Complaint Review: Allen Samuels Dodge - Houston Texas

On Monday, May 7, 2007 I went to Allen Samuels Dodge to inquire if I qualified to purchase a car since I was recently discharged from a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Sales representative Errol Williams assisted me with the purchase of a used 2005 Chevrolet Equinox. We both looked at different options of cars and worked on what would be a suitable financial option that would meet my needs. I test drove s Chevrolet Equinox, however we were unable to drive off the parking lot due to the car not having sufficient gas. Therefore, we elected to drive the car around the car lot. I elected to finance this car based on the mileage, cleanliness and the fact that it met my financial needs. During my wait to see if a bank would be able to finance the Chevrolet Equinox "EW" advised me that the car would be detailed and have gas pumped in it.

When he came back with an offer it was brought to my attention that I had a fraud alert placed on my credit report. Americredit, the financial institution that wanted to approve the car loan, claimed they wanted to contact me at my home phone number in order to ask a series of questions before they would approve the loan and release any funds. At this point, Errol Williams spoke with Larry Fountain,Business Manager, in regards to what Americredit had stated. Instead of me coming home in my original car, which was a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier, "EW" advised that I should drive home in my new car and take care of the matter with Americredit once I was home.

Early Tuesday morning, May 8, 2007 I turned the car on and the orange service engine light turned on and stayed on until the car was turned off. I consulted the Chevrolet manual to determine what could cause the light to come on. I turned the car on and off for ten seconds, as the manual suggested, however the light did not turn off. I contacted Errol at telephone number 713-343-8000; however the receptionist advised that he was not there. I spoke with Errol's manager, John, I explained to him the situation of the orange service engine light. He asked me if I had just recently pumped gas into the car and I stated no since the night before Errol had requested to have gas be pumped into it. He advised that I should bring the car in at my earliest convenience in order to have the engine light checked. Before taking in my car, I contacted Larry Fountain to inquire if it would be possible to change my payment date from the eleventh to the seventeen of each month. I also advised him of the situation of the orange service engine light and he advised that I should bring in the car and while I was there we would change the payment from the eleventh to the seventeen.

I expressed my dissatisfaction with Larry in regards to the service engine light concern and that I wanted to return the Equinox and just simply finance a new Dodge vehicle. Larry advised this request could not be granted due to Americredit had already released the funds to Allen Samuels Dodge for my Chevrolet Equinox and there was nothing else he could do to honor my request. I brought the car in that afternoon and literally after a few minutes I was told that a service engine diagnostic test could not be conducted on my car since I had a Chevrolet and Allen Samuels Dodge only had diagnostic tools for Dodge cars. John and Errol advised that I should go to Auto Zone and request a free service engine diagnostic test. At this point I was very upset in regards to the whole matter and I expressed my total dissatisfaction with this business transaction. Errol stepped aside and John approached me and said, I hope you are not extremely upset with the dealership to the point that you would come back with a grenade and blow the place up!

Wednesday, May 9, 2007 Lupe from Americredit contacted me requesting that I needed to submit a letter from the Social Security Administration stating that my social security number did indeed belong to me. I asked Lupe if the funds were already released to Allen Samuels Dodge and she stated, No. I asked her since the funds had not been released Americredit should wait to release the funds until I had my service engine light diagnostic test completed. She advised that she was only interested in the letter from the Social Security Administration and to speak with Allen Samuels Dodge in regards to any car repairs. Later in the afternoon, Errol contacted me in regards to the status of the service engine light and if I had taken the car to Auto Zone. I advised him that I was not going to be able to take the car to Auto Zone since I was stuck at the airport until late that evening. However, I did mention to him that the following day I would take care of this matter. Errol advised me that Americredit had contacted Allen Samuels Dodge requesting that I provide a letter identifying that my social security number actually belongs to me. I advised him that Lupe from Americredit had spoken to me earlier in the day in regards to this matter.

Early Thursday morning, May 10, 2007 I took the car to the 6240 Dashwood D Houston, TX 77081 Auto Zone. Auto Zone's representative, Tony, conducted the service engine diagnostic test on the Chevrolet Equinox. The diagnostic report provided error code P0404. According to this troubleshooting code P0404 it states:

The PCM has determined that the control circuit for the exhaust gas recirculation system is out of range for the current engine operating conditions.

I contacted Errol in regards to this matter at 9:38AM however he was not at his office and I left a voice message request to have him return my call. I called 713-343-8000 at 4:42 PM and spoke to the receptionist and I requested to speak with John and he was off. I asked the receptionist if Errol was available to speak with me and she stated that he was in a meeting. My attempts in order to get this matter resolved on Thursday, May 10, 2007 failed.

