|
|
Review 7/1/2010
|
I was going through Autoland, they work with credit union customers, to buy a car. They contract with different car dealerships who send them listings of cars available which are in excellent condition. They had a car for $16,999 which I ended up finding on the internet advertised for $14,999 located at Budget Rent a Car in Norwalk. I had searched the internet for that same car only so I could see it in person and than go back and purchase it through Autoland. It should have been listed for $16,999. When I went to the location and decided to purchase the vehicle at the dealership it went up in price $2000! I was told that "in error" the person who inputs the information on the internet, put it in before all the additional charges such as the $1000 certification fee and the new tires etc.. had been added on. I had advised the salesperson that I felt it was illegal to advertise at a lower price and he stated that as long as there was a retraction online than it was not illegal. I ended up working the amount down to $15999. I had decided at that time to write a letter to the company and if necessary get a legal opinion. I wrote the letter right after bringing the car home and received a call from Phil Ayers, the sales manager, the day after mailing the letter. I believe the President is Dick Ayers and that is who I had written the letter to. I agreed to take just $500 of the $1000 plus tax because I gave Phil the benefit of the doubt regarding the "error", but than after the conversation I found the dealerrater.com website showing the other two complaints both stating issues with the internet price of the vehicles they were looking at. I went the next day to pick up my $500 check and ask for the remainder of the money but Phil already had the full amount of $1000 + tax waiting for me. I guess he figured I would be grateful. I showed him the two reviews and was more than a little upset (he was pretty much speechless) and left with my full refund. Also, when I looked on line for the car that I had purchased it showed it now not available of course, but with a sales price of a thousand dollars less than what I paid. And there was certainly no retraction. So even the sales amount online was a lie.
Had I not seen a previous review on the BBB website giving the dealerrater.com website I would not have known of the company practice regarding advertising a lower price on the internet and than hitting the customer with more fees when ready to buy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|