Re: ripoff at Shelly BMW

["John Huntoon" <bmwhunt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don Cicchetti wrote:

> Hi all, I don't like doing this, but these guys deserve it.
>
> I sent a good friend down to Kevin Hite at Shelly BMW (southern CA)
> to buy a car Kevin had told me about.   My friend liked the car,
> liked the price, and decided to do the deal.
> 
> After signing the papers, he got home, and thought that the payments
> were a bit high.   Upon closer examination he discovered that
> someone at Shelly had changed the price of the car upwards by about
> 2,200.00, and changed the trade-in value as well.

You didn't say whether he made the deal on his first trip to the dealer. 
Assuming for argument's sake that he did, I have this to offer: No one 
should ever buy a car on the first trip to the dealer, no matter how 
good you think the price is. Always sleep on it. Get a commitment on the 
price, but ALWAYS SLEEP ON IT! If the dealer says he can't hold the 
price, simply walk. WALK! The car will be there in the morning, and so 
will your money. After a good night's sleep, do the numbers still look 
good? Do you still even _want_ the car?

Here's another tip: Contracts should be read _before_ being signed, not 
after. Didn't hear me? READ THE CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN! Clear now?

> He called Kevin and asked for an explanation, but Kevin did not have
> one. We went back to Shelly together, because Kevin stopped taking
> my friend's calls, and asked him why the numbers had changed.   We
> got every load of crap they could think up instead of the truth.
> Basically, Kevin said that he "didn't know" who had changed the
> numbers, or WHY....
>
> In the end, it is my friend's fault for signing the papers without
> double-checking the numbers.  Changing the numbers from what was
> verbally agreed to is an old trick in car-dealing, and Kevin even
> admitted that the numbers did not reflect the verbal agreement, but
> do you think my friend got his money back....?
> 
> Of course not.

It's an old trick, but it was just used on yet another new victim. A 
verbal agreement without a witness is only worth the paper it's printed 
on. If you had gone with your friend the first time, you could have been 
that witness. You don't say whether you talked to the sales manager. If 
this guy gets enough complaints, he won't last long (at least at that 
dealer).
 
> I expect this sort of slimy behavior from dealers, but not from a
> club member who puts his smiling face on so many ads aimed directly
> at CCA members.

_You_ may have expected it, but you didn't indicate that you warned your 
friend to expect it. Did you send him to battle unarmed? This sales guy 
sounds like he became a club member just to lure other club members in, 
not a club member who just happen to get into sales. He sucked you in, 
then your friend, with your help.
 
> caveat emptor

Should your friend also beware of you? In his eyes, you may be the one 
who got him into this.

Don't get me wrong. I'm in no way defending dealers such as this guy. 
Sadly and increasingly though, it's become an ugly reality that they 
exist, and consumers have no way of telling the good guys from the bad 
guys. We're left with assuming they're all bad and suspecting their 
every move. 

The Latin term "caveat emptor" was coined for a reason. The Latin 
translation of "seller beware" never became very popular, did it?

JH

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