My name is Michael Picanzi,
Yesterday, August 2, 2025, while at the Beach Ford Auto Dealership located on Jason Blvd in Myrtle Beach, SC, my wife & I suffered the most horrific, unethical sales experience in our 62 & 65 years of living, where we were straight out, and boldly LIED to, with no shame, by three of the most UNSCRUPULOUS business/salesmen we've ever met.
I am a successful & highly respected 65-year-old (retired at the the age of 60) businessman and I can modestly say that I enjoyed great success in my career as a very honest businessman and salesperson who would never compromise my integrity for the sake of money or to close a deal.mTo be clear, I was NOTa car salesperson.
I accomplished my early retirement by being an expert on my products, which were associated with the coffee & purified water industry. More importantly, my success was due to the long-term business relationships that I was able to develop with my clients based on trust & loyalty. This was the resulty of my uncompromising goal to always strive to treat people/clients with the same honesty and respect that I demanded from others. I was not a "Sales-GURU" but instead I focused on P.O.S. (Positively Outrageous Service) and by treating everyone as I would want to be treated.
There were 3 employees that my wife & I tried to work with at Beach Ford on Jason Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, SC., who were responsible for our unacceptable treatment:
- James Brown (Sales Supervisor)
- Anthony Small (Sales Assistant
- Director of Sales (I did not get his name)
All three of them are the most UN-ethical and morally corrupt people we have ever dealt with. Her'es why:
We had an agreement with a locked-in price for purchasing one of your Lincoln Aviator's as long as we arrived at the dealership by 4:45PM yesterday. I even offered to give my credit card info for a deposit to hold it for us, but Anthony told us it was not necessary; just for us to be there by 4:45PM.
We arrived a few minutes early and they had shown our car to another prospective buyer and told us it was sold. James Brown & Anthony were in the process of filling out the sales paperwork for the other buyer.
When I brough it up to both James ans Anthony, James asked Anthony: "did you tell them they didn't need to put a deposit on their credit card to hold the vehicle". Anthony said yes, I did. James then proceeded to repromand Anthony in front of us and told him he should have and should always check with him before telling a customer that. At that point, I thought the issue was resolved and that we would be the rightful buyer of the vehicle. But then, all of a sudden, both James & Anthony disappeared from the showroom floor desk/station where we were conducting our business. After a minute, I decided to look for them, and I witnessed them both in a glass office with another 3rd man (who turned out to be the Director of Sales - I didn't get his name). They were talking. In the very next glass office, was the other buyer with another, 4th person, who seemed to be filling out paperwork.
When James Brown & Anthony Small returned to my wife & I at the showroom desk, the Director of Sales was with them. He looked at me & my wife, and with a straight face, he asked Anthony the same question regarding his statement to us that "we did NOT need to place a deposit to hold the car until 4:45". He asked Anthony: "Did you tell them that?" This time, Anthony said "No" - he BOLDLY, STRAIGHT-OUT LIED!!
I will be sharing this as a NEGATIVE REVIEW anywhere and everywhere I possibly can. You have supervisory employees (James Brown & the Dir. of Sales, who are aggressively coercing underlings (in this case: Anthony Small) to lie in order to sell a car at a higher price; after already having a legally-binding verbal agreement with a previous buyer.
Anthony Small told the complete, and honest truth when he answered "YES" when he was first asked by his immediate Supervisor, James Brown, and in front of us and other customers, if he told us there was no deposit needed to hold our deal for buying this car. He was then pressured by two others (James Brown & the Dir. of Sales) in a private meeting to change his answer in order to disregard our purchase agreement.
Michael A. Picanzi
picanzi@comcast.net
508-631-4706 read more