kia Shops" email..... but the fees show 30 and 35.

Indeed, there are now more Kia ships listed near me. I just accepted another one for the end of this week.

If you have to give your real name, etc., and take on multiple shops, does KIA have a database shared among its dealerships, like other dealerships do?

I don't think so -- this mystery shop is with the dealership - and as much as it's a Kia Franchise and Kia is a client - the dealerships are individually owned and operated. And they COMPETE against each other. So Jones Kia.....is *not* gonna share my information with Smith Kia - - because they are competing for that sale. That would be like Coca Cola giving Pepsi its proprietary information. The sole exception to this is if I shop multiple Kia dealerships - owned by the same Dealership group, person, or family - many times, yes, they will share info.

Kia itself - yes, they'll have the information because nowadays, the Manufacturers be it Kia, GM, Ford, whatever - they control the websites for individual dealers. Sure, they let Dealers "choose" between website vendors (see DealerEProcess, VinSolutions, CDK, and a plethora of other digital companies mooching off the car dealership business). Kia and other manufacturers love using that D\data to go to Jones Motors and say "well Jones, you got 50 leads off the website last month and guess what - 10 of them - bought their kia from Smith Motors ....why is that" The Dealers cannot conceal any of the date from the manufacturer - because now, the Kias, GMs, Fords, etc....have FULL access to the dealership's internal computer system (known as DMS in the industry) - - it's only a slight exaggeration to say that if a Dealership blows its knows - the manufacturer gets to know about it. Its unlawful in most states for manufacturers to force dealers to give them that access to internal information so manufacturers made it "optional"..... where they tell Dealers "We raised prices on cars. You used to have $2000 markup - now you got $1000. That extra $1000 a car - we'll give it back to you.....BUT ONLY if you do all the requirements, one of them being we get to see all your data" - -of course if a dealer doesn't comply -- he loses out on HUGE dollars - making him uncompetitive with other dealers who followed the rules. So it's "optional' - -- but in reality, mandatory.

It's common for the same dealer or group to own a few of the same-brand dealerships in one market. But almost all the time they will use the same name across all their dealerships so you will know if they are owned by the same entity.

four $40 popped up here for the same dealership. good thing cause shops are few and far between this year. this week is to busy to grab one but probably next weekend. glad to know they are fair.

Thank you @BabyBooey19 - for the explanation! I appreciated it.

Would love to hear from anyone who may know why the MSC requires the shoppers to use their real names. With all the data aggregation going on these days, I tend to avoid shops that don't allow me to use an alias. Why should our personal data be stored forever or re-sold to "goodness only knows" for $35?

Well if you have to take a test drive, most dealerships will make a copy of your drivers license.

There's one near me for $50 debating if I should take it.

You need to go on a test drive, so you have to let them copy your driver's license. You also have to report whether they contacted you post-visit, so you have to give them a phone number that works, as well as a valid email address (which they will already have from your initial inquiry).

@veebeeshops wrote:

Would love to hear from anyone who may know why the MSC requires the shoppers to use their real names. With all the data aggregation going on these days, I tend to avoid shops that don't allow me to use an alias. Why should our personal data be stored forever or re-sold to "goodness only knows" for $35?

@wrosie and @myst4au
Thanks for your responses. Of course, it makes sense if the shop requires a test drive. they will take your DL. Another reason this shop should pay way more than $35 or $40, imho.

WELL, I might be zonked. I just did my first Kia shop and am getting the stuff together. Requirements to prove I was there are: Salesman's business card. AND time-stamped picture of the dealership. So....I have 2 time-stamped pics of dealership from diff angles. I have a time-stamped picture of the dealership's price disclosure.
I have the salesman's business car but trouble is - this place is Kia. - but has Subaru right next door owned by the same owner. SO....the salesman that helped me had a "XXX Subaru" business card - - but he was the salesperson given to me at the KIA dealership. So the business card says his name - but "xxx Subaru Inc" on it.....not "XXX Kia".

