Unbelievable! I wish I had found this site before I went to this place.
Below is a letter that I sent to my attorney explaining in detail what happened. You have GOT to read this! But before you begin I should say that the problem was resolved with the help of my attorney and I got my car back.
However, They forgot to give us our licenses back and we had forgotten to ask for them back. As a result, I found out that another salesman (from a completely different lot and state than the one we had originally gone to), had our licenses at his place of residence in Lawrence MA! Once my husband had gone to the lot to get them back, the salesman had my husband drive him to Lawrence at his place of residence to get them back! These people have no shame, pride or care for their customers! If they did, they would not put people through this stuff.
Well here goes. Be warned. Beware and be careful if you go to this place and deal with these thieves!
05/31/05
On Sunday May 29, 05 my husband and I went to a car dealership called Automile wholesalers in Plaistow NH and spoke to a young man by the name of Dave Russell after we saw a car that I was interested in which was a 2004 convertible Mitsubishi eclipse spyder. We had originally gone to the one in Haverhill and spoke to a gentleman by the name of Willie looking for a mustang. He sent us to the one in Plaistow because the 2 mustangs he was carrying on his lot were standard, which I am unable to drive. I saw the 2004 convertible Mitsubishi eclipse spyder there next to a brown mustang (which I didn't care for due to it's color) and asked to see that one instead.
At the Plaistow lot we asked to take the 2004 convertible Mitsubishi eclipse spyder for a test drive, the sales rep had to bring it across the street to put gas in it. Once the gas was placed into the car he was unable to get the car started up again and it took 3 people to push the car back on the lot. It took one to drive the car, and 2 to push it back. I look at the finance guy (I don't remember his name) and said that's not a good sign. (On Monday, they told me that they were using the valet key and that was why they were unable to get the car started. For all I know, that was a lie too). When Dave brought the car back he asked if we wanted to take the GTS out instead. It was the same car; only not a convertible and it had all leather. We agreed. When we got back from the test drive, my husband had made a comment that the car was making a funny noise and that he thought it might be a loose motor mount connector.
We had agreed to take it out. When we came back we were unsure if that was the car I wanted. I felt this way because it wasn't as sporty looking as the other one did, which is what I was looking for.
He had told me that nothing could be done until Tuesday due to the holiday anyway and if we decided to buy the car, he wanted us to have the paperwork in order, that way, he could push the paperwork out Tuesday and that we would have to go back to him to finalize the deal and get all of the correct final figures on the vehicle (because he couldn't get those final numbers from the bank until Tuesday). It made sense to us and I asked if we could take the car over night to make a final decision on the purchase seeing how nothing could be done by Tuesday anyway.
I even went as far as to making it a point to ask him that we could in fact change our minds on this purchase by Tuesday, right? And he said yes. Dave said that he wasn't sure if we could take the car off the lot for the night. He then stated, Wait a minute. Let me see if this guy will front it for you. He then came back from speaking to the finance guy (I don't know what his name is) and said we needed to write up the enclosed paperwork, and ask if we had insurance (because they couldn't let just anyone take the car without all this paperwork in the event that something might happen).
When Dave was writing this up and asked for our signature, I stop him and said whoa, whoa, whoa! The price just went from (I thought He said 15K) to 18k and on the paper work it says 21K almost 22k and at the end of the sheet, 24K. That's not what you told us. He said not to worry, that the figures are just rough estimates because AGAIN, I can't get any more info on the numbers till Tuesday due to the holiday. He also said that this paperwork is only to have on our bodies and that no loan paperwork has been signed and it's just to have documentation on our selves if something should happen while the car is in our possession. I then asked him again, We are not going to be held responsible for this car if we choose not to buy it right? And he said, absolutely not, you didn't sign anything, remember? We then took the car home.
On Monday morning we had decided we were not going to keep this car. We then proceeded to call the company (mistake #1) to inform them that we were going to come get our car back and that we were not ready to trade in my 1998 Pontiac firebird. He said ok, and asked when we were coming. My husband told him that we are on our way and Dave said OK. This was ALL Dave said to us.
