Update on my car situation

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I gave them the car back this morning. They said I could have $1200 credit to a different car. Liars.

I kept the key when I left for work, and the manager flipped out, she texted me and said I put the car right in the "driving area". It's a giant car lot and it was not blocking anything, I made sure of that before I left. So I told her I could bring it by after work, and she said, "Tell me where you are, I'm coming to get it now." I told her where my work was, but she never even showed up

So I went after work, gave her the key, and I even helped the guy push the car into one of the parking spaces. I went back in and sat down, and she ignored me for the next 3 minutes. Then she sat down, and simply said, "So, [Holmes], what do you want to talk about?" Oh, I don't know, let's do some multiple choice.

A. Meteorology
B. Morgan Freeman
C. The current state of the economy
D. MY FREAKING CAR

Gee, this is a real head-scratcher.

I didn't say that. I was taken off guard, but I basically just explained that I wanted to see what my options were as far as putting credit towards another car (which she already knew, hence my confusion). I was pretty much expecting what came next: "Well, here's the thing. Things have changed." WHAAAAT? Someone as honest and warm-hearted as you, screwing me over? I am simply flabbergasted.

Once again, I didn't reallysay that. I just stared, confused. Then she said, "You did something awful." Almost as awful as selling a messed up car to an naive kid who doesn't know what the heck he's doing? "You contacted the Better Business Bureau, you know what you did." ".... yes, I did. Why is that a problem?" "We have done nothing but be nice and try to help you." So rudeness is called being nice and helpful where you're from? "We wanted to help you fix the motor." "But the mechanic says the motor isn't the only problem, so I'd rather just get a different car, or just give this one back and go somewhere else." "Well, if that's really your decision, then fine." So I left, relieved that at least I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore.

But I needed to get my license plates. As I was taking them off she, walked up and said, "Not once has someone complained to the Better Business Bureau about us. Now we have that mark on our business." ...Am I supposed to be sorry? It was your fault. "I have been trying to do the right thing here, I have been nothing but nice to you." "Actually, you haven't been very nice. I thought if you helped me out then it wouldn't matter that I made a complaint anyway." (which it wouldn't) She didn't really have a good response to that, but she started telling me she was doing "the right thing", and this one complaint was such a big deal to their business (apparently). At this point I didn't know what to say, so I just went back to taking off the license plates and she walked away. Then I left.

I'm actually kind of surprised at how much I was not affected by this. Up to this point I've been very uncomfortable talking to her because she acts like this, and often after our conversations I would feel almost like I wanted to cry from frustration. Maybe I'm just relieved I don't have to talk to her anymore. But I also lost my entire $2400

i've been reading your other posts about this. i don't understand why this lady is being so rude and spiteful to you! i'm glad you don't have to interact with her anymore, but that really sucks about your money. is that even legal? i can't believe you lost so much, that's really awful. it's hard for me to process that there are such mean people in the world. what are you gunna do now? are you able to get a ride from somebody else or will be ok that you dont have a car right now?

I would research the primary lenders for the dealership (usually a local bank and credit union, and sometimes a national lender like GMAC). They should be informed of this dealership's actions. I doubt that they can afford to self-lend. Their lenders would want to know about your experience. When I was a marketing VP for a local credit union, we learned about some very illegal sales of motor vehicles which didn't have clear titles. To make matters worse, we had never agreed to lend with them. They had faked their relationship with us, too.

I "sorta, kinda" believe that the woman with whom you interacted meant well. But, unintended consequences are the responsibility of the seller, not you. Have you considered hiring a lawyer to get all of your money back?

I can use my grandpa's third car (for now). It's pretty old though, so hopefully it doesn't break down.



Yeah, I don't think she meant for all this to happen. But I do think she was being rude to me about it and blaming ME the whole time. I also found it very hard to talk to her, mostly because she would have rude or at the very least unhelpful responses to my questions. She just wasn't treating me like I think a business should treat their customers. That, and everyone I talked to was telling me that they must have knowingly ripped me off, and I don't usually have a good sense for these kinds of things, so I figured it was better to believe the people telling me this rather than to try to figure out their intentions for myself.

Now, I think they knew about the damaged frame, the cracked radiator, all that obvious stuff, but I don't think they knew it would affect the vehicle's ability to run. That's understandable, but they didn't tell me about it at all. And then even when I told them multiple times the mechanic said the frame is literally irreparable, they continued to insist I should just pay them to fix it. So maybe they weren't as blatantly dishonest as I initially thought, but they still didn't really listen to or help me, and seemed only interested in getting more money from me.

This may sound silly, but I don't want to get a lawyer, I just want to forget about all this, even if I can get the money back. It just stresses me out thinking about it. As long as they cancel the contract like I requested I will be satisfied.

I hope they gave the contract cancellation to you instead of just saying they cancelled it. DON'T mark it resolved to the BBB until you are satisfied. I wouldn't let them off the hook totally!

That doesn't sound silly at all. I have been in similar situations and felt the same way. But I wouldn't give up until I had exhausted all options at getting my money back. Sometimes you have to take a break for a day or two and put it out of your mind. You don't necessarily need to hire a lawyer. Use your complaint with BBB as leverage. If it really matters to them to have that ONE complaint on their record, they should be willing to work with you to get it resolved. If they aren't willing to resolve it, report it to your state Attorney General's office.

be aware though that businesses negatively sanctioned by the BBB and/or AG can simply close their doors and reopen by changing their DBA. that has happened to me multiple times when a business cheated me and I complained to the AG and BBB. slimy no-goodniks.

That is so true however it maybe cheaper for them just to do what is right. It takes money to close down an old business and to start anew. I would imagine quite a bit more then to settle this matter. To these businesses, $2400 is pocket change. Since they cheated L_Homes you can bet that he wasn't the first. I hope they do the right thing and return ALL of his money!

After I left I texted her saying that if they gave me a copy of the cancelled contract I would give them a positive review about the way the situation was resolved, and she said I could come get it tomorrow.



Part of it too, is I feel kind of bad about doing it. It makes no sense, they were the ones being unhelpful and rude. But I often do this, I don't like inconveniencing other people even if it is a reasonable request, it makes me feel like a jerk. I'd rather just leave it be.

At the time that she was getting upset and annoyed about the whole complaint thing, I almost felt like just laughing and telling her I really don't care. At the time I didn't, at all. Now I feel kind of bad about the whole thing. It's like I have delayed empathy or something

You did well with asking for the cancelled contract! You shouldn't feel bad for "encouraging" businesses to honor the laws that govern them and their own promises. I feel exactly the same way every time I am required to remind businesses to do what they are required to do. It never gets easier because, as humans, we don't want to be jerks with others even when they have been jerks to their customers.

As for using your grandfather's old car, that is a nice thing for him to do for you! Older cars need constant attention on changing oil, keeping tires inflated, keeping the battery charged and adding some additive to the gas. Do these things every few months, and it should run fine.

Good luck, Holmesie!

From now on: never buy a used car without taking it to a mechanic you trust, and check the Carfax, too. Unfortunately, it sounds like they really saw you coming. And unless the car was under a dealer's warranty you don't have any legal recourse under ID law, so don't worry about lawyers.

You have no reason at all to feel bad about the BBB thing - that was the right thing to do. Make sure you state in your resolution that you did not get the money back and that the resolution has strictly to do with the contract cancellation.

If you don't want customers complaining to BBB, don't sell them lemons. For reference: I bought a used car a while back, at a good price too, and it did have a few problems that showed up pretty fast. The dealer took the car back several times to get it fixed right and never charged me for the repairs. That's what a reputable dealer does.