We just bought a brand new Plug-In Hybrid Sonata from Hanless Fremont Hyundai. This is the third brand new car I have purchased in my life and it was hands down the single worst car buying experience of my life. We had to return to the dealership 6 times before we actually walked away with the car we wanted (after 2 false deliveries). During the process I was also physically assaulted by one of the sales representatives. I will never return to this dealership and it may have ruined any chance of me ever purchasing another Hyundai in the future since my experience was so poor. Throughout the process I felt like I was not respected for my time or my intelligence. I was not treated as a valued customer whom they hoped to do business with in the future, but rather as a one-time visitor with whom they needed to put in no effort. I left this dealership feeling disrespected, pissed off and completely unsatisfied with the car purchasing process. I will never return to this dealership for anything.
May 29, 2016
10:00 AM - We arrived at the dealership and were promptly greeted by Alex, our sales person. He showed us the regular Sonata which we were not very impressed with. After a few attempts we were able to get him to show us the Hybrid Plug-In that we were interested in seeing. He took us out for a test drive and was able to adequately answer all of our questions about the vehicle.
11:00 AM we have decided we are interested in the car and started negotiations. It took us an hour and 15 minutes to come to an agreement that we were happy with. I was ready to walk away long before that, but Brian was adamant that he wanted this car and we were already there so we might as well just get it done.
12:15 PM we tell Alex that we’re happy with the deal. We are going to go get lunch, talk about it and make sure that this is the choice we want to make since we only saw the car this morning. Also we have an appointment in San Jose at 1:30 and we are starving. We will return after the appointment around 3pm. Alex promises us that the car will be cleaned, detailed, gassed up and that paperwork will be ready when we get back at 3.
1:52 PM Alex calls Kayla and she declines the call
1:52 PM Alex calls Brian and he declines the call
1:53 PM Alex calls Kayla and she declines the call
1:54 Alex calls Brian and he declines the call
1:58 PM Alex sends Brian a text,
“Hi Brian,
How are you doing? Do you have a good lunch? Are you on your way to come in and see me to wrap up the deal? Please give me a call, [SIC] I will talk to my manager to get the paperwork ready for you. Thank you so much Alex [LASTNAME] Hanless Fremont Hyundai”
2:10 PM Brian texts Alex back “Yeah, we’re almost done with our meeting and will be heading back soon.”
2:31 PM Alex texts Brian “Great. Enjoy your lunch. I will see you soon then. Thank you so much.”
3:11 PM we call Alex and tell him we are almost back to the dealership. He confirms that they are ready for us.
3:30 PM we arrive back at the dealership. When we get there Alex informs us that there’s a slight problem. The car we test drove and wanted to buy has an 18 inch scratch in the side. He offers to have their service department “touch it up” and tells us it will be about “80% better” we decline stating that we would like a new car with no damage. He tells us, sure sure! No problem! He says he knows their sister dealership has another car in stock that’s exactly what we want. He then tries to offer us a gray car that we could drive off the lot today, but then can’t find it in the lot. Then he offers a white car. I have to say multiple times that I don’t want gray or white. I requested a black car with gray interior and that is the car I want to leave with. Alex finally stops trying to talk us into a different vehicle and says he will get the other dealership to bring over the black car right over. We inform Alex at this point that we have to pick up Brian’s parents form the airport and will need to leave by 4:30. He tells us it’s not a problem. He’ll get Carlos, the finance manager, to get the paperwork together so we can sign loan paperwork. Alex assures us that they will deliver the car to our home tonight and bring along a finance person to finish up all the remaining paperwork.
4:30 PM Carlos finally comes out of his office and does the loan paperwork with us
4:45 PM Alex assures us that the car and paperwork will be at our house between 8:00 & 8:30
6:30 PM Brian and I are trying to finalize our plans for the evening and I send Alex a text to confirm car delivery time.
6:57 PM Alex sends me back a text saying it will be 8:30-9:00. We have to change our plans again to accommodate the delivery of this vehicle.
8:24 PM Alex calls to inform me that the car is on its way, but the finance guy can’t get away so the paperwork can’t be signed tonight. He asks if we can come back on Monday. I tell him no because we’ve already spent more time on this car than intended and have plans on Monday. We will come on Tuesday afternoon.