Once we arrived, Dave sat us down and asked us why we did not want the car and my husband simply responded that we did not want the car and that we wanted our car back. Dave got up and said we needed to speak to another gentleman. I can't remember his name. This man, than proceeded to tell us, that our car had been sold. I looked at Dave in a panic and asked him how could he sell our car when we were told nothing could be done until Tuesday, and that we had not signed on anything because of our agreement, and that he said we had the option of canceling by Tuesday! The gentleman Dave had turned us over to, pulled out a file and asked us repeatedly if this was our signature and if this was our proof of insurance and if this was our copy of his license, we told him yes and that was what Dave wanted in order for us to take the car off the lot. The guy continued to hold up this paperwork and repeat himself.
My husband than told him not to make him feel like an idiot because he was not. My husband asked this guy why he was even talking to us when Dave was the one who made this arrangement his response to us was that Dave is not a sales guy and that he was. My husband asked him then why is he trying to sell us a car if he's not a sales rep. His reply was that he only does that when he is not there. I turned then around stated to the gentleman quote, Think about this logically, why would we have called you and driven back here to tell you we wanted to cancel if that was not an arrangement that was made between us and Dave? We even told him how Dave and the financial guy said that they couldn't get any information from the bank until Tuesday due to the holiday and the financial guy said it had already gone through.
I was in shock! Gone through? You told us you couldn't do that until Tuesday! The financial guy turned around and said, I didn't have to wait for the bank, I can do this through my computer. I said in shock, But that's not what you told us! They had lied to us. It dawned on my husband that they were now going to force a sale on us by withholding our car from us, leaving us with no transportation and I freaked out. I thought to myself, they set us up! That's when I called my attorney to see if he could help us. We had this car for less than 24 hours at this point.
My husband stood in the middle of the room at this point and asked the finance guy, loud enough for all to hear, If you were told that you had until Tuesday to make up your mind, and you chose not buy the car, wouldn't you assume that you would get your own car back? The guy said Yup with a smirk on his face. My husband even told them that if this was how they treated their customers that we would advertise their company on the back of our car by telling them not to buy from this place and the guy thanked him.
They absolutely refused to give us our car back. They then sent us to the other lots they own down the road (a total of 4, we only saw 3) to see if there were other cars we might be interested in. We felt hopeless and went to look anyway as we decided what our next step was).
We ended back at the Haverhill lot and ran into Willie again. By the time we got there, all 3 lots were aware of our situation. There was even a gentleman there that was at the Plaistow lot that had followed us around from lot to lot. Willie confronted us and my husband said to him I'm sure you already heard what's going on. Willie said yes. My husband even went as far as to explain our side and state that there were forcing this sale on us. Willie told us that we should have gone back to him with arrangements and that they don't run their business in Haverhill like they do in Plaistow. He said quote They force more sales on people than we do at that lot. I turned around and told him that we were set up and the owner should be ashamed to allow sales reps to treat their customers like s**t and Willie agreed.
The other gentleman (that had followed us) came out with Willie and us at this point. He then said, Look around the lot here. Is there something here you like. He pointed out the original 2004 convertible Mitsubishi eclipse spyder to us. They had moved it from one lot to the other and said to take it out for a test drive. He also stated to us quote, Do it this way, you really don't want to involve an attorney and make this more messy than it is. Jed had told them that we did not believe they had in fact sold our car and that they were hiding it somewhere. They agreed and said, Of course they have it. They don't want you to get it back because it has probably been promised to a wholesaler. It's easier to deny you than to call the wholesaler and cancel their deal, Dave screwed up on this one I then turned around in shock and pretty much yelled at them and said, And that's our fault! He screw's up and you steel my car? That's not right!
That's when my husband looked at them and said, I don't want any car from this company and you'll be hearing from my attorney.
There have been no loan papers drawn up. I don't know how much the car is worth, what our payments would be, I never signed over the title to my car and I still a car loan on my 1998 Pontiac firebird that I have to pay for in a couple of days. I want my car back!
WE ARE NOT GOING TO SIGN LOAN PAPERS WITH THIS COMPANY FOR ANY CAR. We won't. Not after the way we have been treated. We strongly believe that this company is participating in fraudulent practices and if they refuse to give me my car back, I wish to sue for fraudulent practices. I will not accept any vehicle from any of their 4 lots. I wish to sue for the loan amount we will be forced to pay on a new car, for my old car and for personal loss and suffering including the attorney fee's if possible. Please consider this letter as my written cancellation notice to this company.
Thank you so VERY much!
Nathalie
Derry, New Hampshire
U.S.A.