Saybrook Ford, Inc.

Review: Dealer advertised and quoted sales price. When we were ready to purchase, they raised it from $21557 to $23999 claiming it was a printing error.

We stopped by two nights ago to look at a Convertible Mustang displayed prominently by the road. It was around closing time and the salesman invited us to return in the morning after answering quite a few questions. The car had 11k miles on it and was certified preowned. We were told the asking price was $21,557, down from $23,999 as an "Easter Special." We saw the car on the internet at the price quoted to us by the salesman, Upon returning the next day, we took the car for a test drive and decided to buy it. After sitting down with the salesman, he got up to talk to the sales manager, and returned telling us the price he had quoted to us as posted on their web site was incorrect. The car was $23,999. We were dumbfounded. My first thought was this was a high pressure sales gimmick to get us to buy immediately or the price was going up. It took a few minutes for reality to sink in when the sales manager told us he would not sell the car for the advertised price. We would have to pay the $23,999. His excuse was that their printer made a mistake. He told us he would be losing $1100 selling it at the posted price. Last time I did basic addition, 21,557+1100 =XXXXX, so how can he even justify the 23,900 he demanded? This is clearly a dishonest way of doing business. Not only were we going to by the car, but refer family to the dealership. Needless to say, we did not buy the car. I have never experienced this kind of sales practice in the purchase of any product. TheDesired Settlement: We stopped by two nights ago to look at a Convertible Mustang displayed prominently by the road. It was around closing time and the salesman invited us to return in the morning after answering quite a few questions. The car had 11k miles on it and was certified preowned. We were told the asking price was $21,557, down from $23,999 as an "Easter Special." We saw the car on the internet at the price quoted to us by the salesman, Upon returning the next day, we took the car for a test drive and decided to buy it. After sitting down with the salesman, he got up to talk to the sales manager, and returned telling us the price he had quoted to us as posted on their web site was incorrect. The car was $23,999. We were dumbfounded. My first thought was this was a high pressure sales gimmick to get us to buy immediately or the price was going up. It took a few minutes for reality to sink in when the sales manager told us he would not sell the car for the advertised price. We would have to pay the $23,999. His excuse was that their printer made a mistake. He told us he would be losing $1100 selling it at the posted price. Last time I did basic addition, 21,557+1100 =XXXXX, so how can he even justify the 23,900 he demanded? This is clearly a dishonest way of doing business. Not only were we going to by the car, but refer family to the dealership. Needless to say, we did not buy the car

Business

Response:

Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2013/04/15) */

Mr. [redacted] came in to look at a vehicle for sale on our lot. We advised Mr. [redacted] of the price error once we noticed it and Mr. [redacted] ended up purchasing the vehicle from us anyway.

Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2013/04/18) */

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT ACCEPT the response from the business.)

I do n to think Saybrook Ford is taking responsibility for what happened. It is more than a "price error" My wife and I saw a 2011 Mustang in their lot on March 29, 2013. We stopped to look at it. A salesman, [redacted], greeted us and told us about the car. He said it was on sale as an "Easter Special" for $21557 and would be returning to the regular price of $23995 on Monday. They were closing, so if we wanted to take the car for a ride, we would need to return on Saturday, March 30. When we got home, we looked at the dealer's website. The website listed the car for $21557 just like [redacted] had quoted us. At this point, we decided to return on Saturday to take the car for a drive. After the test drive, we decided to purchase the car. It was at this point that we were told the price as not $21557 as [redacted] had told us and the internet confirmed, but rather $23995. We could not have the car for the $21557. We were shocked. We asked to see the sales manager, who refused to sell us the car for $21557. He said he would lose $1100 selling it at that price. He said the price was a mistake that could be corrected by issuing an "internet retraction" which would change the price on the website within "five minutes." He did not comment at all about the fact that the $21557 price was initially presented to us by their salesman as an "Easter Special." We were shocked and left the dealership.

