I received in the mail an advertisement from Bill Heard Chevrolet claiming " credit amnesty" due to choices that I made when I was young my credit is not that great, so my husband and I decided we would look at Bill Heard's web site. We read about how they had originated out of Columbus GA, my husband being from Colombus GA called a few people and they said that they had not heard anything bad about Bill Heard, only that they were the largest Chevy dealership in the Southeast, and if anyone could help with our credit situation it would be Bill Heard. So, my husband and I decided to pack up our things and head out to Bill Heard in Union City (the closest dealership to where we live was approx 35 miles away).
Before we even got all the way out of the car and got situated we had a salesman approach us.
We showed the salesman the ad we had received in the mail, and he said "since there is no ammount listed as a limit we just run your credit and find out what it is that you are approved for."
We looked around at a few trucks that we liked, and then my husband and I decided to see if we could even get financing before we test drove any of the trucks and made any decisions on which one we wanted to buy.
I am a disabled Veteran recently out of the military, so my income is only what I get from the VA for my disablility, however; my husband (also a disabled vet) has been out of the military longer and has a wonderful job with a great income.
Initially we filled out the Credit Application with my husband first and myself second. It was denied because of our credit history... I assumed that the "credit amnesty" was just a way to get us in the dealership. At that point they told us that we needed a strong co-signer.
I called my father who lives in Florida and asked him if he would co-sign for us to purchase a truck. He agreed.
The credit app was done with my fathers name and my husbands name (as he is the one with the income) When the dealership saw my fathers credit rating they told us that we could pick anything on the lot we wanted.
My husband and I then decided we would test drive the trucks we had previouslyy looked at, and finally after test driving three trucks we decided on a 2006 Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner Series with a Crew Cab.
We went back into the dealership with our salesman and he went to the financing office to start the paperwork. The sales man came back with the "first pencil" telling us to put x ammount down and our payments would be x ammount, we told the salesman what we wanted which was 0 down and our payments no more than 650 monthly.
Our sales man came back with a letter written on the first pencil stating " YOU WIN". Now all we had to do was wait for the Finance manager to get us in the finance office to sign paperwork.
Well, the finance manager came into our salesmans office and stated that he could not make the deal work with my husbands name on it, so he asked if my father would be willing to have his name on the deal only. We spoke with my father and he said he wasnt comfortable with that and was backing out of the deal.
The Finance Manager said that he wanted to speak with my father, I called him and spoke with my dad again and asked my father if he would speak with the Finance Manager. They spoke for no more than five minutes and the finance manager explained to my father that he would put my name on the loan with my father and in one year after my credit had improved some that I could come back to him and refinance the vehicle and take my fathers name off the loan, and only my name would remain.
My father agreed. He stated very clearly to the finance manager that the ONLY way he would agree to it was if my name or my husbands name was on the loan as well as his. This was on October 15th.
At this point the finance manager told my husband and I that my name was going to be on the loan with my fathers and he gave us a "bailment agreement" listed in my husbands name with an expiration date of 10/25/06, and told us we would be back that evening to sign all the paperwork.
We left the dealership, and a few hours later we were pulled over by the local police department and cited for having improper tags, the dealership never even put a tag on the truck, so we were driving illegaly in the truck.
That evening passed with no phone call, so the next afternoon when we still had not heard anything we contacted the finance manager to find out what was going on. He said that he spoke with his contact at "x" company and that the deal would go through in the morning when his contact returned to the office. I again asked him, " you are sure that one of our names will be on the loan with my fathers name" he said " yes, your name is on the loan with your fathers name"
I informed him that we had been pulled over and cited, and he said that when we came up the next morning to sign paperwork that he would give us a tag for the truck.
Again the next morning came with no phone call. My husband and I decided to go up to the dealership and at least get a tag for the car, and to determine what was going on with the deal. When we arrived we were greeted by our salesman, who was stunned at the fact we werent given a tag, and told us to come inside with him and he would get the tag from the finance manager.
When we went inside the Finance Manager gave us a tag for the truck and I again asked him, how is everything going with our deal, he stated " youre good" I said "and my name is on the loan with mny fathers right" he assured me it was and that I would be there to sign paperwork after my father signed his portion, since he was the primary and I was listed as the co-signer. Again we went on our way.
Phone call after phone call came from my father saying he still had not received any paperwork from Bill Heard, so again my husband and I contacted the Finance Manager to see what was going on, again we were asssured that everything was on schedual and that my name was on the loan with my fathers and he was sending the paperwork to my father the next day.
