On 10/06/20 I purchased a 2013 Honda Ridgeline from Old Saybrook Ford. I had my eye on this vehicle for over a month and was thrilled to have the opportunity to test drive it. I met with sales representative Anthony to discuss the vehicle. After test driving the truck Anthony and I negotiated the price down $900 due to the truck still needing to be detailed, the driver's side taillight cover is broken, and the dealership had no evidence that the timing belt had been serviced. On 10/12/20, the low tire pressure light was indicated on the dash of the truck. I immediately took the truck to BJs Tire Care Center located in Willimantic, CT. The service technician at BJs Tire Center removed the suspect rear passenger tire, upon removal of the tire the technician found not one (1) but two (2) improperly installed plugs in the tire, a patch, and the valve steam was leaking. The caring technician informed me that the truck was unsafe to drive until four (4) new tires were put on, as the truck is an AWD vehicle therefore all four (4) tires need to be replaced when one is replaced. If this is not done the imbalance of the tread on the tires will cause the alignment of the vehicle to be off, along with other issues. I called Anthony on the evening on 10/13/20 to inform him of the issue at hand and that the truck was deemed unsafe to drive. He said he would call me back in the morning after speaking with his manager. I also called the dealership directly to inform them of this issue, the representative who answered my call questioned why I would need to replace all four (4) tires if only one was "bad", I had to explain as I did above you cannot replace just one tire on an AWD vehicle, a fact that is common knowledge in the auto industry. I never received a follow up phone call on the morning of 10/14/20. I called Anthony late morning of 10/14/20, again I was told he would talk with his manager to see what they could come up with a solution and call me back. After 1.5 hours of not hearing back, I called Anthony again and explained to him that I purchased the truck to get to and from my job where I am an essential employee protecting public drinking water. I can no longer use the truck for the intended purpose as the truck is unsafe for the road not even a week after the purchase date. I have had to find other means to transportation. I stated, "I would hate to leave a bad review if the dealership is unwilling to work with me especially considering I am an essential employee during this pandemic." After this phone call with Anthony, the manager, Andrew Quintyne, called me to state that I should not "threaten a bad review." The text I received from the dealership after my purchase asking for a review stated this:
"Hello Katie, congratulations on your purchase of the 2013 Honda Ridgeline. Saybrook Ford would like to welcome you to our family and hopefully be your dealer of choice. If you would like to review Saybrook Ford and your salesman Marc : http://dealr.fr/9z6d6z . If you do not feel like you can give us 5 stars, please reach out to me directly at (860) 388-1292 ext. 30 so I can do what ever it takes to earn your 5 star review."
This dealership clearly does not stand by their vehicles or their statements to customers. The text message states to call if there is an issue as to why you cannot leave a 5 star review. The manager, Andrew Quintyne, of this dealership was rude, disrespectful, and completely uncooperative. In my phone call with him, he stated his "wife is a nurse therefore an essential employee so I understand what that means." However, I think the concept is lost on him, as he did not seem to understand that I am required to physically present at my job. I cannot perform my duties from home, it is imperative that I have a road safe vehicle in order to protect public health. I ended the call with, "I'm sorry we couldn't come to a compromise and that unfortunately I would have to write an unfavorable review." He responded with threatening to write a "bad" review about me on my employer's Google review page. Old Saybrook Ford Dealership has and never will be a client of my employer. Andrew Quintyne has a personal grievance with me and not a grievance with my employer, who has not been involved in this transaction whatsoever. Andrew threatened me with libel, threatened my livelihood as an essential employee, and made me regret my decision to purchase the truck from this dealership. It's really a shame that my local American dealership selling a national brand vehicle has no respect for the workforce who are the backbone of our country during this global pandemic. As a result, I will now be purchasing four (4) new tires in order to drive the vehicle safely again at my own cost of $1000. I will be bringing this to the attention of the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles. read more