FREEWAY CHEVROLET ripoff, bait & switch, failure to honor their word, rude and no integrity Chandler Arizona
I went "window shopping" at Freeway Chevrolet in Chandler Arizona on 9-23-2005 at 1:30 AM. All the lights were on at the lot and there were no pushy salesmen around to bother me.
I found a truck that I liked and wrote down the stock number, VIN, MSRP from the window sticker and the new GMS price.
Around 10 that morning I called the Internet sales line and spoke to Nina, a sales rep. I told her I had been in earlier and found a truck that I would like to buy. I told her I would be a cash buyer as I had already secured financing with my own bank.
Then I told her how much I wanted to pay for the truck. $25,000.00 flat, out the door. She said she had to run that past her sales Mgr. and would call me back. She did call back and said "Done deal! when do you want to pick it up?" I told her it would be about 3 PM as it was an hour drive and I had to take care of some bankng business first.
About an hour later her Mgr., Ray Garcia called me and said the deal was off! Said there was no way that they would do that deal unless I put more money down. Money down? I'm paying cash, remember? He then said that they would not honor that deal. I reminded him that verbal contracts are binding in the state of Arizona and that we had made a verbal contract. He said he didn't care, no deal. Mr. Garcia then started to get rude so I ended the call.
I did call right back and asked to speak to Mr. Garcia's boss. I was directed to a Rick Esch. We were able to come to an agreement and he was to fax the documents to my bank.
I called my bank an hour later to verify that they had received the fax. The fax arrived at 3:02 PM. I then called Nina to confirm that I would be on my way to the dealership to finalize our deal.
I arrived at the dealrship at 5:30 PM, asked for Nina and was told she was busy with another customer. Another salesman named Jason said he would help me. He was in a hurry to get me inside to sign the paperwork. I told him I wanted to show the truck to my buddy who was with me before we went inside.
At that time I was directed to another truck, not the one that I had picked out or agreed to buy. I told Jason that was the wrong truck and he wanted to argue with me and said I was wrong!
I demanded to see the truck I had chosen and was then told that that unit had been sold an hour ago! How in the hell can you sell a truck to somebody when there is already a contract pending with another party? I was told "too bad, you didn't have a deposit on it" He then offered to sell me the unit he first tried to say was mine, for One Thousand dollars more!
I lost my temper and stormed out of the dealership.
Half an hour later Jason called me and asked me to return to the car lot so we could talk. I told him the only vehicle I was interested in was the one I had a contract on, or another one just like it. Jason refused to take "NO" for an answer and called me at least 8 more times that night. The calls only stopped after I told him he was harassing me and I was going to call the Police.
I just want everybody to know that Freeway Chevrolet will not honor their word. This is a bad place to do business.
Freeway Chevrolet is owned by Jerry Chapman, who also owns Chapman Chevrolet as well as several other dealerships.
I will never do business again with any dealership that is part of the Chapman Auto Group.
Mr. Chapman has failed to return my calls or answer my E-mails.
Not only did I waste an entire day dealing with this outfit, I drove 120 miles round trip for nothing, had to cancel the insurance I already put on the truck and cancel the loan from my bank for this truck.
I did go out and buy a new truck the very next day from Thorobred Chevrolet in Chandler Arizona. I was treated like a king and made a very good deal there.
Shame on you Mr. Chapman. I remember when you ran a good outfit and were true to your word.
Gp
Florence, Arizona
U.S.A.
9 Updates & Rebuttals
Rob
Any Town,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Also, if you are looking for real numbers
#10Consumer Suggestion
Sat, October 01, 2005
Try the edmunds forums. They have a pretty good feel for real world trade values, and actual selling prices.
Rob
Any Town,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Stick, why is it such a bad thing to use sales training?
#10Consumer Suggestion
Sat, October 01, 2005
Yes, there are companies that use sales training to increase their gross. I've been to one company's training that you haven't listed yet. Just curious how these dealerships are supposed to stay in business when you preach that they should sell the cars for what they pay for it. I don't scam people. However, I will definitely let people walk long before I let a salesman take a person on a test drive in 5 different colors on the exact same color. Something most shoppers don't think about is we know that a customer that plays a ton of games with us and verbally abuses the staff will give us a bad survey regardless of what we do. That will cost us a lot more in allocation and incentives than the 300-400 net profit we would have made. My advise to shoppers is always do your research first. Then find a salesman you like and likes you. Best way to do this is not buy the car on the first day. See if they call you hte next day. If so, and the numbers work, go buy the car from them. If the salesman likes you, he'll work harder for you. Don't be so hung up on whether the dealer makes a profit. If you've done your research, you'll know what a fair number is.
