ALME Lead Return & Quality Policy

Last Updated: October 19, 2026

At Auto Leads Made Easy (ALME), our goal is simple: deliver fresh, real, phone verified automotive buyers to dealerships and sales teams while maintaining a lead program that is fair, sustainable, and profitable for both sides.

We understand that no lead source is perfect. People change their minds, stop answering their phones, become unavailable, or may not be ready to purchase when your sales team reaches out. That does not automatically make a lead invalid.

Our return policy is designed to distinguish between a genuine lead quality issue and a customer who simply has not yet responded to your sales team.

1. Every ALME Lead Is Phone Verified

Our leads are generated through our first party lead generation systems and are phone verified through OTP verification.

This means the customer has successfully verified that they have access to the submitted phone number. Our system is designed to confirm that the phone number is active and belongs to the person submitting the inquiry.

This is important. A customer not answering your first call does not mean the phone number is bad. People may:

• Be working
• Be driving
• Be with family
• Be in a meeting
• Be sleeping
• Not recognize the incoming number
• Prefer text messaging
• Be temporarily unavailable
• Have received multiple dealership calls and need additional follow up

If the number has successfully passed our verification process, the lead is considered a valid lead even if the customer does not immediately answer your call.

2. Contacting the Customer Properly Matters

Automotive leads should never be treated as a single phone call. If a customer does not answer your first call, we strongly recommend following up through SMS and additional calls before determining that the customer is unreachable.

A verified phone number means the customer successfully verified access to that number when submitting the lead. However, that does not guarantee they will answer every call, especially when your dealership number is unfamiliar or has been flagged as spam.

⚠️ One Major Issue Dealers Need to Be Aware Of

We have seen this become a significant issue in automotive lead follow up: your dealership phone number may show up as “Spam,” “Scam Likely,” or an unfamiliar number on the customer’s phone.

This can happen because wireless carriers and spam detection systems continuously evaluate phone numbers based on calling patterns, customer reports, call volume, and other signals. As a result, a customer may ignore your call even though they submitted a legitimate request and are genuinely interested in purchasing a vehicle.

Your sales team should therefore not assume: “They didn’t answer, so it’s a bad lead.” Instead, build a proper contact strategy.

Recommended Contact Sequence

Call → SMS → Call → Follow Up → SMS → Call → Appointment Attempt

The exact frequency should be based on your dealership’s sales process and applicable communication laws, but the key is simple: don’t give up after one call.

Example SMS

Hi John, this is Mike from ABC Motors. You recently requested information about financing a vehicle. I wanted to make sure I connect you with the right vehicle and payment options. What time works best for a quick conversation?

Many automotive buyers will respond to an SMS even when they don’t answer an unfamiliar phone number.

Consider Your Phone Number Strategy

If your dealership’s number is repeatedly being identified as spam, your connection rate can suffer significantly. Dealerships should monitor how their outbound numbers are appearing on customers’ phones and work with their phone provider or communications platform to address legitimate spam labeling issues.

Where appropriate and compliant with your phone system and applicable laws, dealerships may also consider using properly configured additional business numbers rather than relying on one outbound number for every salesperson and every campaign. Do not simply rotate numbers to bypass carrier spam systems. The goal is to maintain legitimate, properly identified business communication, not to evade spam detection.

The ALME Recommendation

Before marking an ALME lead as “unreachable” or “bad,” make sure your team has:

• ✓ Called the customer
• ✓ Sent an appropriate SMS
• ✓ Attempted additional calls
• ✓ Left a voicemail when appropriate
• ✓ Followed the dealership’s BDC follow up process
• ✓ Checked whether the dealership number is being flagged as spam
• ✓ Made a reasonable appointment attempt

A customer not answering the first call is not evidence that the lead is invalid. The lead should be evaluated against the original lead requirements and verification criteria, not simply whether the customer answered the salesperson’s first call.

3. Real Time Lead Delivery

Our leads are transferred to your designated inbox or CRM in real time whenever the applicable integration is active and functioning properly. These are customers who have recently taken an action indicating automotive purchase intent. The customer may have:

• Requested financing information
• Requested vehicle information
• Started an application
• Requested a vehicle
• Expressed interest in purchasing
• Submitted information through an automotive funnel

Because the customer has recently taken an action, these leads should be treated as active opportunities. Speed matters. The faster your team responds, the better the opportunity to connect with the customer while the buying intent is still fresh.

