I had a very disappointing experience with Cowboy Kia in Conroe and, unfortunately, I left feeling…read morethat the pricing and communication were far from honest.
On the evening of September 8, I inquired about a vehicle advertised by the dealership. I received a response from Katie, a dealership representative, who specifically told me through text that the price of the vehicle was $7,505. Based on that confirmed price, I scheduled an appointment to come see the vehicle the following day. I drove approximately an hour to Conroe specifically because of the price I had been quoted.
When I arrived on September 9, I actually got there a little earlier than my scheduled appointment. The salesman who helped me was very nice and professional. He explained that the vehicle had just come in on Monday and had not yet been fully processed, but he allowed us to look at it.
My mom and I thoroughly looked over the vehicle and understood that it had some damage and corrections that would need to be addressed. We were still willing to consider purchasing it, and I was prepared to pay cash.
When we began discussing the price, we noticed that the price on the dealership's website had suddenly increased from the $7,505 price I had been given the night before to $13,013.
I showed the salesman the information I had received and asked to speak with someone because I had written confirmation from the dealership's own representative of the $7,505 price. The entire reason I had driven an hour to Conroe was because of that quoted price.
The General Manager came over and explained that the price had been corrected because of expenses associated with fixing the vehicle. He said he just obtained the vehicle yesterday (Tuesday) so it had not been processed. I told him that's funny because the salesman said it came in Monday, the GM said oh well Monday, Tuesday whatever. I understand that a dealership may have expenses and may need to adjust pricing. However, that does not change the fact that I was given a specific price by their representative, made an appointment based on that price, and drove an hour to the dealership relying on that information.
The General Manager offered to sell it for $12,000. I explained that I did not want to spend that much, especially after adding tax, title, and license, and I was already there prepared to pay cash.
My mom then asked whether the dealership was required to honor the advertised price. The General Manager told us that they were not because the website had a disclaimer stating that errors can occur and customers should verify the information with a representative.
Here's the problem: I DID verify the information with a representative.
I went back afterward and looked at the disclaimer myself. It says, essentially, that errors can occur and customers should verify information with a customer representative. I did exactly that. I have the text message from the dealership's customer representative confirming the $7,505 price.
So what exactly was I supposed to do differently?
I am not upset because the dealership wouldn't sell me a vehicle for a price they no longer wanted to honor. I am upset because I relied on a price that was directly confirmed to me by their own representative, drove an hour to the dealership, arrived for my scheduled appointment, and then discovered that the price had increased by more than $5,000.
I respect the salesman who helped us; he was kind and professional throughout the experience. Unfortunately, the way the pricing situation was handled by management left a very bad impression.
If a customer verifies a price directly with your dealership representative and makes a trip to your dealership based on that confirmation, I believe you should stand behind what your representative told them.
I came prepared to purchase a vehicle with cash. Instead, I left feeling that my time and trust were not valued.
I would strongly encourage anyone considering purchasing from Cowboy Kia to get everything in writing, save screenshots and text messages, and verify the final price before making a long trip.
For me, this experience was enough to take my business elsewhere. Even if I took the car at $12k I don't feel like the dealership would honestly fix all the errors on the vehicle.
