[Ken]

OK, i need Saturn Corp. phone number, These guys are jerking me around. They screwed up my order, and gave me the demo. It had some issues like some door dents, squeaky top, ripped windshield weather stripping, etc. First off they made me purchase aftermarket rims at $2500 even though they had the originals, made me purchase an oily interior finish at $799 even though they put it on after I was given the rights to the car, and added secure etch at $399 in case the windows are stolen, which makes no sense since onstar can track the car. So a car that should have cost around 25000 ended up costing me 29000. besides the obvious add ons that should not have been forced on me, they told me to make a list of everything not right with the car and they will fix it.... i was especially concerned about the door dents, which there are 5 of them. When I went in this morning to give them a detailed list of these issues, i was told that it may cost too much to have them fix the issues and that they want the car back and will put me in line for another one. The guy tried to make me seem like the problem...He actually said and I quote....."see this was our demo, and I didn't want to sell it to you.....you should give it back...."he never ever said that. When they "FORGOT" to order my car and didn;t tell me about it, they offered me this car. PERIOD. No.."I dont want to sell it to you but here ya go..." it was simply, take this or nothing cuz we have another demo so its all good. He wanted so bad to get rid of this car because they had another demo coming in. When I bought the car with 220 miles on it, he acted as if he had me by the you know whats, and basically said take it or leave it because I will sell that car to someone else. I said if they went back on their word there would be a big problem. Then another Saturn employee came out and said I need you and the guy just left me out in the lot. Did I mention he is a manager?That's as far as I have gotten. i need to notify Saturn Corp of this because they have been screwing me over from the get go. Can anyone make suggestions? I would really appreciate it.

ken

 

[SUNNY_SKY]

I would be mad as hell also.

First off, did you get your original order in writing signed by the manager? If not, that is probably why they feel they can jerk people around and sell whatever price they want.

Second, by forgetting to order your car they have some serious explaining to do. I would take it to the General Manager. Tell him that you must absolutely have the next image that is allocated since they fudged up your order by not even ordering it! The person you probably spoke with was just the Sales Manager, who by the looks of it barely gave a rats @ss by leaving you in the lot hanging. He thought he could just sell the car to someone else if you didn't want it.

If the GM won't do anything to take care of the problem, take it to your local television station's consumer affairs and tell them you will also file a complaint with the District Attorney and Better Business Bureau.

That will knock some sense into them. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Crimson Avenger]

Easy does it here...

This can easily get into dealer bashing.

Let's keep the suggestions positive so we can keep the thread open and help this fellow out.

Here's the relevant section of the rules:

Disputes on transactions {copied from Corvetteforum}

Thanks.

 

[Ken]

Thank you. Originally when they offered the Sky to me, I asked if they would put the original rims back on and they said that there wouldn't be a problem with that. Then when come time to purchase the car...an amendment on the windshield.... Jeez....what a nightmare....The manager said the car would be sold to me with the wheels on and thats how they ordered the car, yet I was told the original rims were at the dealership...hmmm..fishy? When come time to do the paperwork the original rims were offered to me for 500 dollars... How does that make sense? Ok, with that out to the side...That's not even the issue, which is big enough as it is. The issues is there possible refusal to fix the dents in car.... As 3 guys stared at the car looking at my notes there exact words were:

Manager to service tech: "Can you see the dents?"

Service tech: "Ya I see them"

Manager to Me: "Saturn may not authorize this because it will be too expensive, you should probably return the car back to us....It was our demo remember?, I didn't want to sell it to you..."

Me to Manager: "Well, you said you would fix the problems with the car, thats why I wrote it up for you to see, I can return it....."

Manager to Me, Interupting me: "...Exchange..."

Me to Manager: "Ok, exchange it, so I would have to get in line again?, I'm assuming you haven't placed my original order?"

Manager to Me: "I haven't touched the order..."

Manager to Me: "You should give us the car back"

Me to Manager: "You told me you fix anything wrong with the car and I specifed before purchasing the car that the dents bothered me.....If you aren't going to fix the dents then we will have a big problem.."

Guy comes from inside and interupts: "I need ya..."

Manager to Guy: "OK!"

Then he takes off and leaves me in the lot....

That's EXACTLY how it went down.

 

[Ken]

I even said to the guys before they looked at the dents that we should compare them to another SKY to MAKE SURE it wasn't some type of "stamping issue"... trying to be as nice about it as possible....

