Sheehy Ford of Warrenton

My new Focus came in on a Friday. I was out of the area, so we decided we would pick it up the following Monday. We arrived at the dealer at about 5:30. Rick(sales guy) immediately showed us the car and let us take a test drive in it, while he was finishing with another customer. When I came back, it was about 45 minutes before Chad(manager) finished drawing up the "proposal" (keep in mind, all negotiating had been done already, and they knew we were coming in, this could have been done ahead of time). By 7:00ish we were still waiting for the paperwork to be completed. Finally around 8:00pm Louise(finance guy) comes up and grabs paperwork to see if they can beat our credit union's 1.99% rate. This takes another half hour. When we finally went into his office around 8:30, we discovered that the price we agreed to is not what they were charging. We originally agreed to a price that only included the student discount, since that is valid through January, and the promotion at the time of the order was not going to still be valid. The price they were charging had factored in the $500 retail cash already (which put us at $500 above what we were expecting) and they were also $500 less then the trade-in price of my car they had agreed to through email (this price was increased the $500 after the deal was discussed, but they did still agree to it in email). We proceeded to discuss this with Chad for another hour or so. When he did not budge we went back to talk to Rick. He was not able to change Chad's mind. We decided to go outside and talk it over. When we came back in, we had decided we would buy the car anyway, as the price was still good. This is when we discovered that the $389 doc fee we were told is now $448 (despite the fact Rick confirmed it as $389 that day!). Again, Chad would not budge over the $60. I understand that in certain states you can not adjust the doc fee, but he could have dropped the car. By the time all of this is done, its almost 9pm, their closing time (we came at 5:30). This is when we discover that Louise decided to transfer my registration before I even signed the paperwork! To top it off, Louise went home and none of the staff could find my old registration. Chad very tersely told us to leave without our registration and they would send us it tomorrow (driving with no registration=illegal). He tried this several more times, including threatening us with calling the cops for trespassing. Finally, at around 9:45 I got so fed up, I called the cops myself. I informed them that the dealer had my registration, was refusing to give it back, and trying to make me drive home without it. When the cops came, they ended up having to give me a business card with their names on it, so that if we got pulled over we could explain the situation. This is NOT the way a car buying experience should be. A dealer should NEVER hold a registration hostage, lose it, or transfer it before the car has even been bought! I was forced to drive to work without proof of registration in a car that the dealer registered to themselves before completing the sale (which I believe is illegal also). I emailed the GM of the store (Tim) and he was substantially nicer. However, he would only budge on the doc fee, and refused to honor the $500. I ended up agreeing to the sale and telling them to make sure all paperwork was ready before I arrived, to have the Daytime Running Lights enabled and the car ready. Tim confirmed this was fine. When I showed up NOTHING was ready, we arrived at 4:45, did not leave till 6:45. I had to argue with Rick to have the dealer installed options installed that evening, because parts was closing, and he wanted to go home as well. After he spoke to Tim, they agreed to install that evening. When it came time for the paperwork, I had a check from my credit union this time and Louise started arguing with me over the registration from the other night. One of the biggest rule in retail is DON'T ARGUE WITH THE CUSTOMER. All it served to do was make me angry. The below is an email chain from after I reviewed this dealer on another site Lonnie, I hope your trashing of us on ***** made you feel a whole lot better!! It’s a shame that most of what you decided to share was lies! The people at my dealership bent over backwards to make you happy, unfortunately with you this is an impossibility! I specifically told you the other day when we spoke, if you didn’t want to do business with us than I would return your deposit and you could go elsewhere to purchase your vehicle. My guess is you decided to come to us because, 1 no other dealership would tolerate your horribly condescending attitude and 2 because you realized we offered you the best possible price! In our business we are always considered the bad guys, no matter how hard we try to be honest. Every email you have exchanged with my company clearly points out the pricing!! You decided to try and get a little more and it didn’t work, that made you unhappy because you couldn’t get your way so you decided to tell stories on line about an experience you ruined! Rest assured I will respond to your DEALERATER rant with the facts! Also remember, just because our goal is that the customer is always right, this doesn’t give you a free pass to get your way by threatening employees! In my 23 years in the Automobile business I have never regretted selling someone a car until I met you! Tim -- I replied with -- Tim, It is unfortunate that you feel that way. However, everything I wrote on both Dealerrater and Yelp is the truth. The angry and unprofessional tone in which you replied to this email just furthers the points I was making. Yes, you did offer to allow me to go to another dealer, however, I have already been waiting quite some time, and the trade-in did not appraise at the same level when I went to look around again. Ultimately, the price was the best I could get at the moment (not the best I could have gotten originally). I do regret putting my deposit down with you and not another dealer. I stuck with you because Rick claimed to be able to match the price I had gotten from other dealerships, and he was the first salesperson I spoke to. I felt that the fairest way to proceed with the transaction was to give the salesperson that was the most on top of things the commission. My Dealerrater and Yelp rating was simply to inform other buyers of my experience and allow them to make their own decisions. In buying a car from you, I never gave up my rights as a consumer to provide an honest and true rating of my experience with your dealership. It is understandable that my unfortunate experience with your dealership might be upsetting to you, but my reviews were accurate and not fictionalized accounts of the events that transpired. I respectfully ask that you please not send me anymore harassing or accusatory emails. Sincerely, Lonnie -- Tim replied with -- My email to you was not harassing or accusatory! It was a simple statement of facts! If you feel it’s ok to write a fictional review of what happened at my dealership you can rest assured that I am going to respond to it! Unlike you who hides behind a computer keyboard, my employees work long hours and depend on their reputation to make a living! I will defend them and this dealership against false accusations with the facts! [more beyond this]