9:00 PM the car arrives. When we get outside the driver asks us if we can bring him back to the dealership. We agreed to do so, but really what was the point in delivering the car if I still have to drive to the dealership and back? While taking him back to the dealership, I realize we haven’t done any of the registration for the vehicle and should not be driving it. We decide to stay and do the paperwork since we’re already at the dealership anyway. While we’re waiting, they help us to sign up for Bluelink, a system that interacts with the car and our smart phones. This was a slow process, but the person helping us was a competent person. I wish I could remember who helped us; I think it might have been Andy.
10:00 PM Carlos is finally ready to start doing the paperwork with us. There are several things that have to be reprinted. He is using an ancient dot matrix printer that he spent a significant amount of time trying to fix in order to re-print corrected materials. During this process he tells us that last night he left the dealership at 12:00 PM and got home at 1:30 AM and he thinks he’ll need to do this again tonight as there is another couple after us waiting to sign paperwork for their new vehicle. Carlos also tells us a bunch of other unrelated stories and is generally making small talk throughout this process extending it longer than necessary.
11:00 PM we finally leave the dealership with the car and all of the paperwork completed.
8:00 AM we take the car out of the garage for the first time and see it in the sun. We realize that the interior of the car is BLUE instead of gray. And it’s awful. There is no coherency in the design with the blue interior and we HATE it. We had intended to purchase a car with gray interior. At no time during the paperwork process were we told it was blue. Remember – our car was delivered to our relatively dark neighborhood after 9:00 PM and we drove it back to the darkest dealership parking lot I’ve ever seen. We had no opportunity to observe this issue.
10:00 AM Brian and I return to the dealership and explain to Alex that this was not the car we ordered. We do not like the interior and do not want it. We talk with Kevin and Alex and they agree to do “whatever they have to do to make it right.” He gives us a verbal agreement to find the car we actually ordered and cancel the contract. He then asks us again if we’d like the car that has a scratch if they repair it. I cut him off and tell him no. I want a new car with no scratch. He tries to talk me into it some more and again I cut him off and state loudly and firmly that I DO NOT WANT A CAR THAT HAD A SCRATCH AND HAS BEEN REPAIRED.
I have to demand a written contract. He attempts to hand write out a contract and I refuse demanding that it be typed. He brings out a contract and I read through it. I have to request that the contract specifically state that the contract will be canceled and that it be done at no cost to us. He then goes back to his office, then comes back to us and says he can’t get everything added to the contract because there aren’t enough lines on the form he is using and tries to hand write in our corrections. I refuse. He goes back and finally comes out with a contract on letterhead that includes almost everything I asked for, but does not specify that it will be at no cost to us. He hand writes this in and I accept because it’s now 11 AM and I have things to do.
11:00 AM we finally leave the dealership. Alex and Kevin promise they will call us by the end of the day with a new plan when they have found the car we want. I stress that I am willing to wait for a car to come out of the plant if that’s what I need to do to get the car that I want.
5:31 PM Alex calls me to say that they found the car. It will be ready to pick up tomorrow. We make a plan to come on 5/31 at 6:30 PM.
During the evening Brian realizes that he has work that he has to attend various meetings from 4:30 - 8:30 PM.and that the best time for him to go to the dealership is around 2:30 PM. I am also able to make that work in my schedule.
May 31, 2016
8:35 AM I send a text to Alex explaining that we will need to come around 2:30 instead.
8:38 AM Alex confirms and says the car will be detailed, gassed and ready for us
3:00 PM Brian and I make it to the dealership. They can’t find the keys to the car immediately. Eventually they find them and lead us out to the car which was parked in the shade. I request that Van, the woman who is now helping us, move the car into the sun for us to inspect it. She rolls her eyes but does as requested. Brian and I look over the car; find it to be in great shape. Alex asks Van to go fill the gas tank up.
