Merchants Auto

Challenging.. but worked hard to make it better We chose to look for a vehicle at Merchants due to their reputation for great customer service. I was hesitant to purchase a vehicle, but decided tha We chose to look for a vehicle at Merchants due to their reputation for great customer service. I was hesitant to purchase a vehicle, but decided that we should look anyway. We arrived at Merchants at approximately 9:45 am . We were greeted by the Sales Associate and brought right in and shown were the bathrooms were and the coffee. First impression would be that they are very friendly. We were then asked to sit down and the Sales Associate began to explain that at Merchants they ask you to apply for your financing first , before they show you a vehicle. They do this they say because they do not want to show you something that you cannot afford. A skeptic such as myself, sees it as they want to see the most you will qualify for so that they can sell you the highest priced vehicle possible. It took about 15 minutes before he came back and informed us that we were approved. I thought to myself great lets look around to see what they have. That was not the case, I was told that I could only choose one of three vehicles on the lot. What? A huge dealership like that and there are only three vehicles, as the vehicles were presented, I told him I did not like any of them and that I thought they were too high priced. This was my first time buying a vehicle that required financing, so I understand that I may have had unreal expectations on price, because I thought they were way more than I wanted to spend. That being said, when I expressed my concern for price and the fact that the type of car they were giving me as a choice was not something I wanted, he responded with " Well, its not my fault you have Champagne taste." I am sorry but this is not the way your treat a customer. I ignored the comment and stepped outside. My husband was also bothered by the way the man was speaking to me. When I arrived back the Sales Associate came back over with a list of cars that were available. He also informed me that they were trying to finalize numbers to give us the correct monthly payment. This was now almost two hours later. We began to look at the list and everything on it was either too small for us or too expensive. It was at that point that we were told that the bank will only finance certain cars and they had to be a certain price or higher because of resale value. I believe this should have all been disclosed up front and not a few hours later. Again, disappointed with customer service. At this point I was becoming overwhelmed since I never intended on purchasing a car that day and really wanted to look. I am not an impulse buyer. I again stepped outside to regain my composure and when I returned another car was brought to my attention, that was not previously offered. It was more on the lines of what I wanted although they would not know that because I was never asked what I wanted in a vehicle or how much I was looking to spend. In the sales world and customer service you always should know what your customer is looking for , it saves time on both ends and will end up with quality customer service. The vehicle they brought out this time ( and by the way we were still waiting on final numbers ) was a vehicle I really was interested in , but was not sure why they never offered it in the first place. The vehicle I was told was not brought out to the lot yet. We looked at the vehicle and I noticed some issues ( yes, I know a thing or two about cars ) the carpets on the drivers side were cut. When I presented this to the Sales Associate , he responded with , " It must have worn out from the person's foot. No,it was clearly cut and not worn out. There was also a missing hub cab that we were told would be ordered and replaced for us and that the tear would be fixed as well. He left us alone to examine the vehicle , while he checked on the numbers , again. When we came in we were still waiting for the payment numbers and finally they were complete , and it was still a bit higher than we thought. I was becoming very worried about it and had several people talking to me and saying you are getting a great rate, and you won't get a lower payment . I finally looked at everyone and said , I need to think about it. The Sales Associate then proceeds to say, well if you don't act soon something could be reported to your credit report that is negative and you may not be able to get the same interest rate.... This was infuriating to me , a scare tactic to make me purchase something immediately. I do understand credit reporting but it is not the way to develop a relationship with your client. I had been there for five hours whats another thirty minutes. We did decided to purchase the car and we were told that it would be 15 more minutes and we would be brought in to sign papers.... OK, nearly an hour later we were in the finance office. I do understand that these things take time, but we spend more than 6 hours there in total. The tear being fixed we were told we would need to make an appointment for and instead of ordering the hub cap and replacing for me they were just going to cut me a check so I could do it myself. Again, customer first would be to complete the repairs as originally stated in order to save the customer from headaches and more time. I do appreciate the payment for the hub cap, it s just the time it is going to take me to get it fixed. I needed to bring some documentation to the dealership on Monday and I returned as promised with everything that I needed. I informed the Sales Associate that I had heard an odd noise coming from the engine when I started it and that I was concerned and would like to have it checked. His attitude was less than friendly, and he brought me in so that I could give him all the paperwork. I gave everything to him and asked about the carpet repair which he was unsure on , so he had to ask someone . I was informed that I would have to make an appointment on a Wednesday to have this done. I was told to go to the service Dept and talk to them about having the carpet done and checking the noise. It seems once your purchase the vehicle the sales associate does nothing for you. I had to go to the service department and get it all set up myself. Normally I would not care , but I had just spent a large amount of money on a vehicle and expected a lot more from them. The Service Tech was very helpful and gave me a loaner car so that I would not have to be without a vehicle or make several trips to the dealership. I appreciated that respect for my time. ****************Merchants Auto has truly worked hard to try to rectify this experience. Scott the sales manager has kept in touch and worked with me to make me feel as though my experience was not the norm for the dealership. I believe in professionalism in all that you do and they have worked hard at making me feel as though things that happened to me are not the normal way of doing business, and that I was a valued customer. They ended up replacing the hub cab at no charge. Thank you Scott for your time. More

Great Experience Ryan went above and beyond to help get into a great car. Can't say enough great things about my Experience. I would definitely recommend friends and Ryan went above and beyond to help get into a great car. Can't say enough great things about my Experience. I would definitely recommend friends and family to go and experience for themselves. Thanks for all the hard work. More