Complaint Review: Libertyville Lincoln Mercury

This is our complaint as filed with the Better Business Bureau:
My wife and I ordered a new car (Black 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4WD VIN# 4M2CU39H58KJ09107) through Libertyville Lincoln Mercury on 3 March 2007. When ordering this vehicle we specifically asked what would happen if we didn't buy the car for some unforeseen reason and they didn't answer the question, instead stating that I'm sure we won't have to worry about that.

While we were provided a copy of the order worksheet that we signed, we were not provided a copy of the back of this document where allegedly it states that if we don't take delivery of the vehicle after having special ordered it that we will forfeit the money we put down as a down payment which was $1500, keeping in mind we asked this specific question and were told it was nothing to worry about.

Along the course of the vehicle being built and delivered to the dealership, several things happened that made us not want to do business with this dealership anymore and we were pushed beyond our limits for dealing with this business when told we would have to come to pick up the vehicle earlier than expected.

The car should have taken about six weeks from the order date to come in and we had a verbal agreement that they were honoring for the dealership to retain said vehicle on their lot for 30 days after arrival from the factory. We were informed on 13 April that the vehicle had arrived (in my mind one day early) and we would need to pick it up by 7 May.

When I questioned why we were only being given three weeks to pick up the vehicle I was told by the sales representative that they didn't know the car was on their lot for seven days and that they were informing me as soon as they knew.

We weren't prepared with sufficient financing by the date they required us to pick up the car (7 May 2007) and when I asked if we could pick it up on 15 May instead, I was told that no, I'd have to come in on 7 May. Then the sales representative said that they didn't work on the 7th and that I could therefore come in on 8 May to get the vehicle.

I approached the sales representative yesterday (2 May 2007) and stated that I wasn't happy with how I'd been treated, didn't wish to take possession of the vehicle any longer and wanted my money back. I was then referred to the sales manager and was basically told that they keep a lawyer on retainer and that fighting me won't cost them anything, that I'm wasting my time and that they have no intention of returning my money to me. I said you have the ability to tear up the document I signed and he replied that he only works there and doesn't own the walls. I said there is an owner (Dan Marks) that owns the walls that is capable of doing that. His reply was that the owner wasn't willing to do that.

Here is the business's response:
The XXXX family did order a vehicle from Libertyville L-M on March 3 2007. This vehicle was a special order 2008 Mariner Hybrid. All Paperwork was signed including a Buyers Order, Vehicle confirmation sheet, and credit apps. They also gave a $1500 non-refundable deposit.

When the vehicle arrived from the factory in April, the customer stated he did not want to pickup the vehicle until May because he had one remaining payment on his other vehicle. The dealership said no problem and scheduled a date of May 8th. The first week of May Mr XXXX came in and stated he did not want the vehicle and wanted his money back. Bill Baroud , the sales manager, asked him why he was backing out, the vehicle was exactly as ordered and the price did not change.

Mr XXXX first said he wanted to pick the car up on May 14th, Mr Baroud said fine But then Mr XXXX told Bill Baroud he had bought another vehicle the other day and just wanted his money back. The dealership now has a vehicle we ordered special, that was not intended for inventory and that we are paying 9 1/2 % interest carrying costs. The deposit is non-refundable however according to the Illinois Attorney General and previous cases regarding this matter, the deposit can be used in the future as credit toward another vehicle purchase less the current carrying costs.

The dealership did everything it could to keep this sale however we should not be penalized because the XXXX family decided to buy another car two months after ordering the 2008 Mariner Hybrid.

This led nowhere so we did file a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. It said the same thing as the initial complaint to the BBB. The business's response was basically the same as above. Here is my rebuttal to Lisa Madigan's office:


It appears that the business, Libertyville Lincoln Mercury, is sugar-coating the discussions and actions that took place between themselves and us last month. Upon reading their rebuttal to you dated 29 May 2007 you would think that my wife and I simply didn't want the car anymore and walked away knowing we would not receive our non-refundable deposit back. This could not be further from the truth as was laid out in detail in my initial complaint that I filed with your office.

To begin, we were never informed that the down payment was non-refundable when signing the documentation and were not provided a copy of the portion of this documentation that allegedly states as such. We also specifically asked our sales representative what would happen if for some unforeseen reason we didn't take delivery of the vehicle and she stated that we should not worry about that.

While the business continues to refer to this vehicle as a special order vehicle that was never intended for inventory and that they have incurred 9 % carrying costs (as all dealerships do that order through Ford Motor Company,) they have not mentioned how long the vehicle remained on their lot after placing it for sale.

If this vehicle was un-saleable because of its special order status then let them provide a number for how many days it sat on their lot after placing it for sale and compare this to how long an average car the business orders from Mercury as an inventory order remains on their lot and what are their average carrying costs? Please compare this cost with what has been outlaid on this particular vehicle (VIN# 4M2CU39H58KJ09107) since it was placed for sale. I don't feel any fees incurred before our scheduled sale date of either 8 May 2007 or 14 May 2007, however you wish to look at it, should be our responsibility as these were contentions the dealership had already agreed to.

