Here’s the latest news in the Honda Experience. It turns out there was some unscrupulous actions occurring after all. My vehicle purchase price was changed without notification. Of course, I was a fool for signing the contract without calculating the simple interest loan values myself and backwards calculating tax, tag, title, doc fee, and sales tax to see the actual purchase price. Silly me! I thought that the numbers represented were based on the commitment. more…
The following complaint was submitted on 7/7/2004 12:50:41 PM:
COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION INFORMATION:
Gwinnett Place Honda
3325 Satellite Boulevard
Duluth, GA United States 30096
(678)957-5000
COMPLAINT INFORMATION:
Complaint #: 1556710
Complaint Type: General Complaint (not a car maker)
Date Received: 7/7/2004
Primary Complaint Classification: Contract Disputes
Secondary Complaint Classification: Selling Practices
Complaint:
Purchase price adjusted on final contract without notification to customer. Original amount “committed” to and presented by dealer is $772.43 less than switched financed amount (discrepancy in sales tax value still in question). Dealer has not satisfied discrepancy, but plans to seek resolution through trade-in reevaluation. Simple interest loan calculation on finance form may be in error, but dealer has not presented a satisfactory basis of calculation to prove otherwise. Customer uses (principle(interest / 12)) / (1 – (1 + interest / 12)^-months), which is standard practice.
Dealer proposes that customer “committed” to an amount based upon monthly payment, which was not available until contract was generated. Dealer used assumption that monthly payment was the only constraint and modified other values (interest, finance amount, etc.) to reach dealer’s presumed acceptable monthly payment.
Dealer (incl. Honda Automotive Corp.) was unwilling to modify unacceptable grounds within Privacy Notice and “Commitment” note. All contracts were signed under duress, that is, no progression would be made in achieving a final price for the vehicle without the signed forms aforementioned.
Dealer imposed an extraneous amount of time on customer (approximately 4 hours), most of which was in “delays” where customer was left alone. Dealer would not provide unambiguous terms and pricing statutes without inordinate effort from customer and excessive time. Dealer produced three separate associates to conduct deal (with a fourth behind the scenes), thereby building further confusion and ambiguity.
Settlement Explanation:
Customer requires amount financed to reflect the actual committed purchase price.
Customer requires detailed explanation of all values used to reach total, with provided calculations where applicable.
Hassle and time used by the dealership are unacceptable (sales practice). Pending the resolution of the above issues, the customer’s perception of reasonable customer service with Gwinnett Place Honda will be restored.
Customer Service Rep: Mr. Chad Fry
Product or Service: Used Honda
Model Number: Element EX
Salesperson: Mr. Paul Hett
Disputed Amount: 772
Purchase Date: 7/5/2004