Complaint Review: Paramount Automotive Group - Cadillac - GM

WARNING! Paramount Automotive in Hickory, NC is a rip-off, disreputable dealer that preys especially on the elderly and will even rip-off GM Corporate to pocket extra money!

WARNING! GM Corporate customer service and "field reps" are unscrupulous and over nearly a month have changed their position to back-up Paramount's (the dealer) rip-off scam showing that they are in collusion with the rip-off dealers!

My 74 year old mother, who had been battling cancer for over a decade, passed away last October. I was given my mother's Cadillac, which was purchased and always maintained by Paramount Cadillac in Hickory, NC.

Late in November, my sister had a problem with the car and took it to be checked over and repaired by Paramount. Paramount was also told that the car was going to be driven to Massachusetts on December 2nd and to please check the car over for the long trip.

Paramount "diagnosed" the problem as a bad alternator/generator which had caused the belt to break. They charged for a new alternator/generator, charged for an oil change with filter, a new belt, an air filter, for "rotating the tires" and an outrageous charge for "labor" (over $150 to put on the alternator and belt and nearly another $100 to "check over" the car!).

We picked up the car, paid the bill, and started the long trip to Massachusetts. By the time we reached Virginia, it was snow, sleet, and ice with a very cold temperature which was getting colder by the mile and minute. We quickly found out that the heat was not working (remember, Paramount charged us extra to "check over" the car for a trip in December going 1000 miles north to Massachusetts with an inclement weather report) and also we found out that the windshield wipers were the original ones that came with the car in 1990!

The normally 14 hour trip took nearly 20 hours. We were simply lucky that we found an auto parts place open in the early morning to buy new windshield wiper blades and also lucky that we had a number of emergency blankets in the car to bundle up in on the trip.

We barely made it to Massachusetts and when we did the car started having problems with not starting and the battery going dead. We took it to a known reputable repair shop in Massachusetts that we've dealt with for a long time. That shop went through the car and found that the alternator/generator was defective. They also found that the battery (which was less than 18 months old) was no good anymore and would not hold a charge because the alternator/generator that had just been replaced had drained the battery too much.

So we called up Paramount and left messages. They never called back, but finally my sister got in touch with the service manager there, Wesley White and told him about the situation. At first he said they'd only make good if we brought the car back to them. After we asked them if they would prefer to reimburse us what we paid THEM or pay for the 1000 mile tow charge, they said they'd reimburse us "if you bring back the alternator/generator". Therefore, we paid the $62.50 core charge on the alternator/generator that the reputable garage installed and took the defective one back to Paramount.

I tried to be reasonable with Paramount and tell them that all I wanted was reimbursed for the alternator/generator that I paid them for, the core charge I had to pay in Massachusetts to bring back the piece of junk they installed, and the labor that they charged me for "checking over" the car (which obviously was NOT done) as well as the labor for installing the part which I had to pay twice. That came out to be $511.25. The last week of 2005, they promised that it would go out the next week.

I got frustrated after not getting the check for a few weeks and had my much more patient wife handle it. After many phone calls and many promises (NONE of which were kept), she was told that the check was going out that day for a full refund. A couple of hours later, she called back as they had told her to do and was told that it wasn't a full refund it was $130 less. She wasn't pleased by the change, but I told her that it was OK because even though it was less than what we had agreed on with Paramount in December, I was willing to settle for the $8 less that they were offering.

Then she got a call from Paramount to let her know that it was going to be ANOTHER $200 lower making it less than a 50% refund (The original bill was $632.22 and they offered $315 back)! So, my wife called GM corporate customer service department (John O'Toole, a very nice, understanding, knowledgeable guy) and he thought we'd get refunded the full amount of $632.22.

We got a call back from GM Corporate customer service (Tara Vicars) who told us that GM had authorized a refund of $503.64 (we still don't know where they got this number, but it was close enough) in the beginning of January and GM was going to credit Paramount for that entire amount! Basically, Paramount is getting credited the full $503.64 amount and is only paying us $315.00!

Then even the GM corporate customer service rep (Tara Vicars and then Tracy Khuu) handling this couldn't get Paramount to call CORPORATE back! Paramount is giving GM corporate some song and dance about reimbursing us based on the Massachusetts garage's labor and parts rates and NOT reimbursing us for the labor we were charged to check over the car (which could NOT have been done)!

Why should Paramount get to make a profit off of my using a garage with better rates on parts and labor and who is reputable and did the repairs properly? And why should they be able to refuse to reimburse me for work that clearly could NOT have been done? What a RIP-OFF!

Then we got a call from GM Corporate customer service (Tracy Khuu) who NOW says that they NEVER authorized the higher amount and that they agree with Paramount's "willingness" to reimburse us the lower amount! Willingness!?!?! What kind of attitude is that? Of COURSE they should be willing to pay us back for work they did NOT perform and for parts that are defective, but not at a discounted price!

Now, I think they really should pay us for the additional damage that was done which caused us to have to purchase a new battery. In fact, I've tried to be reasonable with these UNreasonable people, but I truly believe that we should get some compensation for putting us in physical harms way on the trip to Massachusetts by not checking over the car and for the pain, suffering and time that this has cost us!

We tried and tried to get someone reasonable to understand that Paramount should pay us back based on what we paid them and NOT be able to make extra money based on reimbursing us partially based on the lower parts and labor rates of a reputable, honest garage/mechanic.

Instead NOW GM Corporate customer service (J. Ritter, I bet that isn't even his real name) is being completely belligerent and saying that their decision is final and there is nothing more we can do about it. He told us that there is NO one higher than he is that we can speak with and that the decision is final. WHAT A RIP-OFF!

These folks have to have a boss somewhere. Someone at GM Corporate has to care that their dealers are ripping people off and that the Corporate customer service department is at least partially in collusion with these rip-off dealers.

This isn't the first time that Paramount has ripped off my family. A few years ago when my mother was very sick (and couldn't fight their rip-off because she was bed-ridden); my sister (different sister) took the same car to Paramount to be repaired. Her husband was a mechanic, but my mother wanted the repair records to be kept up at Paramount and done by the dealer for some reason.

Anyway, when my sister went to pick up the car, it was barely better than when she dropped it off, so she had her husband look at it and compare it to the invoice. Paramount charged for new parts which were never installed and just cleaned up the old parts to get them to sort of work.

My sister returned and confronted Paramount with the part and the invoice and they told her that she couldn't prove anything, that as far as they were concerned the car was repaired, and that it was just "tough effin' schit" (paraphrasing nicely). That is the attitude of the people at Paramount Automotive Group in Hickory, NC if you confront them on their disreputable actions! When you're paying them money, they're all smiles and we'll take care of you. Well, they take care of you all right They take care of ripping you off for as much money as they can scam or con you out of and get away with!

From talking with a number of people in the area, evidently they have gotten away with taking a lot of people for a lot of money over the years. The only people that go there either don't know they're being taken or feel they have to go there because they bought their car there and it's still under warranty!

BE AWARE and BE WARNED! These people are disreputable and total rip-off, scam, and con artists. They will smile to your face and then turn around and pick your pocket every way they can. They especially prey on the elderly and the ill. BE WARNED; do NOT use Paramount Automotive in Hickory, NC if you want a reputable dealer.

And also be warned that GM Corporate customer service will take the dealers side and help the dealer rip you off even more! (We found some good folks at GM Corporate customer service, but unfortunately they were overshadowed by the ones with a belligerent attitude that are in collusion with the dealer. What a shame.)

Tired of dealing with rip-off, con artists
Newton, North Carolina
U.S.A.

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