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Why was your vehicle being serviced?
Repair
Were you given an accurate wait time?
No
Would You Recommend this Dealership?
No
Year of your vehicle
1997
Make of your vehicle
Toyota
Name of Your Service Technician?
Cal
Review Ratings Score
Problem Fixed
0
Greeting
3
Honesty
0
Time
1
Questions
1
Promises
0
Treated
0
Overall Score
0.71
My car had a transmission pan resealed by Mossy Toyota. The Mossy technician did not fill enough fluid in the system and the transmission was damaged.
Used car salesmen are often the butt of jokes, but they arealso largely responsible for their own bad rap thanks to gimmicky ads and apenchant for shrill sales pitches loaded with false promises.
*
So, when my 14-year old Toyota truck expired a couple ofyears ago, I went straight to Mossy Toyota Mission Bay, an established SanDiego dealership that I had an existing relationship with.* Their mechanics had done a good jobservicing my old truck for over five years and I thought the dealership had asolid reputation. They were having a “certified red tag sale,” and I thought ifI purchased a vehicle at that time, it would further guarantee the auto’s reliability.
*
Being that I was a serious customer, I told the salesmanthat I needed a car for work and was prepared to buy that day. After looking atthe two best-priced cars on the lot, I chose to test drive an $8000 2002 FordEscort with reasonable mileage. I was given a free Auto Check report showingthe car had a clean vehicle history, so imagine my surprise when I took it outon the road and quickly felt the car’s terrible vibration. It was seriousenough to make the steering wheel and dashboard vibrate and the rearview mirrorshake.***
*
My cool-headed salesman was completely unruffled bythis, saying it was no big deal, the car’s idle just needed a minor adjustmentand that Mossy would fix it for me.* Heseemed completely familiar with the problem and even knew how to handle it.Three times during the test drive, he showed me how I could press gently on theaccelerator with the car in park to stop the shaking and rattling -temporarily.
*
There’s a reason I didn’t walk away then andthere.* For over 20 years, I’ve workedat a major warehouse club where customers are our members and theirsatisfaction is our top priority.* Webend over backwards to make things right for them, no matter what.* In my experience, good business meansexcellent customer service and, remember, I already was a Mossy customer andhad never had any complaints with their service - before this.*
*
So I believed the salesman’s explanation and hispromise to repair my “certified” vehicle, but I did tell him I wanted the carfixed before driving it off the lot.* Hesaid they could not give me an appointment that day, and I also couldn’t getone within the 48-hour window they allow for customers to cancel theirpurchase.* Over the next few weeks,Mossy tried to repair the car several times but could not, and then theyridiculed my request to return the car for the full purchase price.
*
I found help at the Lemon Law Center where I wasconnected with an attorney and an auto investigator who only needed a singlethorough check to learn what Mossy’s salesmen and mechanics did not discloseme:* The Escort had been completelysubmerged in water. They had sold me an unusable rusted-out flood car.*
*
If that’s not bad enough, Mossy’s sales contractincluded a clause that prevents me from suing them in court.* This business practice, binding mandatoryarbitration, is a fancy name for a dirty, anti-consumer scheme that protectscompanies from financial liability for all sorts of bad outcomes.* I don’t really understand how it can belegal, but businesses are able to cheat and lie and then hire their own fakejudges who pretend to consider the facts but, nine times out of ten, ruleagainst the little guy. It’s really no different than old-fashioned highwayrobbery.*
*
I’m hurt by this experience, and not just in thewallet.* My attorney was told by thedealership’s attorney that “Mossy wants to take a stand” in my case. A standagainst what?* Honesty?* Fairness?*I thought Mossy might eventually accept their responsibility,acknowledge their “mistake” and make things right with me.* But this has been going on now for over twoyears, and it’s not over yet.* In Augustof 2007 the court ordered us to arbitration at Mossy’s request. Ever since thenMossy has stalled and delayed the arbitration. They refused to comply withtheir own contract. Mossy has even stalled the case with the arbitrator becauseof fees they would also have to pay. At one point, Mossy tried to force me topay the arbitrator’s fees, which would come to more than the $8000 I paid forthe flood car.* That arbitrator thenrefused to hear the case at all, and now Mossy is not cooperating with the newarbitrator.* If the court case hadproceeded, this would have been over by May of 2008. Instead, it will be overtwo years in May of 2009, and we have not even started. There’s something verywrong with this picture, and it is so much bigger than just “buyerbeware.”*
*
Mossy has put me through the ringer, making me afairly typical victim of binding mandatory arbitration. But on April 29, I’llbe in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill participating in a press conferenceabout this abuse of consumers, and lobbying my legislators to support a newbill, the Arbitration Fairness Act, that would abolish this practice includedin the fine print of all kinds of everyday business contracts. To learn moreit, visit www.FairArbitrationNow.org**
Post Thanked
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