Bayside Volkswagen

Deals aren’t what they appear to be at Bayside Volkswagon… On June 2, 2012, my partner and I walked into the showroom with the intent of leasing a new 2012 Jetta. Our salesperson was John Albane Volkswagon… On June 2, 2012, my partner and I walked into the showroom with the intent of leasing a new 2012 Jetta. Our salesperson was John Albanese. We told him that we would like to test drive a Jetta with a 5-speed manual transmission. We did test drive a vehicle with a similar engine, but not the car with the features we were looking for. We sat down with John to discuss price and were told that we could get the Jetta S with a 5-speed manual transmission, sunroof, cruise control, front center console with storage box, power tilting/sliding sunroof. After showing us color options of vehicles on the lot, we told him our color preference was Platinum Gray Metallic with Titan Black cloth interior. He said that although they didn’t have the car on the lot it would not be a problem to locate it. But in order to do that, we would have to sign a contract, fill out a credit form with all of my personal information and leave a $500 deposit. We were hesitant to do this since the contract did not have a Vin# for an actual vehicle. I asked him why he couldn’t locate a car on the computer while we were there and he claimed that he couldn’t do that on a Saturday. He assured us that they would be able to locate a vehicle no later than Tuesday June 5, 2012. We accepted this answer in good faith, filled out the credit form and left a $500 deposit on our credit card. Well, Tuesday came and went. We received a call on Wednesday June 6th from John telling us that there were 2 vehicles located with the features we wanted, but not in the color we requested. We were told that both vehicles were at dealers that were approx. 300 miles away. He told us that the colors of the two vehicles were Silver Metallic and a new color Moon Rock. We told him we would be happy to look at the Moon Rock. John told us to come in and take a look at the color. On June 9th, we went to the showroom. John showed us a vehicle in the color Moon Rock. We told him that we would accept this color. He asked us if they couldn’t get the Moon Rock would we take the Silver. He said that he would tell the person in the office that handles the vehicle swaps with the other dealers. On June 11th, we had not received any confirmation on the car, so we contacted John. He said that normally he was off on June 12th, but would go into the showroom and call the dealer himself. When we did not hear anything, we left a message for David Hovell the General Sales Manager. We finally got a call back with a new story. We were told that there was only one vehicle that may be available and he could not give us an answer until June 14th because the owner of that dealership was out of town. David told me he would call us by 11:00am on the 14th. We did not get a call from David, but did receive a call from John saying that the car was no longer available. We asked what happened to the silver vehicle, but didn’t really get an answer. We were disappointed and annoyed that we were lead to believe these vehicles existed. We decided to give John an opportunity to re-price a lease (2) ways: 1) 5-speed manual transmission without a sunroof, 2) automatic transmission with a sunroof. When John called back with the new lease prices, they were out of line. He told us that these were the final numbers as per David. We were shocked that the General Sales Manager was not interested in satisfying a new customer with a deal that went sour based on their lack of transparency. At that point, we had no choice but to ask that our $500 deposit be credited back to our credit card. This charge should have never been put through in the first place without securing an actual car and Vin#. John assured me that the credit would be taken care of promptly. On June 16th we checked with our credit card company and were told that the credit was not posted. Once again, I had to be inconvenienced on a Saturday to drive over to the dealership to find out why this transaction had not been processed. I went to the dealership and spoke to John. He claimed that it was put through on June 14th. I asked him to give me a copy of the merchant receipt showing the refund. I also requested the credit application be returned to me with all of my personal information. He said that Mercedes handles all of these transactions and the papers were locked up on Saturday. I then waited to speak to David who said he would go next door to Mercedes to get me the paperwork. While I was standing outside David’s office, the woman that handles financing transactions for the dealership went into David’s office. She began to speak to one of the other managers about me. She turned to this person and said “she has some nerve coming in here on a Saturday”. I walked over to her and told her that “if the dealership had delivered on their contract, I wouldn’t have to be standing here now if my paperwork was returned to me as promised”. A few minutes later, David came back saying that he couldn’t give me a copy of the credit slip until Monday June 18th. He wrote down my fax# and my email address and told me Monday morning 9:00am, I would receive the credit slip. He also said that the credit report gets shredded and couldn’t be returned to us. It is now Monday June 18th, at 6:20pm. I never received the email or fax. As of this hour, my credit card company indicated that the $500 credit has not been posted. We will never set foot in the dealership again or recommend it. More

It all started one day prior the appointment when they called me to confirm the appointment and to ask what will I be looking to do once I get there. I told them I need to check transmission oil (NOT to c called me to confirm the appointment and to ask what will I be looking to do once I get there. I told them I need to check transmission oil (NOT to change it as it was new) so the lady that called me put me on hold to ask an "advisor" after 2 minutes she got back and said that the advisor said the transmission oil doesn't need changing. I should have known since then that they are clueless as even the manufacturer has every 40k miles mandatory transmission change but hey ... I learn the hard way. So I show up on Saturday I had an appointment at 10:15 got there at 10:00 AM gave my car asked for tranny oil check and if needed top it up. And I sat down to wait, after an hour all those that came before me left after another hour 5 people that came after me had their jobs finished and left, after another 30 minutes I went to ask what is going on since I was waiting for 2 and a half hours for a 20 minutes job. The great advisor Nick Sicanore states well this is a lengthy job that require the transmission to be at a certain temperature ... I look at him and say ...yes at a certain temperature meaning 45-90 Celsius which means it needs to be driven so the oil gets in to the torques converter, then I say I am waiting for 2.5 hour for a 20 minutes job. At that point fellow NICK SICANORE said very profound that checking the oil is the same level of effort as changing it ... I suddenly realized that I was taken as an idiot, and most probably will be ripped off but I decided to wait a little more. After another 30 minutes I went to see if they started working on my car the car was still parked in the sun and no one even touched it. I went back to Nick Sicanore ad asked what is happening then he faked going in the shop and came back smiling saying they are working on it ... That's it ... at that point I felt I had enough and said look buddy the car is parked in the back and you are telling me your guys are working on it ?? I am not going to continue all the names they got from me but I just want to share with you all my horrendous experience and to advise you not to consider their services based on the feedback you see on this website as it is not accurate. God forbid you are a woman or an old man you have the word victim engraved on your forehead at that point... I have had several cars from Mercedes, Saab to VW none of the dealers is as pitiful as this one. This guy Sicanore should be working in a McDonalds flipping burgers not in a German cars dealership. Nick Sicanore is a rude, unprofessional, and on top of everything a liar that just puts his employer in the top worst dealerships in the area. This being said if you feel adventurous to go there and you find Nick Sicanore still working there you can certainly understand that clients do not matter, client satisfaction is not considered and your work will probably take and cost three times more than normal. More

I had left a deposit on a 2012 Passat tdi se on 3/22/11 I had left a deposit on a 2012 Passat tdi se on 3/22/11 and was told I could pickup the vehicle early the following week. I was told that they would I had left a deposit on a 2012 Passat tdi se on 3/22/11 and was told I could pickup the vehicle early the following week. I was told that they would just have to transport it over from their lot in College Point. When I checked to see if my vehicle was ready on 3/28/12 I was informed by Liza that they were still searching for my vehicle? Needless to say I was quite upset that I was sold a vehicle that they did not even have in inventory. Also the sales manager Jack wanted to charge me a $390.00 transportation fee? Sadly to say I guess I am a victim of a bait and switch scam! To the owners of Bayside VW you are not the only dealer in town. Feel free to contact me to discuss this situation. I am sure you could get my phone number from Liza. More