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Report: #295125

Complaint Review: MEL CLAYTON FORD DEALERSHIP - Phoenix Arizona

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  • Reported By: Maricopa Arizona
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  • MEL CLAYTON FORD DEALERSHIP 1550 E. Camelback Phoenix, Arizona U.S.A.

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15 December 2007
Subject: Car Buying Experience
This letter is written in all efforts to inform you of the Ford Explorer car buying process I experienced from Mel Clayton Ford dealership in Phoenix, Arizona.

Initially I contacted this particular Ford dealership on Friday 14 December 2007 as a result of it being the closest to the Phoenix airport. During the phone call, with salesman Raul Olivares, he promised and guaranteed me that I would have a Ford Explorer (Eddie Bauer Edition) waiting for me to buy once I arrived at Mel Clayton Ford. At 8:20 pm I landed in Phoenix and went directly over to Mel Clayton Ford to buy the Explorer I was promised.

On the contrary Raul delivered a Limited model to me instead of the Eddie Bauer Edition I had flown in to Phoenix for! I brought with me a Ford Explorer invoice that I downloaded from the Ford website to assist me.

Once I presented this information to Raul and Anthony his Internet/Desk Manager I was informed that those internet prices don't actually exist and they are really a false advertisement from the Ford Corporation. At that point I was offered a Limited model which was substantially more money. I decided to leave the dealership at about 9:35 pm after being insulted with their disappointing business practices.

As I prepared to leave the car lot Anthony ran out to stop me. He was then ready to offer me agood deal for the Limited model since Mel Clayton Ford did not have any Eddie Bauer models as I was originally promised earlier that day. As a result of this evolution occurring at 10:15 pm I decided to return to Mel Clayton Ford in the morning to complete this transaction and buy to offered Explorer.

On Saturday 15 December 2007 I returned to purchase the Explorer, however, the price and terms of the loan had changed. As a result I informed Raul I wanted to now lease the Explorer vice purchase it. Anthony, the Desk Manager, approached me and my family to attempt to convince us of why leasing was such a horrible option! Since I had completed my research on leases as well as had positive experiences with leases I insisted I wanted to lease the Explorer.

After another 4.5 hours of haggling over the increased price, not more than 12 hours ago we came to an agreement of the terms of the lease. Once my family and I entered the Finance Manager's office to sign the lease documents we were informed the terms of the lease had changed again, which had been confirmed just minutes ago. After agreeing to pay forty percent of the last minute increased down payment we completed to lease documents for the Explorer Limited.

The delivery phase of my experience may be the most awful part of my Mel Clayton Ford truck buying experience. Upon delivery of the truck I was not washed or cleaned. The truck did not come with any floor mats. The radio antenna was missing. The truck had several scratches on it and a dent, which we were given promises they would be fixed at a later time. The truck did not come with a current DVD for the navigation system. There was not an owners manual for we could learn about our vehicle, maintenance manual, and more importantly, ensure we were following the manuals new vehicle break-in instructions appropriately. This Mel Clayton Ford dealership did not even give me any key fob remotes for my Ford Explorer Limited. I was only given a spare key until the originals could be found!

Lastly, during delivery of my vehicle, I did not receive a new VEHICLE ORIENTATION from Mel Clayton Ford, which resulted in having to learn of the fly while driving. This really put me and my family in danger as we drove off the Mel Clayton Ford dealership lot.

I am requesting, at the minimum, I receive all down payment made to the Mel Clayton Ford dealership or at least a three month no payment compensation as a result of my very poor and potentially harmfully Mel Clayton Ford truck buying experience. Further I believe the Ford Corporation should take a closer look into the business practices of Mel Clayton Ford.

AS OF 28 DECEMBER 2007 this Mel Clayton Ford Dealership, specifically "Internet Manager" Anthony Rojas, has continued to disregard our very important concerns by ignorying all of our attempts to rectify these issues!

Washingtonpg5
Maricopa, Arizona
U.S.A.

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This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 12/28/2007 10:02 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/mel-clayton-ford-dealership/phoenix-arizona-85014/mel-clayton-ford-dealership-sales-scam-phoenix-arizona-295125. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
6Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#6 Author of original report

My response to "why I when to the dealership".

AUTHOR: Washingtonpg5 - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, January 07, 2008

First of all I am glad that we have gotten response to our unfortunate situation.
However, I believe I mention this dealership was the closest to the airport when I flew into Arizona where I reside. Besides, we were able to confirm with our sales person the vehicle we wanted to lease based on the web info about the car description. We even printed this info out and showed it to our sales person.

