Around Jan 2 we received an offer in the mail for a $50 gift certificate if we would drive one of their new cars. We went in on the 4th and test-drove a Suburban. We gave the salesman the certificate and he took it inside to be signed and then brought it back folded up a few minutes later. We took it without looking at it.
The next day my wife started to mail it in and noticed that the back now had writing on it (the back was blank before). She read the back and it said that that certificate expired on May 31 or the signature date whichever is earlier. The signature was also dated Jan 4!
She called the Bill Heard dealership and explained that someone had given us back the wrong form and asked to talk to the general manager. They refused to let her talk to the GM and insisted that she had to talk to customer service first so she said ok. They switched here to CS but no one would take her call. She finally left a message but after more than two weeks no one has yet returned her call. When she told me what had happened I said I'd call them. I knew that Saturdays were one of their busiest days and there had to be someone there that day and if they weren't taking or returning her call it was because they didn't want to her.
I called and told the operator that I wanted to talk to the General Manager and no one else. I got the same treatment, switched to a dead line that no one would answer. I called over and over and I guess they realized that I wasn't going to go away because finally someone answered. The firs thing I asked him was his name and if he was the general manager. He said he was the GM and that his name was Shawn but wouldn't give his last name and acted evasive. I told him what had happened and he said the redemption company would honor the certificate if we mailed it in! I told him that he'd obviously never dealt with a redemption company and they reject anything that didn't have every t crossed and i dotted and that this form clearly stated that it was void after May 31 and because of the Jan 4 signature date. I flatly refused to be put off.
He finally promised that he would mail out a replacement certificate the following Monday (Jan 7). It's now been two weeks and I've received nothing from them. I called again this morning and again asked for the GM but this time someone else (Brad) says he's the GM. I asked who Shawn is and they said he's a sales manager!
So let's see: they stole my certificate, misdated the one that they gave us, refused to phone calls through to the person that we asked for, didn't return calls, lied about being the general manager, all over a $50 gift certificate! Does this sound like a company that you'd want to buy a $50,000 vehicle from???
PS I just talked to the assistant for the GM and she says that a replacement certificate is in the mail. We'll see.
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