Several years ago, I went to an out-of-town Ford dealership to buy a specific used Jeep that I had seen on their website. They had changed their closing time to an hour earlier and had not changed it on their website, so I had much less time than I thought I had. The salesman told me that the Jeep had passed the state inspection as well as the county's emissions inspection and was in fine shape, and he offered to let me test drive it. I was unfamiliar with the area, so I told him to direct me. It turned out that he was unfamiliar with the area as well, and the test drive took over 45 minutes to complete. Back at the dealership, as I negotiated, people were scurrying about closing up, and the salesman pointed out (several times) that we had very little time. When we reached a deal, the salesman told me that a paint repair firm was coming the next day to correct a number of flaws that I had pointed out and was told not to worry about. I told him that with my father, who was in a wheelchair at the time, it was difficult to come back. He told me they would deliver the car to me three days later. I asked if they could clean the front floor mats (carpet) as well. He agreed. He showed up at my home a day late (a matter about which I had to call the dealership to find out why no one had come when they were supposed to), and only a very few of the paint flaws were corrected. He told me that he had stopped at a car wash to clean the carpet floor mats. When I opened the front door, I saw that he had hosed them off and promptly put them back in the car. I commented to him that I was unhappy, and I was nearly ready to cancel the deal. Because I liked the particular model, I didn't cancel and gave him my check, and he gave me the pink slip. As he left with his return driver in a company pick-up, the driver (a teen) had difficulty turning the truck and left about a dozen tear-up tracks in my rather freshly sealed driveway. Apparently, when he got back to the dealership, he told his supervisor that I was unhappy with the deal and had commented that I was nearly ready to cancel it. Three days after that, I received a letter from the dealership apologizing for the botched deal and that included my check. At that point, the pink slip, my check, and the now cost-free Jeep were all in my possession! I called the dealership and described the situation to a very upset and most apologetic sales manager. I put the check in the mail. I took the Jeep to my mechanic, and he told me that the muffler and two sections of exhaust pipe had rusted through on top, so the inspection story was a lie. I sent a very lengthy letter to the dealership describing the fiasco. A few days later, I received a call from an upper-level manager who opened the conversation with, "I understand there were a FEW problems with your recent purchase." My response was, "Ma'am, that is the understatement of the millennium!" Since the dealership is still in business, I can only assume that they have not completed many deals like mine, or there are far more honest people in the world than we are led to believe!
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