Nimnicht Chevrolet

On August 15, 2020, my wife and I visited Nimnicht Chevrolet to look at the possibility of leasing or purchasing a new truck. I currently was leasing a 2018 Ford F-150 that was very low on miles and Chevrolet to look at the possibility of leasing or purchasing a new truck. I currently was leasing a 2018 Ford F-150 that was very low on miles and in excellent condition with four remaining lease payments. We met with a salesperson who identified herself as Mooney and I proceeded to explain to her that we would like to purchase or lease a truck similar to our F-150. She showed us a Silverado LT that was similar to what we were looking for, however; it was missing a few items (i.e., bedliner, side steps for assistance in entering the vehicle (a necessity since I am disabled), and a navigation system). We test-drove the vehicle and I explained my concern to the salesperson about a vibration that was felt as I was driving. She responded that the vehicle had just arrived at the dealership and would be undergoing a 130-point inspection and once completed the vibration would go away. The salesperson said she could add those items, except the navigation system which she explained we could use our cell phones for by using Apple Play. As a result, we agreed to work on that specific vehicle. I also explained to her that I was not familiar with the various levels of trucks they had to offer, and she stated, “no problem, if you don’t like it you can return it within 30 days.” This was not an unusual thing to hear since my wife had just leased an Acura MDX with one week to return if not happy, and several other dealerships offer similar terms. The salesperson left us for several minutes and returned with lease and purchase options. All of the options were much more than we were willing to pay for a lease or purchase. We thanked her and were ready to leave because it was getting somewhat late in the early evening and we were tired and still facing an hour drive home. She asked us to wait, left for an additional period of time, then returned with who we thought was a new car manager named Karen. She was pleasant and asked to conduct an inspection on our F-150 to determine the trade value. We agreed. She also asked us if we wanted them to make the last 4 payments on the Ford or pay it off. I told her it didn’t matter how they paid it off. We have been leasing and purchasing vehicles for over 30 years and the dealerships have always taken care of the trade-in, so I assumed that was what they would do since they didn’t tell me any different. They conducted the inspection of my vehicle and Karen returned with an offer that we put down $3000.00 and our payment would be $500.00 on a lease. She also stated that they would make the final four payments on our F-150. We agreed that $500.00 was a good lease payment and agreed. I didn’t understand why we weren’t presented with a purchase option but was getting so exhausted by then that I just assumed it was too high of a payment. Karen then explained to us that we would need to come back on Monday and return the F-150 to Duval Ford next door and drop off the new Chevrolet Silverado to have the accessories installed. I was baffled by that because I thought they were taking the F-150 and dealing with it. She said all we needed to do was take it there, tell them we are turning in the lease, Nimnicht would be paying off the final four payments, we would have to pay the turn-in fee and that would be it. She even said that if I didn’t have the testicles to do it, she did, and she would go there with me. I knew something didn’t seem right, but again, my wife and I were tired and getting very hungry by then and we just wanted to go home. Nimnicht still had to add the bedliner, side steps, and front window tint. It seemed to me to make more sense to just pick up the truck after the accessories were added, but Karen seemed insistent and we were also concerned about damage possibly occurring to the Ford after we had already signed a contract on the Chevrolet. By this time, being very exhausted, we were taken into finance to sign the documentation. We signed and drove home in the new Chevrolet. Needless to say, everything went quite rapidly, and we were rushed through everything on that night, apparently because they wanted to go home. As a result, we found out later that there were things left out that were never mentioned to us, things that I will explain now. On Monday, my wife and I returned to drop off the Silverado for the accessories to be added and to return the leased Ford. At that point I asked Karen why we were told by the salesperson that we had a 30-day return option yet nothing about that was mentioned in finance. Karen stated that there was no 30-day return option and that our salesperson should not have told us that. My wife and I were shocked and very upset that we had been misled. That was actually one of the selling points that led us to move forward with the deal to begin with, yet Karen didn’t seem to be concerned at all that we had been told something that was clearly untrue. Nimnicht provided us a loaner vehicle and we went to Duval Ford to turn in the leased F-150. We explained what we were told by Karen about Nimnicht paying the last 4 payments and we were going to pay the turn-in fee. This is when we were told that if we turned in the F-150 without paying the remaining 4 payments right then and there it would be considered a self-repossession and it would damage our credit. The representative explained that