Updated With Jpeg: Dishonest Chevy Dealer

[pdssoft]

I have to agree with some of the other posters here and state that the title of this thread is very deceiving. When I first saw it I thought there was a Chevy Dealer out there intentionally promoting Toyota. And why did it have to be Toyota? Couldn't it have been Ford? Chrysler? Oh, wait, I get it... On a forum geared exclusively to GM, what better way to get the members riled up but to implicate Toyota. Hmmm... Your letter does speak of deceit.

However, for the sake of argument, let's assume there was no deceit on your part.

You state in your letter... "...based on my unpleasant experience last week when I took possession of a 2007 Colorado..." So I'm getting the impression that you went to the dealer to sign all of the papers and/or lease/loan and get the truck, would that be correct? If so, why didn't you say something then? It would have been relatively easy to refuse the purchase, wouldn't it? Or was it simply that "One person even suggested that my truck reminded him of a toy car that came with his daughter's Barbie and Ken Doll house." Which made you reconsider your selection?

With all that said, if I were the dealer and the parts really only cost a couple hundred bucks, I'd replace them for you, thank you for your purchase and send you on your marry way. Then I would call the Toyota Dealer and give them your name and address and ask them to put you on their mailing list, because I certainly wouldn't want you back.

Well, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong.

[GMCSonoma]

The truck pictured looks nice....

What's the issue again???

Sorry...had to say it...

[MelvinJ]

Originally Posted by esoxlee

Don't get me wrong, I've been a loyal GM customer for years and I see through all the biased media commentary. In fact, I've been posting facts such as Toyota recalling more cars than it produced over the past few years. Additionally, I am constantly trying to bring to light the class action law suit against Toyota's engine sludge. And after their record $13.5 billion profit earnings, Toyota still tried to avoid paying for this defect by blaming the customers for not changing there oil.

My point is, less enlightened car buyers won't be so forgiving. Not once did I reference that I was switching to Toyota.

Well, OK then. I guess address this to whoever you think will be foolish enough to hold something like this against GM and not the dealer. I believe as a whole, Toyota dealers generate less satisfaction than Chevy dealers do fortunately, so it must not have a huge effect on people's buying decisions as far as what make they purchase.

I see what you mean about the shiny flares not looking good. The color of your truck is one of my favorites, but shiny black flares is not a good look for it. Hopefully, you can get this resolved.

[Canyonaro]

Originally Posted by plane

I own a 2005 Colorado LS. It's a great truck.
If this were me? I would just swallow my pride, save up the $150, but the correct flares, and install them myself.

Yeah, it's $150, but then you don't have to deal with the misery you're in right now. The world would be right and you would be happier. Just my $ 0.02.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Those painted ones on the truck in his picture looks awful. I guess the dealership said they would be ruined since they wouldn't have the 3M tape anymore. I would think it would be easy to get replacement for that, they must be lazy.

They are really easy to replace if it needs to be done, just a matter of centering it and let the adhesive tape do the work.

I like plane hope that everything goes well in what you/the dealer decide to do. If it were me, I would replace those painted black ones though.

[fp115]

You didn't look at what you are buying, yet you complain about it. Pretty much your fault here. If someone told you a car looked better in Purple rather than Black over the phone and bought it, would you still blame the purchase on someone else? You should have just gone to the dealer yourself and have a look at them.

[69Firebird400]

Does anyone wonder why stuff like this happens to the same people all the time? Victim mentality?

Yes, the truck looks ridiculous with the glossy black fender flares. Yes, the dealership snookered you into buying them. But it was a stupid decision on your part to agree to a VISUAL enhancment for your truck sight unseen without having any idea how it would look. You had "no reason to doubt" the dealer for saying they'd look great, yet they had already engaged in questionable selling practices such as aggressive pushing of warranty and finance plans?

