Laurel Ford

I had a pickup for sale on Craigslist. The used car manager (let's call him Marty) of this dealership contacted me and wanted to buy it. Everything seemed to be legit- of course he wanted a better deal, and we agreed on a price. Marty wanted all of the paperwork: title, 10 day pay off, etc. faxed to him, which I promptly did. He told me we would finalize the deal on Monday. However, I was unable to reach Marty all day Monday. He finally called on Tuesday, wanting the mileage so he could get the paperwork finished for the sale. Said he would be sending a check and truck to my location to pick up vehicle. On Friday of the same week, after no word from Marty, I finally rec'd an apologetic email from him. His boss had put a freeze on his funds and he couldn't buy the pickup. But he'd "get back to me" in a few weeks. I contacted the owner of the dealership to apprise him of the situation, as Marty had shared with me that he had just recently been hired. I carefully explained the situation and what had taken place; I shared with the dealership owner that my motivation was not the sale of the truck. It was a courtesy call to inform him of the unproffessional behavior, the verbal agreement and lack of follow-through, etc. To my amazement, the owner was completely unscathed; apparently, he has no problem with Marty's lack of integrity. He verified that a freeze had indeed been placed on all purchases. Ironically, however, it was already in place BEFORE Marty had agreed to purchase my vehicle. And the owner just couldn't understand WHY I thought this was abnormal business behavior. Hmm. It's been said that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...then it's a duck. This whole situation smells. I don't know what the motivation for this whole exchange was for Marty or for the dealership- to glean my personal information? Who knows. Hopefully, I won't find out. But be forewarned: the owner condones and promotes this deceitful behavior of his employees.