BMW of South County Ron Mangseth Worst Customer Service Mistakes Met With Lies El Cajon, California

I’m writing to inform you about the unconscionable conduct
of Mr. Ron Mangseth, a sales manager at BMW South County, 875 El Cajon Blvd, El
Cajon CA 92020. In brief, this is what happened:

On October 23, 2010 I went to BMW of South County and ordered a 335i coupe. Ryan Wild was the new car salesperson and Ron Mangseth was the sales manager. While I was there Mr. Mangseth asked me if I wanted to finance and the amount. I told him $25,000 and so he had me fill out a loan application. Mr. Mangseth showed me the terms of the loan at 0.9% financing for 60 months on his PC and we all laughed at the amount of interest to be paid over the term. At 0.9% who would pay cash? Ryan Wild was right there as my witness. When I was there I wanted to know what the breakdown of costs would be and the total amount. I wanted it in writing to take with me but Mr. Mangseth
refused and said he would email it to me. Mr. Mangseth stated in his reply that I left with the standard purchase order agreement, specifications of the model as well as production number and pricing. Impossible! The production number
wasn’t even available at that time! You have to order the car before you get a production number. He never printed anything for me or gave me any agreements.
The only paperwork I took with me was a copy of my check for the $1,000 deposit.

When Mr. Mangseth did send me the information there still wasn’t a complete breakdown of all costs, but hidden costs appeared so I complained about costs of MACO, Training/Servicing – roughly $600. Soon afterwards I spoke with Barry Wood on the phone and got a condescending lecture from him, that I was confused about the difference about fees and costs, and that these costs are on every invoice. Untrue, they are not on my invoice when I received the car. He also suggested I cancel the order which I considered to be a threat. “We’ll have no problem selling that car” and “We usually don’t offer the Costco deal on custom orders” he added. What a jerk. Mr. Wood did however tell me about a new program that included a $1,500 rebate, and that I didn’t have to do anything to receive it and that there were no changes in the original terms so I agreed to proceed with the transaction. Since no changes in terms were discussed so why wouldn’t I agree to a $1,500 discount on the car. If indeed the difference in the finance plans is $1,500 but the 0.9% is at 36 months I wasn’t told therefore I wasn’t able to make an informed decision. This is a violation of the FTC Act Section 5.

Days before the car was to arrive I was still trying to get a breakdown of all costs. It’s just common sense - when you’re buying something you want to know what everything costs. Especially if it’s around $50,000!
Attached are emails dated December 13th and 15th from Ryan Wild acknowledging the rate at 0.9% and the balance due upon delivery. I had sold my 2001 330ci, rented a car for three weeks and I was excited to finally get my 2011 335i on December 16th. A friend of mine drove me to BMW of South County and this is when egregious mistakes were made. First, none the paperwork was ready. Ryan Wild said Mr. Mangseth was supposed to be there but wasn’t anywhere to be found. Michael Harrity was the finance guy that evening so I waited for him to prepare the paperwork. Mr. Wild handed me a piece of paper with amount of the money due, roughly $24,150 and it was about $200 higher than what he sent me by email the previous day. Eventually they corrected that error while I waited. When I went to sign the loan paperwork for $25,000 I saw that the terms were 0.9% for 36 months. I told Mr. Harrity that was a mistake and it should be for 60 months not 36. The difference is $704 vs. $426 a month. He looked up something on a chart and said the rate for 60 months is 2.9%, three times higher. I was shocked! Mr. Harrity said nothing about any changes in finance programs. Now I’m stranded without a vehicle so I had to make a decision as this dealer has now put me in an awful predicament. I took
the 0.9% for 36 months in hope that I could get the terms corrected through BMW Financial, which I did.  Mr. Mangseth
asked if I thought this was bait and switch then why would I proceed with the transaction?
   
The car is perfect – just what I wanted. I congratulate Ron for performing the proper data entry. At least he did one
thing correctly.
  
I just turned in a rental car at a cost of 900+ per month. Does he think I would actually prefer to be without a new BMW and pay to drive a substandard rental car at twice what my monthly payments should be for a new BMW?
 
I thought I could argue that BMW South County made a mistake in the terms of the loan in which I was correct.

You would think that picking up your new custom built 2011 BMW would be a fun and exciting experience. My experience was horrible and worth complaining about. This dealer made huge mistakes but didn’t take any responsibility. On March 11th I received an email from John Hart with the subject “Thank you! We hope we did an excellent job on your BMW 3
series. If there is any reason why you cannot give us a “10” in any category please reply …” So I replied to John Hart the Service Manager and Jeff Gerken the Manager of the dealership. I listed the following reasons why they didn’t
score a 10 which is what they wanted right? This reply was completely ignored.

