TJ DiSanto | Page 2

Summit Toyota of Akron responded

Well, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished. We gave the deal of a a lifetime to Mr. Patterson on a Tundra and this is where we end up. The tonneau is a hard tri-fold tonneau. They are not waterproof. We explained this to Mr. Patterson. He is correct though, whomever had the cover off last (don't know if it was Mr. Patterson or not) did not re-connect the drains that run from the tonneau out the back wall of the bed. This does solve a lot of water entering the bed but does not make it water tight. As for the cover breaking. To look at this entirely, one would have to understand that if a dealership can honestly get something covered under warranty it is in the dealerships best interest to do so. The factory pays more than customers do and it's a win - win because we get paid and the customer doesn't do the paying. In this case the hooks were pulled from the metal by force. The incident happened just after (or during) the storm we had right before Christmas. It is our belief ice or debris lodged itself enough to keep the hooks from removing as designed. At this point someone applied force to open the second panel causing the screws to rip from the metal. If anyone has ever pulled a screw from aluminum or sheet metal the hole will at the very least bow out if not tear. In this case the seeded screws were ripped from their resting place. This is not a factory defect and had we turned this into warranty the factory would laugh at us and charge us for the repair. Now, I am all for helping someone or taking a chance if there is some possibility of another series of events to have caused the damage. This is not one of those cases. We explained to Mr. Patterson the item was not warrantable because it was not defective, debris or ice froze the second panel in place and it was forcefully dislodged. He did not accept this and proceeded to tell us that either Toyota or Summit Toyota is paying for it. We explained that would not be the case and he would not accept that. I requested that he take it to another Toyota dealership and get a second opinion, he refused. Mr Patterson was banned because despite how many ways and how many times we explained we were not paying for the repair due to the nature of how it became broken, he would not accept that and aggressively stated "like I said, either Toyota or Summit is paying for the repair, not me", over and over. He said he was coming down to talk about it (aggressively) and I stated there was nothing more to discuss. He would just keep repeating we or Toyota was paying for it. We do not pay for repairs caused by misuse, intentional or not. We wish Mr Patterson the best of luck and hope he still at the very least appreciates the several thousands of dollars we saved him on his Tundra.

Summit Toyota of Akron responded

Before we respond to the 'mistakes' in your review we would like to make the following clear- We did make a mistake. With the stroke of one key we changed your price by an even $10000. This did happen and we deeply regret it and have apologized profusely. Though we hold ourselves to high standards, we are still human and can and will make mistakes. We again apologize for our error. Now to correct a couple mistakes in your review in order- When you notified your salesperson that you wanted a Costco discount, he told you that your vehicle was currently being sold at MSRP. The salesperson did not in fact notify me of the $10k discount when he was given figures to pass on to you. This happened after he showed you the figures. He came back into the office and stated that you asked for additional monies off. He told me that he told you that you're already getting ten thousand off. This was such an absurd figure I assumed he was joking and went about my duties. We are taking this as a teaching moment for your salesperson and myself. Your salesman has never seen a discount like that on any Toyota vehicle in his four years with us. This was true when we were robust with inventory and even more so now when, as you saw, we are at a small fraction of what we normally carry due to manufacturer supplier issues. This misquote has happened one other time in my 24 year career. I will learn from this and do what I can to not allow it to happen again. Though you did sign preliminary paperwork you had not completed the final paperwork to complete the purchase. It is the Finance Managers responsibility to be the final safety net. This includes spelling of names, addresses, the math and host of other details. It was the Finance Manager who caught the error and brought it to my attention. You had not sat with him yet. At this point I approached you and notified you of the error. I did make the hand gesture and started to walk away, you stated, "you don't get to do that" and I agreed and stayed and endured more of your abusive words and tone. I deserved it. Once the Office Manager proceeded to refund your money, there was no reason for me to be present, so I left the room. You then proceeded to tell everyone in the dealership that would listen (customer and employee) the one keystroke error resulted in the conclusion that "Tj does not know what he is doing". I thought it best to remove myself from the situation. In closing, ten thousand off on such a vehicle is not practical. There is only a $1000 rebate and yes, that price would have lost several thousands of dollars. It was an honest mistake. These events do not reasonably define us as shady or that we conduct business poorly. There was no nefarious motive where Summit Toyota had something to gain by the error. The mistake upset a customer, lost a car deal, and continues to waste time for both of us. Again, it was a human error that was caught prior to finalizing the deal. We will do our best to limit our mistakes. We hope you find the vehicle of your choice at a price you find acceptable.

Summit Toyota of Akron responded

Thanks for the kind review and the business, Jody!!

Summit Toyota of Akron responded

Thanks for the kind words Frank! You are pretty awesome yourself!