Wow ... MINI does GREAT advertising ... Their marketing is really, really good. Call a salesman an MA and its a whole new world.

"A rose by any other name will smell as sweet"

W. Shakespeare

If you have the ability to "sell", I got to hand it to you because from what I hear, in some car dealers, the turnover is so high because ppl cant stand the stress. You got a tough job with probably a lot of irritable public to deal with.

 

Well said, I think that most salesmen go under quite a big amount of pressure from their manager when they make a mistake. BourneAgain, your MA is handling this all wrong, and like John said , you need to give him crap and let him know that he's is the one that needs to apologize. If he's threatening you, go higher up, talk to the manager and let them know the situation. You need to express your dislike for the situation!!!

 

As you can probably tell, you have to have thick skin. I've been here for three years and don't plan on leaving.

 

That's why Bourne is in this situation, his salesman shouldn't be a salesman. Salesmen can make great money and can enjoy their job, but it does take A LOT of patience and hard work. I may not sale cars, but being a salesman, I can say this......sales is surely not for everyone.

 

but I was told in the past that the deposit is refundable by law. When I had my issue, the dealer was trying to say that it wasn't, and when I said that's not what I was informed the law was (by a dealer that wanted to sell me something off thier lot), they caved and said that if it didn't work out with the vehicle I'd ordered, they'd have a check for me.

Also, if it is the law that the deposit must be refunded, it doesn't matter what the contract says. Contracts that specify breaking the law aren't enforcable.....

I'll do a little digging...

Matt

 

Has anyone noticed how eager to please these guys are when you follow through with the sale and then they want ALL 5's on the final sales evaluation? I would go back to the dealer with a smile on my face and tell them that I felt they over charged me $500 from the start...you gave them their required $1,500 but they charged $2,000.

I would sit with the GM and ask (that is tell him politely, it really isn't a request) him to write up an entirely new set of papers on the transaction and destroy the original set because it has become too confusing for you to understand...they are counting on you to NOT understand so you would cave in and say okay to whatever they want because they have suceeded in totally boondoggling you.

The NEW set of papers should reflect the initial down payment of $1,500...and if they still require an additional $500. it would be available.

If he doesn't want to do that, then tell him that you would have to rate this as an unsatisfactory sales experience when you do your evaluation on line. You would have to tell the mother company why: they tried to hood wink you by requesting one amount on your cc, charging another and then asking for an additional amount after you took possession of the car....

Mick

 

Hmmm... Interesting. If the deposit is truly refundable I'd without a doubt call this whole thing a deal breaker and find a different dealer. Imagine how this guy will be treated after he is an owner if this is how they treat him BEFORE the sale! I wonder who the dealer is and if anyone else at NAM has had a similar experience?

 

Your deposit should be fully refundable. I was told at my dealer that if I change my mind they will give my $1000 back, but only after they sell the car to some one else.

As to the subject of this thread, I think you definitely should write a letter. I had a horrible experience with the salesman and business office when I picked up my ordered Mercedes and I sent a very detailed letter to the dealership's GM as well as MBUSA. I got a letter from MBUSA disclaiming all responsibility and saying the dealers are franchisees. The owner of the dealership repsonded with a very apologetic letter and a very nice Mercedes watch. And I was always well treated at the service department.

 

Found this on the Office of the Attorny General of Vermont....

"
Question: Yesterday I put a deposit down on a new car at a local dealership. This morning I found the same car for less at another dealership. When I asked for my deposit back from the first dealership, they refused to give it to me. Is that legal?


Answer: Vermont has no law governing deposits, so the answer to your question is determined by contract law. In other words, what was the agreement with respect to the deposit? Did the salesman tell you the deposit was refundable? Did either the contract or the receipt for the deposit promise refundability? Was there a sign in the showroom or office that clearly and conspicuously stated that the deposit would be returned? If the answer to any of these questions is "yes," then it would appear that you’re entitled to your deposit back. You should file a complaint with the CAP. If the answer to all of the questions is "no," then the issue is probably going to have to be resolved by a judge. Assuming the deposit is less than $3500, small claims court is an appropriate forum for resolution of this issue."

So it seems that it's state by state...

Here's another listing....

"When we were negotiating the price of a new car, the salesman asked for a $1,000 deposit. Later, we decided not to buy that particular car. Is this deposit refundable?
The law concerning vehicle deposits varies from state to state. In most states, however, your deposit is fully refundable, no questions asked. In court cases in some states, however, dealerships have won the right to keep the customer's deposit when the customer cancelled the deal.

Best Advice: ask the car salesman if your deposit is fully refundable before you fork over your hard-earned money."
this was from http://www.beat-the.com/mailbag22.html
You gotta check out the site! In big letters at the top "Beat the Car Salesman!

What a gas!

Matt

 

You guys are missing the point. He already took delivery of the car and drove it home. The refundability of the deposit is irrelevant.

