Chicago Taste of Lexus--total chaos!
09-09-07, 10:29 AM
#1
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Chicago Taste of Lexus--total chaos!
My wife and I went to Arlington Heights (Chicago suburb) yesterday (9/8/07) to attend the Taste of Lexus event and expected the same type of deluxe and quality venues that Lexus rolled out in the previous years. We were absolutely stunned how much they changed the system and it was a total chaos from registration to test-driving the cars to getting food. The bulk of the blame had to go to the management team Lexus hired to manage this event. They didn't know which end was up. Some of the girls who worked there seemed to be fresh out of high school and showed a total lack of knowledge of Lexus and the products. Many attendees were so frustrated with the event and the system they implemented, they literally were cussing out Lexus. Of course those people who worked there got the blunt of it. The worst part was this reflected on Lexus and tarnished the Lexus image.
If you are registered to attend any of the upcoming events in your city, suggest you don't even waste your time to go because it was not worth the terrible hassle attendees had to go thru.
Here's a rundown of how it went yesterday:
Parking & Registration
Since they had very limited parking up front, most people had to park all the way in the back lot. There was no sign in the back lot directing people where to go from there or where the registration booth was. People were wandering all over the parking lot trying to figure things. We went in thru the back door of one of the tents and the staff there didn't know where the front registration office was at. After asking 4 different staff and wasting 20 minutes, we were finally directed to the front office to register.
Smart Card
Each person was given a Smart Card. This was our "passport" to test drive and to receive food.
Test Drive Registration
In previous events the past years and after you signed the waiver at the front desk, you just lined up in the test drive tents and qued up the car you wanted to drive. Simple, fast and convenient. Not anymore. This management team had the bright idea to "speed" things up by requiring each driver to pre-register for the test drive time slot of your car. You can only sign up one slot and one car at one time at a kiosk. Not only that, attendees couldn't go to a "central" tent to sign up for all the cars available--you had to go to 3 different tents to do that. To make matters worse, people were jammed up in those small tents waiting in line for their names to appear in the monitor before proceeding to the actual test drive area.
When your time slot comes up on a monitor, you are given a card at the door that shows the model of the car you are test driving. You take this card to the test drive lot at the track and the guy there will take that card away when your turn comes up. Even if no one is waiting in line for another car you want to test drive, you have to go all the way back in the tent to register at the kiosk. Total stupidity.
Food
Lexus was known for rolling out some nice quality food and plenty of choices in their food tent during these events in the past. Not anymore. Your Smart Card allows you one serving only at either the French or Italian eatery. We had no issue with this "one serving" requirement but we expected better quality of food from Lexus. We went to the French Bistro expecting some French cuisine but what we got was two bite size Angus beef burgers and some lamb dish and the worst was the food was cold. Our conclusion was you could get better choices and hotter food out of a high school cafeteria.
Of all the people we talked with while queing up in the registration tents or the test drive tents, everyone criticised this new process. Not one expressed any desire to come back again next year. I know my wife and I definitely will not be back next year. Of the approx 2.5 hours we spent there, 1 hour was wasted from the tedious test-drive registration process. As far as we are concerned and many who attended, Lexus definitely got an "F" for this event.
If you are registered to attend any of the upcoming events in your city, suggest you don't even waste your time to go because it was not worth the terrible hassle attendees had to go thru.
Here's a rundown of how it went yesterday:
Parking & Registration
Since they had very limited parking up front, most people had to park all the way in the back lot. There was no sign in the back lot directing people where to go from there or where the registration booth was. People were wandering all over the parking lot trying to figure things. We went in thru the back door of one of the tents and the staff there didn't know where the front registration office was at. After asking 4 different staff and wasting 20 minutes, we were finally directed to the front office to register.
Smart Card
Each person was given a Smart Card. This was our "passport" to test drive and to receive food.
