On Wednesday February 25, 2011, I test drove a car at Auto Connectionz in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. I spoke with both the salesman and the owner about the car. We had purchased a previous vehicle at this location several years ago. I expressed a lot of interest in the car. I offered to put down a small down payment at that time. They stated that the car had not gone through a safety inspection and it could not be sold until that happened. I asked again if I could put down a payment pending the inspection. The answer was no. I asked when the safety inspection would be done. They said it would be done by Friday. I called back on Thursday to let them know I would be coming in on Friday and they said they would try to get it done. I asked if it would be better if I would come on Saturday and they said Saturday would be better.
On Saturday morning I called to make sure the inspection had been done prior to making the one hour drive. It was snowing and I was watching my nephew who has special needs that day so I didn’t want to make an unnecessary trip. The person that I spoke with said that it was done and I told them I would be there around 11:15. When I walked into the car dealership, with the money, the car was in the process of being sold. The salesman stated that I could only purchase the car if the customers looking at it didn’t want it. I told him I had an appointment and I had spoken with him earlier. He said “I know you had an appointment but these people got here first and I can’t help that, it’s just the way we do business.”
While this might be a legal way of conducting business, it certainly was not ethical or moral. I cannot believe that someone didn’t call to let me know that the car was in the process of being sold or to give me first chance at the sale. It is unfortunate that R.J. Manders maintains these business practices and allows his staff to do the same, especially with returning customers. The salesman did apologize but that was little consolation for my nephew who took a two hour drive for nothing or my son who thought he had a car. Perhaps the company would like to post this on their website along with all of their “happy” customer’s comments. I did ask if the owner would call me but I am not holding my breath.
At this point, I wouldn’t buy an air freshener from this dealership.