I wasn’t going to do this but after today I feel the need - Jenjo
I wasn’t going to do this but after today I feel the need to. I recently purchased a used car from Billion. I only went there because I know the General Sales Manager and thought he would treat me fairly.
Prior to going, I was pre-approved for a loan amount from my bank. I found the exact USED vehicle I wanted on the billion website, which was well within my price range. I sent this information, including the link to the vehicle, to the GSM prior to coming in.
I get there, and instead of having me test drive the same make and model of vehicle I was interested in; they waste my time test driving NEW vehicles I did not want nor were in my price range. Which I explained during the test drives. They kept pushing and I continued to push back explaining this was non-negotiable and completely out of my price range. They did not care at all, and I had to get very firm.
They finally gave-in to the USED car option but suggested other makes and colors at a higher cost. I was very specific on color, make, and price but they did not care.
Finally, we settled back on the exact vehicle I had sent. They showed me a cost breakdown and I initialed it thinking that was set. No. They scheduled the car to be transferred to their dealership.
A week later, they call and say my car is in and ready. I get there, and it's not even close to ready. The windshield has a massive crack across it, the car hadn't been cleaned and smelled like cat xxxx. I was not informed of this prior to pickup.
Also, this isn’t my first time buying a car. I’ve bought both new and used vehicles from dealerships before (in other states) and never had this horrible of an experience.
After showing me this mess of a car, they take me in to sign everything. A finance person comes over shoving warranties at me which I repeatedly said I did not want. They didn’t listen--just kept pushing. I became very stern and irritated because no one was listening to me. My budget wasn’t me being stubborn, it was literally all I could afford to still be able to feed my family each month. They didn’t care. I’m also pregnant after a full-term loss six months ago, and one of their finance people had the nerve to say, “oh our finance girl is pregnant too and also in a bad mood.”
Disrespectful. My famously calm husband almost lost it then.
After 2 hours, I’m offended, frustrated and just want to leave, so I said "fine" to everything, because they wouldn't stop at "no." They tell me to take the smelly mess of a car home and bring it back to have it fixed later. I wound up driving a loaner vehicle until my car was ready--would've rather waited in my trade-in. I had them sign something saying they would repair the damage and clean the vehicle before I gave them my down payment. They weren’t happy about that, but I was done feeling screwed over. I deserved to see a sale-ready vehicle before they got any cash-in-hand.
They refused to use the bank I was pre-approved with, so I had to go through a different lender. But a month later I cancelled the warranties they shoved, and refinanced through my bank--now my payments are back in my price range.
If Billion had respected my price limit, used the lender I was already pre-approved to use and delivered a sale-ready vehicle (I had already found for them), this would’ve been a much different experience.
I sent an email to the GSM detailing how disappointed I was, and his response was “I’ll call you tomorrow.” Which he did, but then acted like nothing was wrong and didn’t address any of my frustrations nor apologize for my experience.
I’m now 2 months post purchase, and there is a leak in the ceiling from previous damage to the vehicle. I called to see if they would do anything and the GSM, who I thought was a friend, started yelling at me for verbalizing frustration. Calling me "difficult and demanding." Then blamed me for not taking responsibility for my experience. Ok. I take responsibility for not lowering my standards before coming here.
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