Topic: Edmonton dealership exploited naiveté, says car buyer

[goodsonr]

"An Edmonton woman’s lack of experience in buying a car ended up costing her thousands of dollars, at least until she made a call to CBC's Go Public."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-dealership-exploited-naivet%C3%A9-says-car-buyer-1.2424127

lets go for incredibly-naive instead .. which doesn't make it look any better for the actions of the dealership....

[tenpenny]

I'm trying to follow this; she bought a 2013 Corolla, took it to the service dept to talk about the paint coming off the sills, and they talked her into buying a 2014?

First off, she shouldn't be allowed out in public alone, she's a danger to herself.

Second, the dealership employees all qualify for the Senate or the PMO, they've got just the right ethics.

[Fobroader]

Sounds like one of those people that needs warning stickers so they dont eat rat poison or try to stop a chainsaw with their bare hands. I dont care what the dealer did, if shes that stupid, its her fault. Honestly, do you know anyone whos "accidentally" purchased a car?? Some people...... 

[Snowman]

  FFS

[sailor723]

What?, an unethical, sleazy car dealership? ...."gambling at Rick's?  I'm shocked!...shocked I say." 

[random006]

C'mon folks,

Nobody is born knowing anything, let alone how to negotiate a purchase such as a car.  She is from another country, with different ways according to the article.  The onus should have been on the dealer to do the right thing, which was to fix the door and leave it at that. 

Yes, she is naive.  That does not excuse the dealer's behaviour.  Doesn't anybody wonder about that initial handoff from service to sales?  That should never have happened, period.

As far as educating the customer goes, once she has been around the ol' shopping block a few times then of course, it's on her.  BUT, how is this done the first time if nobody is willing to step up to the plate?  That is the question before us.

Perhaps the real take-home message here is:  Always go with a trusted friend and assume you are going to be fleeced otherwise.  Sad but perhaps true.

[Fobroader]

What?, an unethical, sleazy car dealership? ...."gambling at Rick's?  I'm shocked!...shocked I say." 

Cannot lay the blame on the dealer fully....

[sailor723]

What?, an unethical, sleazy car dealership? ...."gambling at Rick's?  I'm shocked!...shocked I say." 

Cannot lay the blame on the dealer fully....

Sure you can. They sound like a bunch of douchebags. Interesting how the deal was final......... until CBC called them. Then it was like cockroaches scattering when someone turns on the light. I especially like how they offered to return her car and cancel the deal provided she stopped talking to the press 

[Fobroader]

What?, an unethical, sleazy car dealership? ...."gambling at Rick's?  I'm shocked!...shocked I say." 

Cannot lay the blame on the dealer fully....

Sure you can. They sound like a bunch of douchebags. Interesting how the deal was final......... until CBC called them. Then it was like cockroaches scattering when someone turns on the light. I especially like how they offered to return her car and cancel the deal provided she stopped talking to the press 

Im sorry, but if you just keep signing papers blindly, thats nobodies fault but yours.

[tenpenny]

Nobody is born knowing anything, let alone how to negotiate a purchase such as a car. 

True, but by the time you're old enough to drive, you generally have developed the ability to say, "no, I didn't come here to buy a new car".

[Fobroader]

Nobody is born knowing anything, let alone how to negotiate a purchase such as a car. 

True, but by the time you're old enough to drive, you generally have developed the ability to say, "no, I didn't come here to buy a new car".

^^^ Exactly. Im not the one to defend most dealers shady SOPs, but in this case....she literally signed her life away without reading the fine print.

[tooscoops]

the dealer acted very unethically. i would feel sick if i ever heard about any dealer i was affiliated with doing something like this...

with that being said, they are there to sell cars. they managed to sell this lady a car. and since they only have her side of things (a side which obviously has some issues with communication), i can't totally blame them for it. i've had many service customers come up irate at some minor service issue and talk about trading it in... i'll go over their options, but once the customer sees any kind of crazy numbers or payments, they say, no thanks, i'll just fix it.... and i say, good idea. if i ever had one say, ok, let's do that... i'll say alright, let me get you coffee while i do up the paperwork and show you all the numbers. who am i to tell someone NOT to buy a car?

... don't think that's what happened here... but just saying it could happen.

also, she obviously had bought a car under a year earlier... probably at that particular dealer. so it couldn't be totally new to her.

