Joe Machens Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Joe Machens DealershipsJoe Machens Ford Lincoln Stole my vehicle for 64 days and copied my key without consent. Denies everything. COLUMBIA Missouri

Description of Complaint:

March 4th 2014: I drove my 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 to have service work performed at Joe Machens Dodge. The vehicle drove fine it was just burning more gas than it should. After dropping the vehicle off at 8am I was told I would be called with info by the end of day.

March 7th 2014: I finally called Joe Machens Dodge to see what was going on with my truck. The service tech told me that they didn't know exactly what was wrong with it but they were still looking into it.

March 8th 2014:  Our families only other working vehicle (GMC Acadia)was towed to Joe Machens Body Shop to have work performed for major damage done due to hitting a deer.

March 10th 2014: I was told it would take a over a month to repair all the damage done to our GMC Acadia.I asked if they had a loaner vehicle since my Dodge Ram was at there Joe Machens Dodge facility having service performed. I was told "No" but they had Rental vehicles that i could purchase from them. I declined because of cost.

March 11th 2014: I called Joe Machens Dodge again to see if they knew something about my truck yet since we were now in dire need of a vehicle. They were still not sure what the problem was, but was told that they have to start with a replacement of a O2 sensor first (which the service tech was pretty sure that that was not going to fix it) and it would probably need more parts. The quote for just the O2 sensor from Joe Machens Dodge was $600. This seemed extremely high for a $25 part and i was not willing to proceed forward with service. I told the technician i would contact a Salesman there to see what I could do about purchasing a car because our family desperately needed a car and could no longer borrow vehicles or get rides from friends and family.

March 12th 2014: I meet with salesman Louie Finnigan and test drove a few cars and found a truck that i liked. Went through the paperwork process and had him give a trade price on my Dodge Ram they had in their service department. When he went to check out the truck, it took him over 1 hour to return. I thought it was taking an unusually long time, but i figured he just had lots of other things going on instead of just me. Low balled me at $1000 for my truck. I had no choice but to take the offer since my family was in dire need of a reliable vehicle. Asked him if i could take the new truck home for the evening before committing 100%, he said sure, so i did. I drove the new truck around for about an hour straight to get a feel for it and noticed that it was shifting extremely hard, so i took it back to the dealership that same evening and told them there was something majorly wrong with the vehicle. Joe Machens Dodge took it back.

March 13th 2014: Joe Machens Dodge called me to let me know the Rear Differential was completely shot and that i was going to have to try to find a different vehicle. I didn't have another full day to waste looking so I went to Joe Machens Dodge to get my truck out of the Service Dept so we would have something to drive. Payed my Service fee and was handed my keys to my truck. Cashier lady told me someone would be around to take me to my truck. So i waited for about 20 min and finally a tech came and asked me if i could point out my truck because he couldn't find it.

So we walked around the lot and to no avail, we were unable to locate my truck. He said they might have moved it to another lot since they fill up quickly. I mentioned to the tech that it was going to be used on a trade the day before and asked if they had a specific lot for those vehicles, and without skipping a beat he said it might have already went to an auction. I didnt have any more time to waste and had to get back to work, they said they would look at other lots and get back to me. They finally called me back a little before 5 to let me know they could not find my car and that it was probably stolen. I filed a police report that evening and i was told by the tech at Joe Machens Dodge that they were going to file one as well.

March 14th 2014: I called Joe Machens Dodge to get any status updates, I was asked if they could offer me a loaner car since my truck was stolen from their facility. I was told that they don't offer loaners, but they do offer them for rent at their Joe Machens Ford location where the vehicle we hit the deer was currently being worked on. I proceeded to ask questions; if they had cameras in their facility, if they locked their gates at night, etc etc. (just general questions anyone would ask if their car that wasn't worth nearly as much as brand new truck was the one that gets stolen) Immediately the Cashier lady starts asking me if i handed my keys out to someone, i told her no and that there was only 1 key to my truck and she gave it back to me when I paid my service fee to get it out.

March 15th 2014: I received a call from Justin Dumass the Service Manager at Joe Machens Dodge and was told they filed a police report. He asked me if i had given a key to another shop to have them work on it or had someone else come pick it up,(pretty much accusing me of stealing my own truck from their facility without actually saying it). I told him the same thing i told the cashier that there was only 1 key to my truck and I received it back when i paid my service fee.

Several weeks go by and it starts to set in that the truck is probably gone. A family member makes contact with a few bigger people at Joe Machens about the situation and it gets Gary Drewing to give me a call. He asked about the situation since he knew nothing about it, I explained to him what had happened and the one thing that stood out in the conversation was i told him that the Joe Machens Dodge tech told me that it might have went to auction, Gary got very defensive and said the tech should have never told me that. He offered to get me a good deal on new vehicle but that was all he could do for me, i told him i had bought a few cars from Joe Machens in the past but i didn't want to spend any money at Joe Machens anymore.