3:30 PM Brian and I sit down with Carlos again to complete the paperwork. It’s mostly ready to go. At the end of the process I ask Carlos to either shred the old contract in front of me or provide me with proof of the cancellation. He says, “Oh my goodness! Thank you for reminding me!” and pulls out a contract cancellation form. The form is completed with the new car’s VIN on it. The statement he asks us to sign specifically says, “You acknowledge that the contract for the purchase or lease of the above described vehicle entered into between you and the deal on the Previous Contract Date has been canceled (rescinded) and no longer has any legal effect. You freely and voluntarily elect to enter into a new contract for the purchase or lease of a vehicle from dealer. No form of duress or pressure has been exerted against you by any dealer personnel with respect to entering a new agreement.” I refuse to sign the contract and point out that this is canceling the contract that we just wrote. Carlos says he’s not arguing with me, but reiterates that this is the right one to sign. Again Brian and I refuse to sign it as the VIN on the agreement is the one for the car we actually want not the car that we returned. Another finance person comes in and tries to tell us the same thing. We again point out that the VIN is incorrect. They try to tell us that it’s the date that matters. I have to point to the sentence that says, “above described vehicle” and that this contract would be canceling the brand new contract we just entered. Finally they print us a new one with the corrected VIN on it.
4:21 PM We walk out of Carlos’ office and he wants to walk us to our new car. Only to find out that Van isn’t back yet from filling it up.
4:22 PM I request that they set up our Bluelink account that goes with the new vehicle. Jacob is assigned to help us with this process. Jacob goes onto the Bluelink website and realizes that he has to sign in with his employee information. He can’t find his phone and doesn’t know his password. He has to leave us to go find the phone. He comes back and signs in using Internet Explorer. We start the process of enrolling, and the next steps keep timing out. He hits refresh – 3 times. While we are waiting, we ask about the Access OK stickers. He informs us that there is a form for us to complete and goes to track one down. He comes back with the form after about 15 minutes. The computer has timed out again at this point. He tries to log in and we have to request that he use a different browser, since Firefox worked last night. He agrees but has lost his phone again and has to go find it. When he comes back we are able to finish the process. I ask that he take the vehicle we returned off of our Bluelink account. He is not sure how to do this and never actually answers our questions. We decide we will just call the number on the website later.
4:45 PM Our car still isn’t back from getting gas.
4:50 PM Our car finally arrives. Alex waves us over and tells us to go look at the car. Jacob goes ahead of us. When Brian, Alex and I get outside Jacob and Van are giggling while sitting in the front seats. After a few minutes Van lets us know that there’s only ½ tank of gas. She then gets out of the car and I realize that the floor mat is covered in pale, crumbly, SOMETHING. I can’t even fathom what it is but it’s absolutely disgusting and dirty. At this point Brian and I are livid. I shout, “what the f**k! This car is not clean and ½ tank of gas is not acceptable.” Van, who is standing next to me reaches out and pats my face and says, “It’s OK!” I push her hand away from my face and look her dead in the eye and say very loudly, “IT IS NOT OK TO TOUCH ME AND THIS IS NOT AN OK THING.” We also remind them, and everyone on the lot, loudly that this is the 5th time we have been back to this dealership to pick up a car. Brian and I walk back inside and into Carlos’ office. He is on the phone but we interrupt anyway letting him know that it’s not acceptable. He follows us back out to the vehicle while we tell him about the ½ tank of gas and messed up carpeting. As we walk off the lot, we tell them to call us when the car is actually 100% ready for us to drive away.
5:00 PM Brian and I leave the dealership. We talk about going to the police department to file a charge against Van for assault when she touched me but decide against it. We decide to go to Applebee’s and relax instead. We didn’t want to drive home in traffic at that point.
5:57 PM Carlos calls to say he personally took the car to fill the gas tank. He also wanted to know exactly what else was wrong so he could fix it. We explain the issues to him. He offers to personally drive the car to us and let us inspect it at our home. We refuse stating we are nearby and would prefer to see it on the dealership lot. He asks us to call when we are leaving the restaurant so he can personally be available to hand the car over to us.
6:28 We get a call from the dealership saying that the car is “almost ready.” I ask what that means. I am not returning unless the car is 100% ready for us to pick it up. He quickly says that it’s 100% ready. I then say we will leave the restaurant when we are ready and come over.
6:40 We call Carlos to tell him we are headed back.
