I had a very bad encounter at Martin Main Line Honda dealership with the Finance Manager who was extremely rude. Let me begin by stating that I had purchased 2 Hondas in the past 3 years from this dealership and had nothing but pleasant experiences, which is why I convinced my relatives to purchase a Honda from this dealership today. So the negotiations went smoothly but we had to wait approximately 3 hours before we could meet with the Finance Manager to finalize the transaction as it was a busy day at the dealership.

When we were in the midst of signing the financial documents and the coverage options explained to us, I calmly stated that we would like to pass on this option and was rudely interrupted by Alison Matarazzo stating the following in a very degrading tone:

“EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU THE PERSON BUYING OR PAYING FOR THIS CAR, IF NOT KEEP QUIET AND DON’T BOTHER INTERRUPTING. I CANNOT STAND PEOPLE WHO ARE HERE FOR MORAL SUPPORT THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS PURCHASE!”

Alison then rudely moved the paperwork around and banged loudly on the keyboard to express her anger about this situation. Needles to say, I was shocked and appalled by this childish attitude as I had stated the same response in my two previous purchases with Martin Main Line Honda and both times were met with an explanation from the Finance Manager stating that they understood but still had to explain the coverage to me. Again, both times were dealt with professionally by the Finance Manager back then handling the transactions. Giving Alison the benefit of doubt that it was a long day for everybody, including us, who had to wait 3 hours to finalize this deal, I stated to her that if I may have sounded rude in any way that I apologized. She merely raised her hands holding a bunch of paperwork, rolled her eyes, and stated the following:

“YEAH, WHATEVER!”

And continued to bang away on the keyboard and clearly expressing her anger over this situation by throwing the paperwork around the desk. I could not even fathom the incompetence of a working professional where word of mouth is essential in this type of service oriented business. Being courteous should be a priority regardless of the situation and that obviously wasn’t the appropriate behavior or words to exemplify to a customer. I was clearly the person responsible for convincing my brother in law to come in to Martin Main Line Honda on a beautiful Saturday morning to purchase a Honda from this dealership due to the great experience I had in the past until now. I could not grasp whether Alison was just being discriminatory when she quoted those statements or just being plain ignorant. I believe the proper response would have been a simple statement as such:

“I understand that you would like to waive the coverage & that you offered your opinion but this is the buyers choice & it should be his decision”

Instead, Alison further quoted the following:

“HERE’S THE PAPERWORK TO SIGN TO WAIVE THE COVERAGE AND IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, IT’S BECAUSE YOUR FRIEND HERE TOLD YOU NOT TO SIGN IT”

Is this the response she conveys to every customer or just certain demographics that decide to not accept the extended coverage? I find it hard for someone, titled as a Finance Manager, to express a ‘bully’ like mentality if the customer waives the extended coverage option. I am fairly sure this is not the first encounter where the person purchasing the vehicle does not solicit input from another party that came along with them, whether it may be a friend, relative, or family member. In fact, I was just at another dealership 2 months ago, assisting a nephew with his first new car purchase & we both went through the same process of talking with their Finance Manager. After he explained the coverage options, I spoke on my nephew’s behalf, and told him that we would like to waive it. That finance manager understood & stated he still had to explain it but never once did he respond in the manner that I encountered with Alison.

Alison was clearly incapable of experiencing empathy and even after giving her the benefit of doubt and apologizing in case I might have been brash in my statement (even though I know I wasn’t), Alison still clearly was very rude and sarcastic. By the way, I am the one paying for the vehicle downpayment as a gift, the car just happens to be under my brother in law’s name. I am sure not every customer who buys a Honda pays for the vehicle themselves completely, there are such things as financial gifts or assistance from family, who as an educated Financial representative should be completely aware of.

I believe there are other customers out there that might have encountered this attitude and probably decided never to purchase a Honda from Martin Main Line again. Think about the possibility of losing subsequent deals based on the incompetence of one single employee. As a working professional myself, I believe my past experience has taught me enough to not be rude to a person and pass judgement when trying to complete a deal with them. I believe I can conclude that most people that accompany the buyers, whether it may be for moral support or just to assist with a big purchase, are typically repeat customers. These are people that have experienced a prior purchase and are helping the current buyer with their significant purchase, and should be treated as potential buyers themselves. Maybe if I had appeared to be in an alternate demographic the response would have been completely different.


I hope that Martin Main Line will scrutinize this matter and make the appropriate amendments to correct this type of behavior.