Need some advice on a dealer issue

[HoustonTRD]

For those of you who are way smarter than me...

Here is the situation: (I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible so there will be lots of line breaks)
I bought my vehicle out of state.
They sent the registration information to the wrong county multiple times.
I specifically told them where I live and where to send it (I provided the exact address and phone number as well as city and the county name)
They sent it to the wrong county again.
They finally sent it to the proper county.
Within 12 hours (FOUR months AFTER I purchased the vehicle) of the paperwork arriving at the correct location, I had my tags
The county assessed a penalty fee (small in the grand scheme of things but still a decent amount - over $300) because they did not have the check within 30 days

So that's what happened. When I talked to the clerk at the county, she said if that ever happens in Texas, she calls the dealership, they overnight a check, and then the situation gets straightened out. Everyone moves on. I tried to explain that to the dealer I bought my vehicle from thinking (hey - me and my family/friends have bought multiple vehicles from them over time, surely they will clear up such a small matter) and they said they aren't paying it because they don't cover taxes and fees. Okay, I get that - except it's not a fee. It's a penalty because you people messed up. Multiple times. This is despite me telling you how to do it the right way. So one guy tells me they can't pay it as per his boss. I told him I want to talk to his boss. His boss never calls me back.

So fast forward, and I contacted Toyota Corp (the adult version of I'm going to tell your daddy, I know - weak, but I was out of options) and they said that contract resolutions have to be handled at the dealer level, but they will be happy to work with us to get them on the phone. I said, okay, no problem.

He gets on the phone and tells me they aren't going to pay it because I had them change the delivery location. I said, "yes, I did. Because it was WRONG. Your office delivered it to the wrong place. Multiple times. How are you not getting this?" He responds with "I hear you, but I don't know what else there is to discuss. We aren't paying it." So I said bye. And we got off the phone.

So, that's my story - and that's where I need the smart people. Do you think I have any other options here? I feel like I just need to suck it up, but I think that's ridiculous after having spent $40K+ on an SUV. Because they sure as hell cashed that check from my bank ASAP! Thanks ahead of time for any advice/suggestions.

(Mods - if this is in the wrong forum, please feel free to move)

 

[Bevo]

I guess you could take them to small claims court, but I don't know that 300 bucks is worth the time.

One thing you can do is tell us what dealer it is so we can all avoid them in the future. They sound like a-holes.

 

[DAGNABIT]

pay the fee and then blast them on every social media site.... then go outside and enjoy your 4runner

 

[jwkilgore]

What Bevo said. A lawyer will cost you $300 for one hour (or maybe two hours).

You might go to small claims court, but check on fees. Is $300 worth dozens of hours of your time in prep and trial time?

Otherwise, go online. Leave specific negative reviews on every web site you can find. Don't go on a rant, just be specific about exactly what happened in clear and non-inflammatory language.

 

[HoustonTRD]

Yeah - I figured small claims was my only option. It just INFURIATES me that he was just so casual about it. I did make it clear (politely - I never lost my cool) that I thought it was absurd on their part to lose multiple future car sales on such a trivial matter (I can't speak for others, but I know none of my extended family or close friends will ever shop there again), but if they're doing that well, then good for them. That may have sounded like some minor threat but that was not the intent, and I'm sure they don't really care anyway. Unfortunately, I resorted to that statement because I was trying to get my point across of how absurd this whole situation has been. It has already taken up multiple hours of my time. I have never had to try so hard to get paperwork for a vehicle. I have bought two houses over time and I'm not exaggerating when I say that they both went smoother than this.

Again, if I did something wrong, no problem. I will own that. This wasn't on me.

I guess you could take them to small claims court, but I don't know that 300 bucks is worth the time.

One thing you can do is tell us what dealer it is so we can all avoid them in the future. They sound like a-holes.

Bohn Brothers Toyota, Harvey, LA
The sales guy (fleet manager) was great. But this process has been insane and extremely frustrating. All of this came from the general manager. So I don't want to bash everyone else. What made it so infuriating was the lack of communication. It was almost impossible to find out what was going on with my paperwork. It's like they got their check and figured "we're good!"

pay the fee and then blast them on every social media site.... then go outside and enjoy your 4runner

I had to pay it. At that point, they had already issued two 60-day temp tags (apparently that's the max) and then after that I was driving around with the "Dealer Transfer In-Transit" tags where you hand write the date and they are good for 5 days. I needed my paperwork and my plates.

And I do enjoy it.

What Bevo said. A lawyer will cost you $300 for one hour (or maybe two hours).

You might go to small claims court, but check on fees. Is $300 worth dozens of hours of your time in prep and trial time?

Otherwise, go online. Leave specific negative reviews on every web site you can find. Don't go on a rant, just be specific about exactly what happened in clear and non-inflammatory language.

I will definitely be polite about it, but that day won't be today. Still trying to calm my nerves from that phone call.


Thanks everyone for the advice. I figured I was basically out of options, but I wanted to ask anyway. Much appreciated.