Non-disclosure of hidden and misleading costs (MACO, training/servicing) – about $600 in extra costs.Barry Wood, one of the most condescending people I’ve ever spoken with. I had to deal with him regarding my complaint about hidden and misleading fees and that he threatened to cancel my order and by saying “we’ll have no problem selling this car”. In addition he admitted not reading all of my original complaint.Barry Wood telling me “we usually don’t offer the Costco price for special orders”. Utter BS you either do or you don’t.Ron Mangseth for refusing to give me any paperwork the day I ordered the car with the breakdown of costs and terms of the loan.Ron Mangseth for lying to me saying this was a cash sale while during this transaction had me complete a loan application. Ron Mangseth for never providing a complete breakdown of all costsRon Mangseth for not having the loan paperwork ready and not showing up for work when I took delivery of the carMichael Harrity for misquoting me on the terms of my loan that I eventually got fixed by BMW
FinancialThe entire dealership for not being able to tell me when the car is on a truck after inspection and what
day it is being deliveredSome manager named Tim for jacking up the price $200 higher than was agreed hours before delivery.

Since my feedback was completely disregarded I sent a letter to the BBB of San Diego. Enclosed is a reply from Mr. Mangseth. His defense is that this transaction was a “cash sale”. Never at any time did I plan to or agree to pay 100% cash and there is no evidence of me wanting to pay cash. Mr. Mangseth’s assumption that if a customer wants to know the total price of the car constitutes a cash sale is delusional.  If I wanted to pay cash:
   
Why would I fill out a loan application? I wouldn’t have agreed to if I didn’t want to finance with BMW Financial.
   
Why would I tell Mr. Mangseth that the amount to be financed is $25,000? If I didn’t tell him this then how could Michael
Harrity know this amount the day I took delivery?
   
Why would Mr. Mangseth show me the terms of the loan on his PC at 0.9% at 60 months? Ryan Wild was there as my witness.

·        
How did Michael Harrity know I was financing $25,000 when I had never communicated with him?
  
Why would I ask for the amount of the payment due at delivery that is $25,000 less than the cost of the car on December 15th? See attached copy of email as proof.


You will see that Mr. Mangseth is clearly lying. He made up a story that I went into the dealer and spoke to Barry Wood the day of delivery and found out about new finance programs and changed my mind from a cash sale into something else. This is totally absurd I’ve never met Mr. Wood in person. I spoke with Mr. Wood once on the phone shortly after I
ordered the car to complain about costs I shouldn’t have to pay. Mr. Mangseth was supposed to be working that evening and to have all the paperwork prepared for me but he wasn’t even present so he can’t say what transpired that evening.

What is most damaging to his argument is that if the rate of 0.9% wasn’t locked in how is this transaction a “cash sale”?  A complete paradox in logic. When I ordered the car and completed a loan application, that day or shortly afterwards I’m
sure my credit was run. If the loan wasn’t approved then I would have to be notified in writing within 30 days according to the Fair Lending Act.

Mr. Mangseth acknowledges changes in financing programs from one month to another. Yet I wasn’t notified until after I took delivery of my car. This is a violation of the FTC Act Section 5 and I will prove it. The rule states:

Withholding material price information until after the consumer has committed to purchase the product or service would be an example of preventing a consumer from making an informed decision.

This is exactly what BMW of South County did to me. They withheld material price information by not notifying me of changes in financing programs until after the deal was made, hence preventing me from making an informed decision. Changing the finance terms from 0.9% at 60 months to 0.9% at 36 months and 2.9% at 60 months without notifying me is a violation of the rule. The rule calls this bait and switch.

Please focus your attention on Mr. Mangseth’s choice of words. He refers to his customer as a “troubled individual” … and that “there are truly some individuals not worth selling BMW’s to” … and complaining about the “kind of person he had to deal with.” Mr. Mangseth obviously cannot handle complaints objectively and professionally. Instead he responded with lies and insults. This is the antithesis of excellent customer service. If such horrid treatment to customers is discovered by management in reputable organizations, that person would receive disciplinary action or termination. I consider BMW of
North America a reputable organization since they previously dealt with fixing my loan in a professional manner.

Someone who’s highly ranked and has authority within the BMW organization needs to confront Mr. Mangseth and address his improper conduct. It’s evident he needs customer service training at the very least. Perhaps he would
be better off on a used car lot selling Kias and Hyundais as some people aren’t qualified to sell BMW’s.

I have proof positive Mr. Mangseth is lying, and that I have caught him lying. Please investigate this matter and let me know the result. I am expecting, in writing, an admission from Mr. Mangseth that he fabricated lies and apologize for his rude insults towards me.