We should also ask how much difference there was between the sales price that was quoted for us; $30,098.29 and the final sales price this vehicle was sold for. I guarantee that the sales price was very close to $31,755.00 which would be an increase in the sales price of approximately $1,656.71 plus any other fees added to that. Wouldn't this help with these carrying costs that every dealership has to contend with every day for vehicles that aren't sold?

This vehicle, according to the sales representative, was a highly desirable vehicle in any configuration which is why she was not willing to budge on the sale price at all. We only received a discount off the retail price because we get special pricing through Ford Motor Company.

She also stated in phone conversations after the vehicle had arrived at the dealership that everyone that came in wanted to see it because it was the only one of its kind on their lot. So even while they were paying their 9 % carrying costs, this particular model on their lot was helping them sell more just like it.

When Mr. Marks mentions that Mr. Baroud, the sales manager, graciously agreed to allow us to wait until the 14th to take delivery of the vehicle, what is left out of this explanation is that this is after I had already stated I was not happy with their customer service and no longer wished to take delivery of the vehicle. Any business will do what it takes to retain a customer when they threaten to walk away and many customers use this tactic to get what they want. We don't use deceptive practices such as these and take offense to the business accusing us as such.

The vehicle arrived on the businesses lot on 7 April 2007 which was about a week ahead of schedule. The business did not notify us of its arrival, stating they didn't know it was there, until 13 April 2007 which was around the time we expected it to arrive.

When ordering this vehicle the dealership made a verbal agreement to retain said vehicle on their lot for 30 days after arrival from the factory. When I asked the sales representative when we needed to take delivery of the vehicle, expecting to hear 14 May considering the 13th would be a Sunday, I was then informed that the vehicle had actually arrived on the 7th and that we would have to take delivery on the 7th. She then stated that she didn't work on the 7th and that the 8th would work better for her. I asked her at that time whether we could instead take delivery on the 14th, she said no, that we had to take delivery by the 7th no questions.

It seemed like a reasonable request considering we were not informed of the vehicles arrival until the 13th of April but we were denied. Our concern at this point was that we didn't have the financing available to us in order to purchase the vehicle on the 7th or the 8th.

Just for comparative purposes, I checked the dealerships inventory of new cars today since it is only new cars that would carry this said 9 % carrying cost. Their inventory as of today of new vehicles is 58 with a total MSRP of $1,921,910. With an 9 % carrying cost and an average inventory of $2 Million and 65 new vehicles, the daily carrying cost would be approximately $8.01 per day not including fixed overhead costs.

Just to be complete, their used car inventory is 31 vehicles with a total Sales Price of $667,620. At a 5% carrying cost (just a generalization,) and an average inventory of $750,000 and 35 used vehicles, the daily carrying cost would be approximately $2.94 per day not including fixed overhead costs. You might also notice that their entire lot only has 89 cars on it.

I find it quite difficult to believe that the dealership doesn't notice when new cars come in. They simply failed to notify us that the vehicle had arrived in a timely fashion and were forcing us to come up with the financing in a shorter period of time than we expected.

Mr. Marks would have you believe that this conversation between Mr. Baroud and I took place with everyone having tea and crumpets. Instead it was a rather heated discussion that was cut short by the fact that Mr. Baroud was going to have to ask the office manager when or if they could send me a refund check. He wasn't sure whether they could or not since he had only been working there for one week at the time, it appeared to be up to her and she was allegedly out to lunch.

So I left to go eat lunch myself and received a call from Mr. Baroud a short time later upon which we resumed our heated discussion wherein he notified me that they had no intention of returning my money under any circumstances, that they have a lawyer on retainer and fighting them would be useless and that I'm wasting my time and my money if I pursue this any further.

Because of the treatment I received I never intend to do business with this dealership. I also intend to share my feelings with everyone I know and everyone I don't know. The offer of using this deposit as a credit towards another vehicle purchase in the future is completely unacceptable and you should see that this dealership did very little if anything to keep this sale. I do not feel they are being penalized by returning a deposit to me for a vehicle that I never took possession of. A vehicle that they have already sold and most likely for a higher sales price than that which we agreed upon.

It's simply ludicrous to believe the business has incurred an expense anywhere near equal to what we put down as a deposit on this vehicle, especially as a consumer and not a business which normally incurs these carrying costs on other vehicles that don't sell as quickly as one such as this.

The only way I would accept a credit from this dealership is if this credit was advanced to Ford Motor Credit as a credit balance towards the purchase of another Ford/Lincoln/Mercury/Mazda/Volvo/Jaguar/Land Rover of my choosing at a dealership of my choosing.

Steve
Hainesville, Illinois
U.S.A.