 

[Engineer]

You are on the right track, sometimes people will not be reasonable and its best to cut losses and move on. I would offer up 1 more attempt to the dealer, explaining very clearly what you will be posting for a review and if they think the potential loss in business is worth the $300 then so be it , post and move on. That said there are always two sides of a story and we have only heard yours and there are always learning experiences to make from this.

Not turning the victim into the villain but a red flag should have come up long before 4m went by. (again OP , I am on your side with this, I just went through an issue with a security deposit return with an apartment, the lesson I learned was had I thought about taking photos when I moved out it would have been resolved much easier and the situation would have been completely avoided.)

Good luck and congrats on the purchase

 

[whodat]

Chalk it up as lesson learned. For the future, always get the name of the person you talked to, date it and record the time for future references. People tend to take ownership more when you ask them for their name. I would attempt one more time to get it resolved. But instead of on the phone, go in person. People don't like to deal with confrontations in person, they would much rather deal with it over the phone so they could roll their eyes at you lol and it's easier to be an nonchalant ass. Talk to the owner, say you want to compliment him on a recent purchase, otherwise he will not want to talk to you and day he will call you back. When he comes out, apologize you lied and really want to make a complaint in person. List off the past vehicles you bought with them and tell them they are going to lose thousands of dollars in the future because of a few hundred they messed up on. If they are stupid enough to lose your business, then look at it as you really did hit them where it hurts, their pocketbook. Sorry for your shitty situation!

 

[HoustonTRD]

You are on the right track, sometimes people will not be reasonable and its best to cut losses and move on. I would offer up 1 more attempt to the dealer, explaining very clearly what you will be posting for a review and if they think the potential loss in business is worth the $300 then so be it , post and move on. That said there are always two sides of a story and we have only heard yours and there are always learning experiences to make from this.

Not turning the victim into the villain but a red flag should have come up long before 4m went by. (again OP , I am on your side with this, I just went through an issue with a security deposit return with an apartment, the lesson I learned was had I thought about taking photos when I moved out it would have been resolved much easier and the situation would have been completely avoided.

Good luck and congrats on the purchase

I can assure you - I tried multiple times. What pushed me over the edge was that all I wanted was an explanation as to -why- and he would not call me back. I pleaded my case with everyone but him and they all agreed. But he wasn't having it. I just found it rude that the only way I could get him on the phone was when Toyota Corp made the call.

I agree - 4 months is a crazy amount of time. Trust me - I was losing my mind all summer. However, I was also trying to be reasonable. I can assure you, had I known there would be extra fees involved, I would have pushed the issue much harder. Lesson learned. Like I said in my previous post - serious lack of communication on their part. I know that things happen in life, and I try to be reasonable and understanding. But then people mess with my money, and I get upset.

True - you only know one side. I honestly didn't come in here to bash them, which is why I left the name out initially. It wasn't the dealership I had an issue with - it's the one manager. But because of him, we (my family and friends who heard the story) just won't deal with them because it seems crazy. Their call though. My temp tags almost expired twice, and I had to keep on them to get this resolved because I didn't want to get pulled over for not having tags. That would get resolved (had to do it twice) after calling the finance manager, salesman that sold me the car, and the title people.

Thanks for the well wishes. I am enjoying it. And I smile every time I get in it. Maybe that will wear off - who knows. Haha. At this point, I'm done with it and moving on. They said that they are not even acknowledging that it is a problem, whether they sent the information to the wrong place or not. Not much I can do about that. I was hoping common sense would prevail, but in this case, it did not. But I had to try to at least make myself feel better.

That sucks about the apartment stuff! Hopefully you were able to get things resolved.

 

[HoustonTRD]

Chalk it up as lesson learned. For the future, always get the name of the person you talked to, date it and record the time for future references. People tend to take ownership more when you ask them for their name. I would attempt one more time to get it resolved. But instead of on the phone, go in person. People don't like to deal with confrontations in person, they would much rather deal with it over the phone so they could roll their eyes at you lol and it's easier to be an nonchalant ass. Talk to the owner, say you want to compliment him on a recent purchase, otherwise he will not want to talk to you and day he will call you back. When he comes out, apologize you lied and really want to make a complaint in person. List off the past vehicles you bought with them and tell them they are going to lose thousands of dollars in the future because of a few hundred they messed up on. If they are stupid enough to lose your business, then look at it as you really did hit them where it hurts, their pocketbook. Sorry for your shitty situation!

Oh, I definitely have names, dates, and times. I wanted to do that in person, but unfortunately, it just isn't feasible. The dealer is a 6+ hour drive away from where I live. The only reason I went there to pick it up was because I couldn't get anyone local to get me the vehicle I wanted. After a few phone calls, they were able to get it, so I found a day I was able to go, drove over, and picked it up. The timing just worked out perfectly.

Oh well - chalk this one up as an L and a life lesson learned. It happens.

