The used car department at Bob Maxey Ford in Howell took advantage of a disabled and elderly man and put an unwanted warranty into his sales contract, which he signed, because he did not read the fine print. The elderly man quietly told the slick salesman that he did not want the warranty. After he signed the sales contract it was too late. All of the salesman here are like this so there is no point in mentioning the one salesman's name.

They were overly friendly to him during the sales pitch and treated him like garbage as soon as everything was signed. They said the transaction would be done at a certain time, and they made him wait in the office a long time without apologizing while waiting on other customers first.

If you have to do business here, make sure you are very careful and have everything in writing. Don't let anybody trick or fool you. They act like they are your best friend and talk too much. They also also treat people like garbage while attempting to trade in old vehicles and give very low bids. They may even go as far as to insult you if your car is old. We thought we heard one man say something bad about the elderly man's trade in from another room and we thought we heard one man throw keys for the trade at the other man.

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8 Updates & Rebuttals

Jim

Beverly Hills,
California,
United States

It's Unfortunate

#2Consumer Comment

Tue, June 25, 2019

This is a really sad situation. This elderly gentleman is exactly the sort of person elder abusers take advantage of. They are too proud and will not accept the fact that someone ripped them off due to their own pride. In the past, I have seen an elderly person actually going out of his way to protect the person abusing them. A used car salesman can generally see the potential for abuse when the old man walks in, and will begin the abuse because the salesman knows he has a sucker ready for abuse.

The elderly gentleman even identifies himself as his own guardian due to his own fear that someone will determine him to be too incompetent and he won't let that ever happen because of his own pride. Honestly, he had no business being alone in there for any period - most younger people shouldn't be in that situation either. It is unfortunate that he does not have an advocate for him in this situation because the years to come will not be kind to him. If he engages in this sort of behavior moving forward, then I would seriously consider getting a POA over his bank accounts.

Robert

Irvine,
United States

Sad

#3Consumer Comment

Tue, June 25, 2019

It is really sad here in terms of trying to protect this eldery gentelman, and he is really the one I feel sorry for. You seem to know what you should do, but instead of actually following your own advice and being an advocate for this "elderly gentelman" even if it emarasses them you have chosen to do nothing. Yes you wrote a "RipOff" report, but the reality is for this gentelmen that is like closing the barn doors after the horse got out.

I wish I had done more to keep him out of there because once he was influenced by the charm, flattery, and aggression of the salesman it was too late to help. Believe it or not he still likes these people who cheat him as long as they are friendly to him.

- I wish we could believe that, because if you truly wish you could have done more..you have the opportuinity now. I am just wondering why you won't take it..and per your own words "embarassment" is not a good enough reason.

The other aspect here is that you seem to have a close relationship with this "eldery genetlemt", as you were with them for some of the steps in buying the car, and have talked to him about the warranty. But not close enough where you take that extra step to actually assist. So your exact relationship is a real mystery.

Anonymous

Howell,
United States

Man does not want help.

#4Author of original report

Mon, June 24, 2019

Man wants to accept warranty in order not to cause trouble. He is still his own guardian. I was not there the whole time and did not know they would do this to him. He went over there by himself a couple of times.

Robert

Irvine,
California,
United States

Advocate

#5Consumer Comment

Mon, June 24, 2019

While you are right on point with the statement you made..

Vulnerable adults need an assertive advocate when purchasing a car. Some vulnerable adults think they can do this alone but will get ripped off. They need to get advocates even if it embarrasses them.

You unfortunately don't appear to be that person. As even though you say that they should have an advocate even if it embarrasses them, you stated that you are not going to help in getting the refund because it will embarrass the elderly gentleman. So I would highly suggest you find someone else that is willing to be his advocate and do what ever it takes to get the warranty refunded.

If you find it is not possible to get the refund on the Warrany, you may want to have the advocate look at the various "Elder Abuse" laws. As depending on your exact situation and his age they may actually have violated law in adding something he stated he didn't want, and if they fail to refund it may get in some serious legal issues.

The other aspect of this is that while you didn't come right out and say it, it appears that you were probably there with the "elderly gentleman" when they purchased the car. As that is the only way you could have heard others saying something bad about the trade in.

Anonymous

Howell,
United States

Talked to man

#6Author of original report

Sun, June 23, 2019

He said he would tolerate the warranty because he does not want trouble since he is ill. This is a proud person who wants to be very independent, which makes it very hard for anyone to help him stay out of trouble. I was not present at every stage of this purchase and could not prevent the final stage. It did teach me a lesson that I hope to share with others.

I also had a rough time getting info on fees from a stockbroker and he told me I was being mean to the broker until he saw the high fees and charges in writing and was shocked. There are auto purchasers for hire that you pay to prevent this. Or you can go with a tough individual like an ex car salesman.

Anonymous

Howell,
United States

The man doesn't like to fight.

#7Author of original report

Sun, June 23, 2019

Thanks for the suggestion about cancelling the warranty. I mentioned it. I doubt he wants to fight them because his health is so poor. He does not want me to fight because it embarrasses him. I hope that millions of people will read this and warn people to be careful of used car salesmen.

Vulnerable adults need an assertive advocate when purchasing a car. Some vulnerable adults think they can do this alone but will get ripped off. They need to get advocates even if it embarrasses them.

FloridaNative

West Palm Beach,
Florida,
United States

He can cancel the warranty

#8Consumer Comment

Sat, June 22, 2019

He can cancel the auto warranty. Take a look at the warranty contract for specific instructions on cancelling it. If he cancels right away, there is a very good chance that the additional commission that the dealership received for selling the warranty will not be paid to the dealership.

The Dog

United States

He ALLOWED It!

#9Consumer Comment

Sat, June 22, 2019

At no point did you say this elderly man was unable to read, did you? You can put that sympathy card away because it's not going to work. The customer FAILED TO READ what he was agreeing to BEFORE he agreed to it! How dumb is that?

The contract is a legally binding agreement. All he had to do was READ it! How much in BOGUS add-on fees was he hit with? Slime ball car dealers will pull this crap. It's up to a SMART CONSUMER to prevent that by using COMMON SENSE!

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