I went to Krebs in Jan of 06 to purchase my first car. The salesman was very nice and courteous. He knew it was my first car purchase and he was treating me with a lot of respect. But that, from what I hear, is typical.
After I picked out the truck I wanted, we started talking about price. The first warning sign (which I failed to notice) was when we took the test drive I asked how much. He told me "well, ballpark around 15k". That was way off. His first asking price was almost 17k! I told him way too much and said I needed to be around 15 like he originally stated. He said that he would work on the price. 15 minutes go by and he countered with another price. I can't remember what it was exactly but it was roughly $500 cheaper then what he originally said. I still said it was too much ESPECIALLY since the tires on the car were 90 % worn and would not pass inspection. He then said that was the best price he could give me.
Since I really like the truck I said that if he would replace the tires I would buy it because that would technically be coming down on price since I wouldn't have to buy new tires. He then went and talked to his manager and they said OK. His exact response was "come back when your inspection is due and we'll get you some new tires". I can remember that like it was yesterday. I smiled and shook his hand. My father has told me time and time again that dealerships are VERY sneaky so I asked to get this deal in writing which he was more then happy to do.
6 months down the road, I decide to claim my tires because winter is coming and the tread is past the wear bars. So I call Krebs and talk to the service dept. To make an appointment to come in. The service guy asked for my name and what vehicle I purchased. He came back on the line after a few minutes and said that they had my tires in stock and it would ONLY cost me $600. I said WHAT? I was supposed to get free tires as apart of the deal. After that is when it all came down. He forwarded me to sales. My original salesman, Fred, so kindly told me that I agreed to new tires "at cost". I said "no I didn't... I agreed to new tires". Then Fred told me to go back and read the "We Owe You". Sure enough, it says on it "We will supply new set of tires at cost". When we made the deal, this "We Owe You" was slipped in with about 20 other papers I had to sign. All I was shown by the accounting lady was the yellow sheet of paper as she stated "as apart of your deal, we wrote you this WE Owe You for new tires". Never once saying that actually, I'll owe you! The only time Fred said "at cost" was when I called in upset. He made it clear to say "at cost" over and over again now, but it was never once said before I bought the truck!
I called the owner trying to explain how I felt deceived and was upset over this situation. I told him I felt that I was tricked into agreeing to buy this truck with the salesman knowing that I thought I was getting free tires. He kept telling me he trusts all his sales people and they have never had any complaints so he doesn't understand why this happened. He then went on to say "well I can do the following. I can "get" you a set of used tires to get you through inspection" (which probably meant sell since "get" in their language means "at cost"). This was a HUGE slap in the face for me. Yeah, I understand he was helping me but I am taking this as an act to get rid of me and my complaint. He never once tried to help me get what I wanted or even meet me in between. Over and over again he referred back to the "We Owe You" form that I signed saying "there is nothing you can do to us, you signed it and it says at cost". If I had a penny each time he said I understand your upset and I'm sorry I would be rich!
To make a long story short; I trusted this salesman and dealership but they slid this "back-end" clause in writing that I never caught. Never did they say to me that they would supply the tires "at cost", it was just "we'll get you some new tires". Why would I say NO to his final price AND agree to buy new tires from them yet still buy the truck? Fred knew he had me and like all dealers, he said and did what it took to make the sale. I'm sure most if not all dealers are like this but this was wrong and I want everybody to know exactly what they did so it will never happen again.
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