Monday, June 25, 2012

Jeep Dealershit

I recently purchased a new Jeep Wrangler, and have been very pleased with my decision to do so.  Three weeks have now passed since I took possession of the vehicle, which made a phone message I received the other night seem all the more peculiar.  It was the Finance Manager from the dealership claiming there was an error made at the time I picked up my vehicle, and they had forgotten to charge me a portion of the agreed upon fee that made up part of the down payment.  He claimed that he’d tried calling me several times before, and that I’ve not been returning his calls, which is entirely false.  Furthermore, I detected an accusing tone in his voice that left me extremely annoyed.

Now I must admit, when I picked up the vehicle, I did question the Salesman I was dealing with about the additional funds that it appeared he had forgotten to charge me.  Upon his review however, he said no, there were no additional funds required.  More than satisfied with his answer, I shook his hand, grabbed the keys, and drove off in my shiny new Jeep, grinning ear to ear all the way home.

Now three weeks after the fact, and upon receiving this odd phone message, I pulled all the paperwork out again and reviewed it line by line to verify whether there was in fact money still owed.  Unfortunately, there was.  According to my math, the discrepancy totalled $648.  I immediately called the Finance Manager back, but there was no answer.  I left a message explaining that despite his claim to the contrary, this was the first time anyone has attempted to contact me regarding this discrepancy, but that I would stop by the dealership the next day so that we could meet and get this sorted out.  I’m an honest guy, and understand that mistakes are sometimes made, but a deal is a deal, and I agreed to pay that money, so I knew that going back and paying the remaining funds was the right thing to do.  So the next day I drove over to the Jeep dealership expecting a quick five minute visit.  Unfortunately, things didn’t play out quite as I expected.

I walked into the dealership and explained that I was there to pay the outstanding balance that I was called about.  The guy who left me the message was off that day, which meant I had to get the Salesman who sold me the Jeep to go find the paperwork.  When he returned, he took me over to the cashier’s desk, and started to ring in the charge, but in the amount of $732.  I stopped him right there, and told him his dollar amount was incorrect, explaining that he’s charging me more than what was shown on the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.  Granted, in the scheme of things, the $84 discrepancy was minor, but regardless, I didn’t want to pay more than I rightfully owed.  Who would, right?  So we went back to his desk, I showed him my calculations, and he said he would go get this straightened out.  I waited patiently.

When he returned however, he stated that $732 is the correct amount owed, claiming that in addition to the $648 they forgot to charge me when I picked up the vehicle, they also forgot to charge me an $84 licensing fee.  I started to get annoyed at this point. I told him "I don’t care what other fees you forgot to charge me, I’m here to pay what we agreed upon in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale."  He replied that the licensing fee is never included in the Agreement, that it’s always owed after the fact, and that if I don’t pay it, it has to come out of his pocket.  Sorry, but that is not my issue.  Again, I told him that I was there to pay the $648 that was rightfully owed, nothing more, nothing less.  I pointed him to the line on the Agreement where it clearly stated “License Fee……. N/C”, and explained to him that the license fee had already been contemplated, and that there was no charge to me for that fee as stated.  I told him that if he’s going to sell cars for a living, he really needs to understand this stuff.  Becoming increasingly annoyed at the situation, I waited as we went to speak with his Manager.

Now the Manager’s “office” was nothing more than a tiny cubicle that just happened to be raised up about a foot higher than all of the Salesman’s desks, so I could hear the discussion very clearly.  Without even reviewing the paperwork, the Manager grunted “He’s got to pay the licensing fee!  Get him in here!!”.  With my feelings of annoyance quickly turning to anger, I stepped up into the Manager’s “office” and sat down.  Without shaking my hand or even introducing himself, he asked me what my problem was, and demanded that I pay the license fee.  My blood started to boil. I told him "The only reason I’m even here today is because I am an honest guy, and want to make things right", to which he replied “Well obviously you’re not, otherwise you’d just pay the fee!!”.  That was the wrong thing to say to me.

