I am an Officer in the military overseas and tried to negotiate a deal to have a car in the drive way when I get home to spend more time with friends and family before I deploy again. I found this car at auto trader and after numerous attempts at a callabck I finally got a hold of someone. It appeared they were intentionally avoiding my calls and would not answer simple questions about warranty, etc.
After much persistence we finally came to a deal and I was told "congratulations on your new vehicle". The next day they lowered their internet price by over $1200 dollars what we agreed on.
I called to ask about it and was told someone else was looking at the car that morning and was forwarded to the used car sales manager...the rudest dealer I have ever met. The comments he made were down right belittling. He was extremely hostile and would not take responsibility of his sales team making a deal then not honoring it.
Instead of telling me up front they were inexperienced / incompetent with internet sales and could not help me they lead me to believe they were going to sell me a car for almost a week. I took out a loan and had a check ready, I was just waitng on the purcahse agreement the sales rep had promised he would overnight to me the night before.
If the customer service would have been up front and reasonable with me from the start I would have at least considered using them when I get home in a few weeks (I live very near by and their prices are fair) but this was the WORST car buying experience EVER and I left feeling like a third rate customer.
I took out a loan I did not need based on their advice and instructions. I trusted the sales rep and they completely took me for a ride (but not in a car!). This completely turned me off to online car buying and will have to sacrfice my valuable time in the states with my family before I redeploy.