Stick
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
GP read this. I hope I am helpful to you.
#10Consumer Comment
Wed, September 28, 2005
Hey Gp My name is Stick I am a Consumer Advocate here on this web site. Let me take some time and post some info you might be able to use. Once you find a car you like at a dealer, YOU NEVER show any excitement that they have what you want. You walk their lot and if you notice that they have what you want to the T KEEP walking, look at all others on the lot.
If you want a white truck, test drive a black truck. Then go find a red truck, test drive it. Once you get back to the deal from the second test drive, go in and buy a cold drink. Make the salesperson think they do not have what would make you happy.
Go back out on the lot and go test drive a pink truck or a green/red truck. Then once you get back from the third test drive. Start waking to your car as if you are going to go home and ask the sales person, "Hey that's all you have as far as inventory?" Then say you only have one truck that I would even consider and that's ONLY if the numbers are REAL good!
Then ask him if his boss has a REAL SHARP PENCIL. Tell your sales person that you are willing to look at ONE SET OF NUMBERS then you walk.
You never tell a sales person that you have your own financing, Bad thing to do. many car dealers make so much more money in their F&I department getting car buyers car loans. You telling the car dealer that you have your own banking in place just CRAPS them out.
And as for "verbal contracts" you can lay all of them in your bird cage. They mean NOTHING! How can you hold a car dealer's feet to the fire on a verbal contract?
Now lets talk about the "You pay what we pay" It's a PLOY in my eyes. Many car makers offer this because they know their sales numbers are going in the toilet. Many car buyers are waiting until a bigger slection of Hybrid cars are on the market. Many car makers do NOT want you to wait. They want you to buy the big gas HOGS NOW! They need to make more room for the new HYbirds that you will soon want and NEED in a BIG WAY.
High gas prices are here to stay and they all know it. They need this to entice car buyers to slide down to their SLED SHOW. You don't see Honda, Nissan or Toyota offering a YOU PAY what WE PAY program.
Be very careful as to what you buy. One day you will be complaining BIG TIME as to how much it will cost you to fill your tank. Trust me I work in the energy industry.
Next, you never tell a sales person that you are only willing to pay $25,000 OTD. You say That's Not good enough. Get up and walk to your car. The closer you get to your car their numbers will go DOWN. If they don't and you still do NOT like their numbers, KEEP WALKING!
When a sales person says "Done deal" over the PHONE, Don't take that to ANY BANK. A commitment over the phone means NOTHING. When a sales person says something that you want to hear over the phone, it is only used to get you to slide down to the SLED SHOW
Verbal contracts are NOT binding in the state of Arizona. Nor do you have a 3 day cooling off period were you can bring back a car in 3 days if you think you can get a better dealer else where. NO 3 DAY in AZ.
When a sales person is in a hurry you need to think twice as to what you are about to sign. BEND OVER the BIG one is coming if sales person is in a hurry. Your first sales person might have been told to STEP ASIDE because the desk manager felt they lost control of you.
If a sales person is pushed out of the way and someone NEW comes in to play, you are IN TROUBLE. It's called MOVE OUT THE WEAK and bring in the STRONG! Many do this to regain control of the customer and push them back into a more profitable car deal for the car deal.
Many car dealers train their sales people to squeeze you until you POP or DROP. Maybe one day I can find a good writter that is willing to bring my info to all car buyers.
Hey Gp did you know that there are compies that go from car dealer to car dealer and train car dealers and their sales people HOW to take more of your money?
Stick
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
GP read this. I hope I am helpful to you.
#10Consumer Comment
Wed, September 28, 2005
Hey Gp My name is Stick I am a Consumer Advocate here on this web site. Let me take some time and post some info you might be able to use. Once you find a car you like at a dealer, YOU NEVER show any excitement that they have what you want. You walk their lot and if you notice that they have what you want to the T KEEP walking, look at all others on the lot.