Test Drive Registration
In previous events the past years and after you signed the waiver at the front desk, you just lined up in the test drive tents and qued up the car you wanted to drive. Simple, fast and convenient. Not anymore. This management team had the bright idea to "speed" things up by requiring each driver to pre-register for the test drive time slot of your car. You can only sign up one slot and one car at one time at a kiosk. Not only that, attendees couldn't go to a "central" tent to sign up for all the cars available--you had to go to 3 different tents to do that. To make matters worse, people were jammed up in those small tents waiting in line for their names to appear in the monitor before proceeding to the actual test drive area.
When your time slot comes up on a monitor, you are given a card at the door that shows the model of the car you are test driving. You take this card to the test drive lot at the track and the guy there will take that card away when your turn comes up. Even if no one is waiting in line for another car you want to test drive, you have to go all the way back in the tent to register at the kiosk. Total stupidity.
Food
Lexus was known for rolling out some nice quality food and plenty of choices in their food tent during these events in the past. Not anymore. Your Smart Card allows you one serving only at either the French or Italian eatery. We had no issue with this "one serving" requirement but we expected better quality of food from Lexus. We went to the French Bistro expecting some French cuisine but what we got was two bite size Angus beef burgers and some lamb dish and the worst was the food was cold. Our conclusion was you could get better choices and hotter food out of a high school cafeteria.
Of all the people we talked with while queing up in the registration tents or the test drive tents, everyone criticised this new process. Not one expressed any desire to come back again next year. I know my wife and I definitely will not be back next year. Of the approx 2.5 hours we spent there, 1 hour was wasted from the tedious test-drive registration process. As far as we are concerned and many who attended, Lexus definitely got an "F" for this event.
09-09-07, 11:44 AM
#3
I was there yesterday too and LexusPia was right on with his description of the event. It was total chaos. Lexus definitely didn't win any points for changing the process. They need to go back to the previous company that used to managed the Lexus event which was done well. We were also disappointed that Lexus didn't have any parting little gifts we could take home as they have done in the past. We won't attend this and any of other Lexus events in the future since we have better things to do with our time.
09-09-07, 05:15 PM
#4
Super Moderator
Parking was not a problem for me personally, I was about 20 spaces down in the third row from the entrance. But we arrived at 10:30 and it did seem quite crowded by the time we left, so I can understand people's complaints there.
I did find the waits for some of the more popular cars (IS350, SC430, LS600hL) to be a bit longish, but other than that didn't mind the reservation process at all. You do NOT have to register for a particular car in its designated portal. I would have thought that much would have been obvious to everyone when you scanned your card and 10 different models were available, as opposed to the 3/4 in the portal you're currently at. For example, I registered for the LS460 at the Performance portal, and the SC430 at the Hybrid portal. If the line was long in one portal, I just went to another to register. Never had to wait in a line more than 3 people deep all day. Further, you don't HAVE to wait in a particular portal for your name to show up on a screen. Just go there 5 minutes before your appointment, get your card and go. Unless you can't remember what time your appointment is, then I guess you would have to stare at the monitor until your turn comes up.
All told, we spent about 3 hours there, drove 7 cars (IS250, IS350, GS350, GS450h, SC430, LS460L, LS600hL), and could have walked on to the ES350 line without registering as apparently nobody wanted to drive a camry.
When we registered for something with a longish wait (SC430 for myself and my father in law, IS350 for a friend I brought), we went to lunch and then went for the drive.
We went to the Cucina as opposed to the Bistro, and got the Flat Iron Steak. Although the portion was somewhat on the small side and the steak was barely warm, the steak, salad and fruit all tasted fantastic. The honey roasted peanuts in Cinema Lexus were also amazing, the dried bananas not so much.
As for the parting gifts, for those of us who read the original thread on the event, we knew they wouldn't be giving them out. Since hybrids and eco-friendliness was order of the day this year, they spent the budget that would have gone for the gifts on planting trees instead. Personally I'm perfectly fine with that instead of getting a free keychain or whatever that I probably wouldn't use anyway.
Overall I enjoyed myself quite well, although I don't have previous events to gauge the experience against. I would definitely go again, even though I did get yelled at once this time. Apparently they don't like it if you hang the LS460L's tail out in corners.