6:45 we arrive back at the dealership. It takes a minute to find Carlos but he comes out and shows us to the car. He encourages us to very carefully inspect the car and to point out any flaws. There were a few issues with trim not being wiped perfectly, stickers, and plastic wrap being left on the car, some dust. They are quick to make every correction we point out. The car, finally, looks like it should have when were handed the keys the first time 3 days ago. Brian drives off the lot but I stay behind to talk to Carlos. At this point Brian has missed all of his work meetings due to the car not being ready when promised.
I let Carlos know that he is the only one at this dealership that I will deal with at this point. He apologizes profusely for it. I also made it very clear to him that I found Van’s response and her physical assault to be 100% unacceptable. I let him know that we considered going to the police station to press charges. He was surprised by this. I stressed to him that I am also a supervisor and if any of my employees laid a hand on another employee or one of our clients it could be grounds for dismissal. At bare minimum it would be early send home and a mandatory training. I also let him know that Jacob kept his password in his phone (which he was unable to keep track of) and I had concerns about the safety and security of their systems knowing that. I stressed my frustration with the inability of the staff to follow through on their promises. I also let him know at that point that we will NEVER be returning to this dealership. We had the single worst experience I can imagine in car buying and we are extraordinarily displeased with the experience. Carlos then led me inside and offered me the phone number for the General Manager and the Chief Operations Officer. I let Carlos know I would be getting in touch with them and corporate about all of these issues.
I call Bluelink to take the vehicle that we returned off my account. The customer service agent on the phone tells me that I cannot make changes to the vehicle because we happened to register it in Brian’s name. I explain to her that I have had the worst experience ever buying this car and that I regret every second of it. This is only adding to my displeasure. I also stress that I am a registered owner of this vehicle and that I need to be able to make the changes because Brian is unable to make the phone call. She apologizes and says she will talk with her manager to see if she can get permission to move forward with supporting me. She was able to develop a workaround by having me log into Myhyundai and change my name. Even though I am the registered owner of this vehicle I couldn’t make changes. It was a slightly time consuming process, but ultimately I was able to get this accomplished in a 27 minute phone call. She also explained to me that the dealership should have been able to handle this on the spot, which I was told wasn’t possible.
Hanlees Fremont Hyundai Reviews
We just bought a brand new Plug-In Hybrid Sonata from Hanless Fremont Hyundai. This is the third brand new car I have purchased in my life and it was hands down the single worst car buying experience of my life. We had to return to the dealership 6 times before we actually walked away with the car we wanted (after 2 false deliveries). During the process I was also physically assaulted by one of the sales representatives. I will never return to this dealership and it may have ruined any chance of me ever purchasing another Hyundai in the future since my experience was so poor. Throughout the process I felt like I was not respected for my time or my intelligence. I was not treated as a valued customer whom they hoped to do business with in the future, but rather as a one-time visitor with whom they needed to put in no effort. I left this dealership feeling disrespected, pissed off and completely unsatisfied with the car purchasing process. I will never return to this dealership for anything.
May 29, 2016
10:00 AM - We arrived at the dealership and were promptly greeted by Alex, our sales person. He showed us the regular Sonata which we were not very impressed with. After a few attempts we were able to get him to show us the Hybrid Plug-In that we were interested in seeing. He took us out for a test drive and was able to adequately answer all of our questions about the vehicle.
11:00 AM we have decided we are interested in the car and started negotiations. It took us an hour and 15 minutes to come to an agreement that we were happy with. I was ready to walk away long before that, but Brian was adamant that he wanted this car and we were already there so we might as well just get it done.
12:15 PM we tell Alex that we’re happy with the deal. We are going to go get lunch, talk about it and make sure that this is the choice we want to make since we only saw the car this morning. Also we have an appointment in San Jose at 1:30 and we are starving. We will return after the appointment around 3pm. Alex promises us that the car will be cleaned, detailed, gassed up and that paperwork will be ready when we get back at 3.
1:52 PM Alex calls Kayla and she declines the call
1:52 PM Alex calls Brian and he declines the call
1:53 PM Alex calls Kayla and she declines the call
1:54 Alex calls Brian and he declines the call
1:58 PM Alex sends Brian a text,
“Hi Brian,
How are you doing? Do you have a good lunch? Are you on your way to come in and see me to wrap up the deal? Please give me a call, [SIC] I will talk to my manager to get the paperwork ready for you. Thank you so much Alex [LASTNAME] Hanless Fremont Hyundai”
2:10 PM Brian texts Alex back “Yeah, we’re almost done with our meeting and will be heading back soon.”
