J.D. Byrider ripoff, dishonest Orlando Florida

Andrea:

Every Byrider francise is independently owned. This means what may or may not have happened in Kentucky has absolutely NO bearing on Orlando!
I've been to the Orlando franchise and have refered customers to them. I have no problems refering friends to them because the Orlando franchise has GOOD people. I almost bought a car from them but changed my mind at the last minute to buy new. That was my decision based on my needs, not stories of alleged rip-offs that may or may not have occurred at the Swamp Gas, Idaho store 20 years ago.

Certainly the car business has some bad apples. These guys have soiled the reputation for everyone. The best tools you have to discern are your brain and your feet. We need to know exactly what we're doing so that we can find out if the dealer is trying to deceive us. We need to use our feet to walk out when there is an indication of that, rather than play doormat and then complain when you finally realize you've been had.

I've had conversations with the local franchize owner and I can assure you his goal is to retain business. In my profession I tell my people "without customers there's no reason for any of us!" That is his driving force also.
I hate to sound like Lee Iacocca, but when you find a dealer you can trust then buy from him.
Not only that, form a long term relationship with the sales and service department. In relation to the Orlando market, I would have no problem with either of the Byrider stores.

Andrea You have had a chance to read Michael Patrick's posting from JD Byrider. Now you get to read a Rip Off Report from an Advocate who knows.

Read what Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo was working on.

December 17, 2004
Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against national used car dealership franchiser, J.D. Byrider, Inc. and the Louisville J.D. Byrider franchise owned by James Maguire. The state says the car dealership engaged in "multiple" violations of Kentucky's consumer protection laws.

The lawsuit alleges that the local franchise engaged in multiple violations of the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act, as well as the federal Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act and Truth in Lending Act which harmed hundreds of consumers. The allegations include the following violations of law:

failing to repair or correct vehicle defects under an implied warranty of merchantability as required by law;

? making unfair, false, misleading and deceptive statements that it had disclaimed all warranties when in fact it was prohibited from disclaiming such warranties as a matter of law;

refusing to recognize customers' right to revoke acceptance of their contract as required by law; making false, misleading and deceptive statements that vehicles were "certified" or "inspected" when such was not the case;

charging consumers unlawful deductibles for warranty repair work;

requiring consumers to purchase credit life insurance and service contracts and failing to disclose these items as a cost of credit in violation of the federal Truth in Lending Act and state law; and

offering unlawful inducements to consumers in the form of referral sales "commissions" in violation of Kentucky statutory law.

The complaint also alleges that the business model of the franchiser, utilized by the local franchise, unfairly makes consumers vulnerable to abusive sales tactics and is unlawful. The complaint charges the business model intentionally targets credit-vulnerable consumers, discourages consumers from choosing cars to purchase, hides or fails to disclose the purchase price, requires detailed financial information and a credit check before disclosing price, sells the "payment" to the consumer, and keeps consumers at the site of the local franchise for hours resulting in unfair contracts for consumers.

The complaint seeks restitution on behalf of consumers including those who were required to pay deductibles for warranty repairs that should have been performed at no cost due to the implied warranty of merchantability and for consumers who attempted to revoke acceptance of a substantially defective vehicle whose attempts were wrongfully denied by the defendants. The complaint alleges that the violations were willful and seeks civil penalties of $2,000 per violation.

The Attorney General's Office has been engaged in negotiations with the local franchise which has voluntarily made some positive changes in its operations addressing the practices noted in the complaint. The attorney general said he hopes to continue to pursue a resolution of all outstanding issues including consumer restitution during the course of the litigation.

You can find the above at the below URL
www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/ky_jdbyrider.html

Next I give you a second URL that might be informative reading.
http://ag.ky.gov/news/2004rel/JDByrider.htm

here is a third URL for you to visit
http://www.ag.state.oh.us/press_releases/2005/pr20050209c.htm

This one is good reading for you.
www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff136504.htm

Now read this informative reading!

On January 31, 1999, Ann Brown of Sandusky, Ohio borrowed $5,500 at 25% interest from a J.D. Byrider dealer lot to finance her purchase of a car from Byrider's used car lot. The car turned out to be a "junker" and a safety hazard. The entire wheel and axle fell off when Ms. Brown's teenage daughter was driving down the road.

