Bad experience with Liberty Auto Plaza dealer and false advertising
#1
09-20-2007, 11:59 AM
Bad experience with Liberty Auto Plaza dealer and false advertising
Anyone else have a bad experience with Liberty Auto Plaza in Libertyville, IL?
I was shopping to buy my third Nissan. All previous purchase experiences were fine except this time when my experience was awful. This is just a recap of my own bad personal experience with Liberty Auto Plaza in Libertville, IL (North Suburbs of Chicago); Others person's experiences may vary. I don't know if the experience is just with this dealer or the people. I hope I don't run into these same people at other auto dealers when I'm looking to buy my next car. I did find a dealer that was the total opposite and pleasant to work with. I bought my car from them and already gave them two referrals. Contact me if you want the dealer I liked.
Liberty Auto Plaza gave me the run around and typical car salesman pitches. Promised a lot, changed their policy as needed to their benefit, made me do a lot of work when they knew they weren't going to follow through with their word, and delivered nothing. I was victim of two of their false advertising tricks: 1) Mailing advertising fraud to purchase my used car for outrageous value over bluebook and 2) Get $500 cash if they can't beat other dealer's offer.
The dealer I tried to give my $25k+ to:
Liberty Auto Plaza (Nissan, Kia, Volkswagon)
920 S. Milwaukee Ave, Libertyville, IL 60048
Phone: 800-224-4153
http://www.libertyautoplaza.com
Owner: John Massarelli
General Manager: Herb Meyer
Manager: Kurt Biron
Sales: Michael Conn and Drew
Trying to keep a long story short, here's a summary of my experience:
I wasn't even looking to buy a car. I got this letter from Liberty Auto Plaza stating they will buy my used car at original MSRP minus mileage and no other deductions accounted for. Using actual blue book or standard industry mileage deduction amount would result in the dealer offering me thousands more than blue book. However, their clause is that they get to arbitrarily use a mileage amount that varied from something like $.10/mile to $1.50/mile for every single mile on the car. I asked if the only deduction Liberty Auto Plaza takes is mileage and not condition of the car, what is that standard mileage rate for my particular model year car and trimline and that amount should be the same amount for any same year and same model car. Liberty Auto Plaza did not have an answer, instead they did pick a suitable mileage rate to use AFTER accounting for my car's mileage, mechanical, and physical condition to bring my car down to blue book, whereas the Liberty Auto Plaza letter stated only the mileage deduction would be considered.
When it came time for pricing of the new car, the salesman, Michael Conn, involved the manager, Kurt Biron. Kurt Biron offered his best price and I showed him pricing from other dealers. He seemed to become quickly irritated and defensive stating things like he's surprised I'm shopping around for the best price. Well, of course, any smart car buyer does their homework and price shops, especially with the ease of the internet. Prior to stepping into Liberty Auto Plaza, I sent out some requests through car websites such as edmunds.com and cars.com asking for quotes. Liberty Auto Plaza never responded to those requests. Kurt Biron stated they knew it was me and didn't respond. I know they didn't know it was me since I did the requests before I went to Liberty Auto Plaza. If they did know it was my request, any half decent customer service would have at least responded with some form of email or phone communication instead of completely ignoring the request.
Kurt Biron told me to bring in my best deal's email and he'll match it. That was his only request in order for him to sell me a car at a lower cost than he was offering. I had many offers to purchase a car at a fixed amount below invoice of ANY trimline and options of the car model I wanted (ie, any car). The best deal was the same, that I was shopping for (I eventually did buy from exactly as quoted). Kurt Biron didn't believe the low offer and tried to come up with excuses why that quote would not be the final price for me such as it included recent Nissan Quest ownership or recent grad promo or the dealer was "low balling" me to come into their store and would raise the price when I got there. Kurt Biron had his sales agent Drew sit down with me and call the other dealer to verify the quote offer while Drew listened in. Drew acknowledged he heard the whole offering and nothing was left out nor any other special qualifications to get the price and the price in the email was the final selling price (excludes tax, license, and other standard fees for all dealers). Kurt Biron refused to believe the price and declined to match or beat it. Now after telling me to bring in the best email offer, he requested that I go to the other dealer and obtain the offer on the other dealer's letterhead and signed. Dealers are smart enough not to give customers signed offers to walk off the lot with so customers can go to competition. I even overheard Kurt telling his other colleagues, including GM Herb Meyer, Kurt Biron doesn't care and doesn't want to sell me a car. Kurt Biron stated that price is ridiculously under-priced. I asked Kurt Biron if the quote was the actual price offered if he can beat that price, he said "No" in response. Kurt probably took it all personally that he couldn't beat the deal and that may explain why Kurt Biron became hyper, loud, and very rude to me and told me directly he will not sell me a car at any price.