 

[Engineer]

You did the right thing and no harm in getting second opinions. Hey maybe one last shot and they will wake up and come to their senses (we won't hold our breath).I would leave feedback though and as others mentioned, just the facts. No name calling etc and let people make up their own minds.

I am in 100% agreement , when someone takes something from you, be it $.50 or $5000 it hurts and the best thing to do is exactly what you did, try to resolve the issue while keeping things in perspective and learning what we can from it. I ended up getting all but $42.50 back for the deposit, while I felt they owed it all back I was not going to argue as getting $300+ back and "loosing" the rest was much better then getting none of it back as like most people I was not about to actually take the time and effort to go to court over that amount but I did threaten to send all of our communications to the current residents to let them evaluate the situation and make their own minds as to who was right ( I had a distribution list they had sent out one time by mistake).

Best of luck

 

[HoustonTRD]

You did the right thing and no harm in getting second opinions. Hey maybe one last shot and they will wake up and come to their senses (we won't hold our breath).I would leave feedback though and as others mentioned, just the facts. No name calling etc and let people make up their own minds.

I am in 100% agreement , when someone takes something from you, be it $.50 or $5000 it hurts and the best thing to do is exactly what you did, try to resolve the issue while keeping things in perspective and learning what we can from it. I ended up getting all but $42.50 back for the deposit, while I felt they owed it all back I was not going to argue as getting $300+ back and "loosing" the rest was much better then getting none of it back as like most people I was not about to actually take the time and effort to go to court over that amount but I did threaten to send all of our communications to the current residents to let them evaluate the situation and make their own minds as to who was right ( I had a distribution list they had sent out one time by mistake).

Best of luck

I probably won't hold my breath either.

They accidentally sent out a distribution list?! Yikes! Bad for them, funny for you!

 

[Mistaken]

If you can afford it, I would just pay it out of your pocket and move on. You have sunk a bunch of time and energy towards it and havent gotten anywhere. The headache and stress arent worth it in the end. I know everyone and every situation is different but that is my opinion.

 

[bjohnston115]

This probably will not work since it was 4 months ago but...

I bought a new car once and traded in my old car and the dealer neglected to pay off my lease so bill collectors started calling me. Luckily I had put the deposit for the new car on my Amex and i called up Amex to stop payment to the dealership. Long story short, that got the dealers attention and my car was paid off within a few hours.

Aside from that, I would keep at it with the dealer. Find out who owns the dealership and see if you can shoot it up the chain to someone with a brain.

 

[Kennyr44]

Ok you truly got ripped off. It hurts but there is no minister of fairness in this world. Don't ever become a contractor or build your own house if you cant take a good screwing. Bash them on Yelp and they will lose way more than $300, not that it will get your money back. A car dealer does a bad thing, Shocker. When you step from the street to the dealers lot you become the prey. The only way to avoid this is not to enter their territory. Work on the car yourself, find an independent shop, buy your parts online. Just avoid the future pain.

 

[rydr1]

Sometimes the extra time you spend is not worth the trouble. I would do what dagnabit posted and email the dealer all the links you left a bad review on. Shoot, I would also include names of every one I spoke with. They will either call you trying to resolve it or, leave it. one way or another I would be happy.

I understand that sometimes you want to fight the moral issue, but $300 for extra time spent trying to get them to court would take up too much time. I can spend that extra time with my daughters or on a project instead and just hurt the dealer with the bad reviews.

 

[kpinthebay]

I personally get better results in a formal written letter. Send to dealer GM and cc toyota NA and the owner of the dealer. Include details and any evidence in your package. Send via Fexex or ups.

Be polite, but stern.

 

[PAPAOBEWON]

Go for it provided you check the law

I just had a dealer issue today. In some States a lawyer can represent you in small claims court and depending on the law can go for damages plus court costs plus lawyer fees!
So my suggestion contact a lawyer that deals with your issue have your statement detailed and your questions prepared to do it in a minimal amount of time. There are lawyers that will do a free 30 minute consultation! If you cant get costs plus fees then ask about a contingency if your case is valid. Most give up and bite the bullet, however, if you are correct in your allegations and the lawyer can pursue it without you, then I say go for it! Good Luck !!

 

[lightspeed]

Another option: many local news media have a consumer advocate and if they think your gripe is justified they will make it a news story. Few businesses can withstand that level of bad press and will usually cave with copious apologies.

 

[Kennyr44]

Another option: many local news media have a consumer advocate and if they think your gripe is justified they will make it a news story. Few businesses can withstand that level of bad press and will usually cave with copious apologies.

Nice I like this, expose the pricks on the news.

 

[77Bronc]

I feel your pain...not that this happened to me, but the dealership you mentioned was on my search and contact list when I was looking. In addition, I had ran into some real PITAs at the big dealership in Baton Rouge...

I did find out in my recent purchase escapades, some of these dealers are very difficult to deal with. In addition, they are not all good on the paperwork.

In addition, Northshore Toyota and Team Toyota are not on my Christmas card list either.

Best of luck...if you need anything, I work not far from this dealer, on the east side of the Mississippi

77