I went into Greatest Deals on Wheels on Saturday 10/16/2004 about an hour before they closed to look at purchasing a vehicle they had listed on the web for $995. I told them I didn't care what it looked like, just needed it to run good. I was naturally steered towards something more costly, a 92 Silver Ford Explorer for 3995(vin# 1fmdu34x2nuc94866). After talking with Mike a bit, he assured me that the huge rust hole near the gas tank could be fixed, but it would be up to steve. The payments sounded reasonable, so i figured, what the heck.
Steve said that he would be happy to have the rust fixed on Monday morning. I agreed to put $1000 down. We filled out the paperwork, but I didn't have everything i needed for the application, so they told me to take it home and bring it back when I picked up the car.
Sunday night, I called and left a message for them telling them my situation had changed (i no longer needed the car) and that I wanted to cancel the purchase, specifically stating I was letting them know before the vehicle was taken in to be fixed and to please call me. I was on the road for the morning and couldn't call them to confirm - I figured most businesses check voice mail first thing.
Steve called me around 11am to let me know I had no option but to take the car, since my down payment was non-refundable and he had put the vehicle in for repairs. He said that I had no choice at this point. I explained that I didn't need the car, and I just wanted my money back. It was reitterated that I had no choice in the matter.
I called them back the next day and spoke with Mike again, explaining again that I had absolutely no need for the car, and, I would be willing to negotiate with them since the repairs to the rust shouldn't have exceeded $200, and I didn't want them to lose money, so if they would agree to split the difference, all would be fine.
Mike called me back to say Steve's stand was firm - no refund. He claimed the repairs exceeded $800 and he would not refund me a dime, and that I needed to make arrangements to come pick up the vehicle.
Last night I was surfing their web site and I see the vehicle they were trying to sell me for $3995 is now listed on their web site for $1495. I immediately called and left them a message for Steve and or Mike telling them I would be happy to take the vehicle and pay them the $500 to buy it outright. All they would need to do is give me a call. Within the last hour they have removed the vehicle from their web site, and I've not heard from them.
How can they take money without a valid application, refuse to refund it based on repairs exceeding $800 done after notifying them I did not want the vehicle, then post the same vehicle a week later for $2500 less than what I was quoted? If anything the price should have gone up, or, stayed the same. My guess is this vehicle is in pretty bad shape and they realized that after sending it in for repairs. Carfax has 12 entries listed for it, though I haven't paid to find out what they are as of yet.
I admit I went into this a bit blind - I should never have given them a dime, but after hearing such good things about them, I thought they were good people. I can see now that's just not true. The only thing I got out of this is a couple of pieces of paper and they got $1000 for not providing a single thing.
Dennis
E.Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.