4. When Can You Request a Lead Return?

We want to accommodate legitimate issues whenever possible. A lead may qualify for a return or replacement when it clearly falls within one of the following categories.

A. Incorrect Geographic Location

If you specifically ordered leads for a particular city, region, province, state, postal code, ZIP code, or defined geographic area, and ALME mistakenly delivers a lead outside the agreed geographic criteria, you may request a return.

Example:

• You ordered: Vancouver, BC
• The lead submitted: Calgary, Alberta

If the lead clearly falls outside the agreed geographic targeting, it may qualify for return.

Important: The geographic criteria must be clearly established before the order is placed. If you purchase leads for a broader geographic area, you cannot return a lead simply because it is farther away than your sales team prefers.

5. Zero Income

A lead may qualify for return when the customer clearly indicates that they have zero income and the lead was purchased under an income qualified campaign where income was part of the agreed criteria.

For example:

If the campaign requires verified income and the customer indicates $0 monthly income, the dealership may submit the lead for review.

However, if the customer has income from employment, self employment, benefits, pension, or another legitimate source, the lead may still be considered valid depending on the campaign requirements.

6. Credit Score Below 400

A lead may qualify for return if the customer clearly indicates a credit score below 400, provided the campaign was purchased with a specific minimum credit requirement.

For example, a customer who reports a credit score of 350 may qualify for review.

However, dealerships should understand that credit score information provided by customers is not necessarily equivalent to a lender’s actual credit bureau decision. A customer who reports a low credit score may still have financing options depending on:

• Income
• Employment
• Down payment
• Vehicle
• Term
• Lender guidelines
• Debt obligations
• Overall credit profile

For this reason, a low credit score does not automatically mean the customer cannot be financed.

7. Retired Customers Are Not Automatically Returnable

Retired customers are not considered invalid leads simply because they are retired. Retired buyers can represent excellent automotive opportunities. Many retired customers have:

• Strong credit
• Significant savings
• Pension income
• Investment income
• Home equity
• Low debt
• Stable financial circumstances
• Ability to purchase vehicles without traditional employment

In many situations, retired customers can actually be easier to approve than younger buyers. Therefore: retired does not equal invalid. A lead cannot be returned solely because the customer is retired.

8. A Customer Not Answering the Phone Is NOT a Bad Lead

This is one of the most important parts of our policy. If a customer does not answer the phone, that does not automatically make the lead invalid.

Our leads are phone verified through OTP. The phone number has been verified by the customer. The customer may simply be unavailable when your sales representative calls.

We recommend: Call → SMS → Call again → Personalized follow up → Appointment attempt

A dealership’s follow up process plays an important role in converting automotive leads into appointments and sales.

9. What Does NOT Qualify for a Return?

The following situations generally do not qualify as valid reasons for returning a lead:

• ❌ Customer did not answer the first call
• ❌ Customer did not answer several calls
• ❌ Customer did not respond to SMS immediately
• ❌ Customer says they are busy
• ❌ Customer wants to think about it
• ❌ Customer is shopping multiple dealerships
• ❌ Customer wants a different vehicle
• ❌ Customer’s credit is challenging but not below the agreed threshold
• ❌ Customer is retired
• ❌ Customer has a lower income than your sales team expected, but still has qualifying income
• ❌ Customer has changed their mind after submitting the inquiry
• ❌ Customer purchased from another dealership
• ❌ Customer is not ready to purchase immediately
• ❌ Customer wants to wait several weeks or months

These situations are normal parts of automotive sales and do not necessarily indicate a lead quality problem.

10. Maximum Lead Return Limit

To maintain a healthy and profitable relationship between ALME and our dealership partners, lead returns are limited to a maximum of 10% of the total leads purchased within the applicable order or agreed billing period.

Example:

• If you purchase 100 leads, the maximum eligible return request is 10 leads.
• If you purchase 500 leads, the maximum eligible return request is 50 leads.

