Griffin Ford Fort Atkinson

Griffin Ford Fort Atkinson responded

Mr. Milhouse, I reached out to you to discuss the sequence of events, per your request, but was unable to reach you. I have reviewed the entire text conversation you had with our sales team member yesterday. He did everything you asked of him by text....he sent pictures and custom walk around videos. Once you viewed those, your exact response was "OK, I am going to take off Friday and come out and look at it." You did not express intention to purchase the vehicle yesterday. Your only commitment was to set an appointment to look at it. You did not ask for any purchase price totals or payments, and we did not have any signed purchase agreement or deposit to purchase the vehicle. When we take a deposit, it is to follow through with a purchase, not hold a vehicle. That was Wednesday. Your appointment was for Friday, today. Yesterday was Thursday and we had a different guest inquire on the availability of the vehicle and that guest asked for complete purchase totals and agreed to purchase the vehicle after we provided what they asked for. We reached out to you on Thursday, a day before your appointment, to give you the courtesy of knowing it was sold. We are sorry, but we do not hold vehicles for purchase just based on an appointment. We are not a high pressure dealership, so it is not our policy to contact interested parties to inform them about any other interested parties. We let our guests make thoughtful decisions on their own terms without any high pressure. We are a very honest dealership that treats all guests equally and with respect. We feel our reviews show just that. Again, we are sorry that this opportunity did not work out for you. If you wish to discuss this further, please call me at 920-568-4444. Paul Schepp, General Manager

Griffin Ford Fort Atkinson responded

Good Afternoon Roger, Thank you for bringing up your concern about your experience at our dealership. Making longer trips to make big purchases can be stressful. We provided a sight unseen range for your trade before you made your way up to the store. When you arrived, we became aware that the trade value you were expecting for your vehicle was based on the value of other cars, like yours, that were being retailed by other dealers. It doesn’t make financial sense for any dealership to take a vehicle in on trade for an amount another dealer is selling that car at, because we would be way out of market trying to turn around and sell it. We also understand you were not pleased with the price of the vehicle you came up to see at our store. Our vehicle is a higher value than the other one you were comparing it to because the other car was not being certified–ours is factory certified–and our car has fewer miles. Due to these factors, it makes sense why the other vehicle was a lower price than the one we have. Both the discrepancy for what your vehicle is worth and what our vehicle is valued at is the reason for why we are several thousand dollars apart from where you want to be on this deal. We appreciate sharing your experience with us, as we take this feedback very seriously. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please reach out to our General Manager, Paul Schepp, at pschepp@gflfa.com or (920) 568-4444.