In late May early June of 2010, my girlfriend were looking for a new Jeep Liberty Limited. Our guidelines were simple, we wanted our trade paid off and the payments on the new jeep were to be under $500.00 per month. I live in Edmonton, so our first stop was at Southtown Chrysler. There they had what we were looking for and their offer was this: They would take my trade (a 2007 Jeep Commander) pay it off and sell us the new Liberty for $36000.00 tax in.
Now then, my girlfriend lives in Calgary and since the Liberty was going to be for her we decided to check with some Calgary Chrysler dealers to see if they would match or better the deal that we found in Edmonton. We thought this would be easier for her as far as warranty issues, oil changes, etc. etc. if the purchase was made in Calgary.
We visited Courtesy Chrysler in Calgary, told them what we were looking for and also told them of the deal we had available with Southtown Chrysler in Edmonton. They told us that the other dealer was doing this and inflating that, but they would match or better the deal we found in Edmonton.
Here's where the fun begins:
I work out of town on a 6 day on 6 day off rotation, so we told Courtesy that we would think about their deal and get back to them in a week when I return to the city. I no sooner left for work when my girlfriend gets a call from Courtsey to come in and start the finance process to get a pre-approval. She went in and filled out the forms and gets approved. The next day, my girlfriend gets a call from Courtesy to come in and take advantage of the "Screaming Deal" that they had to offer her. Keeping in mind that I work in an area that has no access to regular communication, my girlfriend could not call me for advice or direction.
So, she goes in with my 2007 Jeep Commander that by the way is solely in my name as the registered owner. Courtsey Chrysler takes my Commander in as a trade without any authorization from myself and sells the Liberty to my girlfriend. I worked some extra overtime so I did not return to Calgary for about 2 weeks. We recieve a statement from the bank that my girlfriends new loan is for $50, 000.00, and the payments are $639.00 a month. I contacted Courtsey Chrysler to find out what went wrong with their matching offers and I was told that any deals that are verbal and not in writing are invalid. I said well, how did you manage to take my vehicle in on trade, that is solely registered to me without my authorization? their response to this was that they made a mistake by not checking ownership on the trade in vehicle. I said thats fine, I want my Commander back because you had no right to it, well guess what they sold it! I threatend lawyers, police, ect., and the dealers response was that if I created waves they would charge my girlfriend with theft, and me with slander, imagine that!
I found my 2007 Jeep Commander, it is in Brooks, Alberta, so I have placed a lien against it and I am presently in the process of recovering it. I have a lawyer in place to deal with The Crooked Courtsey Chrysler Dealership.