I purchased a '03 Honda Element last November. Granted, the transaction took place under duress, since the vehicle I was driving was running badly and I decided to trade it in before continuing on to Denver, Co. So, I decided on the Honda tagged $12, 999. Since I trade cars every 2 years or so and ALWAYS buy used, it didn't seem like a huge risk to me, since I know a bit about cars and have probably done 20 such deals in my adult life. I have NEVER bought a warranty.

Imagine my shock when I called the bank to refinance my car and learned that my loan was in excess of $17k!!! I figured the bank had made an error. The customer service person at Bank of the West remarked that she'd never seen a worse financing deal! (Additionally strange because I have excellent credit and had a loan in good standing with the same bank at the time of the transaction! And the car was not valued at anywhere near $17k at this time.) Apparently the additional charges for service-tire and wheel $900? (No new tires, so what was this charge?) and service warranty $2, 500, were tacked onto the contract AFTER I SIGNED IT. No copy of the contract in question was given to me, but I didn't realize this until I was back at my Colorado home. When salesman Pickett-White made a courtesy call 3 days AFTER the car was driven off the lot, I mentioned to him that I never received a copy of the contract. He said he would send me one. This has not happened TO THIS DAY, (perhaps because this salesperson doesn't exist!)

When I questioned the "mistake" with their finance manager, he claimed there was $4300 in finance charges, so that's why my debt had increased by 6k. Later, he decided to say I had to pay for this warranty and for repairs and maintenance to the car. I'd never heard of this before!At the signing in his office, another man in a suit STOOD in as a silent witness. I'd never seen anything like that before either. (Was this done as a CYA in case I later ojected to the bogus charges?) Later that day it seems the general manager was out and the salesperson I dealt with no longer existed. The finance manager was to busy to talk to me.

Can you help? I would be satisfied if I could get the $5k-$6k charges removed/reimbursed from my finance contract, AND if Planet received some consequences for ripping me (and likely others) off. I believe this scam is somewhat routine at Planet, because in order to pull it off, at least 3 or 4 people would have had to coordinate the deal. They were all cooperating in this fraud, and that includes the general manager.