Since then we have learned a valuable lesson. Even when you think your deal is sealed and you cant turn back, You can. Our mistake was that we chose to accept this deal to have a vehicle and finally get our three children out of that dealership on the second day. We figured "we will deal with this on Monday". Do not accept nothing less than what you sign for, especialy in future promises. With our credit being good we made a bad desision. Thank you for reading our story.

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#5 Consumer Suggestion

Why Go to That Dealership?

AUTHOR: Karl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, January 07, 2008

Since you live 20 miles from Phoenix (I don't understand the bit about flying in) why didn't you just go to a more convenient (to your home) dealer and simply order the car? You would have had it in 3-4 weeks or earlier because the dealer would probably have gotten it from another dealer. Why you spent the day haggling with someone on a new car is beyond me.

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#4 Author of original report

PLEASE TRY NOT TO RUSH TO JUDGEMENT PRIOR TO READING ALL THE FACTS

AUTHOR: Washingtonpg5 - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, January 04, 2008

PLEASE READ THE REMAINING UPDATES TO MY COMPLAINT. AS A RESULT OF MEL CLAYTON FORD TAKING BACK THEIR VEHICLE AND RETURNING MY FULL DOWN PAYMENT YOU SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING WHERE ALL FAULT LIES. THANK YOU FOR BEING CONCERNED.

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#3 Author of original report

MEL CLAYTON FORD DEALERSHIP'S PLAN TO "FIX OUR PROBLEMS"- CONCLUSION

AUTHOR: Washingtonpg5 - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, January 04, 2008

DURING THE AFTERNOON OF THURSDAY 3 JANUARY 2008 I MAKE PROGRESS IN MY EFFORTS TO COMPLETE THIS VEHICLE RETURN TRANSACTION. MY ATTEMPTS TO REACH MR. MEL CLAYTON YIELDED SUPPORT FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE KATIE MCGOUGH AND FROM FINANCE OFFICE MS. JULIE. THEY BOTH TAKE THE TIME TO ACCLIMATE THEMSELVES WITH MY SITUATION AND COMMENCE TO OBTAIN RESULTS WITH A GREAT DEAL OF EFFICIENCY! I WAS INFORMED BY THESE TWO LADIES THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO BRIEF MEL CLAYTON FORD GENERAL MANAGER NEIL UNDERWOOD WITH THE LATEST SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, MAKE CONTACT WITH MR. MEL CLAYTON HIMSELF!

APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS AFTER THESE LADIES GOT INVOLVED I RECEIVED A CALL FROM KATIE STATING THE $2000.00 REFUND CHECK HAD BEEN SIGNED BY MR. MEL CLAYTON AND WAS READY FOR PICK UP. THIS WAS GREAT NEWS FOR ME BECAUSE IT MEANT THAT THIS HORRIBLY LONG THREE WEEK VEHICLE PURCHASE WAS FINALLY OVER!!

WITH OVER 20 YEARS OF VEHICLE PURCHASE EXPERIENCE, THIS WAS OUR FIRST EVER EXPERIENCE WITH ANY FORD PRODUCT. WE STILL HAVE FAITH AND TRUST IN FORD MOTORS, HOWEVER, OUR MAIN GOAL FOR EXPOSING OUR PERSONAL ISSUES, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND VEHICLE BUYING EXPERIENCES WERE WITH ALL EFFORTS TO ENSURE NO MORE CUSTOMERS GO THROUGH THIS TYPE OF ORDEAL.

IT IS OUR HOPE THAT OUR MEL CLAYTON FORD BUYING EXPERIENCE IS CATEGORIZED AS AN ANOMALY. WE WANT TO PERSONALLY THANK YOU, MR. MEL CLAYTON, FOR RESOLVING THIS ISSUE AND FOR TAKING A CLOSER LOOK INTO OUR (21 DAY VEHICLE BUYING/RETURNING PROCESS).

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#2 Author of original report

MEL CLAYTON FORD DEALERSHIP UPDATED PLAN TO "FIX OUR PROBLEMS"

AUTHOR: Washingtonpg5 - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, January 03, 2008

MEL CLAYTON FORD DEALERSHIP'S GENERAL MANAGER HAS FINALLY STEPPED IN TO RECTIFY ALL OF THESE ISSUES BY OFFERING TO TAKE BACK HIS VEHICLE AND RETURN MY DOWN PAYMENT IN FULL. I ATTEMPTED TO COMPLETE THIS TRANSACTION WITH INTERNET MANAGER ANTHONY ROJAS ON FRIDAY 29 DECEMBER 2007 AT 7:15 PM.

