Car dealership issues.

[Odesseiron]

Hey all. So I'll try not to make this long winded.

So last Sunday I go to a car dealer, ironed out a price with them and left a $200 deposit for the car. Next day, I go back with my $6000 bank check. Pick up the car, no problem. Hadn't realized on the bill of sale the didn't apply my $200 deposit til later that evening. Called a day later and spoke to my salesman. He said "He'd have it ironed out by Friday. Either by cutting a check or reversing the charge on the card."

Guess what. It's Almost Thursday, absolutely no news from the dealer. I've called Monday through today numerous times to reach Troy (my salesman) to no avail. He's always busy or with a customer. Now I know that's bullshit as dealers basically take turns with customers. Whoever is "up" for the sale. I charged it on my Visa debit card, so it's kind of a pain in the ass to reverse debit charges. I'm obviously getting nowhere with the salesman, and the managers are equally useless.

The only choice I have left is going over to the dealership which I should absolutely not have to. I will refuse to leave until they refund my money. I have copies of everything. The bill of sale showing the $6k down and no $200 deposit, the $200 deposit separate sale, the certified bank check, everything. I am prepared to write to the president of Hyundai in general to get their attention. I already have a letter typed out, but I would rather give my salesman a chance. He was not a bad guy at all. Didn't feel like I needed to take a shower after dealing with him.

What can I do to immediately get taken care of at the dealership and not be given the runaround for weeks? This dealer (among many more) are notorious for giving people a hard time with deposits. I will probably go over on Friday to iron this out, as it's $200 bucks. Any advice? I know dealers will try a lot of tricks like "We'll mail you a check" Or "We can't do it right now, you need to come back" and the like.

Any advice?

[shiarua]

Whats the dealership? Also, whats the make of the car?

I'd say take it up with corporate of either the dealership or the manufacturer of the car.

[Moosey]

It'll probably take much longer if you went to corporate, just get in contact with the GM of the dealership and you'll likely be able to resolve it fairly quickly.

[Odesseiron]

JM Hyundai of New Rochelle. If you google them, the first thing that will pop up is complaints. Though to be fair, every dealership has a ton of complaints because people are dumb and don't realize this is how dealerships operate.

Dealing with the management at the dealership is almost as bad as dealing with the salesmen if not worse. Like I said, my actual salesman was a pretty decent human being for a salesman, but I know when it comes to anything refund wise, it's not him, it's the finance people who are just there to get away with this kind of shit. Not everyone would catch this, and how many hundreds if not thousands of extra dollars must dealers make off situations like this?

[*Shinzon*]

It'll only get done if you go Odess. They might just be dicking you around or they legitmately forgot, which isn't an excuse, but at a busy place it would happen. Just go, bring the paperwork and they'll work it out with you.

[jmc]

You have a receipt for the $200 down payment?

and you have the total payment receipt for the amount of the car?

Go down there, show your evidence to them and ask where the $200 went then..... you have a receipt, so its not like the salesman pocketed it.

If all else fails, threaten to goto the media. Dealerships can afford anymore bad press >.>

[Delayed]

You'll have to show up at the dealership to get this worked out. If your salesman is unavailable, ask for the sales manager. If they say he's unavailable then you go to the GM. One of those people will be around to talk to you. The SM and GM are most generally in their office and don't venture far from them.

[Jb1210a]

Your salesman is giving you the runaround. He seemed like a decent guy up front because he was trying to sell you a car (from which he makes money on). There's no way he's that busy every. single. time. you call. Go there with the paperwork and make it happen. Most good salesmen will do their best to make sure YOU are happy so you will think of this salesman the next time you buy a car. Most dealerships make most of their money on return purchases. Someone's pocketing the $200 and hoping you don't notice or will give up.

[kyod]

So you haven't even gone to the dealer in person yet? Face-to-face communication gets things done almost 100% faster than by phone or e-mail.

Obviously, you need to go in person. If they don't get it back after doing that, then you have some major issues.

Is this dealer located 100+ miles from you that going in-person is a hardship?

[archibaldcrane]

He said "He'd have it ironed out by Friday. Either by cutting a check or reversing the charge on the card."

It's not even Friday yet.

Did you expect him to complete this task before he said he would?

Maybe he's ignoring you because he told you he'd do it by Friday and you're all up his ass calling multiple times a day demanding he do something he's already planning on doing.

[shiarua]

It's not even Friday yet.

Did you expect him to complete this task before he said he would?

Maybe he's ignoring you because he told you he'd do it by Friday and you're all up his ass calling multiple times a day demanding he do something he's already planning on doing.

People have a tendency to forget things

[Odesseiron]

Archi, Friday as in last Friday. So its been almost a week. Jump down my throat some more, jeez lol. My dad went to the dealer today. He's currently got a deal pending with them, so he saw his dealer who also happens to be mine. Asked him about my 200 and only then did he remember it was supposed to be done last Friday. So he said he got the paperwork done and I should check my account tomorrow. We will see I suppose. If they are smart about it they'll do it as they probably don't want to lose my pops business.