This limit exists because ALME incurs advertising, technology, verification, data processing, infrastructure, and delivery costs when generating every lead. A sustainable lead program requires both parties to share responsibility for the economics of the campaign.

11. Why We Have a 10% Return Limit

We want our relationships with dealers to be long term. Our objective is not to make money by rejecting legitimate concerns. Our objective is to generate enough quality leads for your sales team to create profitable deals while allowing us to continue investing in:

• Advertising
• Lead generation technology
• First party funnels
• Phone verification
• CRM integrations
• Data infrastructure
• Campaign optimization
• Creative development
• Geographic targeting
• Lead quality improvement

If every dealership were able to return an unlimited number of leads based on subjective sales outcomes, the program would become unsustainable. The 10% limit protects the economics of the program for both ALME and our dealership partners.

12. How to Submit a Lead Return Request

If you believe a lead qualifies under this policy, contact ALME with:

• Lead Name
• Lead Phone Number
• Lead ID or Reference Number
• Date Received
• Reason for Return
• Supporting Information, if applicable

For geographic issues, please include the customer’s submitted city, province, state, postal code, or ZIP code. For income or credit related requests, please provide the information submitted by the customer.

13. Lead Return Review Process

When a return request is submitted, our team will review the lead against:

• The original campaign requirements
• The geographic targeting
• The information submitted by the customer
• The applicable qualification criteria
• Our lead verification records
• The reason provided for the return

If the lead clearly meets the return criteria, ALME may provide a replacement, credit, or refund, depending on the applicable order and agreement. Our goal is to resolve legitimate issues quickly and fairly.

14. ALME Reserves the Right to Review and Reject Returns

Because lead quality can sometimes be subjective, ALME reserves the right to review every return request and reject any request that does not meet this Lead Return Policy or the specific terms of the applicable lead order or agreement.

A return request does not automatically constitute an approved refund. The final determination will be based on the applicable campaign criteria and the information available to ALME.

15. Lead Quality vs. Sales Performance

It is important to understand the difference between lead quality and sales performance. ALME is responsible for delivering leads that meet the agreed lead criteria. The dealership is responsible for:

• Speed to lead
• Calling the customer
• SMS follow up
• Appointment setting
• Appointment confirmation
• Sales process
• Financing process
• Vehicle presentation
• Negotiation
• Closing
• Customer experience

A valid lead does not guarantee a sale. Similarly, a customer not purchasing a vehicle does not automatically mean the lead was defective.

16. Our Commitment to Our Dealers

We understand that your sales team’s time matters. We understand that your advertising budget matters. And we understand that lead quality directly affects your dealership’s profitability. That is why we built our lead program around:

• First Party Data
• Phone Verification
• Real Time Delivery
• Geographic Targeting
• High Purchase Intent
• Transparent Lead Criteria
• Fair Return Policy

Our objective is to create a relationship where ALME makes money when you make money.

17. The ALME Standard

We don’t expect every lead to become a sale. We do expect every lead to meet the criteria agreed upon when you purchase it. Our commitment is to continually improve:

Lead Quality → Contact Rate → Appointment Rate → Closing Rate → Gross Profit

And we expect our dealership partners to give every valid lead a genuine opportunity to convert.

Our Promise

We generate the opportunity. Your sales team turns the opportunity into revenue. We will do everything reasonably possible to provide high quality, phone verified automotive buyers. You give those buyers a fast, professional, persistent sales experience. Together, we create a lead program that is profitable, predictable, and sustainable for both sides.

Legal Policy Notice

This Lead Return Policy forms part of the terms governing applicable lead purchases from Auto Leads Made Easy. Eligibility for a return, replacement, credit, or refund is determined according to the specific campaign criteria, order terms, and information available to ALME. Lead returns are not guaranteed solely because a customer does not answer, does not respond immediately, changes their mind, purchases elsewhere, is retired, or does not ultimately purchase a vehicle. ALME reserves the right to verify, approve, partially approve, or reject any return request that does not satisfy the applicable requirements. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, eligible lead returns are limited to a maximum of 10% of the applicable order volume. This policy does not guarantee financing approval, appointments, vehicle purchases, sales volume, gross profit, or any particular conversion rate.