Roger Beasley Volvo

I found the dealer on AutoTrader, made contact and dealt with Cedric (salesman). I was informed my loan was approved and that everything was in place. I requested several times during a period of two weeks that finance manager Amy, give me a call and give me details of the deal. Just to satisfy with me that all paperwork was done and just needed final signatures and so forth. Amy never returned my calls. Cedric continued to assure me that all was in place and was just waiting on me to fly in from WV and do the final paperwork.

The night before my flight, my girlfriend again called for the finance manager (three times throughout the day) but to no avail, however upon the third call, she reached the general manager, Eric. Eric was nice and apologetic and said, "We don't operate this way." That we won't have to spend money to come down there if everything isn't in place, etc. He was very reassuring and all sounded great; mind you this is 10:30 PM and we are flying out of WV at 6:00 AM. He even looked up the deal information on the computer and called us back to give us details. He informed us of finance rate, sales price, etc. Again we were reassured that everything was done and to go ahead and fly in the next morning. He insisted we did not need to bring anything with us other than rest of our down payment.

We arrived the next morning as schedule and were picked-up at the airport by their driver. As soon as we arrived to the dealership, we knew something was wrong. After they made us wait for four hours with excuse after excuse, we were mad, frustrated and nearly in tears. The finance manager only spoke to us once during this four hour period and was extremely rude. It seemed she was just then trying to get the loan approved and the paperwork done. We were told repeatedly that it was just a few more minutes.

So finally we were called into an office with the general manager, finance manager and salesperson. We were informed at that time that they screwed up. They had not received all the information they needed from me but forgot to tell me to bring paystubs, references, etc. I was unable to obtain these as I was 1,200 miles from home. Eric said, "We dropped the ball and we accept most of the responsibility for this". He said that I needed to take the blame also because I did not bring the paystubs. He said, "Is this the first car you've ever bought?" I said, "Off a dealership, yes!" He said, "Well, then I can understand you didn't know but there's nothing we can do for you."

Then they tried to get out of returning our $500 deposit, which we did end up getting. We said since it was their fault, what about helping us out with the airfare home since we wasted $520 to fly there to pick up a vehicle they knew they weren't going to sell us. He said, "Absolutely not. I can't help you at all."

Had it not been for the very helpful driver of the dealership offering to drive us back to airport, the manager would have left us stranded at the dealership with no car, no flight and no idea what to do next.

Last month, I received two notices. My 2002 Volvo S60 was due for 7500 mile service (or 52,000 mile service). One notice I received via email on 5/04/09 telling me vehicle maintenance was due. I received a second notice by mail a day later. I made an appointment for service for May 23 at 2 pm. A few days later, I called back and I asked the employee, Brandon, what the cost of service would be. He replied that my first maintenance would be free of charge. I injured my back on the morning of May 23 and called right away to reschedule my appointment for the following Saturday, May 29th. I brought my car in and was immediately informed that the service would not be free and would cost me $250. I was shocked and explained that I had been told it would be free, since this was my first service. The service manager, J. **, apologized but insisted he could not honor what I had been told. I was furious and felt I had been tricked with the old "bait and switch."

Believing the car needed service, I agreed to leave it there to be serviced with the the agreement Mr. ** would try to give me a discount, the car would be washed and detailed, I would receive a loaner car and my car would be delivered to me upon completion (the following Monday 6/1/09). Then, 48 hours after I left the car, I received a phone call from Mr. ** that the car, after all, did not require service since the 52,000 mile service had been completed prior to my purchasing the car. The car just needed an oil change at the cost of $75. I was dumbfounded that they could've have figured this out before they sent me two notices. I made two appointments and talked to two different people in the service department about this vehicle's service. They have demonstrated a lack of communication, poor customer relations and unprofessionalism and incompetence. One look into the computer records should've been enough to tell them the car wasn't due for service. So was this another "bait and switch" for a simple oil change? A few minutes after I spoke with Mr. ** about the unneeded service, he called me back and left a voice message telling me that the car also needed an alignment, costing $89.99, which I declined to have them complete.

My jaw dropped when I read "Tony of Thousand Oaks, California" report on his 2001 Volvo V70 transmission problems. His circumstances are absolutely identical to mine: extended warranty, long-term reports to the dealer of transmission problems, "neutral-drop" type of slippage in the transmission from drive to neutral and then back again.

I'm particularly furious, like Tony, because I'd been reporting this to our Volvo dealer for *years*. Now that the extended warranty has expired, they -- today -- are now telling me that it'll be a $4,400 repair to replace the transmission.

Caveat Emptor -- let the buyer beware. But I know I'll never buy another Volvo!