Complaint Review: Fedor Pontiac-Oldsmobile

In July of 2003, my wife and I began looking for a new car. We settled on a new Pontiac Sunfire. After deciding which model we wanted, we began looking around and picking out options for our new car. We finally chose a flame yellow Sunfire, with a manual transmission, sun and sound, and power accessories options packages. My wife and I were disappointed to find that no dealership along the gulf coast had a Sunfire like this and we began searching the country for the car we wanted. We found that car at Fedor Pontiac-Oldsmobile in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

I called Fedor Oldsmobile Pontiac Inc. in late July and made an offer to buy the Sunfire they had listed on the GM Buy-Power website. My offer to buy their Sunfire was contingent on several rebates and incentives that were being offered at the time. I was dealing with Marty Fedor for most of the negotiations. I asked several times about the rebates I was entitled to. I had been told by a few dealerships in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area that the Military rebate and the Pontiac owner loyalty rebate were not compatible and I would have to choose one or the other.

My wife and I called the Pontiac public affairs office to ask about this, and to inform them that there were several dealerships in our area that were advertising these rebates as being compatible, and then telling customers that it was one or the other once they were in the final phases of purchasing a car. The lady we spoke to at Pontiac was very polite and helpful. She told me that only a dealership could decide which rebates to offer, and it was likely that the two rebates were compatible.

I was very skeptical in dealing with Marty Fedor about rebates because each dealership we talked to gave us a different story, but he assured me, in three separate phone conversations, that I would receive a total of $5,750 in rebates, and have another $325 taken off the price of the car for the XM Radio factory to dealer incentive that was being offered.

My wife asked Mr. Fedor to send us the price terms in writing and a copy of the invoice with VIN and options so that we were all on the same page. So, on July 29, 2003, Mr. Fedor faxed a purchase contract to me at my office outlining the rebates and incentives I was entitled to, and would receive when I purchased the Sunfire. Those rebates were: $4,000 manufacturer's rebate, $1,000 for Pontiac owner loyalty rebate, and $750 for active duty military rebate. My wife and I were happy with the terms on purchase forms and agreed to buy the car from Fedor Pontiac. I gave Mr. Fedor the information for him to claim our $1000 GM Card Earnings. He said this would be sufficient for a deposit.

On July 30, 2003, we made the long trip from Mississippi to Massachusetts. It took a little over 24 hours. When we were entering Cambridge, Massachusetts, I checked my voicemail and found a message from Edward Fedor. He said that there was a problem with our purchase and we should call him soon. The time stamp on the message said that it had been left for me at 4:50pm on July 31, 2003. The time I received the message and called him back was close to 5:15 pm. Edward told me that the military and loyalty rebates were not compatible, the exact opposite of what Marty had told me not even 30 hours before. Since my phone battery was dying, and I was only fifteen minutes from the dealership, I told him that we could discuss the whole situation when I arrived.

I was greeted by Edward Fedor, and told that Marty Fedor had the day off and sent his apologies for not being there. Edward completely refused to budge on his stance about the military refund. He offered to buy my old car for $1,500 or part of his holdback and told me that I could sue him for the $750 refund. Since we had driven 1500 miles to buy that particular Sunfire, and the price was still reasonable, my wife and I decided to buy the Sunfire and sell my Dodge Intrepid. Edward Fedor did not even take the time to write out a new purchase contract. He simply drew a line through the Military Rebate and wrote over the Total Contract Price making it very hard to read.

My wife and I encountered one other costly problem in our dealings with the Fedors. I am a resident of Virginia where the sales tax for vehicles is three-percent. I asked Marty several times if I would have to pay taxes to Massachusetts. His answer every time was no, I could just pay Virginia when I registered the car. Also, when we received the faxed purchase contract, the line for Massachusetts sales tax was crossed out.

When we began filling out the paperwork, Edward told me that I would have to pay taxes to Massachusetts which charges five-percent. If Marty had told us the correct information, we would have considered other options such as having the car delivered to us. As long as we took possession of the vehicle outside of the state boundaries, which Fedor Oldsmobile Pontiac is less than 10 miles away from, we would not have had to pay Massachusetts sales tax. However, we thought Marty Fedor had a better grasp of Massachusetts law than us, and, what he told us was consistent with our prior dealings in other states.

Luckily, Virginia accepted the Massachusetts tax forms and did not make us pay tax twice. However, I still had to pay an extra two-percent in taxes, which can add up to a lot of money on a big purchase like an automobile. In fact, the only promise Marty Fedor made to us that Edward Fedor gave us was a full tank of gas, but I had to pump it myself.

The thing that concerns us the most is that we have not heard a word from Marty Fedor since July 30, 2003, when we told him we were getting in our car to pick up the Sunfire. If a person makes a sale and tells people incorrect information, we feel that person should make a reasonable effort to come to the office and make things right. If that is not possible, the person should at least call in a day or two to apologize for the inconveniences he has caused.

In addition, the car was dirty. It had sat in the showroom and the interior had collected a layer of dust. The exterior was dusty as well. Someone had even written numbers in the dust on the sunroof. These were not cleaned off until we drove through rain on our trip home. Also, someone had written on the wheel with a white substance which took some scrubbing to get off.

To top it off, Fedor Pontiac did not put the front license plate holder on the vehicle for us. We had to drive illegally, with only one license plate, until a month later when my father-in-law let us borrow his pop rivet gun. Most people do not own, nor know how to use, a pop rivet gun. This could have been installed easily and quickly at the dealership.

My wife and I love Pontiac vehicles, but we have had two bad experiences at GM dealerships. Without resolving this issue of poor customer relations, General Motors may lose two customers to another auto manufacturer that will not give us so many headaches.

I have written a letter to Fedor and Pontiac customer service to request the $750 Military Rebate which I am entitled to. In addition, we would like $215.88 which is the difference between the five-pecent Massachusetts sales tax Fedor forced us to pay when we should have only payed three-percent in Virginia sales tax. Also, I wanted to inform you of the deceptive behavior that went on at Fedor Oldsmobile-Pontiac.

Fedor Oldsmobile-Pontiac has ignored us. Pontiac says that they are sorry but will not take any responsibility for the actions of their dealers. We were told by Pontiac customer service that they do not keep record of phone conversations with their marketing department. So, they have record that we talked to the marketing department but no record of what the call was about. We have a call reference number from this telephone conversation which is worthless because Pontiac claims that they do not keep records of these phone calls.

Steve
Des Moines, Iowa
U.S.A.

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