I HATE giving bad reviews. I never want to be that person who gets cold food or snotty service and go tell the world about it. It happens. But what doesn't happen often is when I get blindsided by a horrible level of customer service, that is so jaw dropping ridiculous, that I have to write about it.
This story could have been so good too. That's what I hate about it. One person, one sentence, one follow through and this could have been a raving review. But instead, I have to warn everyone about the bait and switch strategies used by American Auto in Fullerton California. Ugh.
I saw a vehicle on their website that I liked. The price was right and the car looked nice. I spent a couple hours with the salesperson Daniel and we worked out the numbers. I made an offer (low, but reasonable). He showed me why they couldn't do it and why the numbers didn't make sense. Then he countered, with an also reasonable offer, a bit on my high side. I asked him to split the difference of the two offers and he said he'd have to ask his boss. So I waited in the office while he went to ask about the numbers. He came back and said they could do it, but that the owner wasn't thrilled about it. He's a car salesman...that's what he's supposed to say to make me feel I'm getting the better end of the deal. I asked if I could take the car home as I thought about it overnight. He said yes, but that they need $5k cash deposit. I laughed and said I'd think about it overnight without the car :) I said I'd be in the next day to get the car.
On my way home I called and asked Daniel if they could throw in something extra to help me feel like I won the negotiation. He said he would call me back in 20 minutes. He never called.
That evening, I talked to the gf, called and got my insurance quote lined up, organized all my paperwork for my trade in, emptied my car to trade in. The next morning I went to the bank to withdraw the cash.
I called three times that day between 10am and 3pm to make sure all was good and to see when I could come in (I live an hour and a half and didn't want any surprises or a long wait) When I finally spoke to Daniel he said that his boss boss said he shouldn't have offered me as good a deal as he did and Daniel said he felt embarassed to call me back and tell me. Kind of silly right? Just call and say you screwed up if nothing else. Don't avoid my calls.
So I asked, "what does that mean?" Daniel said that they couldn't sell me the car at the offer price. I was stunned and said, "Can you do that?" He said it appears so. After the call I started thinking, and I wrote the boss boss an email. The letter explained the story and I said "I know you might not make much money on this deal, but I was offered a price and I would really like you to honor your offer."
No response. Crickets.
There were two people working on the offer, so I'm not sure why someone else then decided the two of them made too low an offer, but those things happen. I run a business too and I've made mistakes. A lot. But if I make a mistake I don't make the customer suffer. I eat the cost of my mistake, as any business owner with integrity would do.
It was a good deal, but it wasn't a crazy good deal. It wasn't my fault I was offered what I was offered and I figure it would suck to let the car go if indeed they don't make money on it. But I was offered the price on it, and principle says they need to honor it.
So I wasted most of a day, was made an offer, then after I did all the leg work, someone told me I couldn't have it. The apology was non existent, the follow up was non existent, and all in all left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.
I found other reviews online about American Auto and they were all bad, but in all reviews someone from American Auto commented on their review pointing out why it was the customer's fault. Which I assume they'll do to this review as well. Why not just take care of the customer in the first place instead of having to go back and clean up your messes?
Interestingly, I noticed the two rave reviews on here mention a salesperson by name, and just happen to be the only review that user has posted. My guess is the salespeople of American Auto added one review on Yelp. Oh well, hopefully I saved just one person from making the same mistake I did. I just hate bad customer service. If you see a car on American Auto's website that you like, don't get too attached to it, that's all I've gotta say. read more