 

[snaponbob]

Ken, I am in retail. I am going to give you some cliches to consider. They work for the seller AND the buyer.

1) The good deals get better, the bad deals get worse.
2) If it "feels" bad, it usually is.
3) When in doubt, DON'T.

Get your money back. If you have to re-order, it is going to be quarter past forever anyway before you can get a car from them if all goes well. Go somewhere that appreciates your money. Realistically, there is nothing that Saturn could, or can, do. It will just add to the frustration.

 

[bradsky]

Dealership Manager, Corporate Saturn, DMV, BBB, local News outlets....they are all options. Just let the dealership know you have other options and that you want things made right, now.
What city did you buy the car in, so others can be weary?

 

[GaryH]

Give 'em the car back. Get your money and run, don't walk, to another dealer.

 

[zzzybil]

:thumbs:

Give 'em the car back. Get your money and run, don't walk, to another dealer.

:thumbs: :cheers: :cuss:

 

[Nemesis]

This can easily get into dealer bashing.

First of all C/A, I want to thank you for all the work you guys do as administrators and let you know how much you are appreciated for spending your time keeping things sane on the forum. But, I am having difficulty understanding why we should not "dealer bash". If the dealers are doing stuff like this, shouldn't we expose them, tell what they did, and list their name on the site? I thought this was a site that was supposed to help people interested in the Sky? The "other" sky site has a list of dealers that are selling at MSRP, which is VERY helpful. Why not a list of dealers that can be clicked on and different saleman's names and the customers experience with that person. I am sure you can answer this question, that is why I am asking. I just can't see the answer....

 

[usmc]

I'll offer it up one more time... PM me for an honest dealer within driving distance of you. They treated me as one would expect and as a result, I have brought them 3-4 sky customers from this forum. One even as far as southern cali came up here to buy.

No BS, no add ons, no mark-up. The only thing I'm not sure about is how long the wait is. Just throwing it out there.

you will of course have to investigate how their exchange program works. I know you can't get your money back as they stopped that refund program years ago.

the best you can do now is exchange it for another car... what you need to find out is if the exchange has to be bought at that dealership or can you take your exchange elswhere. You will likely be at the bottom of another dealerships line, if they allow you to jump to another dealer but hey, at least you won't have to deal with this guy anymore

 

[MidniteBlues]

I would do what several others have already said, GET YOUR MONEY BACK & RUN!! I would not walk. Noone should have to experience what you did and the manner you were treated. This person/manager low life has no class what so ever and has abused a customer in a MAJOR way. How he got to his position is beyond my understanding. I would definitely go over his head to Saturn itself, to the dealer owner himself, as high up as I could go seeking relief. You never know, they might help ya into getting a Sky after what you went thru AT another dealer. I would report this so call dealer to the BBB. You MuST lodge a complaint, I would also talk to the California State Attorney Office. Here in Florida we happen to have a Lemon Law, belief me you can get there attention. We also have a TV channel that would eat up your story. BAD Publicity will kill his business. I do wish you luck, but IMHO, I can not imagine that you would continue to do business with these people--I do however wish you luck trying to resolve this major problem.

 

[Ken]

Thanks everyone... I apreciate the help. Yes, I would have to exchange the car, I would not be able to go to another dealer or even get my money back... The money is theirs....So...maybe I try to get the new demo that replaced the one sold to me?

 

[Kyle]

Ken,
Speak with Corp. you should explain the situation to them and they can force retailers to do things, simply explain how you were treated and how you were forced into buying adds. This is Saturn, last time I checked not a dealership who takes advantage of our customers. This is NOT the saturn treatment and as a sales consultant this behavior pisses me off:brentil: I would go on Saturn.com and Send them a E-mail or 1-800-553-6000 is the Customer Assistance. #. I hope this helps.

 

[tolaiz]

Sick, sick, sick!!

Thanks everyone... I apreciate the help. Yes, I would have to exchange the car, I would not be able to go to another dealer or even get my money back... The money is theirs....So...maybe I try to get the new demo that replaced the one sold to me?