I’m normally a very mild mannered person, and anyone that knows me knows that profanity is not in my usual verbal repertoire.  I tend to treat swearing like a fine wine, only to be brought out on special occasions, but something about how this whole thing was going down and how I was being treated just set me off, BIG TIME!  I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST IT!!!!  I stood up and started yelling at him like I’ve never yelled before.  Oh, it wasn’t pretty. As we argued back and forth, the entire showroom stopped dead in its tracks.  I made sure everyone in the building knew exactly what I thought of this man and his attempt to rip me off.  A few people from the Service Department even came over to see what was going on.  Potential customers’ jaws dropped as I called the Manager a thief, and vetted my frustration so that all could hear.  “I’M NOT PAYING YOU A PENNY MORE THAN WHAT THE AGREEMENT SAYS I HAVE TO PAY.  HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A MONTH LATER AND TRY AND SQUEEZE MORE MONEY FROM ME THAN WHAT WE AGREED TO.  I DON’T EVEN HAVE TO BE HERE, THIS WAS YOUR MISTAKE, NOT MINE!!  I’M AN HONEST GUY, I CAME HERE TO TRY AND MAKE THINGS RIGHT, AND HERE YOU ARE TRYING TO SCREW ME!!  WELL THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!  AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO CALL ME THE DISHONEST ONE??  GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!!!   THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS?!!  WHEN I SIGN MY NAME ON THE DOTTED LINE, THAT MEANS SOMETHING TO ME.  APPARENTLY THAT MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO YOU!! 

Now you need to realize I’m really staring to enjoy myself by this point.  If swear words were glasses of that fine wine I mentioned earlier, I’d be passed out on the floor in a drunken stooper, so I just kept going…

WE HAD AN AGREEMENT, AND I’M PREPARED TO LIVE UP TO MY END OF IT.  THAT’S WHY I’M HERE.  APPARENTLY TO YOU THIS AGREEMENT AND YOUR WORD CARRIES ABOUT AS MUCH WEIGHT AS THE PAPER YOU WIPE YOUR ASS WITH!!!  DO YOU HEAR THIS EVERYONE???  {looking around at the other customers in the room}  DON'T TRUST THIS GUY!!  HE'S JUST GOING TO SCREW YOU AFTER THE DEAL IS DONE!!!  THIS IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT AND I’M NOT GOING TO PUT UP WITH THIS!!!  I WANT TO RE-TAKE MY CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY!!!  IF YOU WANT MORE MONEY FROM ME, THEN SPEAK TO MY LAWYER!!!!  I WILL MAKE IT MY MISSION IN LIFE TO LET EVERYONE KNOW HOW THIS DEALERSHIP TREATS THEIR CUSTOMERS!!!  YOU MAY GET AWAY WITH FUCKING ALL YOUR OTHER CUSTOMERS, BUT I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU FUCK WITH ME!!!!  SO FUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {as I pointed my finger within inches of his face}

It was quite the spectacle, and extremely out of character for me.  At this point, two other Salesman had to grab me by the arms and pull me out of the Manager’s “office”, steering me towards the large corner office, claiming that the Owner wanted to speak with me.  They sat me down with the hopes that I would cool off.  A few moments later the Owner walked into the office, introduced himself, and deeply apologized for the behaviour of his Manager.  He asked what the problem was, to which I offered my side of the story.  I let him know that I’m tempted to just walk out, and we can fight it out in court.  "I did not appreciate the tone of the Finance Manager’s voice message to me, where he made it sound like I’ve been avoiding him, and I certainly do not appreciate the Manager’s attempt to make me feel like I’m the dishonest one."  How he missed the exchange himself I’ll never know, but he called in the Salesman to ask if he witnessed the whole thing, and whether my claims about what the Manager said to me were true.  Not only did the Salesman provide confirmation, but also added assurance that he would never have treated a customer the way the Manager had treated me. 

The owner offered another sincere apology.  I told him I’ll pay $648, he can take it or leave it, and then I’m never coming back here again.  “This dealership quite frankly isn’t worth my time, and I’ll make sure everyone hears about how this place treats people.”  To his credit, he responded that he doesn’t like the thought of me leaving there unhappy, and wants to make this right, but then continued on, and encouraged me to use their Service Department for the routine maintenance of my new Jeep.  “Really?  You’re trying to convince me to spend more money at this dealership at a time like this?  Really?” 

