Unethical Practices at Mercedes-Benze of Westwood Ma
10-03-2017, 05:27 PM
#1
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GLE63 coupe AMGs
Unethical Practices at Mercedes-Benze of Westwood Ma
i NEED HELP ON HOW TO HANDLE! This is the letter i wrote to the owner of Prime Mercedes and the GM and have had zero response! PLEASE HELP!
I just attempted to purchase a 2016 GLE63C4S from your dealership and encountered an unethical sales practice which prevented me from buying the car. (I hope this is not the way Mercedes of Westwood carries out its business.) I made four visits. On the last visit, with my father present, we finally came to an agreement on the price of the car with my sales representative and a sales manager, Sean. Sean indicated the all-inclusive price was $88,000. We pressed him on this and he said it was final. He then took the deal to the back office for review where he reviewed every line and came back with a revised price, up by about $530.00 to cover administrative and other costs. At this point the tax and luxury tax line said none for charges which confirmed our understand that taxes were including in the total amount due. I was not happy with this and pressed again that this was his final number. I then asked if he could switch the tires to snow tires which would have allowed me to save $2,400 the next month or throw in a roof rack or bike rack. He responded no to everything and at this point I said no deal and we left to grab lunch.
I then received a text from your sales rep telling to give it some thought. I responded that there was nothing to think about because he wouldn’t add anything to make up for the additional $530.00. She responded by saying if I can get him to throw in a roof rack do we have a deal and I responded show me! He responded to her he couldn’t and then I asked for winter floor mats which he agreed too. Again, we asked is this everything this the final price including the $8000.00 I was putting as a down payment and he said yes. He clearly agreed and provided a retail disclosure form which we signed based off of $88,530 including snow mats. The title on the car was not at the dealership so I went to finalize my financing and arrange to sell my car to CARMAX.
The next day we came back to meet with the sales person and get the car. We were escorted to the finance manager who reviewed everything in detail and confirmed my loan approval from Bank of America. He abruptly stopped the process after I signed the title and service agreement and said it did not include sales taxes. We said it did since the sales manager said the price included everything multiple times and we had a signed Retail Disclosure form. The finance manager went to the back office to straighten it out and we all thought sales tax was already included. However, he came back and tried to add about $5300.00 to the deal. We complained that this was not right and now believe it was unethical and fraudulent as a way to get more money out of me for the car. I know that sales tax is part of this kind of transaction and thought it was already included since the sales manager, Sean, kept telling us the agreed price was final and included everything.
A long time went by without a representative with us and then another sales manager Thomas came in as a kind of arbitrator to try to resolve the serious problem Mercedes faced. He was ineffective and said he didn’t have authority to approve the deal. We asked who did and he said we should take it or leave it. At this point he said he spoke to Sean who informed him it was a clerical error. We disagreed based on multiple conversations and points at which he said it was all included. I then asked if he could call Sean to discuss. Unfortunately, he ended up telling me it was a clerical mistake and that “everyone knows you have to pay sales tax” I reminded him about how many times he told me it was all included and disagreed and responded there was an error.
At this point we got up and left the facility upset at the horrible way the situation was handled. I also never received my $8,000 deposit check back. I don’t feel that Sean was following the Prime promise of Stess-free Auto Shopping and Peace of mind. There were two times when the price changed without me agreeing to it. I received a call from your sales rep that evening apologizing for what happened. Thomas said multiple times if it was his deal this wouldn’t have happened.
Lastly, I need to point out the unprofessional manner of Sean. He called me a day after I left after reading my comment to the owner and threatened me. He told me he knows what kind of guy I am trying to cut corners on a short cut and nickel and time him. He said your dealership doesn’t want to do business with people like me and that he has an Army of lawyers to handle people like me. (Doesn’t seem like the kind of person a reputable company wants to deal with its customers) I informed him that I have never had this issue and that it doesn’t matter what he thinks. The point of this letter and my comment to the owner is make your employees actions. Your company and character are only as good as the people that work for you. I manage a lot of people and handle contracts daily! I would never want a customer to feel the way I do. I told them the bottom line I wanted to spend and walked out of your dealership because the numbers were not there. The worse part is after I received the call from Sean I looked in my bank account the next day and he had deposited my down payment. In my mind that is stealing because there was no transaction and you never gave me the care.
It is now sixteen days later and they still have not refunded my $8000.00 and said the check is in the mail!!! PLEASE HELP WHAT SHOULD I DO?
