Complaint Review: Paul Blanco - Stockton California

I was in the market for a new car so I began the process by going to my local Paul Blanco location in the Stockton Auto Mall. On Saturday November 7, 2015 I visited the location after work. It was the evening and with the new time change the lot was already dark. I spent about 45 minutes walking around and sitting in different vehicles trying to figure out exactly what I wanted. I eventually left the dealership without being greeted or acknowledged. That night I went home and continued my research on my own. I located a 2014 Cadillac ATS located at the Paul Blanco location in Sacramento. Now it was Sunday and I got off work early to make it to the dealership with an hour before they closed so that I may test drive the car. Once again, I spent 45 mins on the dealer lot without anyone greeting me. I could not find the Cadillac on the lot so I walked into the office to locate anyone available to help. Here is where the fun began. The 1^st salesperson came up to me and asked me if I needed help, I went on to ask him about the Cadillac ATS they had listed online and his response was “we sell 20-30 cars a day and it was probably sold.” I was disappointed but there were another 2 cars on their lot that seemed nice so I continued with the sale process.

(A little background on myself, I am a trainer in the retail arena for a fortune 500 company. My degree is in Psychology and I have over 10 years of experience teaching the sales process. I am going to be 27 years old in a week, so I understand that these sale representatives may have pre-qualified mewithout even asking any discovery questions.)

So this 1^st sales person informs me that the car I really wanted was probably sold because they location pushes out high volume. This guy was a somewhat heavy set Asian decent wearing glasses, I only describe him so that other buyers can stay clear. He asks me how bad is my credit and if I was looking on getting a car today or not. This guy did not know one thing about me, what I was interested in buying, or how much work I have already put into this process. He just wanted to skip to the process of running my credit to see if I was worth his precious time as a commission sales representative. A little background with Paul Blanco, online you can fill out an online application and schedule an appointment once approved I did both. I told this sales representative that I went through these steps and He still insisted to go through more financing paperwork before even qualifying me as a buyer. I went ahead and report my earning of $6500 monthly and that my co-signer had a credit score of between 750-800. I also mentioned that I purchased a car from Paul Blanco last year. After the credit paper work was done I was hopeful that I could test drive a car or two, the whole reason I left work early in the first place! But…this guy was unwilling to get off his A** without my cosigner being present because in his mind, it would be a waste of his time. I was upset at this point so I asked to have my credit report and would come back later, but he refused to give me my personal credit information. At this point I was losing my cool.

I asked to speak with the sales manager and he gave me a disgusting grin and went to the manager’s desk across from us. The manager asked me what the problem was. I ask the sales person a few qualifying questions in front of his boss…

I asked “is my income pre-approved?”

He replied “yes”

I asked “with my credit score and the excellent score of my cosigner, am I pre-approved”

He replied “yes”

So I asked “if I find a car on the lot today, are you confident I could leave with it based on my application?”

He replied “yes”

So I turned to the manager of the Sacramento location and told him “your salesperson will not allow me to test drive a car without my co-signer being here even though I am a well-qualified customer. I would like someone else to help me.”

The sales manager does not empathize with me the upset customer whatsoever. With a flat affect, he calls a younger Caucasian kid over and tells him that I want to test drive some cars. I told him I really wanted the Cadillac ATS but I guess it has been sold. The manager looks and me and says it has not been sold it was just parked in the back inventory lot. My mood lifted and now I was excited to finally be able to drive it. It was sprinkling and dark once again. By this time the dealership was about to close, and I felt that energy being put off by my 2^nd salesperson. He did not say a word to me, it was kind of awkward but I was just happy I could actually see this car.  We began our test drive and I asked a few questions during the ride but his response was “to be honest I don’t know anything about this car.” He then went back on his phone and continued to be silent. I finally asked him where I was going because I didn’t know Sacramento too well at all. He gave me a few directions and we returned to the lot. He then answered his phone in front of me and decided to tell the person on the other line that he’s trying to leave work but was stuck with a customer. He asked me if I was interested in driving any other cars, with the lowest emotional enthusiasm I have ever experience with a sales person, I said No thank you and told him that this was the car.

