Brinson Ford Lincoln of Athens

by DMYoung on 12/12/2023

TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY BRINSON FORD of TEXAS After being prompted several times by Brinson Ford of Athens (Texas) to write a review, I decided to commit to writing my experience and disappointment at finding that I had been taken advantage of. Also, I was a little reluctant to admit that this 66 old had let himself be duped. I should have known better than to trust a car salesman or a car dealership. I’m from Shreveport, LA and found this truck through cargurus.com. I was looking for a red or white 2023 F-150 King Ranch and found one at Brinson Ford of Athens. On Thursday, November 16th I contacted Stephen at Brinson and asked for his best deal, and a breakdown. This is copied from my response email to Stephen: “I reviewed your offer for the Ford F-150. Other than the bed liner, the optional extras I don't really need.  The "Non Tax Fees" seem high to me.  Instead of going through each "Non Tax Fees" items, I would like to offer $71,000.00 total purchase (line 5).  If your GM accepts, I will provide you a credit card number to place a deposit of 1,000.00 and come Saturday morning to do the paperwork.” The General Manager rejected my offer, but I want to point out here, is my questioning of the high amount of “Non Tax Fees”. So, in my phone conversation later that day with Stephen I asked him to email me a breakdown of the fees, as they seemed high. Stephen’s response was the fees were estimates, and covered title, license and recording fees from Texas to Louisiana, and that he would email the breakdown as requested. He said that if any of these fees were over the actual cost, I would be refunded. I never received the promised email. After test driving the truck, we went to discuss paperwork. I told Stephen again that the fees looked high for what he had suggested the previous day. He once again indicated that they were high due to the out of state issue, and were for out of state title, license and recording fees…. and that any overages would be refunded. After more discussion about the truck, he brought out the buyer approval form. The $742.12 listed for “Non Tax Fees” (no breakdown of the fees) and I asked him for the 4th time about them. And for the 4th time, he stated the same. I was then sent to Angela, the finance manager to sign papers. I mentioned to Angela the discussion I had with Stephen about the high “Non Tax Fees” and how Stephen had indicated that any overages would be refunded. She, like Stephen, indicated that any overages would be refunded. The documents are signed electronically, with the buyer executing a signature page first. Angela then quickly scrolled to each area that had to be signed or initialed as needed, simply by touching a small box. The breakdown of the fees was listed on one of the pages that was quickly scrolled through on an Ipad, and that I was never allowed to see. Then a printed copy was folded neatly and put into an envelope. The following day I opened the envelope to discovered that the $742.12 was in fact not just “title, license and recording fees.” The fees included $399.00 for “marking fee” and $144.62 Dealers Inventory Fee. Stephen had consistently and repeatedly lied to me about the fees and breakdown of the $742.12, even after being questioned many times. I feel that Angela, the finance manager, was aware of Stephen’s ruse and misleading statements. There were $543.62 in additional undisclosed charges. It was my sincere hope that I had found a Ford dealership that I could trust, for both myself and my businesses, and a place to refer my friends. What Brinson and Stephen don’t seem to understand in today’s electronic and social media world, it is so easy to spread the word (Facebook, Google, Cargurus, etc.). Especially when you have 45 years of business acquaintances, contacts, family and friends. Brinson, nor I, will ever know how many possible sells they will miss for being dishonest. But there will be some. I’m not asking for any money back, and would have paid the fees anyway. However, I would not take anything back from Brinson if offered at this point. What was I looking for? Brinson’s and Stephen’s honesty, some place I could refer people to. Unfortunately, this is not such a place. Signed, Another Senior Citizen taken advantage of FOLLOWUP: I decided to call Stephen Mathews (salesman) and tell him what I planned to report to Ford, Cargurus, etc. I decided to give Stephen a chance to explain why he lied. A very nervous Stephen told me he was “doing what he was told to do” when I pressed him on the question of fees. I asked him “who instructed him to lie to me”, and he replied “I was doing what my Manager told me to do”. Stephen was very nervous, and I could tell he didn’t like being caught in an obvious lie. He asked if I would like to talk his manager, and I said yes. The manager, Richard Dunkerson, called me later that day. A very smooth talking individual. His explanation for not providing my requested information, was he didn’t like his salesmen to cover detailed information. I explained to Mr. Dunkerson that I requested the information via email and 4 times, and it was clear that they had lied, misrepresented the fee structure. Even when the salesman went to discuss the fees with the Manager, he was instructed to withhold the information from me, and give me the “Out of State, don’t know the exact amount of fees, and you will be reimbursed for any overages”. As it turns out, the Dealership knew the exact amount of the Out of State Fees. They just lied about it to cover up the additional charges. It is now plain to see, the Manager is teaching his salesmen to be dishonest, and how to do it. I later received a call from the Finance Manager, Angela, who tried to smooth things over. However, she couldn’t explain how requested breakdowns of fee were never covered by the Salesman or herself. Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)

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