Do not buy your car from a John Kennedy dealership.... - UnbiasedLizard3
Do not buy your car from a John Kennedy dealership. Their sales manager, Michael Armstrong, is a liar, raised his voice to my girlfriend and myself, and even took off his mask while we were in the same confined room as him. This kind of unprofessionalism and neglect to our lives is incredibly disrespectful. The other (non-John Kennedy) Mazda dealerships in the area offer significantly better prices and better customer service. Don’t waste your time. Story below:
My girlfriend and I were emailing local dealerships requesting an out the door price on a specific car we were looking to buy before the end of December. We received responses from every dealership we reached out to with the exception of the 2 John Kennedy dealerships. We used emails found on their website, and even emails directly to people whom we received business cards from but received no responses.
The day before we planned to buy the car, we decided to swing by the John Kennedy dealership in Pottstown as we were in the area. We already had an out the door price we were very happy with and a dealership expecting us the next day, but we just wanted to see if they would be able to match the price as they were a little closer to where we lived. We liked this due to servicing the vehicle down the road. We stop in and are quickly in a room with their sales manager, Michael Armstrong. We say we are not buying a car today but will be buying this specific car tomorrow and want to know if they have it and can match/beat the price.
He pulls up his computer and starts the search the inventory. Unfortunately, they do not have the car in the color/trim/package that we want. What he does share is that they have the color in the trim one level up from ours. We said we weren’t opposed to that trim, but really didn’t think the increase in price justified the added features. He pulls out the invoice and provides us a price. Once again, I specify we are looking for an out the door price, taxes, fees, etc included. He says yup, and hands us a pen and sticky note to write down the price. The price stated is about $700 more than the car we had initially wanted, and it was including some accessories that we were actually interested in. Needless to say, we are pretty happy with this.
We take his card, and on the way out of his office I stop and say “Hey, that price you provided is the out the door price, right? We want the out the door price with taxes, fees, etc all included.” Reiterating this as I want to make sure we are on the same page. He says yes, but has us come back in, runs the numbers one more time and shows us the same price as before. We thank him for his time and say we will call him tomorrow morning with our decision as to if we will but coming back in to purchase our new car from him.
My girlfriend and I look up the trim differences and discuss if we want to pay for the “better” car, ultimately deciding we were going to. The next morning, I call Michael and ask what time we should come in to buy the car.
We show up, and one more time we sit down to hash out all the details. I once again verify that the numbers provided yesterday was the out the door price and everything is confirmed. We move onto the financing manager’s office and get to the last page of the contract when I stop and question why there is a number that is $5,500 more than what we had agreed upon. The financing manager excuses himself to get the sales manager.
Michael comes storming into the office and says “That was the deal. That is what we agreed upon right there. Look, I told you this and here it is [plugging numbers into a calculator and not getting the same value].” I calmly reply that we requested the out the door price with all taxes, fees, etc included. I asked why there is a difference and he says it’s due to the taxes and fees. I said I didn’t understand why that wasn’t included in the out the door price to which he scoffs and says in a very condescending tone “There’s always going to be taxes and fees, someone’s got to pay for it and we can’t just give them away for free.”
My girlfriend and I are upset because we were lied to. We are also confused and ask for a minute to talk it over with ourselves. They give us the room and we decided we don’t like the car for that much more money and call the other Mazda dealership to verify if they still have the car and that the price was indeed the out the door price (it was). While I am on the phone, Michael bursts back into the room uninvited saying that this is where the numbers come from, shoving a piece of paper in front of us and plugging them into a calculator. Mind you, my girlfriend really isn’t speaking because she is visibly upset with being yelled at by a stranger and while I am also aggravated, I do not raise my voice or yell back.
We say that we don’t like the car for this price and unless they are willing to do the original offered price, we are going to go to the other Mazda dealership. Michael laughs and says no dealership would ever in their right mind do that price and that the other dealership is playing the same game and that their price is too good, that they are going to raise the price on us too and I wasn’t given the correct price. He says he’s going to call the sales manager right now and prove that I am wrong, and he is right.
Michael then, still fuming, takes off his mask. We are in the same office, less than 6 feet apart, with the door closed. While the phone is ringing and on speaker, I speak up and request he puts on his mask back on. He ignores me and when the sales manager doesn’t answer he says (still raising his voice without wearing a mask) “I bet you $100 of my own money that they won’t do that deal. They can’t do it.”
I am done at this point. My girlfriend and I both want to go and have no desire to buy a car from such a rude business. I reply “Okay, I will let you know, but we aren’t interested in this deal. Sorry for the miscommunication and thank you for your time.” I am the only one to apologize at all during this interaction by the way. Not once does Michael apologize or anything to us.
The finance manager comes back in and we ask to get our license plate back as it was put on the car we had planned to buy. We also ask if there are any issues with us leaving the deal how it is if it will affect our car buying at the other dealership. He was very polite and helpful. He gave us his card and just requested that we call him if we do buy the other car so he can shred all the paperwork. He gets us our license plate, and before we go, I quickly walk over to Michael’s office to once again apologize and say I’m sorry for the misunderstanding/how things worked out. He doesn’t look at me or say anything back, just ignores me. Incredibly rude and unprofessional once again.
We go and buy the car from the other dealership. Great process. The deal is the deal they said, in and out in no time! (Shout out to North Penn Mazda)
I sent a follow up email to Michael a few weeks after the event to let him know he lost his $100 bet and can pay up if he is a man of his word (he isn’t). I also request an apology for myself and my girlfriend and want to know why I should ever return and even consider purchasing a car or getting our new car serviced at a John Kennedy dealership. He never replied.
I highly advise against anyone from buying a car here. Their sales manager is a liar, he is disrespectful, and he has no regard for your wellbeing as he took off his mask while raising his voice in a confined indoor area. While I can’t say how their service department is, I wouldn’t take my chances.
TLDR – Requested an out the door price for a car. Were provided a number. Double checked that number and verbatim said “This is the out the door price, right? Taxes, fees, etc all included?” Came back the next day to buy the car at the agreed upon price and verified one more time on the price and details. Went into financing to do paperwork. After 2+ hours, we are about the sign the final piece of paper when I notice a number that is $5,500 higher than what we agreed upon. Sales manager came in and raised his voice that it is the number we agreed upon and we are wrong, even condescending us. Takes off his mask while in the same, closed door, small office space and continued to raise his voice. We walked out on the deal and bought our car from a different dealership. Second dealership was much more professional and valued our health and wellbeing.
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