Right after Kurt said he could not beat the deal, I also spoke with Herb Meyer, GM. At least he was very calm and professional about the whole situation, but that's about it from what support I got from him. He said to bring in a written signed estimate from the other dealer. I asked what if they don't give signed quotes to take to their competitor. I asked Herb Meyer if this is the price, can be heat it. Herb Meyer responded that he could not beat that deal. Herb Meyer said he tried to tell Kurt Biron to take a small loss rather than to not sell the car and not get future service work done on the car or even worse, give the customer $500 cash for not beating the deal and making no sale. Herb Meyer said to bring in the Bill of Sale from the other dealer and he will give me the $500 cash based on Liberty Auto Plaza's policy since both managers stated they could not beat the deal.
I went to the other dealer, which was very pleasant to work with. I was not able to get a written offer to take out the door. Instead of playing games and going back and forth with dealers, I bought the car at the exact price they quoted me (excludes tax, title, the basics everyone has to pay). I took the Bill of Sale back to Herb and now Herb says to come back and bring the car. How many times are they going to send me away to bring something else they "neglected" to tell me to bring? I bring the car in, Herb Meyer verifies the VIN, and says the check will be mailed and I would have it in 2-3 days. Check never shows. Herb Meyer says wait until Friday, if doesn't show up, he'll cancel it and give me a new check. I called Herb Meyer saying time to cancel and give me a new check for me to pick up. He always asks for my phone number to call me back after he looks into the issue. Herb Meyer never called me back. I always had to call him back. Herb Meyer says the check is in the office and it's now locked and he can't get in there. What General Manager does not have the keys to the office? A week later, I stop into the office since Herb Meyer hasn't called me back. He sits me down with Kurt Biron and Kurt explained he told Herb Meyer earlier that week Kurt Biron stopped the check. So if Herb Meyer knew about Kurt Biron cancelling the check, why didn't Herb Meyer call me back to tell me instead of waiting for me to come into the dealership, especially when Herb has my phone number!? Poor customer service.
Liberty Auto Plaza is trying to get out of their policy offer of $500 cash. They still owe me the $500 cash as I followed all of the program rules and requests of the managers. The picture of their huge window ad states:
Advertised http://libertyautoplaza.moyboy9.org/lap_screwed_me1.jpg
Liberty Auto Plaza is now offering $500 cash
"We'll beat their price guarantee" Ask for details
When you ask for details, they hesitate to give you fake "check" certificate that states:
http://libertyautoplaza.moyboy9.org/lap_screwed_me2.jpg
IF WE CAN'T BEAT YOUR BEST WRITTEN OFFER, LIBERTY AUTO PLAZA WILL PAY YOU $500*
Now the * says: Must present written offer from the ChicagoLand area. Price must be current and verifiable, on identical vehicle in stock.
Why do I believe they still owe me the $500? Because I satisfied all of the written offer requirements as:
Ask for details - I did, and got the "offer check details" hand out.
We'll beat their price guarantee - They did not beat the price. In fact, Kurt Biron directly said he will not sell me a car, thus they can't beat any dealer offer even if it was lower or higher.
Must present written offer from the ChicagoLand area - I had written offer from a local dealer and email is a legal form of documentation. Liberty Auto Plaza's offer did not say it had to be signed nor on any dealer letterhead or such. Email is written.
Price must be current - definitely was current as I bought a car from their competitor after Liberty Auto Plaza declined to beat it.
Also "verifiable" - Drew was Kurt Biron's agent to verify it and Drew verified and confirmed it. "verifiable" did not say "written" nor "signed"
on identical vehicle in stock - Both dealers had plenty of identical vehicles in stock. I had quotes based on an amount below invoice price irrelevant of model, trimline, or options. In fact, Nissan sends the dealers the car selection of Nissan's choice rather than dealers ordering. Nissan send the regions the same models, trim, and option packages. Each trim within the model has the same set of option packages, so dealers in the region have the same cars. Dealers can search other dealer's stock. After Liberty Auto Plaza checked the competitor's stock and their own stock, they did not state they do not have a match, but only stated they could not beat the price.
What else is there? Nothing! I have complied to all of their written offer and even their unwritten verbal policy requests.
After they declined to pay me my $500, the $500 window offer was taken down probably since it was a scam hoping no one would claim the offer.
I had Kurt Biron leave a message for the owner, Jim Massarelli, call me to discuss the situation. Again, no response from Liberty Auto Plaza.
This experience explains to me why auto dealers have a bad reputation. I hope others don't have to experience what I have been through. I gave Liberty Auto Plaza many chances to sell me their car instead of going to the competitor. I had 2 other previous Nissans before shopping for this third, so I am a dedicated Nissan customer. I wasn't even considering buying a car until I was tricked with Liberty Auto Plaza's buy back mailing scam. I found a different dealer to buy my new car from and I already referred a few people to that much better dealer.
