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Review 12/6/2009
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I had reviewed the BBB rating of this dealership prior to contacting them (it has an "A" rating) and I felt that I could trust this dealership who had few complaints and no major problems. Hence, on November 28, 2009 I purchased a 2009 Honda Accord LX-P from Frank Mercado at Community Honda located at 138389 E. Whittier Blvd., Whittier, CA 90607 (562-698-8191). What happened after my initial interaction with Frank is where I have a REAL BIG PROBLEM with this dealership.
After agreeing to the purchase price of the car ($19,300 + $75 for wheelocks = $19,375), I met Art Vicino in the finance department. He's an older gentlemen who appeared trustworthy at the time. When he presented my sales contract to me, there was an amount listed under "Parts/accessories" for $369. When I asked Art what the amount was for, he initially indicated that he did not know and that the "finance guys" put it there. I inquired again, because my math calculations where not adding up. He then indicated that the $369 was for "vehicle registration". This perplexed me as there is a separate section in the sales contract indicating that vehicle registration was $88. I asked him again what the $369 was for and once again he indicated that it was vehicle registration. Being that the last time I bought a new car was 10 years ago and I felt that he was trustworthy, I signed the contract.
Art then offered me an extended warranties option which included vehicle etching, to which I declined and signed the document (I never received a copy of this document). I specifically told Art that I did not want vehicle etching on my new car and he indicated that it wouldn't be.
I signed the sales contract and left the dealership a happy customer.
On December 3, 2009, I went back to the dealership to have my wheel locks put on my rims. I inquired to the parts cashier (Patricia) as to what the $369 under the parts/accessories portion of the contract was referencing, to which she replied that the amount was for "vehicle etching". This is exactly what I DID NOT want on my car. Art had lied to me and indicated that the amount was for "vehicle registration".
A few hours later, I called and spoke with the General Sales Manager (Richard Werren Jr.) who indicated that it was my fault for not reading the contract before I signed it and that if I had any doubt to what the $369 was for, I shouldn't have signed the contract. To which I replied, that Art had told me that the amount was for vehicle registration and how was I supposed to know that he had lied to me?
Plus, there was no vehicle etching on my car! Art had lied about selling me a product and then the product he did sell me wasn't even on my car!!! Eventually, I got a check for $404. When I went to pick up the check, I asked Richard to show me where the vehicle etching on my car was. Guess what? He said "it wasn't there". He then offered my 3 free oil changes to basically shut me up.
On December 4,2009, I spoke with the owner of the dealership, Dan Wood. When asked him if he could guarantee that this type of false representation and lying would not occur to any other customer, he told me that he could not guarantee it and that he has no control over what his employees do since he isn't present during the sales transaction. In my opinion, if the owner says he can't guarantee that his employees won't be ripping off customers, there is a real problem with the dealership.
Please, stay away from this dealership. I am currently in the process of filing complaints against the dealership with other government agencies in order to protect other customers like myself. Thankfully, I got my money plus some back, but who knows how many other individuals were lied to and felt embarassed about complaining. STAY AWAY from this dealership if you don't want to deal with liars and cheaters!
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