I did find the waits for some of the more popular cars (IS350, SC430, LS600hL) to be a bit longish, but other than that didn't mind the reservation process at all. You do NOT have to register for a particular car in its designated portal. I would have thought that much would have been obvious to everyone when you scanned your card and 10 different models were available, as opposed to the 3/4 in the portal you're currently at. For example, I registered for the LS460 at the Performance portal, and the SC430 at the Hybrid portal. If the line was long in one portal, I just went to another to register. Never had to wait in a line more than 3 people deep all day. Further, you don't HAVE to wait in a particular portal for your name to show up on a screen. Just go there 5 minutes before your appointment, get your card and go. Unless you can't remember what time your appointment is, then I guess you would have to stare at the monitor until your turn comes up.
All told, we spent about 3 hours there, drove 7 cars (IS250, IS350, GS350, GS450h, SC430, LS460L, LS600hL), and could have walked on to the ES350 line without registering as apparently nobody wanted to drive a camry.
When we registered for something with a longish wait (SC430 for myself and my father in law, IS350 for a friend I brought), we went to lunch and then went for the drive.We went to the Cucina as opposed to the Bistro, and got the Flat Iron Steak. Although the portion was somewhat on the small side and the steak was barely warm, the steak, salad and fruit all tasted fantastic. The honey roasted peanuts in Cinema Lexus were also amazing, the dried bananas not so much.
As for the parting gifts, for those of us who read the original thread on the event, we knew they wouldn't be giving them out. Since hybrids and eco-friendliness was order of the day this year, they spent the budget that would have gone for the gifts on planting trees instead. Personally I'm perfectly fine with that instead of getting a free keychain or whatever that I probably wouldn't use anyway.
Overall I enjoyed myself quite well, although I don't have previous events to gauge the experience against. I would definitely go again, even though I did get yelled at once this time. Apparently they don't like it if you hang the LS460L's tail out in corners.
Last edited by geko29; 09-09-07 at 05:21 PM.
09-09-07, 06:15 PM
#5
umm i guess someone went completely wrong with the chicago event huh? this is sad, it went very well in the cali one. i am surprised that the staff were so bad, maybe they didn't have enough training. the staff at the cali event was pretty good (not very good i have to add, but not bad)
one thing you got it wrong is that you can sign up for any drive in any of the 3 tent, you don't have to go to particular one to sign up. you only have to go to the specific tent when your appointment is up (unless they change this setting)
i definitely hope lexus reads this and continue to improve on what happens
one thing you got it wrong is that you can sign up for any drive in any of the 3 tent, you don't have to go to particular one to sign up. you only have to go to the specific tent when your appointment is up (unless they change this setting)
i definitely hope lexus reads this and continue to improve on what happens
Makes me think twice about attending the upcoming event in NJ.
But you get plenty of free water 
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09-10-07, 06:33 AM
#8
Pole Position
I went to the Evening Edition on Saturday and I thought I would share my impressions.
Got there early and there was no problem with parking in front but I can see where if it was busy the parking behind the area would be problematic. Last year they had plenty of parking to the side of the main entrance.
No issue with smart cards for this event as they used tickets in the evening. They opened up the event and everyone streamed to the IS-F area. It was down. Some problem with the dyno. It took them 45 minutes and they still weren't able to "fix" it. During that time people had plenty of time to stare and get pictures or go drive on the driving course if they wanted. Apparently they were having a problem with the dyno drum brake or the connection to the PC (I heard both explanations). They finally got it to a point where they decided that they would offer rides in the passenger seat but we couldn't "drive" it (for insurance reasons). Once I got my turn I have to say it was not too exciting sitting in the passenger seat.
First hand impressions of the IS-F itself were mixed. The car looked better from most angles than I expected. The hood only really looks odd from one angle. The front tire gap is larger than the blue prototype and is not proportional to the rear (rear sits lower). The wheels looked great. I was able to ignore the exhaust though I still think it looks hideous. Here's hoping for a Lexus branded rear valence and exhaust to fix that day one. The exhaust of the IS-F didn't sound as low and menacing as the AMG vehicles but was "tastefully loud". The interior looked great though I do wonder how the white seats will hold up. I am a sad panda because of the loss of the middle "seat" in back and the, apparent, loss of ventilated seats in front.
