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Buyer Beware! Or Shame on You!
What do you call a breach of a verbal agreement? Bad Business or Bachman-Bernard? In my book they are synonymous. This is not a joke. Buyer Beware. This is my story.
In mid-March of this year, I purchased a 2008 PT Cruiser from Bachman-Bernard. While riding with a salesman, I noticed that the car was vibrating. We chalked it up to the vehicle needing a tire balance. The salesman even offered to give me his company discount on the work.
Yes, I know my first mistake was not taking the car to my mechanic. The second mistake was taking Bachman-Bernard’s word. I mean really, never trust a used car salesman (or in this case the dealership). Regardless of my naiveté and being too trusting, it does not abdicate Bachman-Bernard from doing the right thing.
This began what is going into 6 months of a horror story with this vehicle. By the way, Bachman-Bernard had done a complete “27 point” inspection when the car arrived at their dealership in February. Please note the car had only a little over 32,000 miles.
On April 17, I took the car to the service department of Bachman-Bernard for the first time to have the tires balanced. This was not the issue and did not resolve the vibration. The tech diagnosed the problem in the left front axle. Bachman-Bernard (whom I will refer to as BB in the rest of my story) replaced the front axle and charged the cost off to good will. The axle was not the problem.
I returned the car to the service department of Bachman-Bernard for a second time on May 18. This time the service department test drove the car and diagnosed the problem as being a balance problem. Again. Really? This was a very strong indication that they were willing to repair the vehicle. However, this action did not resolve the problem either.
I still had hope at this point and was willing to give BB another chance to keep their agreement. I mean surely the folks at BB are honest gentlemen who can be trusted to keep their word.
I immediately returned the car to the service department on June 23 for a third time. This is just Bad Business. Then the mechanic determined that it was the tires causing the vibration. The service manager explained that I needed two new tires. Three times and the service department still could not figure out what was causing the vibration. This third time in they kept the car until July 31. And this is what they did: installed two new tires, aligned and balanced the tires, replaced both front axles (mind you they had already been replaced the left axle), replaced the left front hub and bearing assembly at no charge to me.
BB however did provide me with a brand new Jeep Patriot as a loaner to drive to Atlanta for a few days. Wasn’t that decent of them? I will give them that one.
On my return from Atlanta, the service department manager assured me that the problem was 95% fixed (his words). And in my words, you are either pregnant or you are not. Well, we were not. He told me just to drive it home. I asked if he or someone in his garage would take a ride with me to make sure the vibration had been resolved. He said he didn’t have anyone to go out with me and again told me to take it home and drive it. This is just Bad Business. Just tell the customer something to make them go away. BB really wanted me to just go away. They just couldn’t find the problem. This is just Bad Business.
So, I drove it up the road. Guess what?! The car was still vibrating and a strange noise was coming out of the engine. I called my mechanic. I needed to confirm that I was not going crazy or imagining things. He graciously took the car out for a drive with me. I was not crazy or imagining things. The car was still vibrating and howling.
I returned the car to BB service department the very same afternoon for the fourth time. It’s just Bad Business.
Now I am into the fifth month of this debacle and BB informs me that they are not willing to do any more work on the car. They have just decided to break their verbal agreement. This is just Bad Business!
I believe that all of the work that BB did on the car (at no charge to me) indicates that they made an agreement with me to repair the car. Wouldn’t you agree?
What they did offer to do in lieu of repairing the vehicle was to take the vehicle back if I would exchange it for another of their used cars. Ok, I was willing to give them yet another opportunity to make this right. I must admit I was a little gun shy at this point. Could I really trust them to do the right thing?
Of course not! Imagine my shock when they didn’t want to give me the full value for the original used car that I had been making payments on for five months and as well as paying insurance while not being able to drive my car. The vehicle had been in their shop more than in my driveway.
And was I surprised when I went into the dealership in August on two separate occasions to negotiate the purchase of another used car that BB would not negotiate a fair market price for the “new” used vehicle? I mean really, I don’t mind taking a hit but I am not going to let them pulverize me. I walked away from two negotiations because nothing on paper was as it was in any of our conversations. It’s just Bad Business.
I was being held hostage by Bachman-Bernard. I was being forced to take or make a deal where I would take the loss at both ends of the deal. This is very Bad Business BB!
This car is a driving hazard. And the more it is driven the more the chances of doing additional damage to the car and even to the point of causing an accident.
I guess BB thinks I have given up and gone away. Well I haven’t. I recently filed a complaint with the State of Tennessee. I have contacted Chrysler and I have informed them of the poor business practices of Bachman-Bernard. I have since taken my car to Royston and we are working with Chrysler to see if we can find the problem.
BB has since replied to the complaint I made with the State and mentioned nothing about our verbal agreement. Surprised?! I guess they think they are in the right. Makes me wonder how many other folks have had this type of interaction with Bachman-Bernard. This is just Bad Business.
Again, believing that BB would honor their agreement was naïve but still does not abdicate Bachman-Bernard from doing the right and the decent thing.