The experience I had with People's Choice Auto Sales was horrible, and my story is long but i dont want to miss any details of what these people did to my family. Hi my name is Estefani, I am 20 yrs old and I have a 2 yr. old son.


Me and my fiance, Josue who is 28 yrs old called Peoples Choice before going there to talk about down payments and to ask other questions. We were looking to finance our first car. Over the phone we told peoples choice that we wanted to put $3, 000 down payment for a car and no more, which People's choice agreed with.


After talking to a salesperson nicknamed "Mailman" or Mike, which i earlier found out no longer works there, we decided to go down there to meet in person. When we first went there before the date of 02/15/2010(date of actual purchace) to view the cars, "Mailman" was busy, so we were being assisted by a rude spanish man named Jose.


We decided we did not want to deal with him no longer because it was obvious that the man was not going to help us if our intensions were not to buy a car with him that very same day. We only wanted to look around and ask questions to see if we were interested first. After putting up with so much of Joses' attitude we decided we wanted to wait for Mike to be done.


After he became availabe, he showed us a couple of cars which we did not like so we asked if we can get a car from the auction which he stated they go to two times a week. He stated that with a $500 deposit, he could look for which ever car we wanted. I paid People's Choice Auto sales $500 in cash to find the car we wanted.


I also received a receipt which we have for our records to bring to court. We asked them to look for a 2004 Cadillac STS in red, white or black worth no more than $16, 000. (A task which they said they could handle) A month passed and we received a call stating they found the car we wanted.


We went back there to come to find out it was a Cadillac but not the color, or body or price we wanted. They wanted $6, 000 for a down deposit, that is 50% more than what we could afford, and what we previously discussed, so we did not take it. As you could imagine, we were not happy to wait a month for the wrong car.


We wanted a car and needed a car desperately because we work and we couldnt wait any longer. They showed us a couple of cars that they could give us with $3000 for down payment. We looked at a 2001 Mercedez S500 which we liked and test drove around the block, our other option was the 2004 Infiniti Q45.


So after hours of trying to decide which car would be best for us, we decided to go with the Mercedez. We told them what we decided on and they told us it would be $4000 down payment for the car. Again, we were desperate so gave them $3500 from our debit card, because we already gave them $500 for the deposit earlier, that would make it $4000 for the down payment for the Mercedez.


Then they convinced us to get a warranty for the engine in case it blew, it would cover all the costs. They wanted $350 down for the warranty and it would be $50 a month. So we gave them our debit card again.


We agreed that there would be 4 pick up payments of $500 every two weeks for 2 months and then the monthly payments would be $400, which was fine with us because we were able to afford those payments. After signing the contract and getting car insurance we were finally able to drive of the lot with or Mercedez.


We were so excited! So on our way home that very same night, the car tells us "STOP CAR TOO LOW", on the dashboard screen. We stopped the car, turned it off and on again and the engine light came on too! We turned the car on and tried to make it home which we did. When we made it home, we went on our computer to find out why the car was telling us to stop.


We found out that the airmatic was broken, which means the car was extremely low to the ground. So we took it back to People's Choice the very next morning to tell them what happened, they told us that their mechanic was not there and that we would have to come back tommorow, so we had to drive back home with the engine light on and a broken airmatic system.


We were extremely scared to drive, because we didnt know what would happen next. The car was so low to the floor, that if you turned the wheel to make a right or left turn, the front tires would scrape against the car itself. On our way home again we were on S.R 50 going towards Clermont when the car completely STOPPED!


We noticed that after driving back and forth from Orlando twice the gas meter did not move, the tank looked like it was 3/4th full when in reality the gas gauge was broken also. How ironic, that when we first bought the car they told us "As a gift for your purchase today, the tank is almost full, so you have free gas."


How happy we were then, but what we later encountered was a nightmare. We paid $70 of gas in just 2-3 days. Me and my fiance and three other people who saw our car stop in the middle of S.R 50 helped us push our car to the gas station. We filled the car with gas and the car turned on! We then made it home again. Thank God.


Again we left for the third time to go to People's Choice Auto Sales so that they can fix the car, after their "mechanic" looked at the car for 5-6 hrs, they finally told us that they would not be able to help us, because we were going to need an actual Mercedez mechanic. Peoples Choice then told us it would cost us over $2, 000 to fix it and we would have to pay for it, even though after having so many conversations with their salespersons, they told us if there was any problems with the car to bring it back and that they would take care of it.


Of course i did not give them $2000, because im on a budget, i live paycheck to paycheck and i do not have any extra money in any banks. So we had no other option but to switch to the 2004 Infiniti Q45 with aproximately 140, 000 miles on it.


We paid our first pick up payment of $500 on 2/19/10 only 4 days later, it was due 2 weeks after day of purchase. We paid it early. After making payments early over and over again, i tried to kept myself ahead of all my payments so that we would not encounter any problems.