IS-F performance on the dyno was quite interesting. I don't know what if any effect the issue with the drum had on performance but the IS-F accelerated to 100-110 much more quickly than I expected. I'm talking seriously fast company here. I don't know if it's because the drum wasn't providing the right kind of resistance but let's just say the runs were much quicker than we saw in the CA event and I heard the IS-F hit the rev limiter several times. Throttle blips on down shifts sounded great!
Back to the event itself, the driving course was short but cool. They let you have some fun so long as you slowed it down when you got back to the staging area. Several people blew threw the stop and were a bit fast coming back into the staging area. The LS600hL is awesome. My wife loved the car but I don't see being able to justify *that* anytime soon. She liked driving it more than sitting in back too. :-D
Not having the competitors cars there is a major negative in my book. It's a sign of confidence in your vehicles and makes it more worthwhile as a driving experience. Sure I could dealer hop to try them all out but there was something really compelling about just jumping into them back-to-back-to-back.
It was a beautiful evening for the event with weather in the low 70's and the event was not crowded at all. I was shocked at how few people were actually there. There were no outright jerks there but some folks could use a refresher on manners and behavior in this type of environment. Only a handful but it does harm the image of the event (do all your kids really need to come and eat here)? Speaking of food it was marginal vs. previous years. IMO If you are going to bother to have food make it good or get rid of it completely and just have desserts/snacks that are outstanding.
Overall impressions were that I would be surprised to see Lexus do anything "special" like an evening edition for Chicago again based on the low turnout. Not actually being able to get in and "drive" the IS-F was a real downer. The event wasn't up to par with previous years for several reasons. It was nice to go out with the wife but if I had known ahead of time how it would play out I would have gone to a movie with her instead and waited to read more about the IS-F later. This event didn't make me passionate for the car. Rather it simply reinforced my "show me" attitude. (But beware of this car if the dyno was working as it should. It was seriously quick to 100 on that dyno).
One last comment. There were rumors that journalists got to drive the car at the CA event. True? Also that others would be getting a drive "soon/now". Embargoes on the information might be until December for First Drives and pricing and HP may not be announced until Detroit. All rumors so treat them as such.
Got there early and there was no problem with parking in front but I can see where if it was busy the parking behind the area would be problematic. Last year they had plenty of parking to the side of the main entrance.
No issue with smart cards for this event as they used tickets in the evening. They opened up the event and everyone streamed to the IS-F area. It was down. Some problem with the dyno. It took them 45 minutes and they still weren't able to "fix" it. During that time people had plenty of time to stare and get pictures or go drive on the driving course if they wanted. Apparently they were having a problem with the dyno drum brake or the connection to the PC (I heard both explanations). They finally got it to a point where they decided that they would offer rides in the passenger seat but we couldn't "drive" it (for insurance reasons). Once I got my turn I have to say it was not too exciting sitting in the passenger seat.
First hand impressions of the IS-F itself were mixed. The car looked better from most angles than I expected. The hood only really looks odd from one angle. The front tire gap is larger than the blue prototype and is not proportional to the rear (rear sits lower). The wheels looked great. I was able to ignore the exhaust though I still think it looks hideous. Here's hoping for a Lexus branded rear valence and exhaust to fix that day one. The exhaust of the IS-F didn't sound as low and menacing as the AMG vehicles but was "tastefully loud". The interior looked great though I do wonder how the white seats will hold up. I am a sad panda because of the loss of the middle "seat" in back and the, apparent, loss of ventilated seats in front.
IS-F performance on the dyno was quite interesting. I don't know what if any effect the issue with the drum had on performance but the IS-F accelerated to 100-110 much more quickly than I expected. I'm talking seriously fast company here. I don't know if it's because the drum wasn't providing the right kind of resistance but let's just say the runs were much quicker than we saw in the CA event and I heard the IS-F hit the rev limiter several times. Throttle blips on down shifts sounded great!
