Tony,

We just bought a car from Wendle Motors in Spokane, Washington on July 16, 2005. I have never been so deliberately lied too about what we could expect.

The finance manager Don Santos was discourteous, appalling and totally offensive. We where told by 2 salesman that we were working with that we had up to 3 days to get our own financing.

When we went to sign and finish the deal, the finance manger said no that's not going to happen and that if we left they wouldn't hold the car until Monday when we got our financing (he didn't even offer to work with us, or have us leave a cash deposit to hold the vehicle).

So we figured this guy was just not willing to work with us, or he was having a bad day and we would take care of it on Monday with our bank and their financing department.

Our bank called Wendle Motors at 9:30 a.m. on Monday July 18th, and spoke with the finance manger on duty at the time (Kevin Parker) and told him that they where financing the car and not to put the contract through, he stated that should be fine. My bank further attempted to try and contact Don Santos and left several message asking him to return their call! They never received a call back and the same thing happened each day there after.

My bank gave me a check on the Wednesday after all this started, and I took it to Wendle, and of course they made me wait to talk with someone, and they wouldn't accept the check.

While I was waiting I saw a couple with a salesman looking to buy a car, so of course I had to speak my peace and in a very loud voice told them "I really hope your not planning on buying a car from here, because everything the salesman is telling you is a big fat lie, and they won't stand behind anything they tell you."

I have contacted every organization I can think of to file a complaint or just send them a letter.

I have never experience such poor customer service, or unwillingness to try to help resolve this matter. I took the word of the salesmen on what we could expect. The salesman will tell you anything, because it doesn't matter they are never going to stand behind what they say!

Maggie

My Response to Maggie:

I take it that you signed all the bank papers Santos told you to sign. That's the only way he could have put the loan through. There's no sense in reminding you at this point to never sign any papers at a car dealership until you are absolutely sure of what you are doing.

However, not all is lost. If indeed he put the loan through, simply wait for the payment book to arrive and go back to your bank and tell them you want to pay off the original loan and refinance with them. They should be able to give you a loan and then pay off the first loan.

This will also get Santos' and the dealer's goat, because they'll have to give back any commissions they earned arranging your loan. Too bad for them! To really understand how much money the dealer makes off of you in the Finance Office read The Most Closely Guarded Secret in the Car Business!

If your bank doesn't want to help you go to RoadLoans . Look for their "refinance" link and see if they can help you. They have low rates, and they are very reputable to deal with. My daughter did a car loan with them and it was a pleasure dealing with them.

Also, contact the bank where the original loan was put and try to get through to the dept. that handles car loans for dealers. Tell the manager of that dept. how you were treated. Perhaps they can do something from their end. At the very least it will make the dealer look bad. If the banks get enough complaints about a certain dealer they won't let them write loans for them anymore.

You should also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Good luck...

Tony Iorio