Again - I have the time-stamped proofs I was at the dealership. Did the test-drive, everything perfectly to spec. But how can I control how they staff their showroom? They didn't have lots of staff - -I waited 12 minutes to be helped. Truth be told (and I know this for fact ....) - it's very common for dealerships owned by the same person - who has multiple franchises right next door to each other - to do this.



Any opinions? Thanks

I have had dealerships that sell more than one brand. I usually put the card on a piece of paper and write an explanation before taking a photo. Sometimes they still send me a follow-up question.

This is similar to bank business cards when the person is a "floater" or is filling in for the day. I just explain that they told me that they were only there for the day, or that they cover 3 locations.

@BabyBooey19 wrote:

WELL, I might be zonked. I just did my first Kia shop and am getting the stuff together. Requirements to prove I was there are: Salesman's business card. AND time-stamped picture of the dealership. So....I have 2 time-stamped pics of dealership from diff angles. I have a time-stamped picture of the dealership's price disclosure.
I have the salesman's business car but trouble is - this place is Kia. - but has Subaru right next door owned by the same owner. SO....the salesman that helped me had a "XXX Subaru" business card - - but he was the salesperson given to me at the KIA dealership. So the business card says his name - but "xxx Subaru Inc" on it.....not "XXX Kia".

Again - I have the time-stamped proofs I was at the dealership. Did the test-drive, everything perfectly to spec. But how can I control how they staff their showroom? They didn't have lots of staff - -I waited 12 minutes to be helped. Truth be told (and I know this for fact ....) - it's very common for dealerships owned by the same person - who has multiple franchises right next door to each other - to do this.



Any opinions? Thanks

Many years ago I had a salesman call me with a follow up phone call, 'cept he knew I was the shopper based on the conversation we had that he read and quoted to me from the report. It was not a flattering report to say the least. I couldn't believe the MSC or the client allowed him to read the exact report. They had to know I left him my name, number and driver's license.

That was the end of me leaving my phone number or DL for a car dealership shop. I believe this MSC is the same company but different client. Just food for thought. When they figure it out, they will know it was you.

I agree 100% - and I can say firsthand (really firsthand knowledge) that the dealership staff will know who the shopper was - regardless of the MSC sharing the name or not. I was really looking forward to making dealerships a big part of my shop life. -- but I probably won't due to this reason which is too bad - that is the environment I'm most comfy in and I know easily when the staff is gaming the Kia or whatever's required online Digital Tools, appointment setters, etc. Heck the one I shopped yesterday it was overall a quality experience - - but I saw right away how the boys are fooling Kia. But with them having my name - I will do the one more I'm signed up for - then just look for other stuff. One wonders why we must give real names and addresses to them.

There is one BK that I go to all the time for lunch (Location A). . There is a person that is always there and is always working the D/T or Dine counter.

A couple of weeks ago I had some other stuff to do around town and I stopped at a different BK (Location which I only stop at if I am on that side of town.. On that day, the person from location A was there.. I asked what are you doing here and they said that I am filling in for the day.

I know of several people who float and help out locations... Same way with banks and other places of business

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2023 09:55PM by Isaiah4031a.

Pleas etell me what do you mean by "but I saw right away how the boys are fooling Kia."

The whole Digital Obsession has taken over Auto Retail. Vendor upon vendor feed at the trough and the whole "CRM" concept is run amok. Parent companies have made dealers hire "BDC" - BusinessDevelopmentCenters....their job is to NOT give customers the final price on the phone or email, but it's usually a bunch of 20-somethings in a room, who get paid commissions not on sales - but on appointments set and customers showing up. After that -little Molly turns the customer over to the sales floor - where now they can start at sticker price or above - it is better than giving the customer the full discount online where the customer holds the power to get competitive price bids. Anyway - whether it's GM, KIA, whomever - they are now dialed in to each dealer's BDC - they see the information. And Kia or GM or whomever send District Reps into dealerships to go over ratios of how many appointments the dealer set, how many of those appointments sold. Ok, fine. BUT - the reality is - there ARE people who *gasp* actually just drive into a dealership to look at cars. They don't start with an email online.