So with the Infinti we had temporary paper license plates for less than 2 months, we then received a call from People's Choice to come pick up the plate on Wednesday 04/28/2010, they were asking for $425 for the registration fee, which according to our conversations before purchasing the car, we were told registration was included in the price of the car.


We expressed our concerns to Omar, the man who was asking for $425 on that day for the license plate. When Omar had called us the day before to tell us to pick up the plates, he NEVER mentioned that we would have to bring $425 for the hard plate. So we were unprepared, we did not have $425 available at the time.


We told Omar that we can pay him the VERY NEXT DAY because it was pay day. So i go in the car with my son while my boyfriend is waiting inside for the plate, next thing you know a repo truck comes and starts lifting up the car with me and my son in it! It was so horrible, embarrasing and unexpected.


Never did we get a warning from Peoples Choice. Omar did nothing to help. They towed our car with our belongings in it and we were told to call the next day to try to resolve the issue. I've been dealing with these people for two months and have paid them over $6, 000 for the car in just two months, i never expected that even with our payments made we would be going through all these troubles with Peoples Choice.


They towed the car and not only that, but when we called them next day to find out what happened, they said we have to pay $2, 275 in 10 days by May 7th, or our car that we paid over $6, 000 in just two months was going to be fully reposessed and we would not receive any refund of any kind. No refund for the warranty or anything.


We asked why in the world do we have to pay $2275 if they only needed $425 just yesterday, how did this go up like that in the course of 24 hours? Omar stated the $2275 included $425 for the plate, $300 for towing, thats $725 (we have to pay towing fees also!) UNBELIEVABLE! (when the car should had never been towed to begin with), and the rest as Omar explained was because the finance company wants car payments made months ahead before they can give us the car back.


So even though we were making all our payments, now the finance company wants $1550, thats means they want almost 4 months ahead worth of payments. This was just unberable. I knew that there was no way we could come up with that money even if we wanted to because we only make so much and we have other bills to pay.


They only gave us 10 days to come up with that kind of money and i alone make 1, 300 a month. They left my family without a car, we paid them more than $6000 of our hard earned money for them to keep our car!


If i would have known that, i would of rented a car for 2 months for a lot cheaper from Enterprise or any other car rental company. The story keeps going, so after hearing this, we called two lawyers who tolds us we can win our case against People's Choice with our receipts of payments and our bank statement.


After speaking with the lawyers, I went back to my bank statement to view for evidence purposes, come to find out they took out an extra $500 dollars from our account without our permission. I called Peoples Choice and spoke to Omar again and he told us that he wasnt sure who did that or why but he "thinks" it was the first pick up payment which was due 2 weeks after 2/15/2010 not the very same day.


So why was it taken that same day not two weeks later? And i paid it 4 days after date of purchase. Omar then said that any $500 pick up payments made with the first car (Mercedez) was not rolled over to the second car (Infiniti) which means our money that we paid them meant nothing and was never accounted for, even though they told me they were going to switch us from the Mercedez to the Infinity for the EXACT same price.


Which means all my payments should have rolled over to the second car, but was not. I could no longer deal with Omar anymore, it was obvious this was a scam and that their intensions was to keep my money and the car.


So those extra $500 dollars they took out didnt mean anything because it was not applied as a payment, and my first pick up payment of $500 for the Mercedez was never accounted for or rolled over for the Infiniti, which is probably why the repossed the car, because they never input the information (payment) into their computer system and it made it look like we were behind.


I have the receipts, to prove my payments. I am so heartbroken by what they did to us. Today is May 8th which means my car has been fully repossed and i cannot get any of my money back. Not only did they steal from us but they also lied about EVERYTHING, everyone there is extremely fake, they seem nice at first but then stab you in the back when you least expect it.

I called on 05/13/2010 to ask Omar why was the $500 taken out of my debit account without my permission, he said i signed a receipt, i told him o.k show me the receipt i signed because i swear to you that i did not sign no such thing. He then said "Send me the bank statement and i will check our records" I told him, if theres a possibility we may get our car back he said "WE ALREADY SOLD IT TO SOMEONE ELSE" I wanted to die.

Unbelievable, we only had the car for 2 months, paid over $6000 within that time, and they sold the car in less than 2 weeks. Me and my family are so stressed. Peoples Choice Auto Sales impacted our lives in a negative way. I am extremely close to losing my job because of transportation issues and my fiances hours at work were cut back because of transportation difficulties.


After speaking with the lawyers they told me to file as many complaints as possible. I googled Peoples Choice Auto Sales and found out that there are many, many complaints out there by other victims of their scams. I only wish i would have looked at this before going there.


What a nightmare. Now i have to ride a bike to work, and my fiance has to walk, Thank God that our jobs our local, if not we would be unemployed. I need help, and i was told to come to this website for file a complaint.


I hope someone is able to help us, because we have been scammed and robbed. I also called Channel 9 news and left a message and i am filing a report with Orlando Police Department. Im going to try my best to have these people pay for what they did to us. Legally. Thanks for reading, please contact me if need be.

[email protected] 352-301-3901