If you want a white truck, test drive a black truck. Then go find a red truck, test drive it. Once you get back to the deal from the second test drive, go in and buy a cold drink. Make the salesperson think they do not have what would make you happy.
Go back out on the lot and go test drive a pink truck or a green/red truck. Then once you get back from the third test drive. Start waking to your car as if you are going to go home and ask the sales person, "Hey that's all you have as far as inventory?" Then say you only have one truck that I would even consider and that's ONLY if the numbers are REAL good!
Then ask him if his boss has a REAL SHARP PENCIL. Tell your sales person that you are willing to look at ONE SET OF NUMBERS then you walk.
You never tell a sales person that you have your own financing, Bad thing to do. many car dealers make so much more money in their F&I department getting car buyers car loans. You telling the car dealer that you have your own banking in place just CRAPS them out.
And as for "verbal contracts" you can lay all of them in your bird cage. They mean NOTHING! How can you hold a car dealer's feet to the fire on a verbal contract?
Now lets talk about the "You pay what we pay" It's a PLOY in my eyes. Many car makers offer this because they know their sales numbers are going in the toilet. Many car buyers are waiting until a bigger slection of Hybrid cars are on the market. Many car makers do NOT want you to wait. They want you to buy the big gas HOGS NOW! They need to make more room for the new HYbirds that you will soon want and NEED in a BIG WAY.
High gas prices are here to stay and they all know it. They need this to entice car buyers to slide down to their SLED SHOW. You don't see Honda, Nissan or Toyota offering a YOU PAY what WE PAY program.
Be very careful as to what you buy. One day you will be complaining BIG TIME as to how much it will cost you to fill your tank. Trust me I work in the energy industry.
Next, you never tell a sales person that you are only willing to pay $25,000 OTD. You say That's Not good enough. Get up and walk to your car. The closer you get to your car their numbers will go DOWN. If they don't and you still do NOT like their numbers, KEEP WALKING!
When a sales person says "Done deal" over the PHONE, Don't take that to ANY BANK. A commitment over the phone means NOTHING. When a sales person says something that you want to hear over the phone, it is only used to get you to slide down to the SLED SHOW
Verbal contracts are NOT binding in the state of Arizona. Nor do you have a 3 day cooling off period were you can bring back a car in 3 days if you think you can get a better dealer else where. NO 3 DAY in AZ.
When a sales person is in a hurry you need to think twice as to what you are about to sign. BEND OVER the BIG one is coming if sales person is in a hurry. Your first sales person might have been told to STEP ASIDE because the desk manager felt they lost control of you.
If a sales person is pushed out of the way and someone NEW comes in to play, you are IN TROUBLE. It's called MOVE OUT THE WEAK and bring in the STRONG! Many do this to regain control of the customer and push them back into a more profitable car deal for the car deal.
Many car dealers train their sales people to squeeze you until you POP or DROP. Maybe one day I can find a good writter that is willing to bring my info to all car buyers.
Hey Gp did you know that there are compies that go from car dealer to car dealer and train car dealers and their sales people HOW to take more of your money?
Stick
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
GP read this. I hope I am helpful to you.
#10Consumer Comment
Wed, September 28, 2005
Hey Gp My name is Stick I am a Consumer Advocate here on this web site. Let me take some time and post some info you might be able to use. Once you find a car you like at a dealer, YOU NEVER show any excitement that they have what you want. You walk their lot and if you notice that they have what you want to the T KEEP walking, look at all others on the lot.
If you want a white truck, test drive a black truck. Then go find a red truck, test drive it. Once you get back to the deal from the second test drive, go in and buy a cold drink. Make the salesperson think they do not have what would make you happy.
Go back out on the lot and go test drive a pink truck or a green/red truck. Then once you get back from the third test drive. Start waking to your car as if you are going to go home and ask the sales person, "Hey that's all you have as far as inventory?" Then say you only have one truck that I would even consider and that's ONLY if the numbers are REAL good!
Then ask him if his boss has a REAL SHARP PENCIL. Tell your sales person that you are willing to look at ONE SET OF NUMBERS then you walk.
You never tell a sales person that you have your own financing, Bad thing to do. many car dealers make so much more money in their F&I department getting car buyers car loans. You telling the car dealer that you have your own banking in place just CRAPS them out.
