Since I've been frauded by a few companies recently... I am now juggling all the paperwork, gathering research on each one, to try and get my money back somehow. It's way too overwhelming! Thank god for usacomplaints.com. At least we feel we can share our horrible experiences with others, and not feel we are so alone.
Here's what happened to my husband and I with FORD. The word Ford should stand for F-Fraudalent O-Organization with R-Ripoff D-Dealers. We purchased a Mustang GT from this dealership. At the time, there were so few of these cars available... They felt they could charge whatever "over sticker" they wanted. And they did! The average was between $5,000 and $8,000 charged over sticker. And crazy people as we are, when we want something, we pay it. That wonderful supply and demand theory, that retailers take so advantage off, and up their prices, accordingly. Except I never like to pay FULL price for anything... So I'll always negotiate a sticker price down.
I got them to give me $2,000 over sticker vs. The $5,000 that they originally wanted. This is still a complete rip off! They even told me... Get this..."this is the deal we EVEN make our own employees pay, if they want the car...$5,000 for consumers, and $2,000 for employees"... UNBELIEVABLE, right! It gets even better.
When signing the papers, with their financing manager, I was told, that he could work out a deal for me, and get me a lower interest rate, if I go for this particular plan with a certain warranty. He tells me he could get me, for example 8.25 percent, rather than the first number he quoted me of 9.75 percent.
He did this, after he saw my face, at the initial quote of a ridiculous monthly payment. I found out later, this is completely ILLEGAL! No financial institution can alter any percentage rate. Your credit report is run, and you get quoted a number based on your credit... And that's it! They are not allowed to change the percentages in anyway! You cannot purchase a plan that would lower your interest rate. Nothing other then ridiculously good credit can do that.
So, now they found a way to somehow hide an extra $5,000 in my sales receipt numbers. I think the car was around $21,000 plus $2,000 over sticker, plus a warranty for another $2,500 (which of course the dealership makes profit off of already). Plus tax of course. And the total came to over $31 something thousand dollars.
When I first saw the number I freaked, and questioned it with the manager. He BS'd some story about how he worked out a special deal for me, to lower the percentage rate, by getting an extended warranty policy, or something like that. He said..."that was the only way we could get your percentage lower, and get your monthly payments down". What a crock of BULL that was! They really describe these things in such a way to make them sound so freakin' believable. This guy is a piece of crap... He ends up pocketing all this extra commission on the car.
My husband had looked over the sales receipt later, and thought something looked very wrong. So, we went down to the dealership... Saw the same sleezy guy. And he came up with the exact same sleezy story, with getting us the lower percentage rate. We politely disputed this with him, and he consistenly stuck to his story, of where the extra money came from. Well, we quietly walked out of the dealership, and said... That's it... We are taking them to court, and will sue them for the extra 5 grand they charged us.
That's where we are today... Filling out an application for court. This is just plain insanity! We as consumers, constantly have to worry about every deal we venture into, and wonder whether or not a company is the real deal. Unfortunately even when you do research on a company and do not find anything, that doesn't guarantee they are legitimate. And of course Ford has been around a long time with a name everyone knows, but that does not eliminate them from the theif category.
The sad part is, a few of the businesses I got screwed with... I had done research prior, found nothing on Better Business Bureau (which I now find out is a crock, anyway), but somehow later, after I've alreay given them money, do these reports all of a sudden start surfacing. I am just fed up with everyone, and although I was always skeptical about things that were too good to be true, now, even more so, am I not only skeptical, but scared to death to give anyone my hard earned money.
In life, to make money we have to spend money and take risks, but all this gets you to the point, of being scared to ever take risks again. Thanks everyone at usacomplaints.com for all your support, and for developing this tool to help consumers have a voice in this world.
Caryn
Centereach, New York
U.S.A.
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