So , let's just say there's creative ways dealership personnel skew the ratios of appointments made, appointments sold ,etc -- just to keep the parent company off their backs. It's not stealing money (mind you, that is an easy one to do also)....) but in this case it's just gaming the numbers to make Daddy happy. I won't go into specifics as I'd rather not make it harder on the boys - but just one example: Let's say you came into my dealership. I did my job. You liked me, and the car and the deal. You sign up. I merely go into the dumb software CRM program - enter your name in as an appointment - then by golly, I get to count you as a sale. "Look Mom! I made an appointment! They showed up! They bought!" -- well, there's a 100% "appointment-close" ratio right there and that averages out the other 4 people who showed up and didn't buy - - I can still tell Kia about my nice big appointment-to-sale-ratio.

Funny part is this "Transparency" and "let the customer buy online" stuff - has caused an average dealership to: 1.)Spend $2,500 a month on CRM systems. 2.)Pay $5000 a month to a "BDC Manager". 3.)Pay $3000 a month each to a few "BDC" reps who blast customer's phones and emails. And guess who had to pay for all that tech stuff? Well - ever notice your "doc fee" or "processing fee" is waaaaaay higher than before?

Anyhow, yes, I did notice the dealership playing games with with another customer's lead while I was there. Then as I was leaving - I heard them do it with yet another lead. Again - NOT cheating the customer. Not at all. It was more manipulating their CRM system to achieve statistical outcomes that the parent company wants to see. Would I put it in my shop report? NO - -only because they don't ask about that -- because the client doesn't ask about it. The Client is in their corporate office - sort of clueless about some things at the street level.

People think the recent prices increases in cars is Covid and supplies- somewhat correct. But - it's more about the parent companies, taking over more of auto retail and turning individually owned dealerships into Dunkin Donuts franchises with no individuality. Some of that is good for the customer - but more than ever it's allowed parent companies and a few large dealer groups to eliminate price competition, and get customers trained that "full price, is a fair price".

None of this is my imagination - this is all things I've seen and heard straight from the horses mouth.

Whoa! BabyBooey's knowledge is impressive!

Newbie here. Doing my first two Kia shops this weekend. Any advise on the pre-visit online inquiry ? The websites are so busy-looking !!

I noticed these are now up to $70.

And not to hijack this thread but has all this digital stuff shut down the idiot that used to do all the car shops through, I think it was SeeLevel?

(He never did KIA so I can name the MSC here, mostly high end).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2023 04:13PM by wrosie.

They still exist (if I have identified the correct "idiot") and are being posted. By the way, inside your own post, you listed the MSC and clients. You need to edit your post. I edited your post as shown below.

@wrosie wrote:

I noticed these are now up to $70.

And not to hijack this thread but has all this digital stuff shut down the idiot that used to do all the car shops through, I think it was ********?

(He never did KIA so I can name the MSC here, mostly high-end @@@, #####, %%%%%%%%).

It could be just me - BUT - the "Digital Retail Platform" - - I feel that the websites - look TOTALLY different than the "Digital Retail Platform" examples given in the shop guidelines.

Thanks for those that confirmed the contact getting the report information. I was afraid of that identifier. I have had my share of people leaving me voice messages and emails about my reports. I hate that. I cannot even post my real thoughts/rating on a personal Instacart delivery for fear they would come back to my house later and do something.

sassie usually has a text box for information to the scheduler for cases like this

I have one for $60 on Friday.

@BabyBooey19 wrote:

It could be just me - BUT - the "Digital Retail Platform" - - I feel that the websites - look TOTALLY different than the "Digital Retail Platform" examples given in the shop guidelines.

I found that was true on a bunch of these (not Kia) I did last year. It got frustrating.