2:31 PM Alex texts Brian “Great. Enjoy your lunch. I will see you soon then. Thank you so much.”
3:11 PM we call Alex and tell him we are almost back to the dealership. He confirms that they are ready for us.
3:30 PM we arrive back at the dealership. When we get there Alex informs us that there’s a slight problem. The car we test drove and wanted to buy has an 18 inch scratch in the side. He offers to have their service department “touch it up” and tells us it will be about “80% better” we decline stating that we would like a new car with no damage. He tells us, sure sure! No problem! He says he knows their sister dealership has another car in stock that’s exactly what we want. He then tries to offer us a gray car that we could drive off the lot today, but then can’t find it in the lot. Then he offers a white car. I have to say multiple times that I don’t want gray or white. I requested a black car with gray interior and that is the car I want to leave with. Alex finally stops trying to talk us into a different vehicle and says he will get the other dealership to bring over the black car right over. We inform Alex at this point that we have to pick up Brian’s parents form the airport and will need to leave by 4:30. He tells us it’s not a problem. He’ll get Carlos, the finance manager, to get the paperwork together so we can sign loan paperwork. Alex assures us that they will deliver the car to our home tonight and bring along a finance person to finish up all the remaining paperwork.
4:30 PM Carlos finally comes out of his office and does the loan paperwork with us
4:45 PM Alex assures us that the car and paperwork will be at our house between 8:00 & 8:30
6:30 PM Brian and I are trying to finalize our plans for the evening and I send Alex a text to confirm car delivery time.
6:57 PM Alex sends me back a text saying it will be 8:30-9:00. We have to change our plans again to accommodate the delivery of this vehicle.
8:24 PM Alex calls to inform me that the car is on its way, but the finance guy can’t get away so the paperwork can’t be signed tonight. He asks if we can come back on Monday. I tell him no because we’ve already spent more time on this car than intended and have plans on Monday. We will come on Tuesday afternoon.
9:00 PM the car arrives. When we get outside the driver asks us if we can bring him back to the dealership. We agreed to do so, but really what was the point in delivering the car if I still have to drive to the dealership and back? While taking him back to the dealership, I realize we haven’t done any of the registration for the vehicle and should not be driving it. We decide to stay and do the paperwork since we’re already at the dealership anyway. While we’re waiting, they help us to sign up for Bluelink, a system that interacts with the car and our smart phones. This was a slow process, but the person helping us was a competent person. I wish I could remember who helped us; I think it might have been Andy.
10:00 PM Carlos is finally ready to start doing the paperwork with us. There are several things that have to be reprinted. He is using an ancient dot matrix printer that he spent a significant amount of time trying to fix in order to re-print corrected materials. During this process he tells us that last night he left the dealership at 12:00 PM and got home at 1:30 AM and he thinks he’ll need to do this again tonight as there is another couple after us waiting to sign paperwork for their new vehicle. Carlos also tells us a bunch of other unrelated stories and is generally making small talk throughout this process extending it longer than necessary.
11:00 PM we finally leave the dealership with the car and all of the paperwork completed.
8:00 AM we take the car out of the garage for the first time and see it in the sun. We realize that the interior of the car is BLUE instead of gray. And it’s awful. There is no coherency in the design with the blue interior and we HATE it. We had intended to purchase a car with gray interior. At no time during the paperwork process were we told it was blue. Remember – our car was delivered to our relatively dark neighborhood after 9:00 PM and we drove it back to the darkest dealership parking lot I’ve ever seen. We had no opportunity to observe this issue.
10:00 AM Brian and I return to the dealership and explain to Alex that this was not the car we ordered. We do not like the interior and do not want it. We talk with Kevin and Alex and they agree to do “whatever they have to do to make it right.” He gives us a verbal agreement to find the car we actually ordered and cancel the contract. He then asks us again if we’d like the car that has a scratch if they repair it. I cut him off and tell him no. I want a new car with no scratch. He tries to talk me into it some more and again I cut him off and state loudly and firmly that I DO NOT WANT A CAR THAT HAD A SCRATCH AND HAS BEEN REPAIRED.
