A woman who negotiates for a living finds herself in a complex negotiation scenario for a car that is not even on the lot. The worst part is, they told her the car would be there before she visited the dealership. Lawyer Eli Tilley (@ebtilley) reveals how Manhattan Beach Toyota tried to secure a deposit for a vehicle that wasn’t even at the dealership. The TikTok went viral with over 481,400 views as of this writing. In a TikTok series labeled "the car dealership from Hell," Tilley spills the tea with the Manhattan Beach Toyota dealership. "Today I went to buy a car, and I negotiate for a living. That’s literally what I do all day, every day. I have no problem standing my ground and saying what I need," Tilley begins. Tilley did prior research before going into the Toyota dealership, knew the Kelley Blue Book price, and communicated what she was looking for. She was told the car she was looking for was on the lot; however, it wasn’t. "I understand that’s a sales tactic because they want you to try their car," she shares. Tilley was told that if she took a test drive in the car she liked, the dealership could complete a dealer trade to get it for her. She drove the car and decided to move forward. The salesperson told her to put down a deposit because these go quickly, and that they can get the car in three weeks. "Great, signed, sealed, delivered," she shares. Tilley requested a printout of the out-the-door price, including taxes and registration costs. The dealership passed over the printout, and Tilley was ready to sign—until the salesperson started backtracking. The woman asked whether the deposit would be taken immediately, but the salesperson said it would only be charged if they could get the car. "Excuse me, if you get the car? I thought we’d already talked to the other dealer, and we were getting the car in three weeks. Now you want me to put down a deposit on a car that you may or may not get?" she confronts. The salesperson then tries to bait-and-switch her by asking if she is interested in any other models. She tells him that she’s open to other colors but not other models or trim packages. Tilley then requests a copy of the full price breakdown with the out-the-door price. "I can’t give you that," the Toyota salesperson says, adding that she could take the full price breakdown to another dealership to negotiate with them. Tilley was hesitant to proceed without anything in writing. The Toyota salesperson tried to save the deal by offering to write down the price on a piece of paper for her. "I can also write it down on a piece of paper," she responded, adding that simply writing down the number offered no guarantees that the price would be honored. After more back-and-forth, Tilley picked up the filled-out deposit slip with her information and ripped it up. ‘You Owe The Salesman Nothing’ Car salespeople haven’t earned the best reputation among everyday buyers. We all know car salespeople work on commission, so some will pull tricks to try to land deals in their favor. In a recent interview with Motor1, Tilley shares her thoughts on the salesperson strategy. She says she believes the salesman tried to pull off bait-and-switch tactics because "unfortunately the use of AI chat bots has increased the manipulative tactics of car salesmen, as they are able to mass communicate with potential buyers, without repercussions, and I was on the receiving end of that." She advises other customers faced with these tactics to "be willing to walk away the moment it doesn't feel right. Don't feel pressured. You owe the salesman nothing." Regarding her own purchase, she says she is unsure whether she still intends to buy a Toyota. "I was incredibly disappointed in the lying and manipulation, when I was ready to buy a car then and there," she says. "There was no need for the games. I knew exactly what car I wanted and was ready to buy it. I may still buy the same car, but not through that dealership." She concludes, "It's intimidating to try and negotiate for a car, home, large purchase, especially as we rarely have extensive experience in these unique purchases. Car salesmen should take the time to educate, rather than manipulate the customer." AI Chatbots Follow-up As Tilley mentioned, she says she was dealing with an AI communication system after her visit to her dealership. She mentions the use of AI chatbots in parts 2 and 3 of her TikTok series. The representative that Tilley believes to be an AI chatbot kept ignoring her direct requests. Tilley demanded that the car be sold for $40,000 and that she’d come back if they actually had the car. The text thread goes in circles and avoids acknowledging the negotiated price Tilley suggested. Eventually, a real salesperson pops in with a message saying they’re Conrad from Toyota. Tilley replied, asking who she was even talking to the entire time. "It’s been me all along," the text reads. But the damage was done, as the suspected chatbot implied Tilley was being emotional for being firm on pricing and calling out lies the dealership allegedly told. In parts 4 and 5, Tilley reveals that the dealership finally backed off from contacting her. Tilley continued to try to negotiate the price over text message, but the numbers the dealership gave weren’t adding up. The first salesperson mentions that negotiating is only done in person and stops replying to Tilley. Another salesperson decides to shoot her shot just to ghost Tilley after she tries to negotiate via text. After this straightforward message, the Toyota dealership stopped contacting her. "Toyota, all I’m trying to do is just buy a 4Runner. Your guys worry by locking in a price that I was going to shop it around other dealerships, and you were going to lose me as a customer. Unfortunately, by refusing to give me a price, you have lost me as a customer," she concludes. All things considered, Tilley was ready to purchase a 4Runner, but is now drifting away from Toyota after these interactions. What Should You Do When A Dealership Tries To Bait-and-Switch You? Being stuck in the middle of a bait-and-switch with a dealership is never ideal. "Bait-and-switch" refers to the advertising practice that swindles people into a low-priced product just for the promotion and encourages buying a higher-priced item. In the auto industry, this is done by luring in potential buyers with a low-priced vehicle, then switching up the buying options once they arrive at the dealership. For example, Tilley went into the dealership thinking a particular 4Runner was available, only for the worker to say it was unavailable and suggest a more expensive version on the lot. During this tactic, dealership salespeople can become more aggressive in negotiations and apply pressure to make a deal. However, this can be considered auto fraud. Each scenario will vary by case, but generally speaking, a lawsuit can take place when the dealership falsely advertises a price or unavailable product and then tries to sell you a higher-priced vehicle. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) considers this tactic illegal. "An illegal bait-and-switch generally requires a falsely advertised price or unavailable product. It’s not necessarily illegal if a dealership advertises a low price on only one vehicle and sells that vehicle," per LawInfo. So, when dealing with dealerships trying to pull this off, LawInfo suggests reading the fine print of the advertisement, inquiring about sales exceptions and rules, being wary if the car that brought you in isn’t in the dealership lot, and getting the out-the-door price in writing before signing. Additionally, as Tilley mentions, you can always walk away if any suspicious activity occurs. How To Recognize If You Are Talking To A Chatbot With the advancements of AI technology and language learning modes, AI chatbots are on the rise. This automation service doesn’t require a human to answer support questions. Companies are implementing these technologies to cut labor costs. However, the customer experience suffers and becomes more frustrating. As Tilley showcased in her TikTok series, AI-generated responses lack social awareness and ignore requests. It can be quite frustrating dealing with a computer program instead of a human being when needing service. Chatbots use a specific set of information and only have a finite number of options to respond to customer requests. To break an AI chatbot out of a pattern of answers, users on Reddit suggested asking the chatbot for the date. Others on the forum mention that saying "potato" will throw off the chatbot's response. From here, the broken conversation will either return to the original question or inform the customer that it cannot compute what is going on. According to BotSurfer, here are eight additional moves to break the chatbot pattern. Request the chatbot to start over. Use filler language. Ask about the display button on the screen. Don’t select pre-determined text options. Explicitly ask for assistance or help. Use non-traditional answers when replying. Tell the chatbot goodbye. Ask unique and odd questions. Once the chatbot pattern is broken and it struggles to answer the question, you know there isn’t a human. From here, it will be best to pursue the service request via email, phone, or social media channels. Motor1 has contacted Toyota corporate and Manhattan Beach Toyota via online contact form. We will update this story if they respond. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team