After a few days of searching on the internet and looking at some cars at other dealerships, it was clear that the Saybrook Ford car was the one we wanted because of the features and the low mileage. My wife called them and offered to meet them halfway between the $21557 advertised price and the $23995 they wanted. They accepted our offer on Tuesday, April 2nd. We made an appointment to pick up the car on Thursday, April 4th. On Wednesday, April 3rd, [redacted] from Saybrook Ford called my wife and told him the owner wanted $500 more or he would not sell it. This was the second time they did this to us, but the car was one we had really wanted, so we agreed to the increase. When my wife asked for a copy of the purchase agreement so we could get the financing from her credit union, she saw the price had not gone up $500 but by $595! When confronted, [redacted] said that their "numbers always end in $95.' My wife said that is about $100 out of our pocket, but [redacted] refused to acknowledge what had been done to us a third time.

This is the most deceptive buying experience I have ever been part of. I would love to see this dealer shut down. I want the money returned to us that reflects all of the increases from the original quoted price of $21557.

Consumer Response /* (-5, 8, 2013/04/18) */

I have screen shots of the Saybrook Ford website taken on March 31st that not only reflect the $21557 price originally quoted to us by salesman [redacted], but also reflect the fact that the dealer did not change the internet price immediately as they said they would. When they finally changed it on April 1st it still says the vehicle is on Sale for $21557, down from an internet price of $23995. The dealership is clearly trying to lure people in with a price they won't honor.

Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2013/04/23) */

Once Again, as stated before, Mr. [redacted] was advised of the price, he still decided to purchase the vehicle at the final price. It was his choice to buy the vehicle, he could have chosen not to buy from us if he was unhappy.

Review: I had a recent stroke and required a more reliable vehicle to go to doctor appointments and physical therapy.I tried to contact the dealership.November 3, 2014[redacted] Dear [redacted];I understand that you are the Dealer Principal at [redacted] We are extreamly dissatisfied with our dealings with your Sales Manager, [redacted]. I hope that bringing this issue to your attention will help me resolve the issue.My wife [redacted] and I found an internet listing where you were offering for a 2002 [redacted] fot sale. We drove to [redacted] from our home on [redacted], ** to see the vehicle. We were serviced by [redacted]. He took us out for a test drive. He told us the car was very strong and in good shape. While out the vehicle was making a lot of noise. [redacted] told us that it was the heat shield and it needed to be tighted. We found a few other minor items and [redacted] told us he would have them all fixed by the time we came to pick up the car. We completed a sales agreement on July 12th. We were to return several days later to pick up the [redacted]. When we returned the minor items had been repaired. [redacted] told us [redacted] service dept had checked out the noise and it was not the heat shield. He said service thought it might be the tourque converter. We took the exporer for another drive and were worried about the noise. [redacted] asked us to bring it back the following week so service could work on it. We did return as we were asked.At that time we got a loaner and turned over our jeep. When I got home I sent [redacted] an email since I couldn't reach him on the phone. In it I said if the car wasn't fixed then the deal was off and I wanted my [redacted] back. I have attached a copy of the email.Your dealership pays forward a lot of lip service that A handshake still counts and that you stand behind your word. We would like you to do so now. When we returned a few days later we were told by service that the noise was the tourque converter and it was not repaired. Mr. Sopariwala was nowhere to be seen. [redacted] offered us a service contract that we would have to buy and then if the converter failed we could get it fixed. That was to be our only choice as [redacted] was not going to repair it nor stand behind their deal. [redacted] never contacted us and was no where to be found.We decided to decline the service contract as the cost was equal to the repair itself. We had our mechanic check out the vehicle and give us an estimate to repair it. We got an estimate of $1,546.76 for the repair and went ahead with it. A copy of the invoice is attached. The vehicle seems fine now. We feel your dealership should pay for the repair. I want to give [redacted] a chance to respond before I take other actions.Desired Settlement: I have not received a response.We feel the [redacted] dealership should pay for the repair of $1,546.76.