we needed to make those last 4 payments now. I then called Karen and explained the situation and she said she would get with finance and call me right back. After an extended time frame, my wife and I were forced to borrow the money from her mother so that we didn’t get our credit damaged by not paying the last 4 payments and we still hadn’t heard back from Karen. As we were about to leave Duval Ford after 2 hours being wasted, Karen calls to tell us that they could not pay off the last 4 payments until the new Silverado was funded. So basically, she lied to us on Saturday night, or didn’t know and didn’t bother to find out the correct information. She just provided us with incorrect information with no concern for us personally as customers. We then returned home with the loaner vehicle and I was scheduled to return to Nimnicht Chevrolet on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 to pick up the new Silverado with all of the accessories installed. On Wednesday, August 19, 2020 I returned to pick up the new Silverado and was joined by my nephew. I was greeted by our initial salesperson and asked her why there were no floor mats in the truck like she had told me. I explained that what was in there were rubber mats and we were under the impression that there were carpeted mats. She said the mats were on order and would be mailed to my address. To date, we still have not received the floor mats at all. At some point I was able to sit down with Karen and I specifically asked about the vibration and the 130-point inspection that the salesperson mentioned to me. Unfortunately, that was an additional false statement from our salesperson. Karen stated that the truck would go through a 500-mile break-in period and after that the vibration would go away. Now, at this point, I have no idea what to believe or from whom. At that point we were taken to a counter where something referred to as On Star was offered to us. We hadn’t heard anything about this previously and I was just planning to pick up my truck, ask Karen why we weren’t provided numbers on a purchase rather than a lease, and go from there. The gentleman at the On-Star counter, or Tech counter, Mr. Caden Gracie, commenced to explain all of our options with On Star. I was confused as to why we weren’t offered this on the evening we purchased the new Silverado. I asked Mr. Gracie and he was unsure, and he also stated that we could have had the entire package added into our financing if we had been told that night. This is when I began to get more upset than I already was. There seemed to be a lot of misleading, or omissions, that had taken place so far. I asked Mr. Gracie if it was too late to add On Star to our financing and he stated that he would check with our finance manager. In the meantime, he went over the entire details of how to utilize On Star, set it up, use the on-screen controls, connect phones, etc. He was extremely pleasant and professional at all times without being misleading. In fact, when I mentioned to him what all we had been through so far, he seemed upset that we had such a bad experience and mentioned that our salesperson was quite a flake that most people didn’t want to work with. Mr. Gracie then went back inside to inquire about adding On Star to our contract. As my nephew and I headed out the front doors I was confronted by Karen asking me if I was happy with my new truck. I explained to her that I was happy with the truck, but not happy with the fact that I was misled about the 30-day return option, not happy about the entire Ford lease turn in experience that had taken place because she provided me with incorrect information. I explained to her that I felt that she should have known the rules for turning in a lease since she was a new car manager. She immediately corrected me and stated that she was NOT a new car manager, she was a floor manager. Personally, I have never heard of a floor manager at a dealership, but at this point there were a lot of odd things taking place at this dealership. She stated that she didn’t know the policy and that upset me since she is a manager. As a manager, I felt she should know the facts before she tells a customer something of that nature because it caused a big mess. Karen then began berating me about how she gave me free side steps, a free spray-in bedliner, and a free window strip on the windshield. I didn’t understand that at all because I know for a fact the dealership didn’t give me anything for free. The MSRP on the window sticker compared to the vehicle price on the lease agreements are only about $1000.00 different, and I put down $3000.00, so nothing was free. I’ve been purchasing and leasing vehicles long enough, know plenty of people in the business, and nothing is ever given to the customer for free. Karen simply made the accessories a part of the deal in one way or another. In fact, the accessories dealer at Nimnicht told me himself that he was a separate entity from the dealership and had nothing to do with them other than to install accessories. He gets paid for the accessories and the installation and nothing is done for free. I also asked her why we were only provided with the lease monthly payment and not a purchase monthly payment so we could decide which would be our best option. She stated that the purchase monthly payment would be between $600.00 and $650.00 per month and I stated that would be acceptable if it wasn’t too late. She didn’t know if it was too late or not and didn’t offer to check. She continued