Uncooperative Dealer

[Andrea]

Can anyone help us? We ordered our home mid-Aug and were told by our salesperson it would be done by 1st of Sept. After daily phone calls to him when the 1st of Sept came and went I finally called the factory to discover our house would not come off line until Oct 15th!! Not too big of deal but we've had the site prepared since the mid of Aug and wanted to be in the home before winter set in. Not to mention, I had a baby Oct 9th!

Anyway, we thought it would be great once the home was finished. Wrong! It finally got delivered NOVEMBER 4th & 5th. Then the set up crew came the 10th. They were fast but very messy and they slept in our house! Of course w/ Thanksgiving coming up, the interior guys didn't come until Nov. 29th. They were also fast but the factory didn't put in enough molding for the doors so the guy didn't even finish his job. To speed things up a bit, we finished the doors ourselves with a quick trip to our local lumber store. Now we are trying to get the dealer to send the carpet guys but they are so impossible to get a hold of. I feel like they just give us the run around. They never return our calls and if we do get to talk to them, we feel rushed and they just tell us what we want to hear.

We really want to move in before Christmas but it is looking doubtfull. Our son is now two months old and I do not want his first Christmas to be spent in this old worn out house we live in now. What can we do?

[rmurray]

Congratulations on the birth of your new son...Your life will forever be changed...for the better for sure..

You were lied to from the very first day...I doubt this will change now....You best course of action is to talk to the owner or the highest manager you can find...

You have not mentioned what kind of finance you have...I hope the dealer has not been paid yet....Call your lender for advice and help...often they can get things done..

Insist on getting your home done in a professional mannor..this may be not understandable by this dealer..but try anyway..

They slept in your house...what kind of dealer uses homeless folks to set his home???????

Good Luck..

Do not let this ruin your Christmas...hug your son for us..Good Luck

[Dr. Craig Whisler CA]

I would put a sign on the front of my home saying: ANOTHER DISSATISFIED CUSTONER OF SUCH 'N SUCH DEALERSHIP, for futher info call xxx-xxxx. I can virtually guarantee you that this would turn-off other prospective customers from buying from this dealership and maybe even induce the culprits to make a reasonable price adjustment with you. The sign could be about the same size as real estate agent's for sale signs. I would further mail a photo of the sign on the front of your home to the dealer and ask them how long they would like it to remain there? Some dealers just don't care about how bad their service is as long noone else knows about it. This sign would let others know. It probably would affect this dealership where they are the most sensitive, in their pocketbooks. I think it could cause them to lose future sales. It might motivate them to do right by you.

I would, in my letter with the foto, futher threaten to file a negative report about their dealership with your local Better Business Bureau. That is what the BBB is for, to let the public know who can be trusted and who can't. Don't file a complaint with the BBB, however, until you are convinced that the dealership has abandoned you, otherwise it might cause them to not want to help you. The sign is OK from day one though because it can be taken down later, and will put immediate pressure on them to do something for you. This will allow you to negotiate with them from a position of strength. As it stands now the dealership has your money and they think that they are in the position of strength. They will be, unless you take some affirmative action.

You have the right to free speach. You must not however, saying anything that is not true or that you can't prove, if challenged. You are always within your legal rights to state your honest opinion.

The dealership got the mine and you got the shaft. Its also true that you ARE in fact dissatisfied and that you DID get lousy service. Speak up now, or forever hold your peace. Grumbling to us won't help but if you proceed as above you can help yourself. If you do put out a sign, let us know the results in a later post.

Good luck, doc