I have to demand a written contract. He attempts to hand write out a contract and I refuse demanding that it be typed. He brings out a contract and I read through it. I have to request that the contract specifically state that the contract will be canceled and that it be done at no cost to us. He then goes back to his office, then comes back to us and says he can’t get everything added to the contract because there aren’t enough lines on the form he is using and tries to hand write in our corrections. I refuse. He goes back and finally comes out with a contract on letterhead that includes almost everything I asked for, but does not specify that it will be at no cost to us. He hand writes this in and I accept because it’s now 11 AM and I have things to do.
11:00 AM we finally leave the dealership. Alex and Kevin promise they will call us by the end of the day with a new plan when they have found the car we want. I stress that I am willing to wait for a car to come out of the plant if that’s what I need to do to get the car that I want.
5:31 PM Alex calls me to say that they found the car. It will be ready to pick up tomorrow. We make a plan to come on 5/31 at 6:30 PM.
During the evening Brian realizes that he has work that he has to attend various meetings from 4:30 - 8:30 PM.and that the best time for him to go to the dealership is around 2:30 PM. I am also able to make that work in my schedule.
May 31, 2016
8:35 AM I send a text to Alex explaining that we will need to come around 2:30 instead.
8:38 AM Alex confirms and says the car will be detailed, gassed and ready for us
3:00 PM Brian and I make it to the dealership. They can’t find the keys to the car immediately. Eventually they find them and lead us out to the car which was parked in the shade. I request that Van, the woman who is now helping us, move the car into the sun for us to inspect it. She rolls her eyes but does as requested. Brian and I look over the car; find it to be in great shape. Alex asks Van to go fill the gas tank up.
3:30 PM Brian and I sit down with Carlos again to complete the paperwork. It’s mostly ready to go. At the end of the process I ask Carlos to either shred the old contract in front of me or provide me with proof of the cancellation. He says, “Oh my goodness! Thank you for reminding me!” and pulls out a contract cancellation form. The form is completed with the new car’s VIN on it. The statement he asks us to sign specifically says, “You acknowledge that the contract for the purchase or lease of the above described vehicle entered into between you and the deal on the Previous Contract Date has been canceled (rescinded) and no longer has any legal effect. You freely and voluntarily elect to enter into a new contract for the purchase or lease of a vehicle from dealer. No form of duress or pressure has been exerted against you by any dealer personnel with respect to entering a new agreement.” I refuse to sign the contract and point out that this is canceling the contract that we just wrote. Carlos says he’s not arguing with me, but reiterates that this is the right one to sign. Again Brian and I refuse to sign it as the VIN on the agreement is the one for the car we actually want not the car that we returned. Another finance person comes in and tries to tell us the same thing. We again point out that the VIN is incorrect. They try to tell us that it’s the date that matters. I have to point to the sentence that says, “above described vehicle” and that this contract would be canceling the brand new contract we just entered. Finally they print us a new one with the corrected VIN on it.
4:21 PM We walk out of Carlos’ office and he wants to walk us to our new car. Only to find out that Van isn’t back yet from filling it up.
4:22 PM I request that they set up our Bluelink account that goes with the new vehicle. Jacob is assigned to help us with this process. Jacob goes onto the Bluelink website and realizes that he has to sign in with his employee information. He can’t find his phone and doesn’t know his password. He has to leave us to go find the phone. He comes back and signs in using Internet Explorer. We start the process of enrolling, and the next steps keep timing out. He hits refresh – 3 times. While we are waiting, we ask about the Access OK stickers. He informs us that there is a form for us to complete and goes to track one down. He comes back with the form after about 15 minutes. The computer has timed out again at this point. He tries to log in and we have to request that he use a different browser, since Firefox worked last night. He agrees but has lost his phone again and has to go find it. When he comes back we are able to finish the process. I ask that he take the vehicle we returned off of our Bluelink account. He is not sure how to do this and never actually answers our questions. We decide we will just call the number on the website later.
4:45 PM Our car still isn’t back from getting gas.
