Romeo Volkswagen of Kingston

VOLKSWAGEN OF KINGSTON, NY DEALERSHIP NEEDS SERIOUS TRAINING ON ETHICS, HONESTY, INTEGRITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE / SATISFACTION… THEY TOOK MY GOOD FAITH DEPOSIT, THEN SOLD THE VEHICLE TO SOMEONE ELSE TRAINING ON ETHICS, HONESTY, INTEGRITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE / SATISFACTION… THEY TOOK MY GOOD FAITH DEPOSIT, THEN SOLD THE VEHICLE TO SOMEONE ELSE FOR MORE MONEY -CUSTOMER BEWARE That being said, I live in Syracuse and found my perfect 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee listed on Volkswagen of Kingston, Dealership internet site. My original contact was with the internet manager, Elizabeth. She was helpful and after a couple phone call exchanges Monday morning, March 18, 2013 she brought in sales associate Anthony Pappalardi, to assist. Anthony emailed me photos while Elizabeth and I discussed our agreement on purchase of the vehicle. Before noon we came to a mutual agreement for me to pay $21,394 which was the exact amount the vehicle was listed for, plus they would give me $4,500 in trade for my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (V8). I expressed my definite interest and at this point, I was waiting for their call back to get confirmation on the $4,500 trade and get my deposit down. Anthony contacted me by phone at around 6pm Monday evening and requested my $250 deposit, which I gave him at that time. He casually mentioned someone else had ‘ just walked in the dealership’ and expressed interest in the vehicle so he wanted to get my deposit before they even had a chance to test drive. He took my deposit and informed me he was going to let the other people know the vehicle was sold and he was immediately heading out to "tag the car sold” and take it off the lot to begin delivery preparations". We discussed my picking up the vehicle on Thursday, March 21st and he agreed. The following day (Tuesday morning), Elizabeth texted me to inform me she was running a bit late and would get a hold of me when she arrived. I responded and provided her with my Credit Union fax number since she was the one that was preparing my pricing agreement to fax. She replied would fax everything she had prepared to my credit union as soon as she got to the office. At 12:50p.m., on Tuesday, I called the dealership to check status (my credit union was waiting only on the final paperwork / pricing agreement). Elizabeth spoke to me and told me she had just got in to work and was on a call but "just needed about an hour and would fax the information right over to my credit union". She assured me everything appeared to be all set. That was the last I heard from the dealership on Tuesday, despite 2 attempts at calling later in the day. Now for the best part… On Wednesday, Anthony called to inform me they could no longer sell me the vehicle. He told me the "new" Manager made the decision the car needed to be sold at auction because there was significant engine problems with the vehicle. He further explained to me while they were checking out the Jeep in preparation for delivery to me, they found what they thought to be significant mechanical problems. He explained to me since the Volkswagen Dealership was not an expert in Jeeps, they sent the vehicle ‘down the street’ to Begnal Motors (Jeep Dealership) to have the vehicle thoroughly checked out. Anthony went on to claim they just received the inspection results back from the Jeep dealership and they said there were “major engine problems” with the vehicle. He told me as a result, the General Manager decided he did not want to invest the money in fixing the Jeep and it was best to send it to auction. Anthony went on and on to say the dealership was "highly focused on customer satisfaction" and "had an outstanding reputation for only selling high quality vehicles" and they "truly” could not, in good conscience sell me a vehicle with such major problems. None of the made sense to me... they had been raving for two days how lucky I was and about how this vehicle was MINT and in perfect running condition… and so on. Since I wanted to find more out about the so called ‘Major Problems’ that suddenly appeared ( and because I smelled a RAT ), I contacted the Jeep dealership that Anthony told me they sent the vehicle to. Not to my surprise, the Jeep dealership never received the vehicle for inspection, never discussed receiving it for inspection and basically knew NOTHING about what Volkswagen of Kingston, NY was telling me about the Jeep. In fact, the service manager explained to me the Jeep was originally sold by their dealership and they performed all maintenance. He even pulled up the Jeep’s impeccable service records. He indicated the Jeep NEVER had any problems and told me he believed the VW of Kingston, NY Dealership was “pulling one over on me”. I then contacted the sales manager, Phil Roeber to discuss the lies that had been told to me as to why they would no longer sell me the vehicle. Of course, I did not immediately tell him I had actually contacted the Jeep dealership. He was very quick at covering for Anthony, and said, yes we had the vehicle sent down the street to the Jeep dealership because of problems but I don't know the status yet. Then I told him I had just called and spoke to the service manager at the Jeep Dealership and explained what they had told me. Following a long pause and a few UMs and stutters... he said he would need to look into it and get back to me. Glad I didn’t hold my breath. Shortly after I spoke to Phil, I did receive a call from Anthony, who was calling to apologize for his Blatant Lies he told me. He admitted everything was a lie and said he thought it was best to let me down easy. He informed me they had actually sold the car to someone else after receiving my deposit. He then began lying even more to try to get out of the fact I had given 1st deposit and he knew I did. Now it was apparent he was taking the fall for the sales manager who made the call to sell the vehicle to someone else, despite the fact I had a good faith deposit on the vehicle. The disrespect and unethical behavior was endless from Anthony to the Sales Manager, Phil Roeber. I implored them to make the situation right and sell the vehicle to me as I had the first deposit, they knew it and I could prove it. I remained professional and have requested several times to speak to the General Manager, Vincent Degerolamo, to no avail. They simply will not deal with their unjust actions and basically offered me $100 bucks to go away. You simply cannot get an HONEST account from anyone at this dealership and when they caught in a greedy lie, they will avoid you like the plague. If I didn’t know any better I would think they were a law firm. It’s apparent their actions are fostered right from the top (General Manager, Vincent Degerolamo), who has refused to speak with me despite my several calls, messages and requests to speak with him. Apparently, he is in meetings 8 hours a day and does not have the time to address a customer’s issues. I would advise anyone who is going to do business with this dealership and shady group of Salesman to think twice !!!!! More

Carlos Rodriguez is a very good listener to our needs and was very friendly all along the process of the lease. Carlos did not forced us on a car we did not want. He wanted us happy and the experience was ap was very friendly all along the process of the lease. Carlos did not forced us on a car we did not want. He wanted us happy and the experience was appreciated from both parties. Carlos tried to figure out various ways to identify what would we be happy with, proposing several alternates, with xxxxxxand con's. At the end we meet half-way and we were happy. Carlos never lost his smile all along, making us feeling comfortable. We gave Carlos high review points because he listend first and then proposed solutions. He was careful and friendly all along. The final touch was that we left happy with the deal and most importantly that we felt understood. More

Carlo Rodriquez was very informative about the vehicles that we were considering. After gaining some insight into what we were seeking and why, he gently suggested the VW Passat which was not on our list, that we were considering. After gaining some insight into what we were seeking and why, he gently suggested the VW Passat which was not on our list, but amazingly met all of our criteria. The ride was oh! so smooth! There was never any pressure to buy, and a lot of help finding the right model to meet our needs. When it was time to negotiate--simple, direct talk. It was the best and least painful negotiation that I have ever had, and I have bought many cars over the years. I wholeheartedly recommend this salesman and this dealership, and this car--the VW Passat TDI, if you are in the market for a performance midsize sedan that feels and rides oh! so well. More