AutoNation Ford Bradenton

Please consider this factual account of my encounter with this dealership prior to purchasing from them. I believe it displays an incredible lack of ethics and cause to wonder what other immoral tactics migh this dealership prior to purchasing from them. I believe it displays an incredible lack of ethics and cause to wonder what other immoral tactics might be part of their business practices. I live 3 hrs away from Bradenton on the East Coast. I was stunned at the offering of a "Kawasaki Green" Maserati and immediately called and Facetimed with a new employee (Patricia Dangler) who knew little about cars and the sales process. I explained the connection between this specific vehicle and the death of my nephew who was like my son who died while riding a matching Ninja motorcycle. I expressed my strong desire to work out a fair trade-in deal with my vehicle, text her pictures, Facetimed to take a closer look at the Maserati and followed up with a very personal email including an image of my nephew on his bike next to an image of the Maserati. As this was Sunday nearing closing, I was promised a follow up call the next day to discuss details of the purchased which never happened. I called Tuesday and spoke to a sales manager (Antoine Jackson) who said someone had taken a deposit on the vehicle Monday, they were doing a brake job on it and they were supposed to take delivery Saturday. Although I was dejected and frustrated at the lack of follow up by the salesperson they were new and I could have been more proactive so I simply asked Antoine to let me know immediately if that deal fell through. He confirmed via text that if delivery of the car was not taken on Saturday "it's yours". Saturday morning I received an exhilarating call that the car was available. The bright spot in the story (before it gets incredibly dark) was Antoine who was on family vacation yet texting me throughout the day to working out details of the purchase. Antoine let his manager know I was driving across the state with the intention of finalizing the deal and would be there between 3:15-3:45. Antoine text when I was just 20 minutes away and I confirmed my eta as close to 3:30. I did not see the car when arrived and walked into the showroom. This was the greeting I received from Patricia Dangler... "Hi Mr Tanner. I'm sorry but the car is sold". I literally waited to hear the punchline of her joke but she was serious and I absolutely lost it. "What the xxxx are you talking about? I made an appointment and spent three hours driving across the state to buy this car!" I was yelling at this point "You've got to be f*$!ing kidding me!" A man who appeared to be the overall sales manager and the one responsible came rushing up to me and kept yelling over me, "First cash in hand gets the deal, First cash in hand gets the deal"! I could not believe what I was experiencing. An ethical manager would have informed a potential buyer that there was a person driving across the state with an existing appointment to purchase the car. An ethical manager would have had the common decency to call or text to inform me there was another potential buyer. An ethical manager may have requested a deposit from me via credit card or bank draft to verify my intent to purchase. I would go so far as to say an ethical manager might have even requested that I stop and Facetime to purchase the vehicle outright. But I was not dealing with such a person. Instead, those involved including the highest manager intentionally blew me off and wasted an enormous amount of my time. But far beyond this was the gut wrenching dejection that followed. I had driven there with the eager anticipation of driving home in the one car bearing the memory of my departed nephew. I left there broken hearted and facing a gut wrenching three hour drive home in stunned silence. All of this for the sake of posting one sale on the board? Is the management of AutoNation of Bradenton truly this calloused? Is there any degree of humanity involved or do they willingly sacrifice clients at the altar of the almighty dollar? And beyond the lack of human decency do they even consider the long-term cost of losing FOR LIFE the offended client, that client’s family members, his friends and all of the individuals who hear about this despicable behavior on a review or on social media? I believe that my experience highlights a severe lack of moral fiber and human decency by the uppermost management of this dealership. Left unchecked this destructive force typically spreads like cancer to employees and salespeople and ultimately becomes the demise of many otherwise successful businesses. My hope is not the downfall of a company, but the removal of any such destructive forces so as to prevent further damage. Otherwise, let the phones go silent and the lot become a ghost town. More