Complaint Review: Bellflower Auto Mart

Bellflower Auto Mart, 17839 Bellflower Boulevard #A Bellflower, California 90706 - COMPLETE RIPOFF! DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS AUTO DEALERSHIP, THEY ARE A COMPLETE RIPOFF.

1. THEY MAKE PROMISES JUST TO SELL THE CAR.
2. THEY LIE TO YOU
3. THEY PROVIDED EXTREMELY POOR SERVICE
4. THEY ARE EXTREMELY DISORGANIZED
5. ME AND MY 3 CHILDREN WAITED 1 HOUR FOR SOMEONE TO HELP US
6. THEY DID NOT FIX THE THINGS THEY SAID THEY WOULD DO
7. THEY QUOTE YOU 1 PRICE, THEN CHANGE IT LATER
8. THEY ADDED $500 INSURANCE TO THE CONTRACT EVEN WHEN YOU TELL THEM NO LIKE 3 TIMES.
9. THEY WILL PUT YOU ON HOLD ON THE PHONE
10. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT CUSTOMER SERVICE IS, THEY TREAT THE CUSTOMER'S VERY BAD, AND TELL THEM TO TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT!

MAKE THEM FIX THE CAR FIRST BEFORE YOU SIGN THE CONTRACT AND GIVE THEM YOUR $2000 CASH! OTHERWISE THEY DONT CARE ABOUT YOU. THEY DID NOT EVEN SHAKE MY HAND AND SAY THANK YOU WHEN I SIGNED THE CONTRACT AND GAVE THEM MY MONEY.

THESE PEOPLE ARE CLEARLY IN THIS FOR THE MONEY AND COULD CARE LESS ABOUT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OR GETTING REFERRALS. THEY ARE HORRIBLE!

THEY WILL TELL YOU THAT YOU SIGNED THE CONTRACT AND THE CAR WAS SOLD AS IS, NO WARRANTY, THAT IS THE CALIFORNIA LAW. THAT IS TRUE AND I WAS AWARE OF THAT. BUT WHAT THEY WILL NOT TELL YOU IS THEY MADE PROMISES, AND WHEN I SIGNED THE CONTRACT, I DID NOT TAKE POSSESSION OF THE CAR YET BECAUSE THEY HAD A LIST OF THINGS THEY WERE GOING TO FIX. SO IT WAS NOT SOLD AS IS BECAUSE THEY STILL HAD THE CAR AND THEY HAD TO FIX SEVERAL THINGS, PUT PARTS BACK ON, PAINT THE CAR, REPLACE MY $200 KEY, AND REPLACE THE BATTERY.

2 DAYS LATER WHEN I GO TO PICK UP THE CAR, THE ONLY THING THEY DID WAS PAINT IT, AND THEY ASKED ME TO COME BACK TO GET THE REST DONE. I DID NOT THINK THEY WOULD LIE TO ME, BUT AFTER I TOOK THE CAR, THEY SCREWED ME AND SAID TOO BAD! THE CONTRACT IS NOT VALID UNTIL YOU HAVE POSSESSION OF THE CAR.

My experience when I first arrived on their lot was less than satisfactory, actually it was VERY POOR. The reason for this was because there was no one there to help me even when I asked for someone to help me. I spent 45 minutes waiting for a sales person. The main girl working in the office named Yolanda told me to go to her second lot next door and look at their other vehicles and she would send her sales rep over their. After 30 minutes, no one showed up. I was very frustrated but still patient to just deal with their incompetence and get a car. My 3 children were with me as well and we all spent a lot of time waiting for someone. I had to walk back and forth 2 times with my children between the 2 lots they owned to ask for someone to help me. I did notice that they were extremely disorganized and never did what they say they were going to do, or just forgot to do it. This is very poor customer service and not the way they should be treating their customers, especially when they want to ask a customer to deal with their crap and demand a huge down payment.

Finally, someone showed up and finally got keys so I could see inside several cars. I looked at a lot of cars and finally chose the 2005 Dodge Durango XLT. When I first saw the sales rep, the first thing I told him was I wanted an SUV because I have 3 children and 2 dogs and we like camping, and I wanted to pay around $300-350 in car payments and all I had was $1500 deposit, and I repeated myself that all I had was $1500 total. So I asked him based on that information, what price range on a vehicle could I afford. He told me a car around $11,000 or less.

The sales rep told me the 2005 Dodge Durango XLT was $9,800 which is what he quoted me. I was happy because I loved this vehicle and it was less than $10,000. I told him there were a lot of things missing on the car and the first thing he told me was they were going to paint the vehicle and put all the parts back on the vehicle. I asked for the keys to the vehicle so I could start it and see how it is when turned on. The car would not start. I told him I wanted this vehicle, but he would have to replace the battery because it was no good and the key needed to be replaced as well because it was broken. I specifically asked for a new key because I knew it cost $300 to get the key replaced because I had to pay that to get a key for my previous vehicle, so I knew it was expensive.

When I sat inside the vehicle, my daughter especially liked it because the back seat had a DVD player screen, and when we tried to turn the power on, it would not work. He told me that they would look at that and fix it as well. He assured me these items would be taken care of. So I agreed to buy the vehicle and to start the paperwork.

In summary, the sales rep and Yolanda promised me to replace and fix the following, in which they had no intention of doing and every time I called, they kept giving me the run-around excuses:

1. Replace the electronic remote key because it was broke
2. Replace the dead battery that was no good
3. Missing windshield wipers
4. Fix the DVD player screen
5. Paint the car (they did do this, but the paint is peeling away now)

When we went to their office, they had me sit down in a crammed office space that was about 30 sq ft so we could do the paperwork. While I was waiting for Yolanda to do the paperwork, the sales people had customers come in and interrupt us 3 times, so I wasted about 40 minutes waiting for Yoland to get started on my deal, but she kept letting customers come in her office and ask her questions. I was so pissed off at this point because I was there first and they should take care of 1 customer at a time, it was very disrespectful.