March 21st 2014: I purchase a used car from a dealership in St. Charles, MO.

April 10th 2014: We finally got our GMC Acadia vehicle back from Joe Machens body shop.

May 15th 2014: I received a call from Service Manager Justin Dumass from Joe Machens Dodge. He tells me that they had located my vehicle. I asked where it was and he said it was at Mid Missouri Auto Auction. He said they were returning it to the Joe Machens Dodge shop as we spoke. I asked if they were towing it back and he said no they have a key and were driving. This got me really curious since i was the only person with possession of a key to my vehicle. I called Mid Missouri Auto Auction before going to Joe Machens Dodge to look at my truck, and to get more information about the situation. The lady there said they received paperwork from Joe Machens Dodge to pick up the vehicle, i asked her when and how they moved it from the Joe Machens Dodge facility; she said they picked it up March 12th 2014(The day before I paid to get it out of the Service Dept at Joe Machens Dodge) and that they were handed a key to the vehicle and they loaded it up on there trailer.

I then went to Joe Machens Dodge to look at this infamous key and confirm that it was my truck. Upon arrival  I took a picture of the key; which was clearly a brand new cut key that no one at Joe Machens Dodge had my permission to make. I then told the Service Manager Justin Dumass that i didn't appreciate for over 2 months being accused by him and staff of stealing my own truck; when someone their clearly knew where my vehicle was the whole time. I did not take possession of the truck that day because the truck was still technically stolen and i didn't know what Standard Operating Procedure was with a stolen vehicle. I tried getting in contact with Gary Drewing that day but he was unavailable for the week. So I reached out to his son Rusty Drewing.

I received a call back from Rusty Drewing a few days later. We had a discussion about the situation since he knew nothing about it and we proceeded to try to come up with a resolution. Since I had to purchase a new car through this whole ordeal and had no use of the truck anymore i felt like at the very least deserved being reimbursed for my loss of use for 2+ months, and the return of the contents of my truck(since my truck went to Mid Missouri Auto Auction, all of my contents were taken out of truck(Baby Seat and Base, Tools, tie downs, License plates and personal belongings); which i later find out from Mid Missouri Auto Auction that they threw everything away and can't be recovered.) The best Rusty could do was let my truck go back to the auction site for sale and he would give me $500 over selling price or trade my truck for something at Joe Machens that they thought was comparable; neither one of these options were acceptable to me at all and seemed like they only served in the interest of Joe Machens Dodge.

Joe Machens has since gotten to Mid Missouri Auto Auction site that took possesion of my vehicle for 64 days. The owner Kevin Brown of Mid Mo Auto Auction now trys to deny everything, he told me he gets to much work from Joe Machens and it would effect his business if he helped me. Which I have recordings of him saying this; as well as a recodring of his staff saying that Joe Machens told them to go pick it up and handed them a key when they did(which Kevin Brown does'nt know, but does now...)

I filed with the BBB and did not receive any response from the Joe Machens whatsoever in the alloted time BBB gives, which i didnt really expect anything less since this company is only interested in making money. Joe Machens is turning into a giant monoploy in Columbia, MO and shame on the city offcials for letting it go this far. It's forcing other bussiness's that deal with Joe Machens to have to go along with there corrupt nature or lose business, that is not the way to have a successful city.

Below is the Desired Settlement i requested from the BBB. I dont find it to be unfair what i asked for but i guess it forces Joe Machens to actually own up to doing something wrong and they cant do that.

Description of Desired Settlement:

1st:

All my personal items were removed from my vehicle by Mid Missouri Auto Auction, per Joe Machens Dodge request to have my vehicle prepared for sale, I would like all those items replaced. Those include, Graco Rear Facing Baby Seat and Base, 2 sets of Tie Downs, Metric and Inch Ratchet Set, Dodge Floor Mats, and cost incurred for getting new license plates.

2nd:

Option1:

I received my Dodge Ram back after this whole ordeal and I no longer have any use of the vehicle I was forced to have to purchase. I would like Joe Machens Dodge to purchase it from me, reimburse me for sales taxes paid and the 63 days(Car Taken: March 12th 2014 - Car Returned: May 15th 2014) worth of loan payments i had to make on the vehicle.

or

Option2:

Since Joe Machens only gave me the option of Renting a vehicle(Not a loaner) and accused me of stealing my own vehicle, I would like my Loss of Use returned to me. Per Joe Machens website, and Rental Department Conversation with Receptionist; for me to Rent my truck(Dodge Ram Quad Cab) would cost me $65 per day, not knowing what day or how long i would need the rental. My vehicle was removed from my possession for a total of 64 days but i am only counting 63 since i did not try to pick it up till a day after it was taken.

$65 X 63 = $4095

http://www.machens.com/machens-rental.htm