My father is 79 and walked into a dealership to purchase a truck on a Wed. Thursday was thanksgiving so Friday he goes back with a $20,000 check in hand and drives off with a brand new Ford f-150. My father has dementia, blind in one eye and almost bind in the other. He walks with a walker and is dialysised 3 days a week. He has recently separated from his wife of 54 years. He suffers from depression and insomnia. My father hasn't driven in 3 years and has not been insured in the same amount of time. He lives in a retirement/assisted living facility. The money he "had", was to cover his rent, dialysis treatment and basic needs however, since withdrawing this money he only has a few thousand $'s left. My father did not test drive the truck but instead they had him sign the paperwork, insure him AND get him insured before leaving the lot. My father got confused and lost and ended up crashing the truck 1.5 hours away from where he lives. It took the hospital where he was taken almost 3 hours to find contact me by using our local sheriffs office. Imagine my surprise when the sheriff comes to my door at 230 am in the morning stating my father his been in an accident with his truck. After my initial shock, reality sets in and I say wait you have the wrong guy my dad doesn't even have a truck!! Of course they confirmed for me that it was in fact my dad and that he had purchased the truck earlier in the day. My dad is okay but the issue is with the dealership. Upon returning the truck I agree to pay for any damages which they assess to be about $4,000. Once I agree to that easily they come back with you will have to pay the depreciation value of the truck. Now wait a minute...you guys should have never sold him the truck based of off his physical and mental state. They told me that they can't refuse to sell to "old people"! I explained to him his mental health issues, what this would do to him financially (homeless and unable to afford dialysis) and their response was you should have had his license suspended. Since he had a valid drivers license and a check we did nothing wrong. I am so out of my league and now they have the money and the truck!!! What do I do? What can I do? The paperwork has his wrong address on it and 2 of the documents look forged. I have spoken to the Sales Mgr, the finance mgr and the general mgr of said dealership....and each has lied on so many levels but the one thing they all said the same was...Kick rocks and pound sand lady. Oh and they had him sign a letter of Arbitration which I have never seen before when purchasing a vehicle. Help any and all advise is welcome.
They did nothing wrong and this is an expensive lesson, but publicly shaming the dealership would be a whole lot more expensive, they would sue for defamation, and they have deep pockets, think long and hard and consult an attorney before you go public saying they did something wrong.
The dealership did nothing wrong, but you may be able to get help from the sources mentioned.
That said, many years ago a dealership refused to fix a poor quality issue on a new car I bought. I contacted the
the main car company. In your case it would be Ford. Explain the situation, every detail. They do not want bad PR. They might possibly pressure the dealership to do the right thing. In my case, I got a personal call and apology, along with a quick fix.
I wish you the best and hope all turns out in your favor.
Their slogan was, “Your great grandfather bought his bicycle here.” It was a very expensive, brand name bike for my birthday. I was a very active teenager.
The gears were broken from day one! I wasn’t a casual cyclist. I rode miles and miles and miles on a daily basis. So I was very frustrated!
My mom politely asked that they either repair my bike or replace it. They said, “No problem. We will have our mechanic repair it.”
My mom wasn’t stupid. She asked me to go for a ride on my bike before we left the store. I didn’t even get a block from the store when the gears went wacky again. The bike was a lemon or they had a poor mechanic.
I went back in the store and my mom asked me if my bike was fixed. I said, “”No, I can’t ride this bike. It’s broken.” They told mom that they were sorry and would be sure to fix it. My mom gave them a second chance.
We went back to pick up my bicycle. She told me to go take it for a spin. I did. It was still broken! I got back and mom said, “Well, is it fixed?”
When I told her no, you should have seen mom go into action! She politely asked for a refund. They said they would not refund her money.
Mom said, “I gave you two chances. You don’t get a third! I want my money now! If I don’t get it I will use your phone to call the Better Business Bureau and make a complaint on your business.
Oh boy, did that get his attention. He tells my mother, “Lady, please keep your voice down. I have customers in the store and you will chase them off.”
Wrong thing to say to my mom! She said, if I don’t get my money back I will tell everyone about your bad customer service! She got her money back.
Then mom said to me. “Come on honey, let’s go buy you a bicycle that works!” We went to a lesser known store with the same brand bicycle and my bike was a dream! It worked perfectly.
I was so proud of my mom that day. She didn’t let them push her around. So yeah, sometimes in certain situations we have to speak up.
Sometimes they are nice about it. Sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes the customer is right. Sometimes the business is right.
It doesn’t hurt to ask for a refund. The OP can try. People in sales are going to sell. That is their bread and butter.
Legally they were entitled to sell him a car. Is it a shame what happened? Sure it is. Not sure if there will be a positive outcome for the OP or not. It all depends.
With even minimal critical thinking skills, I have to consider that the dealership knew exactly what was going on: he is virtually blind, has difficulty walking even with the walker, not clear on his address, hadn’t driven in years. If they were completely unaware of his functional status then why didn’t they take him for a test drive? Why were 2 forms forged? And why did they decide to have him sign an arbitration agreement before he left? Sure all this can be explained away but it warrants further investigation. No one is suggesting that the dealership refuse to sell him a vehicle so that argument is simple minded BS. What they should have done is go a little bit above and beyond in ensuring this man’s safety instead of just covering their legal liabilities.
At what point in time did it become more admirable for a business to make profit than it does for them to do the right thing?
This adult child's best bet is to get politicians and the media on board with shaming this dealership into eating the loss.