4:50 PM Our car finally arrives. Alex waves us over and tells us to go look at the car. Jacob goes ahead of us. When Brian, Alex and I get outside Jacob and Van are giggling while sitting in the front seats. After a few minutes Van lets us know that there’s only ½ tank of gas. She then gets out of the car and I realize that the floor mat is covered in pale, crumbly, SOMETHING. I can’t even fathom what it is but it’s absolutely disgusting and dirty. At this point Brian and I are livid. I shout, “what the f**k! This car is not clean and ½ tank of gas is not acceptable.” Van, who is standing next to me reaches out and pats my face and says, “It’s OK!” I push her hand away from my face and look her dead in the eye and say very loudly, “IT IS NOT OK TO TOUCH ME AND THIS IS NOT AN OK THING.” We also remind them, and everyone on the lot, loudly that this is the 5th time we have been back to this dealership to pick up a car. Brian and I walk back inside and into Carlos’ office. He is on the phone but we interrupt anyway letting him know that it’s not acceptable. He follows us back out to the vehicle while we tell him about the ½ tank of gas and messed up carpeting. As we walk off the lot, we tell them to call us when the car is actually 100% ready for us to drive away.
5:00 PM Brian and I leave the dealership. We talk about going to the police department to file a charge against Van for assault when she touched me but decide against it. We decide to go to Applebee’s and relax instead. We didn’t want to drive home in traffic at that point.
5:57 PM Carlos calls to say he personally took the car to fill the gas tank. He also wanted to know exactly what else was wrong so he could fix it. We explain the issues to him. He offers to personally drive the car to us and let us inspect it at our home. We refuse stating we are nearby and would prefer to see it on the dealership lot. He asks us to call when we are leaving the restaurant so he can personally be available to hand the car over to us.
6:28 We get a call from the dealership saying that the car is “almost ready.” I ask what that means. I am not returning unless the car is 100% ready for us to pick it up. He quickly says that it’s 100% ready. I then say we will leave the restaurant when we are ready and come over.
6:40 We call Carlos to tell him we are headed back.
6:45 we arrive back at the dealership. It takes a minute to find Carlos but he comes out and shows us to the car. He encourages us to very carefully inspect the car and to point out any flaws. There were a few issues with trim not being wiped perfectly, stickers, and plastic wrap being left on the car, some dust. They are quick to make every correction we point out. The car, finally, looks like it should have when were handed the keys the first time 3 days ago. Brian drives off the lot but I stay behind to talk to Carlos. At this point Brian has missed all of his work meetings due to the car not being ready when promised.
I let Carlos know that he is the only one at this dealership that I will deal with at this point. He apologizes profusely for it. I also made it very clear to him that I found Van’s response and her physical assault to be 100% unacceptable. I let him know that we considered going to the police station to press charges. He was surprised by this. I stressed to him that I am also a supervisor and if any of my employees laid a hand on another employee or one of our clients it could be grounds for dismissal. At bare minimum it would be early send home and a mandatory training. I also let him know that Jacob kept his password in his phone (which he was unable to keep track of) and I had concerns about the safety and security of their systems knowing that. I stressed my frustration with the inability of the staff to follow through on their promises. I also let him know at that point that we will NEVER be returning to this dealership. We had the single worst experience I can imagine in car buying and we are extraordinarily displeased with the experience. Carlos then led me inside and offered me the phone number for the General Manager and the Chief Operations Officer. I let Carlos know I would be getting in touch with them and corporate about all of these issues.
I call Bluelink to take the vehicle that we returned off my account. The customer service agent on the phone tells me that I cannot make changes to the vehicle because we happened to register it in Brian’s name. I explain to her that I have had the worst experience ever buying this car and that I regret every second of it. This is only adding to my displeasure. I also stress that I am a registered owner of this vehicle and that I need to be able to make the changes because Brian is unable to make the phone call. She apologizes and says she will talk with her manager to see if she can get permission to move forward with supporting me. She was able to develop a workaround by having me log into Myhyundai and change my name. Even though I am the registered owner of this vehicle I couldn’t make changes. It was a slightly time consuming process, but ultimately I was able to get this accomplished in a 27 minute phone call. She also explained to me that the dealership should have been able to handle this on the spot, which I was told wasn’t possible.