Texas Direct Auto Poor Customer Service / Feedback Stafford Texas

The deal: The final price was perhaps a little high, also driven by unexpected charges for an inspection (in addition to the inspection I ordered), service fees, doc fees, and the like amounting to over $500. They listed the car on Auto Trader as well as their on line store on Ebay Motors. The Ebay listing had a better price on the Buy It Now. I placed an alternative offer and promptly heard from them the following day. We agreed on a price and a deposit was made. They quickly sent the sales agreement (sporting the surprise charges), and I was urged to immediately send a wire transfer in full to assure getting in the que for shipping. Wire transfer sent same day.

Experience going forward: They sent a nice little link to a page called My Account Info. Here they claimed they would supply key information about funds, paperwork packages, title information, shipping information, and the like. You are encouraged to go to this page before calling them about status. Unfortunately, beyond the wire transfer activity, they didn’t update this page. In fact, it still does not reflect the fact that my transaction is complete showing that they are waiting on my signed paperwork package needed to complete the sale. Seeing there that things appeared to be stalled, I called and emailed, receiving nearly no replies. On one occasion where I did finally snag the sales person, he gave the analogy that customers are like a grade school class where every student thinks they are the only ones in class. I guess that supports the claim that they ship over 200 cars a week world-wide, and they don’t have the time to dig for information and keep customers appraised. I can say that I could not get any meaningful answers, and it was a very frustrating experience. Worse, they disputed the findings of the inspection firm I hired at their recommendation, so my concerns about things I wanted repaired/replaced were brushed off, infuriating to say the least. Further evidence that they are not very organized or customer oriented came for the hauler who transported the car. It was his first and last job with TDA. They made him wait for almost 3 hours beyond their requested scheduled arrival, while workers walked around the car with a rag in one hand, and cell phone in the other. His complaints to the shipping manager about having other cars to pick up went unanswered.

The Car: The car is about what I was expecting. The detailing on the car was second rate, crumbs in the seats, ½ of the dash covered with what appeared to be ArmorAll, finger prints and dust on wood finishes, dirty wheels, and assorted water spots. What were those workers doing for 3 hours while the car hauler waited and watched? Thank goodness the factory warranty is still in place with 8,000 on the odometer, because only 4 days after delivery the battery was dead and the charging system is suspect. At this writing, it remains at my local Cadillac dealership undergoing repairs.

Ratings: I have gone to multiple sites looking at the ratings given to TDA by other customers. All ratings at YELP.com, Dealerrater.com, and Cars.com come up 5 out of 5 stars. Since they pulled the car from the Ebay Auction, there will be no ratings I can make there for them as the seller, or they me as the buyer. That is a good way to keep their behavior off the radar at Ebay, while violating Ebay rules about pulling auctions and settling by telephone. So where do they get their 100% positive Ebay feedback rating? Who are those people? And if they sell 200+ cars per month, why only 252 ratings over the past 12 months? But if you go to the Houston BBB, things get a little clearer with an “F” rating, 136 complaints, and 53 unresolved complaints. Further sleuthing brings forward a litany of complaints at RipoffReport.com and ComplaintsBoard.com. Of course, none of which I found before closing my deal.  Hey, how bad can a 100% positive feedback high powered Ebay seller be?

Well, as always, its BUYER BEWARE.