 

Yep, depending on what state you're in, maybe it is, maybe it isn't, laws vary. But it seems that the dealership would want to keep their customers happy...see who blinks first.... Mick

 

that's what you agreed to.

But I'd still have the chat with the manager.

Matt

 

But what I don't understand is this: If you talked it over "with your wife and your conscience", and you were planning on paying them anyways, then why are you so mad that they are going to charge your credit card? Wasn't that inevitably going to happen in the end? Maybe I've missed something.

 

He agreed to pay $X for the car. He paid (and knew he paid) $X - $500. Conscience or not, he owes $500. The deposit paperwork error does not override the contract.
A reasonable recourse would be to ask for the difference in finance charges on the car loan vs. the credit card, assuming the paperwork error caused him to borrow $500 less on the loan than he would have otherwise.
Assuming a 5% car loan over 5 years, the finance charge would be ~$125.
That same loan on a credit card would be much higher (8%=$200, 12%=$300, etc.) So (IMO) one could reasonably request (demand?) the delta between the car loan rate and the CC rate. (Then again, at current rates, a savings account would get you $15 over that period) A small claims court *might* find in his favor, but given time investment, he's better off lobbying for MINI parts.

I agree that informing him that they HAD charged his CC (vs. that they were going to) is bad form, and he could dispute it.

 

Say you're eating out. You tell the waitress to put half of the bill on your credit card because you intend to pay the other half with cash. She runs your card, you sign it and leave. Whether intentional or not, you simply don't leave any cash for the rest of the bill.
After numerous unsuccessful attempts of contacting you to tell you that there is still an outstanding bill, the restaurant decides that they are going to type your credit card number into the machine and run it for the remainder of the bill. IT IS WHAT YOU OWE...how is that not legal?

 

You rent a house to someone. They leave, leaving behind some furnature, but have skipped out on some rent. It's illegal to sell their stuff to get the back rent.

What it comes down to isn't what seems fair, it's what's the law. People can't just go into your accounts and take your money without permission.

Even if you do owe it, unless those are the terms of the contract.

Matt

 

Ok, I think that we need to email Judge Judy and ask her to join in.

 

They aren't selling parts of his car to get their money. In fact, they aren't selling ANY of his stuff to get their money back. They are simply taking the money that is owed to them through the resources that he had formerly provided. It would be one thing if they just did it without notification, but when reading through this whole thread, it seems that there were several attempts made to contact him. It isn't like he didn't know.

 

Just to play a little devil's advocate (because I like stiring the pot, and this thread has mostly gone beyond the original question ...

What if you set up an electronic transaction with your phone company to pay a bill. It's not an automatic payment, just did it once to see how it worked. Ok, so now the phone company has your account numbers, and your permission (once) to debit your account.


Now imagine that you are late on your payment two months later, should they decide that they can just debit your account since you own them the money, and you did it before anyway? That is pretty much what you are advocating in this statement. Since you have an ongoing business relationship with your phone company, and the business with the dealership is a single transaction you might look at it differently.

One of the key points (which I hope I remember correctly from the first page of this thread) is that the original deposit was supposed to be $1500, which is what they charged him, but $2000 is what came up on the paper work. Meaning that the dealership made an error and noted that they charged him $2000, when they really charge him $1500 (the agreed, and authorized charge).

If this had been flipped, i.e. they were authorized to charge $2000, and really charged $1500, I could see them just running a second charge and getting the $500 that they undercharged the first time.

I'm having so much fun hearing all the sides of this debate!

 

Now imagine that you are late on your payment two months later, should they decide that they can just debit your account since you own them the money, and you did it before anyway? That is pretty much what you are advocating in this statement. Since you have an ongoing business relationship with your phone company, and the business with the dealership is a single transaction you might look at it differently.

They can certainly try, if I owe it. But if I haven't yet paid it, chances are that my account won't have sufficient funds if they do try to take it!

 

LOL!!!! Sort of like how the bank charges you when you bounce a check. They already know that you don't have the money, otherwise you wouldn't have bounced the check in the first place!

 

Know kidding! I'd love it if someone could explain the point behind that. I mean seriously, if the money wasn't there for the check to clear, what really makes anyone think there will be money there for a check charge, too!?!

 

If a girl scout came by your house and sold you a box of cookies and gave you back too much change, wouldn't you bring it to their attention and insist that they take back the extra money?
What would Dr. Phil do?

 

To be fair though, let's choose a party that is less popular:

• Microsoft is running a mail-in rebate, and you receive one that is larger than you expected
• You upgraded your cable TV service, but it is not appearing on your bills
• You received a parking ticket, but your city lost any record of it
• eBay didn't bill you for a transaction fee

Now what would Dr. Phil do?

 

I wouldn't put my MINI dealer in the same class as the cable company or Microsoft. But, I think Dr. Phil would do the right thing.

We should too, especially if the kids are watching!

Oh, and I don't do busines with Microsoft. 100% Apple all the way, baby!