I was shopping to buy my third Nissan. All previous purchase experiences were fine except this time when my experience was awful. This is just a recap of my own bad personal experience with Liberty Auto Plaza in Libertville, IL (North Suburbs of Chicago); Others person's experiences may vary. I don't know if the experience is just with this dealer or the people. I hope I don't run into these same people at other auto dealers when I'm looking to buy my next car. I did find a dealer that was the total opposite and pleasant to work with. I bought my car from them and already gave them two referrals. Contact me if you want the dealer I liked.
Liberty Auto Plaza gave me the run around and typical car salesman pitches. Promised a lot, changed their policy as needed to their benefit, made me do a lot of work when they knew they weren't going to follow through with their word, and delivered nothing. I was victim of two of their false advertising tricks: 1) Mailing advertising fraud to purchase my used car for outrageous value over bluebook and 2) Get $500 cash if they can't beat other dealer's offer.
The dealer I tried to give my $25k+ to:
Liberty Auto Plaza (Nissan, Kia, Volkswagon)
920 S. Milwaukee Ave, Libertyville, IL 60048
Phone: 800-224-4153
http://www.libertyautoplaza.com
Owner: John Massarelli
General Manager: Herb Meyer
Manager: Kurt Biron
Sales: Michael Conn and Drew
Trying to keep a long story short, here's a summary of my experience:
I wasn't even looking to buy a car. I got this letter from Liberty Auto Plaza stating they will buy my used car at original MSRP minus mileage and no other deductions accounted for. Using actual blue book or standard industry mileage deduction amount would result in the dealer offering me thousands more than blue book. However, their clause is that they get to arbitrarily use a mileage amount that varied from something like $.10/mile to $1.50/mile for every single mile on the car. I asked if the only deduction Liberty Auto Plaza takes is mileage and not condition of the car, what is that standard mileage rate for my particular model year car and trimline and that amount should be the same amount for any same year and same model car. Liberty Auto Plaza did not have an answer, instead they did pick a suitable mileage rate to use AFTER accounting for my car's mileage, mechanical, and physical condition to bring my car down to blue book, whereas the Liberty Auto Plaza letter stated only the mileage deduction would be considered.
When it came time for pricing of the new car, the salesman, Michael Conn, involved the manager, Kurt Biron. Kurt Biron offered his best price and I showed him pricing from other dealers. He seemed to become quickly irritated and defensive stating things like he's surprised I'm shopping around for the best price. Well, of course, any smart car buyer does their homework and price shops, especially with the ease of the internet. Prior to stepping into Liberty Auto Plaza, I sent out some requests through car websites such as edmunds.com and cars.com asking for quotes. Liberty Auto Plaza never responded to those requests. Kurt Biron stated they knew it was me and didn't respond. I know they didn't know it was me since I did the requests before I went to Liberty Auto Plaza. If they did know it was my request, any half decent customer service would have at least responded with some form of email or phone communication instead of completely ignoring the request.
Kurt Biron told me to bring in my best deal's email and he'll match it. That was his only request in order for him to sell me a car at a lower cost than he was offering. I had many offers to purchase a car at a fixed amount below invoice of ANY trimline and options of the car model I wanted (ie, any car). The best deal was the same, that I was shopping for (I eventually did buy from exactly as quoted). Kurt Biron didn't believe the low offer and tried to come up with excuses why that quote would not be the final price for me such as it included recent Nissan Quest ownership or recent grad promo or the dealer was "low balling" me to come into their store and would raise the price when I got there. Kurt Biron had his sales agent Drew sit down with me and call the other dealer to verify the quote offer while Drew listened in. Drew acknowledged he heard the whole offering and nothing was left out nor any other special qualifications to get the price and the price in the email was the final selling price (excludes tax, license, and other standard fees for all dealers). Kurt Biron refused to believe the price and declined to match or beat it. Now after telling me to bring in the best email offer, he requested that I go to the other dealer and obtain the offer on the other dealer's letterhead and signed. Dealers are smart enough not to give customers signed offers to walk off the lot with so customers can go to competition. I even overheard Kurt telling his other colleagues, including GM Herb Meyer, Kurt Biron doesn't care and doesn't want to sell me a car. Kurt Biron stated that price is ridiculously under-priced. I asked Kurt Biron if the quote was the actual price offered if he can beat that price, he said "No" in response. Kurt probably took it all personally that he couldn't beat the deal and that may explain why Kurt Biron became hyper, loud, and very rude to me and told me directly he will not sell me a car at any price.