Take a little responsibility for your own actions. Yes, big business is often guilty of screwing over the little guy - but generally the ones it happens to are the ones who let it happen. Read what you're signing, spell out everything, and then you won't have to "spam" executives or be a general nuisance to everyone after the fact.

[prowlerjc]

I think the flares don't look too bad at all. I can understand being peeved that it wasn't what you wanted, though.

[Bruce_Lee]

Eso, buddy,
First off let me tell you that by looking at your truck, I think it looks great. Nice Truck! Like someone else here asked 'What's the problem again?"

Seriously, nice looking truck (from your pictures). Also, forgive me for saying this, as others also have said it, but I do feel that it was your fault for agreeing to the purchase.

I just recently purchased new rims for my vehicle and I stopped at 'America's Tire' to see if they had a '5-spoke 16inch' rims. The guy at the counter said 'sure, we do carry those type of rims, but we have to order them' and proceeded to show me a catalog. He pointed at some 'nice' looking 5-spoke rims. I asked him if that's what I was going to get and he said 'no', but the ones he would older were going to be 5-spoke rims, just like I wanted. I felt uneasy about ordering something without even looking at them, personally. I knew it was going to be trouble and so I told him 'thanks, but no thanks'.

I then went to the web and found almost exactly what I wanted and I am very happy with them..


And thus, my feeling that you are also at fault. But then again, like most here, I feel that this dealer should go out of its way to make you happy, as a customer....but ...

[redlipp]

Originally Posted by esoxlee

Here's a letter I plan to spam all GM big wigs that I have an Email address for. It basically outlines how a dealership in Southern Ontario is screwing me after I purchased a 2007 Chevrolet Colorado:



Dear XXXXXXXXXXX:

With the recent troubles of market share loss and the media’s slander-like commentary towards GM products, Wednesday’s financial results is welcomed news. It is clear evidence that your turnaround plan is succeeding. And to maintain this momentum it is imperative that GM continues to strive to produce better and more innovative products than the competition. Equally important to this is for your representatives at the dealership level to provide buyers with the best experience possible to ensure that GM maintains the highest customer loyalty base in the industry. However, based on my unpleasant experience last week when I took possession of a 2007 Colorado at a XXXXXXX dealership, your loyalty stature is in serious jeopardy. Producing the best vehicles in the world would be meaningless if action is not taken to eliminate the highly questionable business practices that I encountered. Not only was I subjected to highly aggressive sales tactics for the various protection plans, but certain staff members clearly demonstrated to me that deceit and trickery are tools they are more than willing to utilize to increase profit margins.
This regrettable episode began when I was informed by one of the sales staff that the optional dark grey fender flares that I ordered for my grey truck were unavailable. But just by luck, they did have a set of black shiny ones in their inventory. Initially I was reluctant for the substitution, but the staff member assured me over the phone that these flares would look great on my grey truck. Since I had no reason to doubt him, I trusted his judgment. I could have not been more wrong. The flares looked absolutely horrendous to me and to my friends and family. One person even suggested that my truck reminded him of a toy car that came with his daughter’s Barbie and Ken Doll house. Before taking any further action, I decided to visit 2 other service departments at Chevrolet Dealerships in the area for a second opinion. Representatives at both service departments stated that the flares are a special order item specifically for a black truck. They also both agreed that they were likely part of a cancelled order and installing them on my vehicle was the perfect opportunity to liquidate them. Needless to say, they also thought that my truck looked absolutely ridiculous. When I returned to the dealership and spoke to one of their service staff ( who requested anonymity ), he confirmed that the fender flares should only be installed on a black truck.
Based on all my findings, I asked to have them removed. This is the point my customer experience declines exponentially. I was immediately informed that I would not receive any monetary compensation for this item and removing them would render them unusable. As a final insult, I would be charged an additional $55 labour. In other words, it was not bad enough that the dealership deliberately mislead me to accept an item that should never have been installed on my truck to begin with, they would generate another $55 profit to remove this eyesore. Ultimately, I would lose in excess of $500 for a set of damaged shiny black fender flares.
When you consider these unethical business practices and the consequences, it would be in GM’s best interest to implement safeguards to detect and eliminate such behavior. I certainly hope the local Toyota franchise appreciates all the new customers that this dealership is generating for them.