When Yolanda got started on my paperwork, she told me that the vehicle was actually $10,800 and not 9,800 and I demanded that she honor the first price quote the sales rep gave me. She would not budge and said take it or leave it. She asked me several times if I wanted to get the $500 insurance added to the loan and I do remember telling her 3 different times NO because she kept asking me. She then requested $2000 deposit and I told her the sales rep said it was OK if I only paid $1500 because that is all I have in the bank. After sitting there trying to get them to honor what they originally told me, they would not budge. I told her that I would have to write her a $500 check she could cash in 15 days. She agreed.

Finally, after 2 hours in her office, she has the paperwork done and reviews everything with me, and she actually added the $500 insurance on it when I told her NO 3 times. She told me she spoke to the CIG Financial and they said it was required. So I thought I had no choice. We signed all the paperwork and they told me to come back tomorrow and pick up the car because they were going to paint it today and fix everything.

I called the next day and they said they could not get a hold of their painter and the vehicle was not ready, so I said I would call back at the end of the day. They gave me the same response. The next day, they told me the painter came in and it would be ready at the end of the day. Around 6pm, I went to pick up the vehicle, and noticed they were just finished painting it like 40 minutes ago but it would be ok, just don't hit anything. When they gave me the key, they told me to just come back the next day and they would replace the key. I said OK and did not think that they would lie to me.

The next day, I called Yolanda and asked her if I could come in now and get my key replaced, and she flat out told me they did not have any additional keys and that I would have to use that one. I told her I was mad at what she was doing to me and I could not trust anything she would say to me.

Next thing I know, on October 6, just 6 days later, I was stranded at my apartment complex where I could not turn the car on at all. I called Yolanda and asked her to send someone to get me to see what is wrong with the car. She said she would call her tow truck driver and call me back. About 45 minutes later I called Yolanda again, and she said, the tow truck driver did not call you? I said NO! She said let me call you right back. Once again she did not call me back.

I called her again and told her that she needs to hurry up because I have to pick my kids up at school at 3pm, and that I am only 1 mile from her office, and she then said she and admitted that she could not get a hold of her tow truck driver. I said are you kidding me? She said let me talk to my mechanic and I will have him call you and come help you. She did not call me back once again. I even called my wife and told her when she gets off work she needs to get the kids from school because I was stranded with my car not working.

These are the calls I made to Yolanda, just 6 days after I bought the car from her because she did not replace the battery like the promised me:

12:08pm - I called Yolanda for 2 minutes, she promised a tow truck

12:21pm - I called Yolanda, 6 minute call because I was on hold, same thing, the tow truck driver will call me, she kept me on hold for 6 minutes on the call, then said he will come to me

12:45pm - I called Yolanda, 9 minute call because she put me on hold again, no tow truck driver, put me on hold to get her mechanic, I was on hold for 9 minutes, she said she will get mechanic to come to me when she talks to him. She promised to call me back when she talks to mechanic.

1:11pm - I called Yolanda again and asked what happen that I am waiting on her, that she did not call me back. I told her I have to pick up my kids at 3pm and to please hurry, she said she would go find the mechanic and call me back.

1:48pm - After wasting 2 hours with Yolanda, and realizing she was lying to me and would not send a tow truck, or a mechanic, in which I was 1 mile from her office, I called a mobile mechanic and they showed up in 30 minutes, found the problem in 10 minutes, and spent another 45 minutes driving me to store to buy the new battery that Yolanda was supposed to replace in the car in the first place.

I decided that I was not going to call Yolanda again because she kept lying to me, and I called a mobile mechanic at exactly 1:48pm and he came in 45 minutes. I had to spend 30 minutes calling auto repair shops to find a tow truck and finally got referred to the mobile mechanic, who were very friendly and helpful and went out of their way for me.

It took him 10 minutes to figure out what was wrong. He said the battery was so old it was no good, and dead! I told him that I could not believe it because the auto dealer I bought the car from assured me they would put a new battery in it. He said no way. So the mobile mechanic even drove me to Kragen auto parts so I could buy a new battery. The mobile mechanic also pointed out to me that I had no wiper blades at all on the windshield wipers, so I had to buy them as well. I spent $170.95 and $60 on the mechanic for something that Yolanda at Bellflower Auto Mart assured me that they would take care of.

To my surprise, I was totally shocked that Yolanda called me on my cell phone 5 hours later at exactly 7:01pm and asked me if I had called CIG Financial to verify the loan paperwork with them so she could get paid. I was so upset that I said, Are you kidding me? Is that why you are calling me? I am still waiting for you and your mechanic to call me back and I decided to not wait for you any longer. She just said that her mechanic was busy and could not go see me. I told her she should have at least called me or told me no in the first place. I told her I would make her wait a few weeks and call CIG Financial.

I am positive they have been treating me like this because they know they did not replace things on the car like they promised, and that I was already upset with her because they refused to replace my key like they promised.

I have all the cell phone records for all calls placed on October 6, 2008 to prove all these phone calls took place and that she finally called me 4 hours later, but not to help me like she promised me.

I have never been treated like this in my ENTIRE life!

I was lied to and lead to believe that they were going to get the car ready and fix things just to get me to sign the papers and take my money. They have taken complete advantage of me and lied to me so many times.

I am a single father with 3 expensive teenagers with an extremely tight budget trying to make it day by day and they screwed me.

Victim of fraud
Long Beach, California
U.S.A.