Right after Kurt said he could not beat the deal, I also spoke with Herb Meyer, GM. At least he was very calm and professional about the whole situation, but that's about it from what support I got from him. He said to bring in a written signed estimate from the other dealer. I asked what if they don't give signed quotes to take to their competitor. I asked Herb Meyer if this is the price, can be heat it. Herb Meyer responded that he could not beat that deal. Herb Meyer said he tried to tell Kurt Biron to take a small loss rather than to not sell the car and not get future service work done on the car or even worse, give the customer $500 cash for not beating the deal and making no sale. Herb Meyer said to bring in the Bill of Sale from the other dealer and he will give me the $500 cash based on Liberty Auto Plaza's policy since both managers stated they could not beat the deal.
I went to the other dealer, which was very pleasant to work with. I was not able to get a written offer to take out the door. Instead of playing games and going back and forth with dealers, I bought the car at the exact price they quoted me (excludes tax, title, the basics everyone has to pay). I took the Bill of Sale back to Herb and now Herb says to come back and bring the car. How many times are they going to send me away to bring something else they "neglected" to tell me to bring? I bring the car in, Herb Meyer verifies the VIN, and says the check will be mailed and I would have it in 2-3 days. Check never shows. Herb Meyer says wait until Friday, if doesn't show up, he'll cancel it and give me a new check. I called Herb Meyer saying time to cancel and give me a new check for me to pick up. He always asks for my phone number to call me back after he looks into the issue. Herb Meyer never called me back. I always had to call him back. Herb Meyer says the check is in the office and it's now locked and he can't get in there. What General Manager does not have the keys to the office? A week later, I stop into the office since Herb Meyer hasn't called me back. He sits me down with Kurt Biron and Kurt explained he told Herb Meyer earlier that week Kurt Biron stopped the check. So if Herb Meyer knew about Kurt Biron cancelling the check, why didn't Herb Meyer call me back to tell me instead of waiting for me to come into the dealership, especially when Herb has my phone number!? Poor customer service.
Liberty Auto Plaza is trying to get out of their policy offer of $500 cash. They still owe me the $500 cash as I followed all of the program rules and requests of the managers. The picture of their huge window ad states:
Advertised http://libertyautoplaza.moyboy9.org/lap_screwed_me1.jpg
Liberty Auto Plaza is now offering $500 cash
"We'll beat their price guarantee" Ask for details
When you ask for details, they hesitate to give you fake "check" certificate that states:
http://libertyautoplaza.moyboy9.org/lap_screwed_me2.jpg
IF WE CAN'T BEAT YOUR BEST WRITTEN OFFER, LIBERTY AUTO PLAZA WILL PAY YOU $500*
Now the * says: Must present written offer from the ChicagoLand area. Price must be current and verifiable, on identical vehicle in stock.
Why do I believe they still owe me the $500? Because I satisfied all of the written offer requirements as:
Ask for details - I did, and got the "offer check details" hand out.
We'll beat their price guarantee - They did not beat the price. In fact, Kurt Biron directly said he will not sell me a car, thus they can't beat any dealer offer even if it was lower or higher.
Must present written offer from the ChicagoLand area - I had written offer from a local dealer and email is a legal form of documentation. Liberty Auto Plaza's offer did not say it had to be signed nor on any dealer letterhead or such. Email is written.
Price must be current - definitely was current as I bought a car from their competitor after Liberty Auto Plaza declined to beat it.
Also "verifiable" - Drew was Kurt Biron's agent to verify it and Drew verified and confirmed it. "verifiable" did not say "written" nor "signed"
on identical vehicle in stock - Both dealers had plenty of identical vehicles in stock. I had quotes based on an amount below invoice price irrelevant of model, trimline, or options. In fact, Nissan sends the dealers the car selection of Nissan's choice rather than dealers ordering. Nissan send the regions the same models, trim, and option packages. Each trim within the model has the same set of option packages, so dealers in the region have the same cars. Dealers can search other dealer's stock. After Liberty Auto Plaza checked the competitor's stock and their own stock, they did not state they do not have a match, but only stated they could not beat the price.
What else is there? Nothing! I have complied to all of their written offer and even their unwritten verbal policy requests.
After they declined to pay me my $500, the $500 window offer was taken down probably since it was a scam hoping no one would claim the offer.
I had Kurt Biron leave a message for the owner, Jim Massarelli, call me to discuss the situation. Again, no response from Liberty Auto Plaza.
This experience explains to me why auto dealers have a bad reputation. I hope others don't have to experience what I have been through. I gave Liberty Auto Plaza many chances to sell me their car instead of going to the competitor. I had 2 other previous Nissans before shopping for this third, so I am a dedicated Nissan customer. I wasn't even considering buying a car until I was tricked with Liberty Auto Plaza's buy back mailing scam. I found a different dealer to buy my new car from and I already referred a few people to that much better dealer.
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