Excuse my ignorance but what exactly is a "Dealer Principal".

Is he/she an employee of say Guy Salmon, Lookers et al or is he/she a franchisee and owns the business? MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

He/She is usually the Manager of that particular branch of the dealership. As such in a large group such as you mentioned s/he will be an employee of of the group and will be the person responsible for the operation of that branch and its profit and loss.

Bit like the headmaster whos got a cane in the cupboard if the others dont do as they supposed to do

Dealer Principle(s)

+ Get the most money in and spend the least out
+ Avoid customers - they dirty your cars and your showroom
+ Never answer letters from customers
+ Give your staff unreasonable targets so they have to alienate customers

So anyway - the most senior manager on site representing the company (dealer not LR). Employed to ensure the outlet delivers the coprorate objectives.

Thanks for that - why not just call them General Manager?

I guess that if one wanted to complain then there would be an area Director working out of a head office who must take responsibility for the various outlets. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

Tenet, i was involved with the dealer principle at Stratstones Doncaster last week.

I wasn't satisfied with my freelander and the state of it when i bought it at the end of October and after dealing with the salesman and then them having it for a full day and nothing being done to it, i didnt bother with the dealership and went over their heads and spoke/emailed Pendragon (their parent company).
They (Pendragon) were excellent and they spoke to the dealer principle and he rang me and i was booked in again and the jobs were done while i waited. The lady at Pendragon told me that if i still wasnt satisfied after dealing with the DP, then i should get back in touch with her and she would sort it.

The dealer principle asked me why i hadnt spoken to him before going above his head and i just thought, well i wasnt getting any sense or satisfaction from anyone at Doncaster so why should he be any different.

I must say, when i arrived that morning and said i had an appointment with the DP, the chap on reception was VERY ATTENTIVE and went up to his office to tell him that i was there and i was treated very well. Much better than usual.
I wouldnt go back to that dealer as i was so disatisfied from the start but getting the DP involved certainly makes a difference and if he doesnt care, go above his head. I just missed him out as i was so fed up with the lot of them at that site.

Thank you Annie - I do not have any problems but reading through the myriad of posts complaining about various dealerships I was trying to highlight the fact that god (DP) does have a boss and is responsible to him/her.

So guys and gals next time you get the run around go straight to the top  MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

When you have a complaint about a dealer and are writing the DP is the person to write to plus copy it to service manager.
Even when phoning if given the runaround ask to speak to him, you will soon have someone listen as department head should handle the matter.
I covered this on a post when having vibration problems with my 10MY FL2 Auto. All FL2's (3) Gone
2011 Mercedes C180 CGI Gone
FL2 GS Auto SD with heated leather, factory tints, alloy spare and a few other bits.

It varies from dealer to dealer. My manager (responsible for Park Royal & Battersea) is titled General Manager. Another variation sometimes used within dealers is Franchise Manager. I think it varies from group to group and dealer to dealer.

James

I tried the Dealer Principal at Stratstone Hull, he was as unhelpfull as the Service Manager and threw in a bit of sarcasm to finish it off. In the end it was LandRover Customer Services that came out on top for helpfulness and aiding me in moving it on with another non Stratstone dealer.

That's why i didnt bother contacting the DP and went over his head as i expected him to be a waste of time like the rest of them at the site.

I must say, Pendragon were very good

Annie & EYorkshire I have had the same problems FL2 stratstone donny D3 stratstone hull problems with them both had issues with DP who covers both sites he not happy with him so spoke to lady at pendragon PA to national franchise director, she was very nice and helpful sorted all issues out and did say that hull was having major clear out of staff, also if I have any other issues contact her direct So now any issues go to her but as for there management of both dealers not impressed. DP tried to fob me off but stood my ground and tied him in knots and he supposed to be ex fitter for them
Chris

That's very interesting Chris. I didnt know the DP was the same one. I think his name was Kevin Fearne?

The lady at Pendragon is called Sarah Morris and she was very nice indeed. I emailed them from their website just on the 'contact us' form and she mailed me straight away. Fab.
I wonder who is going at Stratstones then? Strange how they never mentioned that to me when i was there but i don't suppose they are going to say, we are rubbish and we are sacked

I am 40 (eeek) and love cars and have had about 20 and i have never had such an experience as i had at Donny.
The car took 12 days to come from Bury to Donc so obviously i was keen to get it and kept ringing them. If the salesman who i was dealing with wasn't there, they didnt give a stuff. They were rather rude and it was obvious that they just wanted rid of my phone call. It was very obvious that the salesmen weren't making money on the other salesman's deal so they didnt want to help his customer (me). They were the same at Bury when i tried to find out if the car had left. Bury werent making on the deal so didnt give a stuff and more or less told me that.

Gave a terrible impression of their company.