I just attempted to purchase a 2016 GLE63C4S from your dealership and encountered an unethical sales practice which prevented me from buying the car. (I hope this is not the way Mercedes of Westwood carries out its business.) I made four visits. On the last visit, with my father present, we finally came to an agreement on the price of the car with my sales representative and a sales manager, Sean. Sean indicated the all-inclusive price was $88,000. We pressed him on this and he said it was final. He then took the deal to the back office for review where he reviewed every line and came back with a revised price, up by about $530.00 to cover administrative and other costs. At this point the tax and luxury tax line said none for charges which confirmed our understand that taxes were including in the total amount due. I was not happy with this and pressed again that this was his final number. I then asked if he could switch the tires to snow tires which would have allowed me to save $2,400 the next month or throw in a roof rack or bike rack. He responded no to everything and at this point I said no deal and we left to grab lunch.
I then received a text from your sales rep telling to give it some thought. I responded that there was nothing to think about because he wouldn’t add anything to make up for the additional $530.00. She responded by saying if I can get him to throw in a roof rack do we have a deal and I responded show me! He responded to her he couldn’t and then I asked for winter floor mats which he agreed too. Again, we asked is this everything this the final price including the $8000.00 I was putting as a down payment and he said yes. He clearly agreed and provided a retail disclosure form which we signed based off of $88,530 including snow mats. The title on the car was not at the dealership so I went to finalize my financing and arrange to sell my car to CARMAX.
The next day we came back to meet with the sales person and get the car. We were escorted to the finance manager who reviewed everything in detail and confirmed my loan approval from Bank of America. He abruptly stopped the process after I signed the title and service agreement and said it did not include sales taxes. We said it did since the sales manager said the price included everything multiple times and we had a signed Retail Disclosure form. The finance manager went to the back office to straighten it out and we all thought sales tax was already included. However, he came back and tried to add about $5300.00 to the deal. We complained that this was not right and now believe it was unethical and fraudulent as a way to get more money out of me for the car. I know that sales tax is part of this kind of transaction and thought it was already included since the sales manager, Sean, kept telling us the agreed price was final and included everything.
A long time went by without a representative with us and then another sales manager Thomas came in as a kind of arbitrator to try to resolve the serious problem Mercedes faced. He was ineffective and said he didn’t have authority to approve the deal. We asked who did and he said we should take it or leave it. At this point he said he spoke to Sean who informed him it was a clerical error. We disagreed based on multiple conversations and points at which he said it was all included. I then asked if he could call Sean to discuss. Unfortunately, he ended up telling me it was a clerical mistake and that “everyone knows you have to pay sales tax” I reminded him about how many times he told me it was all included and disagreed and responded there was an error.
At this point we got up and left the facility upset at the horrible way the situation was handled. I also never received my $8,000 deposit check back. I don’t feel that Sean was following the Prime promise of Stess-free Auto Shopping and Peace of mind. There were two times when the price changed without me agreeing to it. I received a call from your sales rep that evening apologizing for what happened. Thomas said multiple times if it was his deal this wouldn’t have happened.
Lastly, I need to point out the unprofessional manner of Sean. He called me a day after I left after reading my comment to the owner and threatened me. He told me he knows what kind of guy I am trying to cut corners on a short cut and nickel and time him. He said your dealership doesn’t want to do business with people like me and that he has an Army of lawyers to handle people like me. (Doesn’t seem like the kind of person a reputable company wants to deal with its customers) I informed him that I have never had this issue and that it doesn’t matter what he thinks. The point of this letter and my comment to the owner is make your employees actions. Your company and character are only as good as the people that work for you. I manage a lot of people and handle contracts daily! I would never want a customer to feel the way I do. I told them the bottom line I wanted to spend and walked out of your dealership because the numbers were not there. The worse part is after I received the call from Sean I looked in my bank account the next day and he had deposited my down payment. In my mind that is stealing because there was no transaction and you never gave me the care.
It is now sixteen days later and they still have not refunded my $8000.00 and said the check is in the mail!!! PLEASE HELP WHAT SHOULD I DO?
10-05-2017, 01:33 AM
#2
Sorry to heard your experience at that dealership. Next time negotiate the out the door price. This should include tax, license, and doc fees. Since you are not financing with the dealership, they should not add finance charge to it.
Of course the finance manager will be willing to sell you a tons of warranty while your signing the paperwork.
As for getting your check back, you can call the sale/finance manager back and demand to pick up a check with the amount your owe. Tell them you will contact MBUSA, put review in Yelp, Facebook, and etc. In worse case scenario you can contact a lawyer friend to write a letter to the dealership or TV station (some has consumer rights reporter that will help you and report the story on the air)
Good luck and hope there are other MB dealership in your area will to give you better buying experience.
Of course the finance manager will be willing to sell you a tons of warranty while your signing the paperwork.
As for getting your check back, you can call the sale/finance manager back and demand to pick up a check with the amount your owe. Tell them you will contact MBUSA, put review in Yelp, Facebook, and etc. In worse case scenario you can contact a lawyer friend to write a letter to the dealership or TV station (some has consumer rights reporter that will help you and report the story on the air)
Good luck and hope there are other MB dealership in your area will to give you better buying experience.
