Bill Heard Chevrolet, Town Center Ripoff, Bait and Switch Kennesaw Georgia

Karl Used car salesman
Fernando Used car salesman
Shane Used car sales manager

1993 Honda Accord 10th Anniversary Sedan
Green, 170012 miles
VIN # 1HGCB7698PA176547
Dealer Stock # 9630A
Advertised Price - $1830.00

We called Bill Heard Chevrolet May 12, 2005 regarding the above-described auto advertised online. We spoke with Karl who verified that the car was in great shape, was on the lot, and was available. We showed up on the lot within an hour and asked for Karl.

We were informed by Karl that the car had sold 30 minutes before our arrival. Karl then said that he had another Accord in the same price range, but between the door and the car, it magically went from a sub-$2000 car to a $4500+ car. When we left, we were positive that we had just witnessed a bait-and-switch routine.

Acting on our suspicions, we telephoned the dealership at 1:01pm on May 14, 2005 to inquire about the same vehicle again. Our call was answered by Fernando who said that the car was still on the lot and available. I asked him to check with the sales dept. and make sure that it was, so he told me that he would.

He took my phone number and called back at 1:11pm and stated that the salesman had just got back, and that the car was there. I queried him twice more to be sure, and he assured me that he was 100% sure the car was there.
NOTE: Audio file DS330004.dss is a recording of these two telephone conversations.

We arrived at the dealership within an hour of the conversation with Fernando and asked for him, then told him we wanted to see the car. Not surprisingly, Fernando couldn't locate the car on the lot. He went inside the office, supposedly to find out where the car was, and came back out offering the story that the car was on a test drive by a potential buyer who was driving it to Cartersville to be checked out by her father. We told Fernando that we would wait for their return.

Within a half hour, Fernando approached us and stated that he had been in telephone contact with the customer and that they had checked out the car and intended to buy it. We told Fernando that we would wait anyway just to see the car. About an hour later, Fernando came by again and asked us if it had come back yet.

We then told him that it hadn't, and that we didn't expect it to because we believed that it wasn't on a test drive and had actually never been there that day at all. After we confronted him with the events two days prior with Karl, Fernando left and returned with Shane ? who presented himself as the used car sales manager.

To make a long story short, Shane stated that the car had sold before he arrived on the lot at 10:00am. When we gave him our story he stated that the person who had told us that the car was still available had been fired that morning. We pointed out that the person who told us that was standing right beside him and was still employed there.

About that time Karl wandered into the conversation. Karl stated first that he was the one who sold the car and that he sold it on Thursday. Then he stated that he had sold it on Saturday. Then he just flat denied having ever seen or spoken to us at all.

We informed Shane that we intended to file a complaint against the dealership with the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, and others. He told us he could provide the name and phone number of who we needed to contact (we were not surprised that he's very familiar with the GOCA), and all he would have to do was to fax them an invoice (which I'm sure will be legit, eh?) to clear it up.

NOTE: Audio file DS330005.dss is a recording of all of the conversations that took place at the dealership with Fernando, Shane, and Karl on Saturday May 14, 2005.

Bruce
Woodstock, Georgia
U.S.A.

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