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Mel Clayton Ford Complaint - Abyssmal. An amazingly horrid experience. Buy anywhere else but here. - New Car Sales - 2007 Ford Edge
New Car Sales - 2007 Ford Edge - Complaint
Pros: That I didn't trade my Explorer in. At least I had something to drive home in.
Cons: Too many to count. Batting 1000 on being just plain awful.
Wednesday, 9/19/07 I went to Mel Clayton. The Internet Director told me there were Edge demos coming back into stock. I went. I walked the lot with the sales guy. I chose the one car in the lot that fit the bill. Other than a stock number, the car had no information on it. It was dirty on the inside, had been driven a while and had light body damage. It also had the required AWD, light paint and interior and vista roof.
The sales guy took down the stock number and we went back inside the lobby. I asked for the car's mileage and price. I am a Ford Partner member.
Sales guy left for 25 minutes. There is NOTHING to do in their lobby. No music, TV, etc. He came back with a credit application. After telling him that credit applications get signed AFTER YOU AGREE TO BUY A CAR, I again stated clearly that I wanted the mileage and price of the car in the lot.
Again he left. Again I waited another 20 minutes. He came back with both. The price was less than I'd expected, but it was a demo, dirty, had slight damage and I'm a Ford partner. Cool. I left as I'd already been there nearly 2 hours and I had another appointment.
I called back and asked for the VIN number. He gave it to me and I ran the carfax report. They gave me this VIN number: 2FMDK49C97BA77602. I went in and negotiated for the sale of that car. We did all the documents, they gave me the keys and I drove home, well after dark. Next morning I saw that the interior was still very dirty and that they'd put carpet cleaner on the rear floors and hadn't bothered to clean it.
I called the sales guy and he said to bring it in Saturday to get the detail work and the body work done.
Got there Saturday. No Freddie (salesguy). No appointment. Body Shop is not open Saturdays. Detail shop was not expecting me. NADA. Angry, I left and make an appointment for Monday myself. I cancelled Monday and asked Freddie to make new appointments for Tuesday. Tuesday I got there. No appointments, they weren't expecting me. Again NADA. I left the car there and waited. For four hours. Then the body shop called me and asked why the estimate hadn't been picked up for the body work...estimate needed for Work Order. No Work Order, no work.
Freddie never picked it up. Not Tuesday, Not Wednesday. I kept checking. I kept leaving messages. None of my calls were returned.
Wednesday, Freddie called me and asked me when I was coming in to pick up the car. I told him 5:30. He told me I'd be speaking to Manny Diaz, the sales manager. When I asked why, he wouldn't say.
At 5:30, I got to Mel Clayton. At 6:10 Manny finally bothered to keep his end of the appointment.
He started the conversation by blaming me. He said "When you came in the other morning, the paper you had with you had the wrong VIN on it." I interuppted saying, "I came in with two kids and a PURSE. I did NOT come in with any papers. We picked a car on the lot with no information on it, just a stock number."
"Well," he said "you got the wrong car." I said, "I picked that car in the lot, I negotiated for that car, I put a deposit down on that car, you gave me the keys for that car and I've been driving it for a WEEK." He said, "well that's not the car I thought I was selling you." I was giving you pricing based on THIS car."
He handed me an invoice for a car I'd never seen. But the invoice matched the paperwork I had. They'd written up the WRONG CAR.
The bank had done a walk through the day before. The bank discovered the error. That a car that was supposed to be in inventory was missing and a car that was supposed to be sold was there. And neither Freddie, nor Manny, nor their GM Neil Underwood said a WORD. They did not call me. They did worse than nothing because they didn't even bother to return my phone calls..
Manny did not apologize for the dealer's error. He did not try to make it right. He did not stop blaming me. He was adamant that I need to come up with another $7000. Ford partner pricing didn't warrant that. Especially not for a car that had 800 miles on it, was dirty and dented. He offered me $100 off Ford Partner pricing.
I walked out. My down payment will be returned.
I recommend that you never walk in. At best it feels like a classic bait and switch. At worst I still have to make sure a car that I've never seen, nor taken possession of is not titled to me and that Ford doesn't come after me for payments.
They've done nothing to assure me that won't happen.
Cons: Too many to count. Batting 1000 on being just plain awful.
Wednesday, 9/19/07 I went to Mel Clayton. The Internet Director told me there were Edge demos coming back into stock. I went. I walked the lot with the sales guy. I chose the one car in the lot that fit the bill. Other than a stock number, the car had no information on it. It was dirty on the inside, had been driven a while and had light body damage. It also had the required AWD, light paint and interior and vista roof.
The sales guy took down the stock number and we went back inside the lobby. I asked for the car's mileage and price. I am a Ford Partner member.
Sales guy left for 25 minutes. There is NOTHING to do in their lobby. No music, TV, etc. He came back with a credit application. After telling him that credit applications get signed AFTER YOU AGREE TO BUY A CAR, I again stated clearly that I wanted the mileage and price of the car in the lot.
Again he left. Again I waited another 20 minutes. He came back with both. The price was less than I'd expected, but it was a demo, dirty, had slight damage and I'm a Ford partner. Cool. I left as I'd already been there nearly 2 hours and I had another appointment.
I called back and asked for the VIN number. He gave it to me and I ran the carfax report. They gave me this VIN number: 2FMDK49C97BA77602. I went in and negotiated for the sale of that car. We did all the documents, they gave me the keys and I drove home, well after dark. Next morning I saw that the interior was still very dirty and that they'd put carpet cleaner on the rear floors and hadn't bothered to clean it.
