- Wednesday, 3/23/2016
- I went to Auction Block to view a vehicle that was placed for sale on Craigslist. Upon inspection of the vehicle and receiving consultation, I decided to move forward with the purchase of the vehicle.
- The broker I was doing business with was Jeanice Pierce who informed me that she/they did NOT have the title yet as they were awaiting the "Earnhardt" dealership (NEVER gave specifics even upon my questioning) to send it. She advised that I would receive temporary paperwork until the receipt of the title that she would then mail to me.
- Upon completing the paperwork, Jeanice asked "Do you want the exact mileage or an estimated amount?" Shocked by her inquiry, I insisted on the exact amount of the odometer which is what was written on the "purchase agreement".
- Wednesday, 4/6/2016
- I had yet to receive the title, so I placed a call to Jeanice inquiring about the status. Jeanice stated she wasn't at the office yet, but believed the title had come in. Upon her arrival at the office, Jeanice called me back, advised the title was received and she would be sending it to me via direct mail to my home.
- Friday, 4/8/2016
- Title was received which raised more red flags than the initial transaction. As you can see in the attachments titled "Title Front" and "Title Back", there are many problems:
- What I received is an open title as I, the buyer, did not fill out any information and the title was NOT properly transferred to me by Auction Block (as exemplified by the front of the title stating Daniel Arthur Blech)
- There are NO dates logged for the past three transfers of ownership (including my own)
- There is NO odometer reading on the document at all from ANY of the transfers
- Furthermore in relations to the title is the FORMER POA that was stapled to the title
- Again, there is NO odometer reading
- This POA is not even valid in relations to my purchase of the vehicle NOR did I provide documentations to anybody re: POA for myself
- With this information at hand as well as some problems I discovered about the vehicle, I decided to look into possibly trading the Audi for a different vehicle
- Saturday, 4/9/2016
- At around 9:00 AM, I went to a family owned dealership who were really the ones to encourage me to go forth with this report and thus, they would like to remain anonymous. Prior to going through a credit application with this family owned dealership, I asked them to review the title as I had some concerns about it and wasn't sure if it would suffice for the new transaction/vehicle trade in
- Upon review of the title, the dealership asked for all other documentation I received from Auction Block. The owner of this dealership got involved and started explaining to me the many things that were wrong:
- Title and POA discrepancies as mentioned above
- NO separate documents re: a Buyers Guide included nor signed in any paperwork
- NO separate odometer disclosure
- Auction Block ADDED a section to their "purchase agreement" advising that a buyer is waiving the used card implied warranty of merchantability. Per the attached titled "AZ Law", this is not accurate as mentioned in section B28-4412
- NO taxes were charged to me. A VISA credit card was used to purchase the vehicle at $2900 while a VISA Debit Card was used for the remaining $100.
- Upon discovery of all this information, the owner recommended that I go forth in reporting this company for fraud and see what I could do about my current situation before trying to get into another vehicle - an act that was generous being a car salesman/owner of a dealership.
- At around 1:30 PM, I reached out to Rick Rumsey AND Jeanice Pierce and advised that I would visiting their office by 2:00 PM.
- Upon my arrival, I searched for Auction Block's license to be openly displayed which is shown in the attached titled "Auction Block License" however appears to be a COPY and also has the dealer number blacked out.
- I inquired to Rick what TYPE of license it was and he stated "wholesale". When I asked about him saying he was a "used car dealer" he stated "well, the license covers all of them: used, wholesaler, retailer - what is this about?"
- I presented all my evidence (aforementioned) to Rick and some of his responses were:
- He had the right to include in his purchase agreements that the implied warranty would be waived and the law I showed him was inaccurate.
- The purchase contract they provide was also the same as both the buyers guide and the odometer disclosure. Also that there did NOT need to be a separate odometer disclosure with the title or any other paperwork.
- He didnt have to include taxes because:
- the price included the taxes (and then he changed his answer to)
- the taxes are taken out on the back end
- He claimed the title was not open since Auction Blockwrote my name in there (again, I did not sign it nor was the title properly transferred to my name).
- When I mentioned the missing information, he responded "Well here, let's fill it in right now." at which point I denied his request.
- I requested to be given a full refund in exchange for the car - Rick denied this request so I advised I would be moving forth with reporting him
- Upon leaving I sent Rick a text message outlining/reiterating all the inaccuracies and that it was the final time I would request a refund. Within five minutes, Rick called me asking why I decided to bring all this up two weeks after purchasing the vehicle. I responded that I did not receive the title until 4/8 which is when more red flags arose. We continued to disagree on the phone until he finally said he would return my money by reselling the car and I would receive the funds only AFTER the car was sold. In light of all the current paperwork discrepancies and trust issues, I denied his offer. He then stated he would have to talk with Jeanice and David to see what they could do.
- Monday, 4/11/2016
- At about 10:00 AM I missed a call from Jeanice due to work. I returned her call around noon that day. In a very facetious tone, Jeanice advised that they would refund the money if the vehicle was still in good condition. I advised it was, in fact, better condition due to buying two new tires and having repair work done on the second cylinder, fuel pump, and prework on transmission.
During the rest of that week, I continued to do more research on the vehicle and decided that, after a small investment, the return would be almost triple what I paid and thus, I decided to keep the vehicle to make the repairs.
Following is the location and contact information for the person's I have named in this email.