[toolatecrew]

As much as I dislike some dealer sleazy tactics if that woman is mentally competent and not handicapped in some way its not the dealer's fault. Her son told her "You paid too much". This was her "first time" buying a car. What was stopping her from having someone accompany her to the dealer who DID have experience? I'm sorry but I have a hard time believing anyone would think that a dealer was simply trying to "help" them and that anyone could be sheltered enough to think otherwise.

If you know you have troubles saying no take a buddy with you otherwise its no one's fault but your own.

[aquadorhj]

the dealer acted very unethically. i would feel sick if i ever heard about any dealer i was affiliated with doing something like this...

with that being said, they are there to sell cars. they managed to sell this lady a car. and since they only have her side of things (a side which obviously has some issues with communication), i can't totally blame them for it. i've had many service customers come up irate at some minor service issue and talk about trading it in... i'll go over their options, but once the customer sees any kind of crazy numbers or payments, they say, no thanks, i'll just fix it.... and i say, good idea. if i ever had one say, ok, let's do that... i'll say alright, let me get you coffee while i do up the paperwork and show you all the numbers. who am i to tell someone NOT to buy a car?

... don't think that's what happened here... but just saying it could happen.

also, she obviously had bought a car under a year earlier... probably at that particular dealer. so it couldn't be totally new to her.

might be the dealer... but someone who does not have the slightest idea what they are signing for should NOT have the ability to sign anything let alone drive.

it's like that old article about an old lady who's on welfare who bought a brand new BMW M6..     dealer an as$0hle?  yeah.. but that old lady should not even have had passed the credit check..    but that someone like these really really shouldn't be allowed to drive.

like tooscoop says, we have one side of the story (though i can believe edmontonians being shady    )

[Fobroader]

the dealer acted very unethically. i would feel sick if i ever heard about any dealer i was affiliated with doing something like this...

with that being said, they are there to sell cars. they managed to sell this lady a car. and since they only have her side of things (a side which obviously has some issues with communication), i can't totally blame them for it. i've had many service customers come up irate at some minor service issue and talk about trading it in... i'll go over their options, but once the customer sees any kind of crazy numbers or payments, they say, no thanks, i'll just fix it.... and i say, good idea. if i ever had one say, ok, let's do that... i'll say alright, let me get you coffee while i do up the paperwork and show you all the numbers. who am i to tell someone NOT to buy a car?

... don't think that's what happened here... but just saying it could happen.

also, she obviously had bought a car under a year earlier... probably at that particular dealer. so it couldn't be totally new to her.

might be the dealer... but someone who does not have the slightest idea what they are signing for should NOT have the ability to sign anything let alone drive.

it's like that old article about an old lady who's on welfare who bought a brand new BMW M6..     dealer an as$0hle?  yeah.. but that old lady should not even have had passed the credit check..    but that someone like these really really shouldn't be allowed to drive.

like tooscoop says, we have one side of the story (though i can believe edmontonians being shady    )

Were not shady....I prefer creative and entrepreneurial 

[johngenx]

Working with newcomer families, I've seen many businesses take advantage of their lack of cultural understanding and language barriers.  It's quite possible they presented the new car purchase as some form of "solution" to the problem with her present car.  I've seen this happen surprisingly often, primarily to women, and more so to women that might be at a disadvantage in some way.

Some time ago I was at a Subaru dealer and though the woman's OBW only had 60K on it, they made out like it needed thousands in repairs (timing belt, and on and on) and were working very hard to get her into the showroom.  Why?  Steal her trade from her (thousands and thousands to be made on the used car) plus try to squeeze her for a bunch of money on a new car.  Luckily they failed.

It's not an uncommon tactic.  One most around here wouldn't be subject to, being quite knowledgeable about service/repairs, etc.

[rrocket]

Nobody is born knowing anything, let alone how to negotiate a purchase such as a car. 

True, but by the time you're old enough to drive, you generally have developed the ability to say, "no, I didn't come here to buy a new car".

^^^ Exactly. Im not the one to defend most dealers shady SOPs, but in this case....she literally signed her life away without reading the fine print.

But some people when it comes to the mechanicals of a car believe their dealer unflinchingly.  Because they don't know any better.  I mean..we have a forum of car nuts here and only a select few will tackle something as simple as brakes.

I could really see someone totally clueless about a car being told they need a new one, it's too far gone, or whatever trick they used to hose her.

[quadzilla]

Not just limited to cars. People still continue to buy BOSE speaker/stereo systems for their home despite all the information out there.

[mmret]

Scumbags taking advantage of idiots.

[rrocket]

Scumbags taking advantage of idiots.

Similar to your job, isn't it?   


Sorry....couldn't help myself.