He asked if I had just picked up the Jeep last night, to which I replied, no, I picked it up three weeks ago!  He was shocked!  He couldn’t believe they hadn’t caught this error until now, and even more shocked when I told him that at the time I picked up the vehicle, I had specifically questioned the Salesman about the amount owed, as I had suspected he wasn’t charging me the correct amount.  After an uncomfortable silence, he thanked me for my honesty, and for coming back in to take care of the discrepancy. 

At this point a man carrying the licensing fee receipt walked in wanting to show it to me, and explained how the whole licensing fee works.  I could clearly see that the dealership had to pay the $84.  I calmly thanked him for showing that to me, but explained that it doesn’t change anything.  “With all due respect, I don’t care what you paid for the licensing fee, that’s not my problem.”  I showed him my Agreement, and pointed out where it clearly says in black and white that there is no charge to me for the licensing fee.  It’s not like it said that this fee was to be determined.  It clearly said there would be no charge.  It doesn’t get any clearer than that.  Upon seeing this for apparently the first time, the Owner reacted “Oh, you’re right!  There should have been a charge under that line item, but there isn’t.  It looks like we made a mistake.  What a mess. {shaking his head}”  He deeply apologized again, completely acknowledged their error, and assured me that he would deal with the Manager immediately after we’re finished.  Now the Manager, who was outside listening in, tried to storm into the Owner’s office claiming that the $84 is still owed, to which I glared right into his eyes and loudly stated “HEY, THERE’S MY BUDDY!!  GONNA TRY TO FUCK ME UP THE ASS AGAIN, ARE YOU?!!!”  The owner immediately yelled at the Manager “GET OUT!!!  I’LL DEAL WITH YOU LATER!!!!”, before slamming the door on him.

The Owner repeatedly apologized, and I told him that "While I appreciate your apology, quite frankly this is no longer about the money.  $84 isn’t a big deal, but I’m still not going to pay it purely out of principle."  He agreed, and asked if I was still willing to pay the $648, to which I replied “yes”.  I wasn’t happy about it, but a deal is a deal, I was agreeable to paying it when I signed the deal in the first place, and remain agreeable to paying it now.  I am a man of my word, so I went ahead and paid it.  As soon as I left the Owner’s office, he immediately called the Manager in.  As we passed each other, I looked him in the eyes and said “HAVE A NICE DAY, FUCKHEAD!!”, and with that the Owner slammed his office door and started ripping in to the Manager.  It was fantastic.          

Have you ever had an experience where once it was all over, you replay everything in your mind, and start thinking about what you SHOULD have said instead?  For me, this is a rare case where I said EXACTLY what I wanted to say!  I have no regrets whatsoever, and despite the fact that my outburst was quite likely the topic of discussion at more than one dinner table that night, and I ended up at the dealership for my entire lunch hour, not just five minutes, I still love my Jeep!  As I drove out of the parking lot, I exchanged a “Jeep wave” with another Jeep owner, reassured myself that this unfortunate incident wasn’t going to tarnish my Jeep experience, and left my worries behind.  Or at least I thought I did until I started writing this blog post!!!  NOW I’M PISSED OFF AGAIN!!!!!!!  Have a nice day J

10 comments:

  1. Sounds like you handled it like a man. I don't think I would be allowed back on the property if that happened to me lol

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    1. Thanks Andrew, I thought I did pretty well all things considered.

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  2. what dealership?

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    1. For a variety of reasons, it's best that I don't name them. My issue was really with one guy in particular more than the dealership as a whole.

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  3. You handled it better than I would have.

    If anyone would have grabbed me by the arms, the police would have been called for assault.

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    1. Ahh, it was probably for the best. I was running out of things to say anyway :)

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  4. Sucks that they did you like that. I think I probably would have been so pissed that I would have balked at the $648.

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  5. I'm surprised the owner didn't just say "Let's zero this out, and I apologize."; if he had any sense, that's what he should've done.

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