Friday, May 11, 2007 I spoke with Errol at 10:07AM and I advised him of the outcome of the Auto Zone inspection. He advised he would speak with his general manager as well as his sales manager in regards to finding a resolution. In addition, Errol advised that someone would be contacting me within fifteen minutes to speak to me in regards to this matter. I did not hear back from Errol within the fifteen minutes therefore I contacted him at 11:32AM. He advised that he spoke to his general manager and sales manager, Stephen Mancuso. Errol advised that he would speak with them and have them contact me. Stephen Mancuso called me at 11:45AM. He advised that I should bring the car into the dealership. Furthermore, he advised that he would have to send the Chevrolet Equinox to Allen Samuels Chevrolet in order to receive the necessary repairs. He stated that he would place me in a rental car while my car was being serviced. I agreed to his offer and I arrived at the dealership at 12:15PM. Errol advised that Enterprise knew of my situation and that they would be providing a rental car for a maximum of three days. I advised Lawrence Heyman, Enterprise Representative, that a three day rental would not be feasible since I was a flight attendant and I would be flying a six day trip. Lawrence advised me that I should speak to my sales representative in order to extend the car rental return. Stephen, Lawrence and I tried to come up with a solution as to how I could leave the Chevrolet Equinox with Allen Samuels Dodge and I have a rental car for more than five days. Stephen advised me that he could not sign off an extension for me to have a rental car more than five days due to it would not be a cost effective transaction. Stephen's turnaround time to have the Chevrolet Equinox serviced was three days.

Since I am a flight attendant I have to wait until I come back from work in order to have the Chevrolet Equinox fixed. Once I came back home from the dealership, I spoke with Laura at Americredit since I needed to inquire if I still had to turn in a letter indicating that my social security number belongs to me. She advised that Allen Samuels Dodge on 1515 South Loop West does not have the funds for the Chevrolet Equinox. However, she did mention that a dealership does not have to have the funds in order to release a car; however it is up to the discretion of the dealership.

I am an upset customer with Allen Samuels Dodge. First and foremost, I should have never driven away on Monday, May 7, 2007 with this car after realizing that the car did not have enough fuel in it. This should have been my first indication that there was something wrong with the car. Errol Williams advised me that pre-owned cars have to pass a 120-125 checkpoint inspection. This was NOT the case with this vehicle since according to Allen Samuels' technicians Allen Samuels Dodge does not have the service engine diagnostic test equipment to conduct this test on a Chevrolet Equinox. Secondly, Larry Fountain and Errol Williams should NOT have let me leave the dealership driving the Chevrolet Equinox without me FIRST verifying my 100% full identity with Americredit. Errol was definitely concerned at the simple fact that he needed to make a sell by the end of the day. Larry knew that I had a fraud alert on my credit report; however he felt that he could release this car without anymore of my identity verification. This is action is unacceptable since the first reason for having a FRAUD Alert on a credit report is to 100% clarify one's identity. Thirdly, John should have never made his rude and unprofessional comment in regards to me coming back to the dealership with a grenade and blowing the place up! This comment did not cause any humor nor was it appropriate during these times when Virginia Tech students are still in mourning as well as the NASA Space Center incidents are still vivid in my mind. Not having my telephone calls returned in a timely fashion has no excuse. Stephen needed to be proactive in the sense that if I needed to have the car rental for five and even up to ten days he should have taken the initiative and owned the customer service experience and approved the car rental extension. The vehicle has a 30 day money back guarantee, however everyone at Allen Samuels Dodge wants to find way into fixing the problem and hot honoring their written advertisment in regards to their money back guarantee. An immediate resolution is needed in this matter. This Chevrolet Equinox needs to be returned to Allen Samuels Dodge even though the problem is fixable. I do not feel in safe hands driving this car anymore. I feel that both Larry and Errol have deceived me into signing a contract that should have never been signed until my identity was 100% approved by Americredit. However, Larry and Errol needed to stick this Chevrolet Equinox LEMON to the first buyer that showed any interest in it. I will be filing a Lemon Complaint with the Texas Department of Transportation as well as the Better Business Bureau Chapter in Houston. I am still awaiting on a resolution from these unprofessional representatives at Allen Samuels Dodge. I will update this ripoff report as I gather anymore information.

Jacob

Houston, Texas
U.S.A.