Back to the event itself, the driving course was short but cool. They let you have some fun so long as you slowed it down when you got back to the staging area. Several people blew threw the stop and were a bit fast coming back into the staging area. The LS600hL is awesome. My wife loved the car but I don't see being able to justify *that* anytime soon. She liked driving it more than sitting in back too. :-D
Not having the competitors cars there is a major negative in my book. It's a sign of confidence in your vehicles and makes it more worthwhile as a driving experience. Sure I could dealer hop to try them all out but there was something really compelling about just jumping into them back-to-back-to-back.
It was a beautiful evening for the event with weather in the low 70's and the event was not crowded at all. I was shocked at how few people were actually there. There were no outright jerks there but some folks could use a refresher on manners and behavior in this type of environment. Only a handful but it does harm the image of the event (do all your kids really need to come and eat here)? Speaking of food it was marginal vs. previous years. IMO If you are going to bother to have food make it good or get rid of it completely and just have desserts/snacks that are outstanding.
Overall impressions were that I would be surprised to see Lexus do anything "special" like an evening edition for Chicago again based on the low turnout. Not actually being able to get in and "drive" the IS-F was a real downer. The event wasn't up to par with previous years for several reasons. It was nice to go out with the wife but if I had known ahead of time how it would play out I would have gone to a movie with her instead and waited to read more about the IS-F later. This event didn't make me passionate for the car. Rather it simply reinforced my "show me" attitude. (But beware of this car if the dyno was working as it should. It was seriously quick to 100 on that dyno).
One last comment. There were rumors that journalists got to drive the car at the CA event. True? Also that others would be getting a drive "soon/now". Embargoes on the information might be until December for First Drives and pricing and HP may not be announced until Detroit. All rumors so treat them as such.
09-10-07, 05:55 PM
#10
Pole Position
Thread Starter
We were there around 12:30pm. At the orientation, the girl told us if we wanted to drive all the vehicles there, we would have to register for them at 3 different tents. We went to the Hybrid tent and the only choice at the kiosk was the hybrid cars. The couple in front of us wanted to register a different non-hybrid car for the test drive and they were told by the staff to go to another tent. We were complaining to the staff there about this ridiculous test-drive reservation system and she said the whole intention behind this elaborate registration was to speed up the process but she admitted the opposite happened creating nothing but delays, long lines and huge frustration with attendees. In fact at times the lines were so long and crowded in the small tents that people hardly have any standing room inside, let alone room to see the car on display.
As I said in the earlier posting, the worst part was the back and forth between test-drive area and the registration tents and the wait in between your designated time. My wife wanted to drive the ES350 after test driving another vehicle. No one was waiting inline to drive the two ES there but we were told politely we had to go back to the tent to register for them first.
Normally they would display upcoming new vehicles (at least in past events), e.g. the redesigned RX due out very soon, the new LX570, ...... but there was nothing except the new IS-F. It was really a watered down show that didn't fit the Lexus image especially when the previous shows were so nicely done. As far as we were concerned, the show was a total disappointment.
As I said in the earlier posting, the worst part was the back and forth between test-drive area and the registration tents and the wait in between your designated time. My wife wanted to drive the ES350 after test driving another vehicle. No one was waiting inline to drive the two ES there but we were told politely we had to go back to the tent to register for them first.
Normally they would display upcoming new vehicles (at least in past events), e.g. the redesigned RX due out very soon, the new LX570, ...... but there was nothing except the new IS-F. It was really a watered down show that didn't fit the Lexus image especially when the previous shows were so nicely done. As far as we were concerned, the show was a total disappointment.
09-10-07, 10:04 PM
#11
Lexus Connoisseur
Just to clarify...
One last comment. There were rumors that journalists got to drive the car at the CA event. True? Also that others would be getting a drive "soon/now". Embargoes on the information might be until December for First Drives and pricing and HP may not be announced until Detroit. All rumors so treat them as such.
The press event test drive for this event will be next month in October right before SEMA. Embargo time set for the press to drive the IS-F is October 2007.
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07-06-17 08:35 AM
