Champion Chevrolet ripoff salesperson lied to me managers rude and unapologetic Tallahassee Florida

Well, after 2 weeks of waiting, i finally got refunded the $550 in the form of a check. The sales manager who i first thought was friendly and sympathetic to my plight, turned out to be full of crap. He took his sweet time in dealing with this issue and i had to call him every day, sometimes twice a day to find out what was being done. He would tell me he would call me and he never would.

He also went back on his promise to pay the overdraft charges which was about $60, and he's now saying it's not their problem. For 10 day's he's been saying they would pay the overdraft charges and suddenly he's acting as if he never said that. Unbelievable!

I told him that i still want that refunded to me and then he told me he would have to speak to the salesperson again. I think he's just hoping i'll let it go. As far as i'm concerned, i'm not going to give up so easily. I feel like if i do, then it'll be like saying it's okay to lie and to treat customers like crap.

This whole car-buying experience has left such a bad taste in my mouth and if it was possible, even though i like my car, i would return it. It bothers me to know i gave my business and money to such shady people. I wish i had known of this website before i went car shopping, i would definately have been more cautious.

"B" from Delware, in response to your statement about how i was in over my head financially. You are somewhat correct. I definately got caught up with buying a newer car. I really liked the car and i figured if i am going to be making car payments for several years i should at least like what i am paying for.

Not just that but because i didn't have credit, my options were limited and that is why i had to make such a large downpayment. And as you can see, reading all the reports from ripoff.com, going to JD Byryder or Drivetime was definately out of the question.

As for your advice on purchasing an older car for the price range of $4000-6000, i had already done that. That car gave me nothing but problems and i ended up paying more on repairs for that older car than what i had originally paid for it. The older car i owned previously was Japanese and i had it checked out by a mechanic before buying it, but it still gave me alot of problems. Since i am a female that doesn't know much about cars, i wanted a newer car that was reliable and that i wouldn't have to worry about.

So maybe in your opinion I should have waited longer, but when you have an old car that has so many problems and you know it is about to give out on you, i didn't really have time to save anymore money. I needed a reliable car for work and transportation purposes so i did what i had to do.

I think the main issue here, is that "M" was over her head financially. Writing out a check for $3,000...and then another check for $1900, but having to borrow $550 of the $1900...? If you are in that bad of a financial spot, it's best to put on the brakes and say "whoa"....

We have all been there, believe me. I remember being young, and wanting it all right here, right now. I didn't want to save money, I wanted to BUY IT NOW, dagnabbit!

In the future, I would say you have a couple viable options to keep this kind of thing from happening:

1. Save for another few months. You don't want to write a check for every last penny in your checking account! And usually, just like a cold virus, that "new car fever" will go away, lol.

2. If at all possible, buy your next used car for cash. You had $3,000, right? You can buy a ~decent~ used car (no, not a BMW 3-series) -- but a decent used Toyota, Honda, etc - something that will last -- in the $4,000 to $6,000 range. Just think...pay in cash, no car payments!

Then...you'll be able to save money each month, rather than being stuck in car payment hell. And if you are disciplined, in 3 or 4 years down the road, you'll have a nice big chunk of savings for your next vehicle.

My wife and I pay cash (or, I guess I should say at least 80% down) whenever we buy a new vehicle now. Has it been easy? No. It takes discipline, putting away money in savings every month, even though we haven't had a car payment for years. But when it's time to go get a new vehicle, we've got the money sitting there. Just go to the dealership, pull out the checkbook, and write a check. Very nice, and it takes a lot of stress out of the car buying equation.

Anyway...as Paul Harvey says..."for what it's worth"...

Thank you Dave for your comment and for letting Jim know that he should read the entire story first before making such slick remarks. As i stated before, I confirmed with the salesperson that this payment arrangement was accepted to which he said yes.

Anyway's, i met with the sales manager, for the first time, who actually was very friendly, apologetic and who asked me what he could do to help me. I had to explain the whole story to him since he appeared to be in the dark about what happenend. He said he was sorry about my situation and that the dealership would pay the overdraft charges, but that for the $550 they'll put it back into my friends credit card.

I told him thats not going to really help me because i need the $550 to be put into my bank account not returned to my friend's credit card. I explained that if i had had the $550 in the first place i would've never borrowed the money from my friend.

He said he would have to speak to the general manager about giving me a check instead. So i'm hoping they will do that. He also said he didn't think the salesperson intentionally tried to deceive me, he said it was more of a misunderstanding. I personally think it was deception and it still doesn't explain why i was hung up on twice.

I guess i'm just a little bit relieved that someone is finally acting like they're going to do something about this. Of course until i actually get refunded i'll still be upset, but it's better than i how felt before.

I just don't think it had to come to this, i really think the salesperson should be reprimanded for this. Not only does the dealership have to pay extra money to me for his "mistake", but i also went through alot of of unnecessary stress.

Learn how to read before making idiotic comments like that. The OP clearly stated that they made other arrangements, including a credit card payment from a friend. The dealer accept it, yet cashed the check anyway.

My advise to you M is tell them you are reporting them to the Attorney General's office in Florida, and suing them in small claims court for all your Bank fees and other problems this has caused.

M:

This is amazing. M, YOU, did you see that? Y-O-U wrote them a BAD CHECK.

YOU knew you didn't have the money!

I guess this is THEIR fault!

Nobody will help you?

Incredible!!!!