Oh man this story made me sick and nauseous!! You have NOTHING to lose by filing as many complaints as possible. I hear the DMV is one of the best to file. Let the Owner know you're going to file as many complaints as possible. This is just so wrong the way you were treated. I hope you come out of this Ok, but by all means don't listen to anyone who say's "there is nothing that can be done." The only way you'll lose for sure is to do nothing. Give it your best shot, even if it means contacting media. I also agree, that we should be able to expose the flakey dealerships here on our forum. Good luck!! I am going to keep you in my prayers for a positive out come.
Theresa

 

[Crimson Avenger]

First of all C/A, I want to thank you for all the work you guys do as administrators and let you know how much you are appreciated for spending your time keeping things sane on the forum. But, I am having difficulty understanding why we should not "dealer bash". If the dealers are doing stuff like this, shouldn't we expose them, tell what they did, and list their name on the site? I thought this was a site that was supposed to help people interested in the Sky? The "other" sky site has a list of dealers that are selling at MSRP, which is VERY helpful. Why not a list of dealers that can be clicked on and different salesman's names and the customers experience with that person. I am sure you can answer this question, that is why I am asking. I just can't see the answer....

Even as we are now, we're not quite at the point where this can be posted, because the original poster has not yet made a reasonable effort to resolve the issue, but I'm allowing it for now.

If the thread goes off into bashing dealers, then it will be removed.

Here's the section from the rules:
From the rule post: Disputes on transactions

The Forum allows members to post regarding a bad transaction with a vendor or another Forum member, but only after they have made a reasonable effort to resolve the issue offline. Then, when a post is made outlining the problem, the post must be factual and may not deteriorate into a rant or a vendor/tuner/member-bashing exercise.

We leave such threads open as long as they conform with Forum rules/guidelines and in order to give all sides in an issue the opportunity to comment. Then, the threads are locked and archived for future reference.

The matter may not be addressed in multiple threads or revisited with the same already-posted information on subsequent days.

So, since there is more yet to come for the reasonable effort, this one's a bit early.

On the forum itself, we cannot post a list of dealers selling for MSRP since we also have supporting dealers who pay to support the site and have the opportunity to post their vehicles for sale here.

That's covered in this section of the rules: Commercial posting

The applicable section is:

The Forum does not prohibit occasional and casual mention of non-supporting vendors. But those mentions cannot be so specific that they include addresses, phone numbers, sales contact names, e-mail addresses, URLs or links. And if the "casual" references become frequent, they will be considered as marketing and promotion.

You cannot, for instance, make a post telling other Forum members to buy their new [SKY] from dealer XYZ when XYZ is a non-supporting dealer.

If, however, you post a thread about a new [SKY] you have purchased and the thrust of the post is about the [SKY], it would not be inappropriate to mention in the post that you were pleased by your dealings with XYZ dealer.

Members that are not supporting vendors but post contact information for commercial sale (for example, dealers that post the dealership name, number, e-mail, etc.) in a starting thread, a specific post, or their signature are subject to having their information deleted. Persistent or multiple posting of contact information will result in said member being banned from posting.

I hope this helps clear it up. If not, drop me a PM, and we'll chat more about it.

So far, the thread is mostly OK....

 

[Anne]

I had a problem with the dealer I ordered my car from as well. Similarly, they tried to pass off a demo with over 400 miles as a new car. Saturn Corp. didn't care one iota.

What did work was getting in touch with the dealers parent corporation. Their phone was conveniently not on their web site, but a visit to www.sec.gov pulled up their annual report and it was in there.

I'm not going to say that the transaction was without bumps from that point on, but it was better than it had been. They did locate another car after first trying to get me to take the demo at a minimal discount--can you say "talk to the hand"--and actually ended up giving me the XM for free because it hadn't been on my original order, not that I use it anyhow.

I still haven't filled out the customer satisfaction survey. It's a shame too, because I'm not sure I'll ever buy another Saturn after what I went through--and Baby Girl is number five in ten years, so I was a pretty loyal customer.

I will say the dealer I'm using for service is better. Their people skills are anyhow, although it's sad when I know more about the technical aspects of the car's engine and drive train than their service advisors... :banghead: Imagine that, a chick who can have an intelligent conversation about positraction... yeah, I know, it's now called LSD.

Good luck!

Anne

 

[ctyankee]

Imagine that, a chick who can have an intelligent conversation about positraction... yeah, I know, it's now called LSD.

Good luck!

Anne

By any chance is your favorite movie, "My Cousin Vinnie"? :lol:

 

[Anne]

By any chance is your favorite movie, "My Cousin Vinnie"? :lol:

My husband swears they patterned Marissa Tormei's character after me.

I worked the counter in an aftermarket WD through college, and have two brothers who totally rebuilt several muscle cars each--of course it was always my job to be the second set of hands when installing a new head gasket or U-joint--what can I say?

Anne