And as for "verbal contracts" you can lay all of them in your bird cage. They mean NOTHING! How can you hold a car dealer's feet to the fire on a verbal contract?
Now lets talk about the "You pay what we pay" It's a PLOY in my eyes. Many car makers offer this because they know their sales numbers are going in the toilet. Many car buyers are waiting until a bigger slection of Hybrid cars are on the market. Many car makers do NOT want you to wait. They want you to buy the big gas HOGS NOW! They need to make more room for the new HYbirds that you will soon want and NEED in a BIG WAY.
High gas prices are here to stay and they all know it. They need this to entice car buyers to slide down to their SLED SHOW. You don't see Honda, Nissan or Toyota offering a YOU PAY what WE PAY program.
Be very careful as to what you buy. One day you will be complaining BIG TIME as to how much it will cost you to fill your tank. Trust me I work in the energy industry.
Next, you never tell a sales person that you are only willing to pay $25,000 OTD. You say That's Not good enough. Get up and walk to your car. The closer you get to your car their numbers will go DOWN. If they don't and you still do NOT like their numbers, KEEP WALKING!
When a sales person says "Done deal" over the PHONE, Don't take that to ANY BANK. A commitment over the phone means NOTHING. When a sales person says something that you want to hear over the phone, it is only used to get you to slide down to the SLED SHOW
Verbal contracts are NOT binding in the state of Arizona. Nor do you have a 3 day cooling off period were you can bring back a car in 3 days if you think you can get a better dealer else where. NO 3 DAY in AZ.
When a sales person is in a hurry you need to think twice as to what you are about to sign. BEND OVER the BIG one is coming if sales person is in a hurry. Your first sales person might have been told to STEP ASIDE because the desk manager felt they lost control of you.
If a sales person is pushed out of the way and someone NEW comes in to play, you are IN TROUBLE. It's called MOVE OUT THE WEAK and bring in the STRONG! Many do this to regain control of the customer and push them back into a more profitable car deal for the car deal.
Many car dealers train their sales people to squeeze you until you POP or DROP. Maybe one day I can find a good writter that is willing to bring my info to all car buyers.
Hey Gp did you know that there are compies that go from car dealer to car dealer and train car dealers and their sales people HOW to take more of your money?
Stick
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
GP read this. I hope I am helpful to you.
#10Consumer Comment
Wed, September 28, 2005
Hey Gp My name is Stick I am a Consumer Advocate here on this web site. Let me take some time and post some info you might be able to use. Once you find a car you like at a dealer, YOU NEVER show any excitement that they have what you want. You walk their lot and if you notice that they have what you want to the T KEEP walking, look at all others on the lot.
If you want a white truck, test drive a black truck. Then go find a red truck, test drive it. Once you get back to the deal from the second test drive, go in and buy a cold drink. Make the salesperson think they do not have what would make you happy.
Go back out on the lot and go test drive a pink truck or a green/red truck. Then once you get back from the third test drive. Start waking to your car as if you are going to go home and ask the sales person, "Hey that's all you have as far as inventory?" Then say you only have one truck that I would even consider and that's ONLY if the numbers are REAL good!
Then ask him if his boss has a REAL SHARP PENCIL. Tell your sales person that you are willing to look at ONE SET OF NUMBERS then you walk.
You never tell a sales person that you have your own financing, Bad thing to do. many car dealers make so much more money in their F&I department getting car buyers car loans. You telling the car dealer that you have your own banking in place just CRAPS them out.
And as for "verbal contracts" you can lay all of them in your bird cage. They mean NOTHING! How can you hold a car dealer's feet to the fire on a verbal contract?
Now lets talk about the "You pay what we pay" It's a PLOY in my eyes. Many car makers offer this because they know their sales numbers are going in the toilet. Many car buyers are waiting until a bigger slection of Hybrid cars are on the market. Many car makers do NOT want you to wait. They want you to buy the big gas HOGS NOW! They need to make more room for the new HYbirds that you will soon want and NEED in a BIG WAY.
High gas prices are here to stay and they all know it. They need this to entice car buyers to slide down to their SLED SHOW. You don't see Honda, Nissan or Toyota offering a YOU PAY what WE PAY program.