On October 21st I received an email from my father stating he still had not recieved paperwork and wanted us to find out what was going on. Again we contacted the Finance Manager, this time he actually had a tracking number, so I called my father and he said he would go check his box. On October 24th my father signed the paperwork and sent it back in the self adressed envelope that they sent with the paperwork.
On October 25th the Finance Manager called me at 11:42am and asked me if my father had gotten the paperwork, I said that I believe he had and that I would get in touch with him after I spoke with my father. I again asked him if my name was on the loan and he stated " what I sent your father was just in his name but I have your stuff here from wells fargo."
I hung up the phone and told my husband what was said, i told him I was confused and my husband immediatley got on the phone and attempted to get in touch with the fianance managers boss to let him know that we thought things appeared to be sneaky and that it needed to be fixed.
His boss told us he would look into it and call me back. Not even two minutes later the finance manager was on the phone getting and attitude with my husbnd and I for calling his boss, he then told me that he financed the car soley in my fathers name and that he spoke with my father and my father agreed to it.in the background we heard what was his boss saying, " we dont even have the contract yet, so just bring the truck back" My husband told him we were bringing the truck back and hung up the phone.
Immediatley I called my father to see if he had sent the paperwork back and informed him of what happened, he stated he never spoke with the finance manager and never agreed to such a thing. Unfortunatley he also said he had already sent the paperwork back, but he did inform me that there was paperwork in the package that required a notarized signature and he was unable to get it notarized so the deal was not valid anyways, and for me to go and return the truck.
My husband and I went straight to the dealership and parked the truck in front of the doors, we asked to speak with our salesman, he did not come to speak with us, we asked to speak with the fianance manager, he did not come to speak with us, we asked to speak with the finance managers boss whom we had spoken with on the phone and he would not speak with us.
Finally my husband got on the phone and called the finance managers phone number and he answered, my husband told him the truck was out front with the keys in it and we were leaving, the finance manager then stated that we had to speak with his manager because the truck now belonged to my father and if we left it there, it would either be towed to our house, or they would contact the financing company and have them reposess it.
So at this point I went into the dealership and told one of the salesman that I needed to speak with someone in charge that was NOT the fiance manager, finally someone came out and spoke with me and I informed him of what was going on and he said " so you want your name on the contract too" and I said, " as far as i was told by your finance manager the contract has yet to go through, so I want you to shred the contract and take the truck back, as I am disgusted with the way Bill Heard has done business with me and my father" That man looked at me and said let me see what I can do. I never saw him again.
Finally our salesman came and spoke with my husband and told my husband that the problem was that the financing company had already paid them for the truck and they no longer owned the truck it wasnt there problem. We again told the salesman, that it was there problem because the deal was very clearly understood to ONLY GO THROUGH IF ONE OF OUR NAMES WAS ON THE LOAN AS WELL.
My husband and I spent about four hours outside of the dealership on the phone with everyone we possibly could think of while my father was on the phone in Florida trying to stop the DHL truck from delivering the paperwork to Bill Heard.
We sat outside trying to do everything we could, we asked to see the contract, (which they still didnt have yet) they told us that we could not see the contract because our names were not on the contract, we asked them for information and again they refused because we were not "involved in the business transaction" My father attempted to call them and they refused to answer the phone or call him back after messages were left.
They called all of there salemen into the office and pointed to us, but we did not hear what was said. After several hours of trying to figure out what was going on and how to rectify the situation they threatned my husband and told us to leave the property, we called the police as we didnt even know if legally we could leave with the truck, as "we were not involved", but if we left the truck there they would repossess it and damage my fathers credit.
When the police arrived, some guy in a suit that refused to show his face to us, came strolling out of the building and told the police officer we needed to leave. The police officer told us that if we didnt leave we would be aressted. We left, taking the truck with us, and are still on a mission to figure out how Bill Heard Chevrolet, and this finance manager can be held liable for buying my dad a car with out his permission.
By the time my father heard back from DHL they had already delivered his paperwork to the dealership, we contacted the Federal Trade Comission and have a case pending, we contacted local news stations, fraud investigators, and the Attorney General's office.
Now my husband and I sit here wondering, how is it that we went and fought for the very freedom that this dealership has to operate, and we are the ones who got walked over, and in turn my father now has a new vehicle that he has never seen, drove, and doesnt even know what bank to send payments to.
As this just happened yesterday we are trying to still figure out what it is we need to do, the one thing I will make sure of is that NO ONE I KNOW WILL EVER SHOP AT BILL HEARD CHEVROLET.
Rebekah
Stockbridge, Georgia
U.S.A.
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