[archibaldcrane]

You said you went in last Sunday, what was I supposed to think?

[Skyylya]

I'd go into the dealership and not leave until you get something concrete. Dealerships don't want a scene on their sales floor with other potential buyers.

[desertigloo]

As a used car manager I can promise you 99% of all people in the automotive industry are simply not focused on anything beyond the sale. It's nothing personal with you regarding your money and they most likely won't have any problem refunding you the $200, they're just more focused on the next deal. When you call most dealerships they jot your name down then something shiny appears and they forget. Physically go into the dealership and ask for your money back. I'm fairly positive they'll get it for you if you're there in person.

[Odesseiron]

I'd go into the dealership and not leave until you get something concrete. Dealerships don't want a scene on their sales floor with other potential buyers.

I thought this as well. You can scare buyers out of a dealership so easily if you let your business be known. As I said, supposedly they're reversing the charge and I should see it some time today. I'll give it til Monday and then I'll bring all my paperwork in if I still don't see anything.

I think it was a genuine case of we all (me, my dad, the salesman) forgot about the deposit. I know most salesmen are out to make as much money as possible, but that doesn't mean they are all the scum of the earth. I went to a number of dealers before finally buying at this place, and every one of them I hated. This guy however, I didn't feel like I needed to jump in a shower afterwords. Maybe he was just a better trained salesman than then rest.

[Odesseiron]

I'd go into the dealership and not leave until you get something concrete. Dealerships don't want a scene on their sales floor with other potential buyers.

I thought this as well. You can scare buyers out of a dealership so easily if you let your business be known. As I said, supposedly they're reversing the charge and I should see it some time today. I'll give it til Monday and then I'll bring all my paperwork in if I still don't see anything.

I think it was a genuine case of we all (me, my dad, the salesman) forgot about the deposit. I know most salesmen are out to make as much money as possible, but that doesn't mean they are all the scum of the earth. I went to a number of dealers before finally buying at this place, and every one of them I hated. This guy however, I didn't feel like I needed to jump in a shower afterwords. Maybe he was just a better trained salesman than then rest.

[Skyylya]

I thought this as well. You can scare buyers out of a dealership so easily if you let your business be known. As I said, supposedly they're reversing the charge and I should see it some time today. I'll give it til Monday and then I'll bring all my paperwork in if I still don't see anything.

I think it was a genuine case of we all (me, my dad, the salesman) forgot about the deposit. I know most salesmen are out to make as much money as possible, but that doesn't mean they are all the scum of the earth. I went to a number of dealers before finally buying at this place, and every one of them I hated. This guy however, I didn't feel like I needed to jump in a shower afterwords. Maybe he was just a better trained salesman than then rest.

To be honest, the salesperson likely had absolutely nothing to do with this also. They don't deal with the money at all, just the presentation and negotiation. Once money changes hands it's 100% in the sales manager and finance managers hands. So if something wasn't done, it's their fault, not the salesman. Which is also why it might be taking longer for him to sort it out because there's nothing he can actually directly do. he's got to get his bosses to do something which they might be slower to do.

[Jb1210a]

So we're all saying that after 4 straight days of calling and people "jotting" his name down that he didn't have the decency to at least call him back and keep him in the loop? Look, I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but it looks like the OP is doing his due diligence in making sure that his hard earned money gets returned to him, the dealership however is not. A return call from the salesman or the floor manager to say "I saw that you called, we're handling this issue ASAP" takes 20 seconds, alienating your return customers is the fastest way to lose a $10,000.00+ sale every 5 years or so, especially since his father is a return customer from what I assume is a substantial amount of time. A situation such as this, which would take 20 seconds to fix, isn't worth losing repeat business. The most important part of being in sales is making sure that you have a customer for life, not the damn sale itself.

[kyod]

So we're all saying that after 4 straight days of calling and people "jotting" his name down that he didn't have the decency to at least call him back and keep him in the loop? Look, I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but it looks like the OP is doing his due diligence in making sure that his hard earned money gets returned to him, the dealership however is not. A return call from the salesman or the floor manager to say "I saw that you called, we're handling this issue ASAP" takes 20 seconds, alienating your return customers is the fastest way to lose a $10,000.00+ sale every 5 years or so, especially since his father is a return customer from what I assume is a substantial amount of time. A situation such as this, which would take 20 seconds to fix, isn't worth losing repeat business. The most important part of being in sales is making sure that you have a customer for life, not the damn sale itself.

If the OP was the only customer this salesperson had or the dealership has very low volume, you would be absolutely right. There are so many layers in the sales cycle/process that it's completely understandable for this to fall to the wayside (especially if the dealer has a large number of sales coming in). Speaking to someone in-person, generally, is the quickest way to resolve things.