In her lawsuit in an Ohio court, Ms. Brown alleged that she was forced to pay an artificially inflated price in violation of the Truth in Lending Act. Ms. Brown also alleged that Byrider violated the Truth in Lending Act by requiring her to accept an $895 warranty fee that was also to be financed by J.D. Byrider at 25% interest. In addition, Ms. Brown alleged violations of the Ohio Sales Practices Act and fraud.

But Ms. Brown was denied her day in court by the Ohio court, which ruled that the arbitration agreement contained in Ms. Brown's contract had to be enforced because of the Federal Arbitration Act's policy favoring arbitration. Under that arbitration clause, Ms. Brown lost all her claims under state and federal lending and consumer protection laws although Byrider retained the right to sue her.

She also waived her right to punitive damages, no matter how fraudulent or malicious Byrider's conduct. Instead, she would have to proceed under Byrider's choice of arbitrator, for which she would have to pay half the costs and attorney fees. The costs of arbitration, which began with $300 - $500 filing fees and approximately $1,500 per day arbitrator's fee, exceeded the value of her claim.

It was simply not worth taking the case to arbitration. In sum, Byrider is using this arbitration clause to insulate itself from the consequences of violating the Truth in Lending Act, Ohio Sales Practices Act and flat-out fraud.

Ms. Brown did not understand that she was waiving her right to go to court when she signed an arbitration agreement with Byrider. This is hardly surprising because the Byrider financing officer himself had no idea what arbitration is or what the rules of arbitration are, so he was unable to tell Ms.

Brown what rights she was waiving. Nor was she given an option -- the credit contract was presented in a standard form, take-it-or-leave-it format and she was not allowed to challenge any of its provisions. The mandatory arbitration provision only applied to Ms. Brown. Had she defaulted on her loan, Byrider would have been able to file a lawsuit against her.

When Ms. Brown first filed her lawsuit, Byrider stopped using the mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts. But once the courts refused to vindicate Ms. Brown's rights, Byrider began using the clauses again. Ms. Brown's attorneys have received inquiries from over 40 consumers similarly defrauded by Byrider.

Unfortunately, no matter how many of J.D. Byrider's former customers are defrauded, they cannot file as a class action because the mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts waive their right to maintain class actions.

Good thing JD Byrider does not have their buyers sign a NONE Rip Off Report Disclosure!

Now let's ask JD Byrider's Michael Patrick to reply to all of the above. Hey Michael Patrick Does all of your car buyers have to sign a "Arbitration Agreement" or do they not see it because you hide or bury it DEEP IN your car buying contracts?

Now it seems to me that Michael Patrick likes to respond to these Rip Off Reports that are filed on JD byrider.

Hey Michael Patrick Let's try this. I will post URL's on JD byrider and you respond to them OK. Here is your home work for today.

Post a rebuttle on the below Rip Off Reports. I have found 128 Rip Off Reports on JD Byrider. Lets you and I let Rip Off Report readers read all 128 of them, sound like FUN? Might take a few weeks to reply to all 128 of them.

www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff136245.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff128761.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff106655.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff132956.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff72565.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff130667.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff111441.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff129662.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff127598.htm
www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff127845.htm

Hey Michael do you want me to post more of these?

Amanda - First, we would apologize for any miscommunication and also any inconvenience that a lack of vehicle has caused. We are doing everything we can to address the situation.

I contacted the dealership where you got your vehicle and investigated the warranty coverage. The vehicle was purchased in April of 2003 with a 12-month, 12,000 mile limited warranty that ran out in April of 2004.

In terms of the pricing of the repair, that is not something JD Byrider can control. As the van is out of warranty, the shops were all subletted locations that all charged about the same for a tranny replacement. The service center at the JD Byrider in Orlando does not do transmission work, so the vehicle will have to be repaired at an outside vendor.

I am working with the dealership's management to see what other solutions could be worked out in terms of getting the vehicle serviced.

Thanks,
Michael Patrick
JD Byrider Customer Service