The Auto Source Inc

The Auto Source Inc responded

Mr. Blankenship, Thank you for your review. I would like to say that we always appreciate feedback from anyone whether or not they purchase a vehicle from us. It allows us to evaluate our team to make sure they are doing everything possible to assist customers during this horrible pandemic. However, after reviewing your email I’m a little perplexed on your timeline and how you recall what transpired. I can assure you that we spend a great deal of money on Customer Retention software that tracks all of our salespeople including all of their communications with our customers. You first contacted us via email on Sunday July 26th in the late afternoon. There was no phone number listed, only an email so Garvin sent you an email within 10 mins asking if there were any questions or concerns you had in regards to the vehicle and how would you prefer communicating. You sent back an email with your phone number and asked him if he could call you Monday. Garvin did call you Monday but there was no answer. I won’t go over all the emails that were sent to you but needless to say there were quite a few. On Wednesday Garvin called again. You informed him you were on a conference call and asked him to call back later. He told you that you should just call him when you had time, we don’t keep calling customers trying to guess when they have free time, that would be extremely rude. You never returned the call so Garvin called you for the third time on Thursday. In regards to your concern over our schedule and hours, please allow me to explain. Due to the Covid outbreak we are running with a skeleton crew and in order to look out for the safety of everyone, we are working by appointment only. Garvin was willing to accommodate you as far as whatever time within reason you could make it here but you insisted that he bring the car to you for a test drive all the way to Clermont. We are a small, family owned independent auto dealership. We are not Carvana or Carmax. While we have no problem DELIVERING a purchased vehicle to customers unable to get here, we do not have the manpower to deliver cars for test drives to see if it’s something they like. We do our best to accommodate all of our customers but we have a strict policy that does not allow cars to be taken out of town for test drives. I wish you the best of luck in your search for your new vehicle and again I thank you for your feedback. Darrell Seach General Manager The Auto Source Inc.

The Auto Source Inc responded

Dear Mr. John Van Johnston: Thank you for reaching out to us. You sent a lead via Cargurus on our 2013 Ford Mustang Convertible for your daughter on July 8, 2020. The current advertised price on our vehicle was $12,800 plus tax and title. We had traded in this vehicle (by a previous customer) a few days before and it was still going through our reconditioning process. You asked Garvin (your sales representative) for additional interior photos as we only post the first 10 exterior photos when a car is new in our inventory. As the vehicle was being analyzed by our reconditioning staff, we immediately noticed that the convertible top had two major tears in the top and was leaking. We advised you immediately of the problem (because we did not hide it) and advised you that we were going to put a new $2500 convertible top on the vehicle and only mark it up $1500 to cover our cost. On July 10, 2020 at 6:55pm, we raised the price of the vehicle from $12,800 to $14,000 (a $1200 increase) to account for the new convertible top. We had multiple phone calls with you about this situation and you wanted us to just honor the $12,800 price and still make the repair. As we explained to you on the multiple occasions, we do not have that type of profit margin in our vehicle. You spoke to Garvin about this situation and then you spoke to our Owner on July 15, 2020 about it. Our owner even offered you a $300 additional discount on the vehicle. They were both very upfront and honest with you. We would be happy to sell you the car, but it would have to be at the higher price and it had to be repaired. You even sent our owner back the below email: On Jul 15, 2020, at 7:18 PM, John Van Johnston wrote: Hi Rob, I'm glad we talked. Thanks for the time. I will think it over tonight and let you know tomorrow. John You were understanding on why the price went up and you wanted to think about it and get back with us on Friday. Well Friday came and gone, and we had a customer come in and purchase the vehicle on Friday evening. You were mad because it sold, but you never contacted us back. This review is truly unfair as we spent numerous hours speaking with you and you seemed to be a very nice gentleman. This is not a bait and switch at all. If it was that, we wouldn’t have told you about the repair on the top and why we had to raise the price. You did not fill out any paperwork or leave a deposit on the vehicle, so the vehicle was for sale. We do not have verbal agreements to hold a vehicle for sale. We even post on our website the below: ***The pricing of inventory is subject to change without notice daily based on market day supply, conditions and availability. The ironic part of this review is that we have a 2011 Ford Mustang Convertible for sale and you sent another lead on this Mustang on 7/17/20. The same day that you gave us 1 star review. If you truly felt we did a bait and switch, why would you inquire on another one of our vehicles? Again, sorry we were not able to sell you the vehicle. Wishing you all the best. Kindest regards – Heidi S. Ferdinand, Dealer Principal

The Auto Source Inc responded

ar Mr. Jones: Thank you for reaching out to us. You purchased a 2007 Saturn Outlook with 109k mikes for $5900 on March 10, 2020. Normally we do not sell these type of vehicles due to age and mileage, but made an exception because it was traded into us by a previous customer. You signed all paperwork with your wife and were advised that the airbag light was on. You signed an As-is statement on this vehicle and you also signed a we-owe form regarding the repair. The form stated: Vehicle is sold as is. There will be no work performed after the sale of the vehicle. Repair the air bag light. It also stated I hereby accept this We-owe with the understanding that it is valid for only 30 days from the date of issuance (March 10,2020) and that I must make an advance appointment with the service department before the work can be performed. You did call at the end of your 30 days and at that point the Coronavirus Pandemic was in full effect in Orlando. Our 3rd party vendors/ mechanics were not working and we were unable to get your vehicle repaired. You stated you would call us back. You then went silent for almost two months. We have not heard from you until approximately the second week in June. Again, this is 3 months after the sale. We advised you that we would rebate you $200 for the repair and apologized. Again, the pandemic now is worse than it was in March/April and again most vendors and ourselves have Skelton crews working if they are working at all. In good faith, we offered you a $200 rebate for your inconvenience at the conclusion of the 30 day period . This was not good enough for you and quite frankly your banter with our staff was unprofessional. We can not control the Pandemic and can not control when people go back to work. As stated above - you had 30 days for the repair and it is well past that contractual obligation. We feel we have done everything In Our power to help you and even offered you more than required. We wish you all the best. Kindest regards - Heidi S. Ferdinand, Dealer Principal