Be very careful as to what you buy. One day you will be complaining BIG TIME as to how much it will cost you to fill your tank. Trust me I work in the energy industry.
Next, you never tell a sales person that you are only willing to pay $25,000 OTD. You say That's Not good enough. Get up and walk to your car. The closer you get to your car their numbers will go DOWN. If they don't and you still do NOT like their numbers, KEEP WALKING!
When a sales person says "Done deal" over the PHONE, Don't take that to ANY BANK. A commitment over the phone means NOTHING. When a sales person says something that you want to hear over the phone, it is only used to get you to slide down to the SLED SHOW
Verbal contracts are NOT binding in the state of Arizona. Nor do you have a 3 day cooling off period were you can bring back a car in 3 days if you think you can get a better dealer else where. NO 3 DAY in AZ.
When a sales person is in a hurry you need to think twice as to what you are about to sign. BEND OVER the BIG one is coming if sales person is in a hurry. Your first sales person might have been told to STEP ASIDE because the desk manager felt they lost control of you.
If a sales person is pushed out of the way and someone NEW comes in to play, you are IN TROUBLE. It's called MOVE OUT THE WEAK and bring in the STRONG! Many do this to regain control of the customer and push them back into a more profitable car deal for the car deal.
Many car dealers train their sales people to squeeze you until you POP or DROP. Maybe one day I can find a good writter that is willing to bring my info to all car buyers.
Hey Gp did you know that there are compies that go from car dealer to car dealer and train car dealers and their sales people HOW to take more of your money?
Michael
Barnegat,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Posting Style
#10Consumer Comment
Wed, September 28, 2005
When I first started posting on Ripoffreport I was informed this was not an internet Message Board, but rather a site dedicated to helping people resolve issues when they feel they have been wronged.
More often than not of late the responses have all been 'post' style, with people chiming in with different variations of 'Car dealers suck' or long-winded posts about other Rip off reports which have little or no bearing on the issue at hand.
Of course, this initial post isn't so much a 'ripoff' report as a complaint about a dealership. It's questionable as to if this could really be called a rip-off as the original author didn't actually do business with the business in question. However, the information about how his attempted purchase was handled is valuable enough to warrant the listing.
Bottom line, when you're dealing with Car Dealerships you want to have a face-to-face meeting. Any time someone tries to buy a car over the phone, mistakes are made. Perhaps this was bait-and-switch, but if it was, it's a pretty piss-poor attempt on the dealer's part. Sounds to me like there were just too many cooks in the soup and someone screwed up somewhere along the line. Add to that a pushy salesperson making a situation worse by trying to be 'helpful' and now all you have is a deal written for the competition and a pissed off consumer. Were you sitting in the dealership the entire time this never would have happened. In this scenario what SHOULD have happened was the internet sales person should have advised you to come in immediately and fill out a purchase order and for THEM to fax a SIGNED purchase order to your bank and have the check ready the following day for you to pick up your truck. This would have solved all the issues, or at the very least, brought them to light before you had the hassle of dealing with cancelling the deal with your lender and insurance company.
Communication is always the issue at a dealership, and doing things over the phone only makes it worse. I'm not trying to say it's the right way to do things, but it is the way it's done.
Greg
Media,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Go Away Paul!
#10Consumer Comment
Wed, September 28, 2005
Paul, do you always blame the VICTIM when you offer your condescending viewpoints?
Does it make you feel better than those who have been taken advantage of?
Why can't you offer advice without mocking the original poster? You do this just about every time!
If you can't offer something constructive to those in need, don't weigh in with anything at all. People look here for help, they don't need someone like you kicking sand in their faces.
Paul
Anaheim,California,
U.S.A.
Integrity from a car dealer? Tell me, when did the spaceship drop you off here? I'm thinking yesterday, or the day before.
#10Consumer Suggestion
Wed, September 28, 2005
See on this planet, there is one constant that you can always count on.
Car dealerships will always try to cheat you.
That's how they do business here. They're trained in deception.
On any given deal, they have a half-dozen scams working all at the same time.
As you see, they will lure you in with false pricing, only to force you to pay much more once you arrive.
Business as usual.
This is a known constant in the universe. I guess you must have come from a galaxy far, far away.
You'll get used to this after you've been here for a while.