My name is Stick Bogart. At one time I sold cars for the Berge's. I sold Ford cars and trucks at Bell Ford located at 2401 West Bell Road, 602-866-1776.

I was not new to selling cars when I started working for the Berge Group at Bell Ford. I had sold Nissans and Toyota cars before coming to Bell Ford. At first I enjoyed working for them. I felt I was selling a good product tot he consumer and felt I was doing something good while the job was easy. This feeling was short lived.

After a small training period with their car sales training team, Hal Huntington and some of their sales managers, I felt that I was ready to sell for them. Mr Lee Spencer seemed like nice guy with one thing on his mind, and that was to MOVE CARS no matter what you have to do for Brent Berge the owner of Bell Ford in North Phoenix.

HOW THE SCREW THE CONSUMER USING R.B F.
I was trained how to use their paper work called R.B.F. ' Residual Based Financing' I was instructed to get a photo copy of the car buyer's drivers license. Then, without authorization from the consumer, the sales manager would then run a credit report on the car buyer if their license had the buyers social security number on it while the buyer and I were out on a test drive. In most cases the buyer was never told that the dealership ran a credit report on them. This type of activity IS illegal and was unfair to the consumer. If the consumer did not like the car and was going to buy elsewhere, the consumer now has an inquiry on their credit report, weakening their credit rating. The more inquiries you have on your credit report will lower your fair ISAAC score.



After returning to the dealership, I went up to the sales tower and was to find out by the sales manager if I were to serve up 'Residual Based Financing' or not to the car buyer or was this a 'just looking consumer.'

I was instructed to show this paper work to everybody that I was told that had good credit. If the car buyer was looking at a $15,000 car I was to show them a $20,000 dollar example of R.B.F. If the car buyer was looking at a $25,000 dollar car I was to show a $30,000 or $35,000 example of R.B.F.

The dealers goal was to get a high monthly payment into the buyers head real fast, and then come out with a lower payment and try to make the buyer feel that they were getting something special. This is what we were taught!

After a few years of not selling cars went by, I called Bell Ford and talked to one of their new car salesmen. A new car sales man is what the auto industry calls a 'GREEN PEA' ( a car salesman that had never sold cars before and that had no idea what he was doing). I chatted with him for a while and talked him into faxing me one of their forms that they call R.B.F. This was so easy to get him to fax it to me.

This paper is a non confrontational way of showing the consumer a higher monthly payment at first and then bring out a monthly payment that is lower that will make the car buyer feel like they are getting a good car deal, but the truth was in most cases a SUCKER'S DEAL and nothing more than deception to the consumer.

Not once at any other car dealer that I have worked for ever had me show this R.B.F. 'Residual Based Financing' documentation to any car buyer and trying to deceive them.

I feel this is a way to influence / trick car buyers that DO NOT WANT TO LEASE a car. The salesperson uses this paper work to persuade you to lease, rather than buy. Most all car dealers make so much more money if you lease instead of buying, because the car dealer can sell the new car to the leasing company for 110% of the window sticker. if the car has a sticker of $20,000 who wants to pay $22,000?

Call any bank or leasing company in the USA and ask if they have any specials on Residual Based Financing. The bank employee will ask you what the hell are you talking about?

I FEEL that this is nothing but a deceptive way to smash car buyers into a lease and the car dealer selling the new car to the leasing company for 110% of the window sticker, ripping you off.

If you bought a new car, would you want to pay 110% of the window sticker? I would not even pay the sticker price. Never!

THIS IS A CLEAR CUT WAY to deceive car buyers into paying more then they should. We also must not forget that car dealers love to give you only 12,000 miles per year in a lease. The consumer can get so many more miles if you want them in a lease by doing some negotiating.

Anyone that would like to see copies of the Berge's favorite gimmick that they use to slam people in a lease can E-mail me at stickbogart@badbusinessbureau.com and I will fax copies that I was instructed to show only car buyers that had good credit. I have examples of their $15,000, $20,000, $25,000, $30,000, $35,000 and a $40,000 dollar example.

I also have a revised copy that they call Residual based. I feel that this is their deceptive way to talk car buyers into a lease that say they do not want to lease a car or truck.

I also have a document that a car buyer never got to see when he bought his Expedition at Bell Ford. This is where Bell Ford charged him a $809 lot fee. I have a copy of this that I am willing to fax to anybody that wants to see some dealer documentation that car buyers DO NOT GET TO SEE, SIGN or GET A COPY OF WHEN BUYING A CAR.

The Berge's attorney called me and ask that I not post this document on our web site. No news reporter could ever get their hands on documentation like what I am willing to show.

STICK BOGART
auto buyers advocate for
www.badbusinessbureau.com

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