was this a factory order unit or something that someone had in stock? the only real problem that i would have with the dealer, if it were an order unit they should of been able to tell you which type of wheel flares should have been on the unit before delivery. the color a person selects sometimes will effect which type of flares and flares colors that are available. what style,reg,ext,crew 2wd or 4x4? also what package content did you order?

[roberto57]

Many dealerships try to screw over their customers. When buying a new car you should always be careful. As for the flares you could have them painted or replaced. A few hundred dollars is not much compared to the price of the truck.

[shadams]

I agree that this is a ridiculous thing to get worked up over. I read your original post and don't need to read the TV post because you could probably replace truck with TV and it would read the same. I have a feeling the way you go through life is to flip out after the fact, but the situation was probably very easy to avoid. I admit I harbor the same feelings at times when I screw up but would never go to the lengths you have gone to make such a minor point.

With that said, the same thing applies to the dealer. As a rule you never do anything sight unseen, as a lot of times you end up in these positions. The right thing to do would have been to remove the flares for the customer at no charge and get them what they want. Again, something that required very little effort was left undone on both sides. I am betting at some point you will get your way, just like you say you did with your TV. But believe me it's not because the dealer will realize they were wrong, or that GM will make them do the right thing because you might go buy a Toyota (I know, other less enclined, yada yada), but it will be because they are willing to pay the money to not listen to the whining anymore. Sorry to be rude but I don't think this is the right way to handle the situation.

Oh, and BTW, nice truck, nasty looking flares, I wouldn't want them either. There are push pins or screws that secure them around the inner edge of the fender and the top is held on with double sided tape. It would literally take less then 10 minutes to remove them. I would yank them off and go to another dealer and buy the right ones, but they wont cost a hundred dollars, the ones for the full size trucks retail at about $360 for the whole set.

[Triple-X08]

dont take this the wrong way, its meant to be funny.

look at the letters he has made to best buy and the dealer.

its like a computer based setup, like a mass produced letter
he uses xxxxx in place of names and stuff.

its funny because its like you have a few of these laying around that you just fill in the blanks for different names and issues you have.

dont take it the wrong way, im just laughing at it,

by the way im glad the whole best buy thing worked out for you.
sounds like someone saw the whole thread and saw 330,000 people looked at it, well thats quite a potential for problems, i love it,

this my friends is how you get s*** done. not with the run around and all this BS.

[01sunfire01]

yea your right they dont go with the truck. thats a very nice color i like it alot. if the flares where flat black like the front part on the bumper that would look better or the ones painted the color of the truck but you are right they dont look to nice.

[tollytime]

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh! I was working with a GM Body Shop that was trying to get the factory gray plastic fenders to take paint. The customer insisted on them to be shiny black on his orange Colorado. The plastic shrouds were washed with grease and wax remover several times, but the paint still chipped off in a few weeks. We finally ordered the proper pieces through parts. The customer was outraged he had to pay for the paint work, even though he was told it probably was not going to work in the first place. The Body Shop tried to convince the customer to order the black trim pieces originally. It sounds like you should have ordered the Off-Road package to begin with. The Chevrolet dealer may have made a mistake or there was a mis-communication with your order. We weren't standing next to you when you made the deal, so I assume you are posting a story with no hard evidence or an official rebuttal from the involved dealer. Basically, it's all B.S. at this point! Before you trash someone on line, you have to present it in a factual way. This may be impossible if the dealer refuses to make an official statement. In this case, it should be a matter in small claims court and not some aimless post on a blog. Sorry to burst your bubble Sparky, but there's two sides to every story, and I only got one. How fair is that?