AFTER HE ACCEPTED THE VEHICLE BACK HE THEN TOLD ME MY $2000.00 DOWN PAYMENT WOULD NOT BE MADE AVAILABLE UNTIL WEDNESDAY 2 JANUARY 2008. ON WEDNESDAY 2 JANUARY I CALLED MEL CLAYTON FORD DEALERSHIP TO SCHEDULE A TIME TO PICK UP MY DOWN PAYMENT CHECK AND WAS TOLD BY ANTHONY ROJAS THAT "THIER ENTIRE SYSTEM WAS SHUT DOWN" AND THAT I SHOULD GIVE A CALL BACK ON THURSDAY 3 JANUARY.

I FOLLOWED UP, AGAIN, ON THE MORNING OF THURSDAY 3 JANUARY, WHICH PLACES MY FAMILY AND I INTO OUR 21st DAY OF THIS HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE, AND ANTHONY ROJAS INFORMS ME THE FINANCE OFFICE (MS. JULIE OR MS. JODIE) WOULD BE PRODUCING MY REFUNDED CHECK AND I HAD TO WAIT A FEW DAYS UNTIL THEIR OFFICE COULD COMPLETE THE REFUND TRANSACTION. I DECIDED TO CALL THE FINANCE OFFICE MYSELF TO FOLLOW UP AND WAS INFORMED BY JULIE THAT SHE HAD NOT SPOKE WITH ANTHONY ROJAS. SHE STATED THAT SHE HAD "NO IDEA WHO I WAS" AND SHE DID NOT "KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY CHECK REFUND REQUEST."

ANTHONY ROJAS CALLED ME AGAIN TO INFORM ME THAT THE PROCESS WILL TAKE A WHILE BECAUSE FORD MOTOR CREDIT CORPORATION HAD TO "UNWIND THE CONTRACT". DURING THIS DAY ANTHONY ROJAS CONTINUED TO CONTACT MY WIFE AND I TO INFORM US THAT THIS PROCESS WILL TAKE SOME TIME AND THAT BECAUSE HE WAS AT HOME WITH HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN I WAS BEING DISRESPECTFUL BY ATTEMPTING TO RESOLVE THESE ISSUES WITH HIM TODAY.

AT THIS POINT, I RESPECTFULLY INFORM MR. ROJAS THAT AS A RESULT OF HIS BEHAVIOR AND DISHONESTY I AM REQUESTING HE NOT MAKE ANY FURTHER CONTACT WITH ME OR MY WIFE. I INFORMED HIM THAT WE WERE ONLY INTERESTED IN SPEAKING WITH THE OWNER OF THE DEALERSHIP, MEL CLAYTON. I HAVE COMMENCED MY SEARCH TO CONTACT THE OWNER!

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#1 Consumer Suggestion

It looks like you left out a lot of information

AUTHOR: John - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, December 28, 2007

First off, it sounds like you went to Ford's website and did one of those wacky "build your own vehicle" deals on their website. Believe it or not, the car is not actually built when you do that. Also, I know of no company that actually allows you to print an invoice for a make believe vehicle on their website.

As far as the price changing, I would suspect that it does when you go from a purchase to a lease. Usually, the available rebate is lower on a lease than a purchase. I would suspect you are aware of this though it is not indicated in your grievance.

The terms changed on the lease once you went to pay for the car? Your narrative does not explain why. Is it because the tier acceptance turned out to be different once your credit was pulled? If this was the case, it wouldnt be the dealer's fault. I cant imagine any other reason why it would change.

Lastly, why on earth did you buy it from them if they did everything wrong prior to your purchasing it? You went ahead and bought it anyway, then want some money refunded to you for your dissatisfaction and the "peril" it put you in?

I'm not buying it. If you're gonna gripe, at least tell the whole story. It might go something like this:

"I was expecting to buy soemthing that didnt exist. I was offered the closest thing they had to it and decided it would do. I changed the way I wanted to purchase it and pitched a fit in an effort to retain rebates that no longer applied. I did not get the best finance terms due to my credit history. I saw some flaws on the vehicle and was told they would be rectified, but they were not rectified on the same day. I would like this company or a company associated with them to give me free money and if they dont, I'll try to damage their reputation. Thank you."

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