Complaint Review: BMG Motors - Derrin Harvey - Lance Benedict

Before I get to the details, I want to respond to the rebuttal given above by the owner. LIES! 5 months? What an incredible lie! I can't believe these guys--absolutely no integrity.

I'd like to mention something else. They filed for arbitration with SquareTrade.com because they wanted the negative feedback removed. After hearing our sides, THE ARBITRATOR SIDED WITH ME 100%. He told BMG to refund me the full repair costs. BMG refused. After much haggling, the arbitrator got BMG to agree to pay me something like $1000 or $1200 (I don't remember). Just to get something, I agreed. However, BMG never paid me. The arbitrator tried to get me money, but BMG would not respond to any of his emails. This shows you who is at fault and also shows how completely untrustworthy and irresponsible these guys are. Complete scum. I still get emails from people who've bought from them, telling me how they were also ripped off. Don't buy from them. You'll be sorry!

Here is my case with BMG Motors. First, I'll give you the brief story, and then I'll let you know all the details with this seller. All of this is fact, and I have documentation to prove it.

Oh, and before I tell you what happened, I should tell you how they do business. After leaving negative feedback for them, I received a couple of emails from them. Both were vindictive, bitter, and threatening in a blackmail sort of way. They are trying to claim that I owe them money, which I don't. I paid in full. They also told me that because I left them negative feedback, they will be leaving negative feedback for me. I don't think that is a good reason to leave negative feedback for someone, do you? Here are the two emails:

Hello, I was just informed by my sales associate that you still owe us $146. So I will be leaving negative feedback as well.
Have a nice day!

Are you not communicating with us because you feel bad for what you did... it's okay... we can work through it as long as you're willing to remove the negative comments.

Me feel bad? Ha! I'm just beginning. My retribution will be swift and intense.

The short of it
I bought a 1995 BMW M3 from them at the end of November. Promised paperwork from the ad (detailed service records) was never delivered. Three months later, I still don't have the registration or plates. The CD changerclaimed to be workingis broken and needs to be replaced. When I took it in for an oil change and quick inspection, it needed about $2000 of repairs. Most shocking of all was some of these were so obviousand dangerousthat my mechanic was stunned that these problems were not disclosed to me.

He wouldn't let me drive away because he didn't want to feel responsible for any accident that might happen. He was surprised the seller lacked the conscience to let me drive away. The rims were terribly bent and the tires were nearly bald, especially on the inside, with one of them having a huge crack on the inner wall that was about to come apart any time. My mechanic said I was lucky to be alive (or at least unwrecked). When I called BMG with these concernsall the damage that was undisclosed in the adthey were completely disingenuous and unwilling to at least a compromise (I didn't ask for full reimbursement for the repairsI left the decision to them to see how responsible they are).

They wouldn't even admit their fault. They tried to claim I made the damage, a ridiculous and defensive action. All they said was they might be able to get me a discount on a new CD changer.

Okay, now for some details
At first they were fairly responsive. The Ebay ad came with outrageous claims about the stellar condition of the car (see below for their quotes). I was a little wary of such claims, and I stated my concerns to the seller. He told me over the phone that he would get his BMW expert mechanic to do another thorough inspection, write down the results, and give them to me when we met to make the transaction. When we met, he didn't have it.

He also didn't have the detailed service records from the previous owner. He said he would send them to me later (but didn't, of course). After a quick look at the car, I drove away. The first thing I noticed is that the CD changer in the trunk was broken. Talking with BMW mechanics, they said it would be over $200 to fix. I emailed BMG about this, but got no response. When it came time for an oil change, I took it to a mechanic and had him do a quick inspection while he was at it. He came back with a long list of needed repairs, including the ones mentioned above. These were mostly mandatory repairs, not cosmetic/optional. Now what gets me is that none of this was disclosed to me. To me, they have been irresponsible, dishonest, negligent, and customer unfriendly.

Here are some quotes from the Ebay ad (see below for the whole ad text):
We are rating thisa 9+ out of possible 10.
handles and performs like new and has just passed our certified pre-owned' BMW inspection,
the car is in tip-top mechanical condition,
we inspect all of our cars for performance and safetyit's ready to drive safely and efficiently. You have my word.

That last one gets me. I feel lucky I didn't have a blowout on I-5 on my way home. Thanks, buddy! By the way, does BMW know that you are claiming to have the authority to state a certified pre-owned BMW inspection? I think I'll write them and ask.

Here is the link to the Ebay ad (as of February 22, it is still online). But here is the description from the ad.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2444378971

You're bidding on an absolute immaculate 1995 BMW M3 with very rare interior colors, like nothing we have ever seen. This gorgeous extremely rare beauty has pristine body & paint and near perfect interior. We are rating this sleek & fast M3 a 9+ out of possible 10! This Ultimate Driving Machine handles & performs like new and has just passed our certified pre owned BMW inspection. The car is in tip-top mechanical condition. This M3 has 76K pampered miles and has been stored inside since new.

Everything on this gem works and performs like new. The car has no mechanical needs whatsoever. This is the fastest and best handling '95 M3 we have ever driven. If you're looking for a super tight, clean and well kept M3... this is the one! Some expected minor wear on driver seat and bottom of rear passenger seat, very very minor issues. BMW M cars have long been recognized as the epitome of high performance and refinement and this car is no exception. BMW's four-valve technology provides one of the highest specific torque and power outputs of any production engine worldwide. Exceptionally low gas-flow restrictions of the cylinder head ports guarantee optimized gas exchange, resulting in excellent low speed torque and "free-breathing" at high revs. This car needs nothing but a new owner At BMG Motors we know you have many choices when buying a car on ebay. But let's face it... when you buy a car sight unseen it all comes down to one thing... trust! BMG Motors sells only Pre-Owned Quality European Automobiles with a clean title history. Our feedback speaks for itself... how many used car dealers on ebay have an impeccable 100% feedback rating? We have this rating because we have very high standards when buying our cars and we only sell the cream of the crop! Our cars have no frame damage, flood, fire or rust damage and are as close to showroom new as can possibly be.

We inspect all of our cars for performance and safety and when your car arrives at your front door, it's ready to drive safely and efficiently. You have my word. Thank you in advance for choosing BMG Motors! Derrin W. Harvey xxxxx@aol.com email us now for our ROCK BOTTOM BUY IT NOW PRICE

So many misleading and dangerous lies!

This vehicle was almost nine years old at the point of sale and was in impeccable shape, and perfect running condition. The customer bought the vehicle online and upon delivery he inspected it and had no problems. Though he did call about 2 weeks later and let me know the cd player was not working properly, I told him to get a price to get it fixed then give me a call back so we could work something out. After this I did not hear from him until four months later where he now had a $3,000 bill for issues with the vehicle. He stated a large part of the price was due to bent rims, but four months later how do we know what happened to the car in that amount of time. He now demanded this money or said he was going to leave negative feedback for us on our Ebay website,(note before him we had 85 vehicles sold with perfect 100% positive feedback) so we denied the funds and he slammed us with negative feedback, slandering emails to many of our prospective clients viewing our cars online and now this rip-off report. The man was just out to extort money from a company in which he thought would pay to save our perfect feedback. Shocking to him, I'm sure, we did not pay and now he is on a vindictive mission to slander our names and reputation. From the start we were more than fair with this man; we never charged him for registration or titling fees, which were his responsibility that we took a loss on. So there is not much more to say, our prior reputation speaks for itself. We tried to rectify the situation to the best of our ability but we started to learn and figure out that he would never be satisfied without trying to RIP us off.