He told me that he had tomorrow off, Monday November 9, 2015 and he would be back on Tuesday. That was the final exchange I had with sales person #2. I went home and though everything over. I decided to print out all the paperwork and put a packet together. I got my references, paystubs, car fax and comparable sales in the area for the car. So on Monday morning I walked into the Stockton location and looked around for the lucky salesperson that will get this lay-down sale. I met with Miguel and at that time I did not tell him any experiences I had with people, I just kept it short and sweet and handed him my prepared packet. I told him what car I wanted from the Sacramento inventory and the price I wanted to pay. I told him that I had to run into work and can be back around 7pm to sign.

Miguel response was “that price was too low and I can already tell you it won’t happen,” He claimed that they purchased the car at a high and only had $400 profit worked into the price. I did not have time to argue so I told him to just contact me when the banks respond with the interest rates. I had my co-signer go in without me and sign their credit application while I was at work. I decided to leave work early and go to the dealership around 3pm that Monday. I went in and sat down and Miguel told me it was approved and showed me the number. Everything was a little high but we were in the correct neighborhood. I wrote on the offer he presented with my offer of about $24,600 and He once said that’s not going to happen. His manager came over and attempted to turn up the heat and close the sale. His strategy was that this car, which he never seen in person, was so amazing and if I could find one somewhere else that I would. He told me that I should leave and shop around, that I would eventually come back. This slimy manager was so use to selling to people with no other buying options, his bullying angle to close deals was 2^nd nature. I was literally turning red with anger. Luckily there was no customers in the showroom and the bad weather was keeping clients away this Monday afternoon. I told the manager he is rude. I went on to say that I could not believe that someone in a manager position would be so nasty to a customer. To tell me to leave and come crawling back. I told the manager that I bought a Chrysler Crossfire from them a year ago, and the clutch went out a few weeks later. His response was “why would I come back to Paul Blanco again.” WOW… He said it. I told him that the service Manager Kim went above and beyond and that Mrs. Blanco refunded me the out of pocket service charges. Once the manager heard the Bosses name, things changed real-quick. He did a half-apology for being rude and said he would see what he could do on the price. They came back with about $24,700 which I just laughed at and accepted. When I said I prepared a packet and did my research in nearby comp sales recent the price I wrote on the packet was…$24,600 so the numbers agreed and I believed it was a fair deal.

Finally, the paperwork was done and I asked my father for a ride to get the car in Sacramento. Also, Miguel said I need to pay the taxes with 20 days of $1,000. (I later found out this was an optional deposit, and I clearly told him I did not want to put a deposited down)

We arrived around 7pm at the lot and they handed me the keys. The car was dirty and out of gas. So I let my dad drive to the nearest gas station and he told me that he never was given a car without being washed or gas up in his entire life. I agreed with him but reminded that Paul Blanco advertises toward clients that are not the best qualified so the sales staff takes advantage of such people. I just happened to find the car model I was looking for with 29k miles, so it was the car not the experience I was after. I drove home that night, and the ride was amazing. The only thing was that the water spots on all the windows and mirrors made it hard to see at night.

The next morning, I went and had it washed. This is the first time that I have ever seen the car in the light. The water spots were everywhere and did not come off. The paint is evenly scratched all over and even the glass was scratch. It was like someone took steel wool and attempted to clean the entire vehicle with it. On a rainy night the Black Cadillac was gorgeous, in the day light it is damaged plain and simple. I am missing an emblem off the trunk and the daylight running lights are defective and the car always thinks it’s night time and the headlights stay on. There are gashes in the tires of missing rubber and the rims are scuffed. There are places everywhere that needs touch up paint, such as scratches and chips. I am so disappointed. I go to the service department in Stockton and speak to Kim. She immediately offered to give it an acid wash for the water spots. I am grateful that they have at least one person whom cares about her job on staff.

In conclusion, this will be the last car purchased from this dealership. Every time I hear the advertisements on the local radio I am reminded of these experiences. The fresh start program is a good concept. The customer service and the vehicles, however, has not been top notch and it has become a playground for the rude sales staff that will bully you around leaving you emotional, in the wrong way. I have taken off my license plates just so that I won’t advertise this company in a good way whatsoever. To Mr. and Mrs. Blanco, I implore you to take a look at your sales staff because a company that creates more detractors than promoters, will eventually fail.