Car Hop Year and a Half and No Title-Car Hop Blames State...State Says NO Way! Blaine, Minnesota

Before anyone bad mouths me about my credit history as the reason why Car Hop has the right to exhibit less than ethical business transactions.let me say this my credit number does not matter!. Right is right and wrong is wrong.  No one should be treated as a door mat for unethical business practices. 

Should we just start blaming people who may be down on their luck and lose their job making it impossible to pay their bills on time?  How about poor or ill people? How about parents who have spent every dime trying to save their child from cancer? Should we just banish them to a dark corner of society so they dont bother people who are more fortunate? How about the mom who is beaten every day? Should we be blaming her for her bad credit or shattered self-image? Hmm just doesnt seem right does it? Before you blanket judge people, maybe you should find out the whole story.  It will save you from looking like a donkeys butt!

Until you have walked a day in my shoes, you have no right to judge me or tell me I should just take it! Furthermore, you have no idea why I had to go to a subprime dealership/loan option, nor should it matter.  Below is a point by point story of events

Purchased 1999 Chevy Tahoe 05/2010 from Car Hop, Blaine, MN.  Since then have been waiting for a title.

Car Hop contacted me in April and May of 2011 regarding the missing title.  Stated there was a discrepancy with the VIN# in the states system and needed to bring it to them to verify.(This was very urgent and requested by the State according to Car Hop). Car Hop mentioned that the state had put a Flag on the account and would not release a title to us until that was cleared.

Car Hop set an appt for Friday 6-03-2011, 3pm at the St. Paul, MN DMV. I said okwhat could I do?

On my time, I took the Tahoe to the DMV for the verification.  The DMV stated there is/was no flag on the Tahoe and in fact they have the correct VIN# on file. They continued to state that there was nothing within the States system that needed to be checked or verified and that it was all on Car Hop to take care of any issue preventing a new title to be released.

Called Car Hop (talked with Janelle, Manager at the Blaine car lot where Tahoe was purchased) and made this known to her.  She said she would call back.

A week later some man, who offered no title called from the main Car Hop office. I can not remember his name (but do have his number) fed me another story. He said that it was STILL a VIN# mix up and that the state doesnt know their a@$ from a hole in the ground and didnt want to deal with them again.

He insisted that he knew other people that would take care of the title issue.  He tried to explain how some numbers were mixed up between owners from different states and that that is why it is taking so long.(really???)

He wanted to take the Tahoe for a day to Glenco MN where he has friends that could get the VIN# mix up straightened out..I said no you are not taking my truck! He said ok and that he would see what else he could do and call me back.

After talking with him I decided to call the state and ask them about the VIN issue and what should or shouldnt be done.

I spoke with Shanice. She stated that they never requested that the car be seen to verify the VIN# and that anything that needed to be done was on Car Hops end. I asked just to verify You never requested that the Tahoe be taken in by me? She stated No and in fact there is no flag on the account. She stated that they are just waiting for the proper forms to be filed so they can release a new title. And as of June 2010 that had not been done.

The mystery man never called, so I called him back. I asked what was going to happen and basically he then changed his story. He told me that through the change of owners/purchases there was a VIN# mix up somewhere within that paperwork that needed to be fixed (this made no sense to me).  Since the car was purchased from out of state it would take a few more days to work it out, but he guaranteed me that I would have my title in a couple weeks.  I said okwhat could I do?  A week later I received a call from Car Hop (Janelle) stating that the St. Paul DMV never faxed the copy of the VIN# verification and they needed to have a copy (not sure why they needed it). Instead of them going to get a copy, they insisted that I drop my copy off to themI said okwhat could I do?  Janelle stated this would be the last hoop I needed to jump throughthis was mid-June.

I waited for the title.no title as of today.  I called Janelle Sept 8th letting her know there has been no title sent my way yet. She said she would make some calls and get back to me.  Late afternoon that day she called back stating that since the government shut down, it would take months to get the title.

I expressed my lack of patients at this point.  She stated that the check for the expedited title was cashed by the state, but they refused to rush itso she stated I will just have to wait. I said how longshe didnt know.

I said, well since you have the cashed checkI want a copy as proof. She said I do not blame you, and that she would call me back tomorrow (Sept 9th).  In the mean time I thought I would purchase a car fax report. It was interesting.

First offGlenco MN is where Car Hop purchased the Tahoe (Mid-West Auction) so the out-of-state explanation doesnt fly. And it is weird how the mystery man wanted to take the Tahoe to Glencomakes me wonder why?

Before that it was at a Monticello dealer, and before that there are no records. (Not sure if that is normal).  What this did solidify for me is the fact that Car Hop has been feeding me one lie after another, stringing me along.WHY? That is the million dollar question.

So I put another call into the state to verify the information from Janelle was accurate (which I already knew wasnt)of course I did find out that it was not.

According to Nick at the St. Paul DMV, there is no record of any request for title transfer from Car Hop, expedited or otherwise. There is no record of any check cashed.  I asked about the timeline due to the government shut downhe stated there was no wait. In fact, if a dealer requested and pays for an expedited title, by law they have 3 days to do so.
This means, if they had done what they told meI would have had the Tahoe title many times over by now!  He also stated that by law they can not turn away an expedite request. Nor would they cash a check, and then tell the dealership that they are just going to process it in the normal fashion.

However, even if it was not expedited, there is no wait time for any title requested through the mail (which is the way Car Hop would have preceded).  I guess the most disturbing information that he told me was that I shouldnt really be driving the truck. The reason is if I were to get into an accident, since I do not have a title in my name I could never claim the insurance money.  If, for some reason it would end up in an impound lot, I could never get it back because I do not have a title in my name.

Basically, I am paying on a truck that I do not have any ownership to!

I thank God that nothing has happened as my children travel in the truck as well!  Janelle called me Friday Sept. 9th, and to my dismay she stated the only person in the entire company that could get me proof of this check cashed by the state was out of the office until sometime next week.

At this point I just laughedI went on to tell her the information that I obtained from Car Fax and the St. Paul DMV and that she had a couple options. I also told her I want a decision by Monday Sept. 12th or option C would be taken).

a. Get me the title next week.

b. Return the truck to them and have every payment, down payment, and other expenses be reimbursed.

c. Or, if I didnt receive any phone call with option a or b, I would put a complaint into the Better Business Bureau, send in my papers from the MN Attorney generals office and start a personal campaign about the crooked nature of Car Hop to every news channel, news paper, cable networketc

Janelle said she understood why I was so upset and promised she would call back that day.it is Wednesday Sept 14thno one has called me back so I am going with option C

As of Sept 15th the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota has accepted my complaint Case # 57210172 (per Steve F.) and has given Car Hop until Sept 29th to replay with their solution to this title issue.  As of Sept 15th I have sent in my forms to the Minnesota State Attorney General Office as they instructed me to do.

Tomorrow, Sept 16th I will be contacting every news organization I can think of along with all newspapers.

If on the 29th of Sept I do not have my title I have an apt with David A. MAHONEY ANDERSON LLC (Business and Internet Law).