arguing about me not being happy with my purchase experience and I indicated that we weren’t getting anywhere. It was at that point that Mr. Gracie came out to talk with me and Karen went back inside. Mr. Gracie stated that it was not too late to add On Star if we wanted it. I told him I would let him know for sure after I spoke with my wife. I realized that nobody was concerned with my concerns, I was upset and ready to leave because it appeared nobody was going to address my concerns or questions about financing rather than leasing. At this point I didn’t want to subject my nephew to any further waiting, so I decided I would leave and attempt to handle this issue through GM. As I was about to get into my truck, Karen came rushing out of the dealership and began berating me in the parking lot about me not being happy with how our deal had taken place. She stated that she had just spoken with her general manager and I can just leave the truck, they’ll give me back my $3000.00 check, and I can leave. When I asked her how I would get back to St Augustine, she told me to go next door and buy a Ford. I explained that I left Ford to come there to try and purchase a Chevrolet but had no idea that things would happen the way they did. She again repeated that if I’m not happy with the truck, just leave it and go. I told her that I was happy with the truck, not the experience. Again, she repeated the same thing. I then explained to her that I was not leaving the truck. I explained to Karen that Mr. Gracie had told us it was not too late to add On Star to the contract so it shouldn’t be too late to change to a purchase. She told me that nobody was going to bring out new paperwork for us to sign. I explained to her that Mr. Gracie told me they would FedEx the new contract overnight and all we had to do was overnight it back. Still, nothing changed, and nobody was concerned about what I was actually dealing with or going through with this entire deal. I couldn’t even keep my head straight because I just couldn’t believe how everything had transpired. At this point I was extremely stressed out and ready to just leave and that is what I did. In over 30 years this was absolutely the worst vehicle purchase experience that I have ever had. My wife and I each get new vehicles every two to three years, so that’s a lot of vehicles in a 30-year period where we had good experiences until we went to Nimnicht Chevrolet. Clearly my mistake at this point, or possibly much sooner, was not asking to speak with Karen’s manager or the General Manager. Apparently neither option would have resolved anything since it appeared that the dealership stuck together and wasn’t concerned with anything about what we were told, how we were misled, how we were lied to, etc. I contacted my salesperson on August 20, 2020 to inquire about the financing being changed to a purchase. She said she was going to check to make sure it wasn’t too late and call me back. She never called back. I sent her a text the next day asking again and received no response. I contacted GM after the fact, on August 21, 2020, to try and file a complaint and explain that we would have rather purchased than leased again, but nobody was attempting to help. Everyone was ignoring us on that issue. In fact, they called me back today, September 2, 2020, just to tell me that there was nothing they could do to help me. I received a text from Ashley Lazio, a Customer Experience Coordinator on August 22, 2020, and I explained everything that had taken place. She stated that she was concerned and would escalate the issue to her manager. I spoke to her again on August 25th, 2020 and she stated that the issue was being dealt with by her manager and someone would be calling me back and that never happened. To date, I haven’t heard back from anyone at Nimnicht Chevrolet about any of the issues above. I have not received the check for the four remaining payments on my Ford lease as promised, I haven’t received the carpeted floor mats promised by my salesperson, nor have I ever been contacted back about changing to a purchase from a lease before it was too late. I did however call the dealership and speak to a gentleman by the name of Brent Cox on September 2, 2020. I attempted to explain some of the details to him, but he simply continued stating there was nothing he could do to help. He did say that he would look into when the loan was funded and when I would receive the check for the four remaining Ford lease payments. Mr. Cox called me back a short time later and told me that the loan was funded TODAY, September 2, 2020. He also said that he would call me when the check was in the mail, which could be a couple days or so. Therefore, clearly, since the loan was just funded September 2, 2020, there was a sufficient amount of time for someone to contact me to discuss changing the deal from a lease to a purchase; but apparently, I wasn’t an important enough customer to take the time to do so. Again, I have never been treated like that from any dealership in my lifetime. I’ve never been blatantly lied to, or misled, or ignored, or berated in public the way I was by Nimnicht Chevrolet. And again, now to this date, September 8, 2020, we have still not received the remaining 4 lease payments promised on our Ford F-150 that we thought we were trading in, nor have we received the carpeted floor mats we were promised by the salesperson, nor have we even been directly contacted by the dealership to address our concerns at all. Extremely unprofessional. More