Even though I got a lot of people signed in and helped maintain the unofficial "outside" list pretty much all of the previous day, I was not able to police the entire line of 97 people, nor did I have any interest in attempting to do so. After meeting with a sales manager, I had gone home to get ready for the next morning, but on "Red Carpet Day" after I'd given them my deposit and received my receipt showing that I was #3 on the official list for an ERay allocation, I talked with a friend who'd been further back in the line the night before and learned there had been some problems.
Rather than recount our personal conversation, here are some online quotes written by others who were there and witnessed the behavior.
"We arrived and got a number at the door... That was an unofficial number by one of the people at the front of the line and the dealer was not going based on that. When they opened the door a few people definitely cut in the line by dopple-ganging toward the front and sneaking in but relatively in order after that."
Your unofficial list "helped maintain order most of the night for sure but people were really upset when their final number shuffled around a little from what the outside list had them at. My group was behind another out of state group so we stuck behind them the whole night. There was a weird moment where the whole line shifted forward like 25-30 feet but then everyone had to shift backwards and everyone got a little shuffled. +/-5-6 spots. Not a huge deal.
Led to some bickering this morning so I think some people were confused on that at door list being the final list. Everyone in the middle pack in the shuffle seems to have moved up 5 spots but some guy must have moved up 6 and another dude threw a massive rant this morning about only moving up 5. Probably low sleep and high caffeine."
Note: You're more forgiving than I would have been. The first-ever ERay allocations were matched with orders on September 28th, and it's my understanding that MacMulkin received seven of them. That means if this had happened to me (being pushed back 5-6 spots), I would have missed the first allocation cycle that I worked so hard to get into (see the previous posts in this series). That would have been a huge deal to me, but of course, people are in different situations. This will almost certainly cause people down the line to miss at least one allocation cycle, though, pushing their Corvette ERay deliveries back by a month.
A quote from someone responding to the previous post:
"My intention was to leave it alone, but probably should be said.
The bickering was minimal. Those that moved ahead of those that waited in the cold longer were likely aware of it. The people that were 'cut' last night spoke up and were ignored by those that were doing the cutting. The people that were cut were the bigger people - could and should have made more of a stink.
'+/-5-6 spots. Not a huge deal'
Personally it took me down 10 spots. Really, not a big deal but it's a principle thing. Those that knew they jumped ahead and knew it were childish to not correct it, and those that were jumped ahead of were made to feel like ****..
We all stood there long enough to know where we were
/rant over"
It deeply saddens me to know this happened outside — among Corvette enthusiasts no less. I'm sure the guy who started the unofficial list was trying to prevent exactly this kind of thing. One more quote about this...
"Like I said there was a block of people in front and behind us that stuck together in sequence. If someone's cutting they are cutting more then 5 I would think. And going back to my point that the dealer was not using the man made list so when we got to the front of the dealer line after 2-3 hours and they are like you are number X and its 5 below what someone outside gave you 2 hours ago...there's no real way to prevent some fluctuation. If you look at the picture before the door opened officially...people had moved from single file to clumps of 3-4 and the last person who was almost at the end of the building was now half way up.
Ultimately the dealer handled it fantastically by assigning numbers the night before."
I agree that MacMulkin did a great job, and they certainly created a media event for themselves and a very fun time for the depositors the next day. This quote is from someone who wasn't on our unofficial list and instead went there on Deposit Day:
"I arrived at MM at 510am today. When I first arrived, I didn't see anyone. I drove around the building and still couldn't find a line. I parked in the first space closest to the door. I was prepared to sit outside till 8AM, brought artic gear, chair, coffee and a cigar 😀 . I walked into the building was met by a sales agent that asked what I was there for, I was then forwarded 50 feet to another agent who entered my info into the computer and reviewed my info and paperwork. I was given a number #119, and told to return at 830 to present my check. I had no where to go so I hung around speaking to some guys.
MM had coffee, donuts, waters and cookies the entire time I was there. At 8:30ish, my number was called, I then went upstairs to the corvette showroom. The line was around 1/2 the showroom. I was there for appox 45min. The line was wrapped around 6 Z06's so we all got a great look 😁 I gave my check and paperwork to a sales person, they added me to the database and handed me a slip of paper that had my number on it, a signature, and TY for your deposit on an Eray.
I really want to thank MM for a job well done. They obviously thought the entire process out fully, and my complete TY for a easy transaction. I never had to sit in the cold, had refreshments, bath facilities and a comfortable place to sit inside. I almost didn't go, but am so happy now... Thank You MacMulkin!!!!"
Thank you to the owners of MacMulkin and the entire Corvette sales staff in Nashua, NH for organizing such a great event!
Also, a personal message from me to the guys who intentionally jumped the line.
One thing you could do to help make things right is request refunds from MacMulkin and drop off their ERay list. You jumped ahead of people who had made the effort to be in line before you, so you stole their time, and more importantly, you stole their allocations.
If you don't drop off the list, you should do the Corvette community a service and defer at least the first couple of allocations you're offered to allow the people you jumped ahead of to regain their rightful place on the list. Should you do neither of these things, I suspect every time you look at your ERay, you'll remember what you did and feel guilty enough that it takes away some enjoyment from owning and driving the car. If your conscience is totally clear, you need to search your heart and decide if that's the type of person you want to continue to be.
Note: I personally do not know who or how many people jumped the line, and that's why I've used photos in which faces are not recognizable. The photos here do not point to anybody in particular but just serve to show what the line looked like at three random points in time.
Comments
Add comment