Mike Reichenbach Ford Lincoln

Mike Reichenbach Ford Lincoln responded

Mike Reichenbach Automotive is a family owned and operated business; we abide by a strong moral compass that compels us to “do the right thing” and “treat others as we want to be treated” as we conduct our daily operations. We respect and value the opinions of every customer, and we respect and support our hard working employees. As owner of this company, I want to personally reply to the comments by Mr. Phillip Lind dated October 23rd, 2014, and address several important inaccuracies, omissions and untruths he posted at the expense of our employees reputations and my own good name. First and foremost, Mr. Lind failed to state the full circumstances of how he came to buy the truck he describes in his review. The truck that Mr. Lind purchased is one that he chose from another dealership’s lot and was not originally presented in OUR store’s inventory of quality pre-owned vehicles. Our pre-owned inventory goes through a rigorous inspection process and those that don’t pass are not offered to our customers. Mr. Lind visited another dealership, found that truck, inspected the vehicle and decided it was exactly the truck he wanted. He also determined the price he wanted to pay for it. Because his wife works for our company, he came to Mike Reichenbach Ford and asked us to buy that truck from the other dealer so he could then buy the truck from us. We agreed to provide that service for him. When it was discovered that the mileage reported on the truck by the original dealership (where he first found the truck) was incorrect, we offered him a FULL buyback. We also offered full reimbursement for the added components, and asked him to present the documentation/receipts for everything he added to the truck (e.g. new wheels, exhaust, etc.) so we could determine an accurate sum total. Contrary to Mr. Lind’s comments, our General Sales Manager did indeed offer to buy that truck back for the full amount paid and to reimburse Mr. Lind for every dollar he spent customizing the truck. He simply refused that offer. Mr. Lind declined our offer, saying he wanted to keep the truck because he liked it and “it was exactly the truck he wanted”. That is obviously a decision he regrets. Finally, Mr. Lind stated in his review that our dealership never once offered him any compensation for what he claims to be the “loss of value” that he suffered. That is blatantly untrue. We did offer Mr. Lind a monetary settlement for what he felt were the losses he incurred, and he accepted that payment and actually signed a General Release. These three important contradicting facts clearly show Mr. Lind’s disregard for the whole truth as presented in his review, so I will not attempt to address the remainder of his alleged concerns. As a family owned and operated business, we exist to help solve our customers’ needs, not to antagonize or create problems for anyone. We work hard to hire qualified professionals and ensure continual training opportunities so our staff can offer the highest quality of service possible. We want our customers to be completely satisfied. Mike Reichenbach Automotive (consisting of Mike Reichenbach Ford Lincoln, Mike Reichenbach Volkswagen and Mike Reichenbach Chevrolet) has sold over 7,000 vehicles in the past 6 years, and we are proud to have a DealerRater Overall Rating of 4.9 out of 5, which gives us an“Excellent 100% Recommended” DealerRater status. I personally invite any potential customer and all of our existing customers to come and see for yourself how hard we work to fulfill your transportation needs every day - whether in Sales, Service, Parts or Collision Center. Sincerely yours, Mike Reichenbach – Owner and President

Phil Lind responded

Let's address some of the "mistruths" that have been mentioned in this owners response. First, yes my wife does work for one of Mike Reichenbach's dealerships. She is actually the Service Manager for his Volkswagen shop, and even though she has devoted much of her time and work for this owner, he still had no regrets treating this deal the way he did. Imagine if you didn't have ties to him. As far as I chose this truck, correct. I found this truck on the internet, went and looked at it and told MR that I wanted to buy it. They contacted Raceway Ford and had the truck moved to them so that they could get the sale. Now for the lies that he responded. He stated that all his vehicles go through "rigorous" inspection process. How does a vehicle go through that and it is not discovered that the mileage is off by 170,000 miles and that the vehicle has been in two accidents. If that's their "rigorous" inspection I can't believe that they are still in business. Again lets remember that it is against the law to sell a vehicle with false mileage, so you would think that this is something that they would check RIGOROUSLY. Second, like I stated they did offer to buy back the truck. Of course it wasn't mentioned that they had already sold my trade in and refused my wife a loaner car while I searched for another vehicle. The whole buy back was to cover up what they had done, nobody benefited from that except Mike Reichenbach. Third, "regret having my truck"? I love my truck now that I have taken to a QUALIFIED TECHNICIAN and actually had the repairs done correctly. My truck runs great now with no issues what so ever. I am only writing these reviews to get the word out about these "Rip "em Off" dealerships out there taking people for everything they can with no regards for what's right. Forth, I signed a contract and received compensation. As stated earlier my wife works for Mike Reichenbach Volkswagen and was threatened on a daily basis being told that her job was more important than a truck. And that the letter had to be signed by the time he came back from vacation. And even still told lately that he almost had to let her go over the issues with my truck. So yes I signed a "not to sue over false mileage" release because my wife felt her job was being threatened. And I received a whole $1000 (what he thought fair) for the mileage being 170,000 miles inaccurate and the vehicle being in two accidents that were not disclosed. Let's think about that for a minute. A 2003 truck with 103,000 miles and no accidents (what I was told I was buying). And a 2003 truck with 270,000 miles and been in two accidents. $1000 difference? really? Now who would agree to that without a threat behind it? Lastly, I'll end this by stating that I have not asked Mike Reichenbach for a dime. I paid the $3000 in repairs to fix his service departments crappy work out of my pocket and still have not asked for anything. I am doing this for no other reason than to make sure everyone knows the kind of people they are and the kind of business they run. So you can believe his version of things and give him your money. It's totally up to you. But I can tell you from my wife working there that I am not their only victim. Believe me, I could tell you some horror stories about others. And lastly let's address the whole "family owned and operated" that Mike is quick to throw out there. If this is the case who is TJ Johnson? This man put up major money to fund some of these dealerships and is still actively involved in all doings including the fact that he's the one who interviewed and hired my wife. TJ Johnson also owns Conway Ford and many other dealerships which is part of this. Kinda funny that all the dealerships that TJ Johnson has stake In have a Christmas Party every year in Myrtle Beach that Mike Reichenbach and family attend along with his employees. I was there last year. So "Family Owned and Operated"? Really?.