Unethical!!! Terrible experience with the sales department. I test drove a Range Rover sport this past Saturday and wanted to make a deal immediately following the test drive. I was told I was unable to place a deposit on the car to hold it. I told the salesman, Andrew, that I had a trade-in- I was advised to submit an appraisal online emailed to me and I would receive an appraisal from Auto Nation within 30 minutes. I also requested warranty information which I did not receive until end-of-day Monday. On Tuesday, I returned to the dealership with my trade-in vehicle and received an amount for it in person since I never received a virtual appraisal from Auto Nation as I was told I would. While waiting for the appraisal, we were excited to take the car on another short drive. Andrew was preoccupied with two other customers and it was after close – he quickly took a moment to discuss the vehicle with us and we were in agreement to finalize purchase of the vehicle the following morning. While completing purchase paperwork the next morning, I received a call from Andrew advising that another customer had the vehicle on hold via an online reservation. I asked how that was possible - when I offered to put a down payment on the car I was told vehicles could not be held. He responded “We don't like to advertise that because people would do it all the time and it’s not fair if a customer wants to buy it.” At this point, I am at a total loss as I’ve been trying to purchase this vehicle for days. I asked to speak to Andrew’s manager, who with little concern for my dissatisfaction, let me know “A deposit was placed- they are picking it up tomorrow. If something doesn’t work out we’ll call you” I then receive an email from the general manager Bill McFadyen stating "Hi Noah, My Team has kept me appraised of the situation regarding the 2016 RRS. I think it would be best served if we have a conversation Thursday. I am free between 9:30AM and 11:30AM and then after 2:00PM. Thank you and look forward to speaking." Thank you, Bill, for asking an upset customer to call you at times that are convenient for you rather than picking up the phone to try and resolve the situation. I called Bill, and was given a completely different story- that the other customer would have purchased the car the previous night but it had a recall on a door and the title wasn’t in yet from the bank. I asked him for clarity on how the car was being held. He told me “We don’t hold cars, but this person is buying it.” I told Bill I would have to escalate this to Land Rover of America and he replied “I’ve been with Land Rover for 20 years, they can’t tell us how we run our dealership.” Some customer service. My guess is that this car was held for a friend once I expressed that I wanted to purchase it. I am a long-time Range Rover owner, have been serviced at numerous dealerships. I have never experienced such poor customer service and such indifference to a customer’s dissatisfaction. Not only does the dealership not have protocols in place- they are not transparent, dishonest, and unethical. I've noticed they respond with the same general message to all the unsatisfied customers, typical! UPDATE October 17, 2020 - I e-mailed AutoNation as they requested in the reply below, sent them the story and they were going to look into it and get back to me within 24-48 hours. And just as I expected, no one got back to me because they don't care. They reply to customers to show the public they are making right by their unsatisfied customers but don't do anything in hopes the customer will give up. Not this one!
Noah M
Oct 17, 2020
