Opinion ID: 764083
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The subscription agreement

Text: 7 When interested car buyers access ABT's web site, they are asked to identify the model of the vehicle that they wish to purchase and the zip code where they live. ABT uses this information to connect the potential car buyer with a dealership in his or her area, but does not provide the customer with the dealership's name. Instead, it provides customer referrals to participating dealerships with whom ABT has subscription agreements. The dealerships then contact these potential customers and quote them a price on the requested vehicle. 8 Participating dealerships pay a start-up fee and monthly subscription fees to ABT. In order to receive internet customer referrals from ABT, the participating dealerships must agree to display the ABT logo on print advertisements, to designate an employee to be trained by ABT, to give ABT-referred customers seven days to purchase the requested vehicle at the price quoted during the initial contact, and to conform to ABT's Customer Service Standards. 9 ABT's Customer Service Standards include a phone-contact script that dealerships must use when working with customers referred by ABT. The phone procedure includes language designed to draw customers' attention to the convenience of the Auto-By-Tel buying process. For example, dealership representatives contacting customers for the first time are instructed to ask [a]ren't you glad that you don't have to go through the old process of buying a car with all of the hassles, stress, and wasted time? Some of the language is of the hard-sell variety, apparently aimed at preventing customers from using the price that they are quoted by telephone to barter with other dealerships. For example, the procedure advises the following response to a hesitant customer: 10 Please be aware that our competition is fearful of this program because it is so successful. They will do just about anything, including quoting you an unrealistic price, to lure you into the dealership and then subject you to the same abuse you've probably experienced in the past. Doesn't it make more sense to do business with the people who respected you enough to give you the real price in the first place rather than wasting hours of your time in the hopes of saving a few more dollars? 11 (emphasis in original). 12 ABT also provides subscribing dealerships with a description of the average customer who shops for a car through the internet. The ABT guidelines advise dealerships that their internet-using customers have greater access to information than many other customers, and instruct the dealerships on how to interact with them. 13 Nowhere in the guidelines does ABT indicate what price a dealership should quote for the selected vehicle. ABT does not prescribe a dealership's hours of operation, product lines, or inventory practices. It does not inspect a dealership's records or financial statements.