I called the sales guy and he said to bring it in Saturday to get the detail work and the body work done.
Got there Saturday. No Freddie (salesguy). No appointment. Body Shop is not open Saturdays. Detail shop was not expecting me. NADA. Angry, I left and make an appointment for Monday myself. I cancelled Monday and asked Freddie to make new appointments for Tuesday. Tuesday I got there. No appointments, they weren't expecting me. Again NADA. I left the car there and waited. For four hours. Then the body shop called me and asked why the estimate hadn't been picked up for the body work...estimate needed for Work Order. No Work Order, no work.
Freddie never picked it up. Not Tuesday, Not Wednesday. I kept checking. I kept leaving messages. None of my calls were returned.
Wednesday, Freddie called me and asked me when I was coming in to pick up the car. I told him 5:30. He told me I'd be speaking to Manny Diaz, the sales manager. When I asked why, he wouldn't say.
At 5:30, I got to Mel Clayton. At 6:10 Manny finally bothered to keep his end of the appointment.
He started the conversation by blaming me. He said "When you came in the other morning, the paper you had with you had the wrong VIN on it." I interuppted saying, "I came in with two kids and a PURSE. I did NOT come in with any papers. We picked a car on the lot with no information on it, just a stock number."
"Well," he said "you got the wrong car." I said, "I picked that car in the lot, I negotiated for that car, I put a deposit down on that car, you gave me the keys for that car and I've been driving it for a WEEK." He said, "well that's not the car I thought I was selling you." I was giving you pricing based on THIS car."
He handed me an invoice for a car I'd never seen. But the invoice matched the paperwork I had. They'd written up the WRONG CAR.
The bank had done a walk through the day before. The bank discovered the error. That a car that was supposed to be in inventory was missing and a car that was supposed to be sold was there. And neither Freddie, nor Manny, nor their GM Neil Underwood said a WORD. They did not call me. They did worse than nothing because they didn't even bother to return my phone calls..
Manny did not apologize for the dealer's error. He did not try to make it right. He did not stop blaming me. He was adamant that I need to come up with another $7000. Ford partner pricing didn't warrant that. Especially not for a car that had 800 miles on it, was dirty and dented. He offered me $100 off Ford Partner pricing.
I walked out. My down payment will be returned.
I recommend that you never walk in. At best it feels like a classic bait and switch. At worst I still have to make sure a car that I've never seen, nor taken possession of is not titled to me and that Ford doesn't come after me for payments.
They've done nothing to assure me that won't happen.
Comments:
Posted by Mad Eye Moody on 2007-09-28:
All the waiting they made you do the first day is a typical dealership tactic. You'd be amazed to know what goes on in those places. There was no bank walkthrough, I'm sorry to say. That was a lie. They realized THEY made 7k mistake, and for once...it was in the buyer's favor. Their attempt to get it back from you with their crazy unimaginative story was basically them frantically trying to recoup the loss they would have taken had you not given it back. I would have lawyered up, or called the police.
Posted by Mad Eye Moody on 2007-09-28:
OH...and talk to dealerdirect on this...he'll have plenty to say.
Posted by dealerdirect on 2007-10-01:
The problem here all started with someone stocking the car in wrong and the crap all rolled downhill from there. Legally, there is no case as the vin # does not match the vehicle the consumer took delivery of, if it did that would be another story. What is surprising is that the sales manager blamed the consumer for their own mistake. These situations happen sometimes but usually the dealer bends over backwards to try to make things right. This did not happen here. A follow up phone call to Ford Motor Credit is advised as to be sure that you do not recieve a bill for a car you did not purchase, better to address it now rather than later. Good luck.
Posted by lmerrittaz on 2007-10-25:
The crap kept right on rolling. After assurances that it would NOT happen, last Friday, I received a bill for the car. Saturday I got the license plate.
Friday's phone calls were not returned. Call to Ford Motor Credit previously made was not "attached" to anything as I did not yet have an account.
Monday, I made one phone call. It was to Neil Underwood, the GM. In the v-mail I made it clear that I'd gotten the bill for the car that they still own and that I'd gotten the license plate, too. If I did not hear back from them by 3:00 pm I would be seeking legal counsel.
12:03 I left another message that I had not heard back from anyone.
1:07 I got a call from the finance guy telling me that they were cutting a check to Ford for the full amount to flat cancel my contract. I got a faxed copy of the check. They will reverse the registration.
I'll give the check a week to clear.
On the flip side, I got very, very good service from two other Ford Dealers in Phoenix. One was Sanderson Ford, the other was Bell Ford.
Friday's phone calls were not returned. Call to Ford Motor Credit previously made was not "attached" to anything as I did not yet have an account.
Monday, I made one phone call. It was to Neil Underwood, the GM. In the v-mail I made it clear that I'd gotten the bill for the car that they still own and that I'd gotten the license plate, too. If I did not hear back from them by 3:00 pm I would be seeking legal counsel.
12:03 I left another message that I had not heard back from anyone.
1:07 I got a call from the finance guy telling me that they were cutting a check to Ford for the full amount to flat cancel my contract. I got a faxed copy of the check. They will reverse the registration.
I'll give the check a week to clear.
On the flip side, I got very, very good service from two other Ford Dealers in Phoenix. One was Sanderson Ford, the other was Bell Ford.
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