We were looking for a used vehicle for my mom. We'd narrowed our search to 2 vehicles; one in Gastonia and one in Concord. We test drove the one in Gastonia on Saturday 2-14-09 and went to Concord to see the 2nd one on Sunday 2-15-09. After test driving the 2nd vehicle on Sunday we were going to make our decision. The one listed at Honda of Concord had fewer miles and the options my mom was most interested in, so if the test drive went well, we were prepared to buy it that day and have her drive her new vehicle home.
When we arrived we were greeted by Glen at Honda of Concord who told us that he needed to find the vehicle we came to see on his lot... So we waited. Then he comes back and says that it's not actually on the lot yet, that it's on the way. He immediately started talking about other used vehicles that were available on his lot and I instantly felt like we'd been baited and switched.
We weren't interested in seeing other vehicles, so we asked him to find out when the one we wanted was going to arrive to his lot. He said he'd have to ask his sales manager. A few minutes go by and his "sales manager" comes out to tell us that the vehicle we want is not actually coming to his lot at all, that it's in Kansas City but that we can buy it sight unseen and he'll bring it to the lot after we buy it.? He then tells us that he has others for us to look at and that Hendrick has certain criteria for their used vehicles and that it would be fine to buy it before we see or test drive it. I then told him I felt like this was a bait and switch plot which clearly, visibly irritated the sales manager. He then proceeds to tell me that I misunderstood the Honda of Concord website, that it says the vehicle we were interested in says it's in the "Company's Used Car Inventory" and that I should have understood that meant it was in Hendrick's inventory as a whole, not specifically at Honda Cars of Concord.?
Any normal consumer would assume that if they found a vehicle and all it's information at a specific dealership's website (not a general Hendrick Automotive website), that the dealership in question would actually have the vehicle on their lot. I do feel like this is deceitful business practices, and the very definition of a bait and switch tactic.
I left feeling outraged that this scheme had been attempted on us. I was mostly upset that the vehicle my mom wanted wasn't actually available to her and that we'd have to either buy the one in Gastonia or go back to the drawing board of looking for another vehicle entirely.
Being a native Charlottean, I've heard bad things about Hendrick Automotive and their shady practices before, but I really had more faith in them than this. I am ashamed to know that all the things I've heard about over the years must have been true.
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