Following are details of our poor customer service experience with a local Raleigh car dealer. I do not write this to “get even” with this dealer. Rather, my desire is to provide an honest summary review of my experience with this dealer as a helpful caution for anyone who is considering doing business with her.
The dealer’s information is:
Name: April Towers
Dealership: Advance Automotive Sales, also Advance Auto Sales, also Raleigh Honda Auto
Showroom: 1313A Capital Blvd., Raleigh, NC 27603
Mobile Phone: 919-272-1467
Her cars and services are often seen on Craigslist, and also found in Yahoo! classifieds.
She is also selling cars on eBay Motors under the name ihaveacar4sale.
While my overall impression is very unfavorable, I am grateful that she has been quite fair at times, certainly much more so than I have been accustomed to expect for a car dealer. And I am grateful to have a very good vehicle that is finally in great working order. But overall there has been a pattern of forgetfulness, gross untruths, unanswered and unreturned phone calls, and general delays. At many steps along the way, and increasingly so as new problems continued to surface, it seemed that progress was only made as I wearied myself making appeals for fair treatment. And the fact remains as I write this that there is one promised reimbursement that she has on multiple occasions failed to provide to us in the time frame she promised. At present she is not responding to any of my appeals or reminders, though I will gladly correct this record if she makes good on her word. However, even if she does so, I would not consider purchasing another vehicle from her. Is it too much to ask for your car dealer to speak the truth and to be true to her word?
If you have had similar experiences with this dealer, or if you would like to know more details about my experience, please contact me at smoonen@andstuff.org. So far I have been contacted by three other individuals who state that they have been defrauded by Ms. Towers, as recently as July 2007.
Update: 2006-10-30: April sent an email stating she was sad for the hurt she caused me, and asking for forgiveness. But she rebuffed my patient and gracious request that she keep her word and make restitution. Words of apology where actions continue to contradict them are thus proved worthless. From several other things I observed at this time and from communication with other individuals who have had recent dealings with her, it became clear that she was insincere in her apology; evidently her email to me was a ploy to try to get me to remove this review.
Following is a complaint that I sent to the Eastern North Carolina Better Business Bureau on 2006-06-15. This provides additional detail of some of our bad experiences with Advance Auto Sales.
Vehicle: 2000 Toyota Sienna minivan
2006-04-29: The vehicle is advertised online (on Craigslist) and in person by April Towers as having new brakes, new rotors, a new timing belt. The vehicle is represented in person by April Towers as having no oil leaks, in response to a specific question we asked. The check engine light is not on.
2006-04-29: I purchase vehicle from dealer, April Towers, for $6500. Vehicle is sold “as-is”, without warranty, but keep in mind the representations that were made. April asks me to call her the following week to arrange to bring the vehicle back the next weekend to have the interior cleaned and oxygen sensors replaced, which she says is necessary and will be done free of charge.
2006-04-29: The vehicle’s check engine light comes on while driving vehicle home. This strongly suggests that the indicator had been reset some time prior to showing the car, with the obvious purpose of deceiving. I didn’t think much of this at the time, however, because I thought it might be related to the oxygen sensors.
2006-05-01: My mechanic reports that the vehicle’s brake rotors are at or close to discard, the front brake pads are at 60-70%, the valve cover gaskets are leaking oil, the timing cover is leaking oil (a strong indication that the timing belt is not new, and at very minimum was improperly replaced without regard to leaking cam/crank seals), and the rear wheel cylinders are leaking. (They reported other minor problems but I am only listing those problems that relate to false representations made by the dealer.)
2006-05-01: I call April and she asks me to bring the van to her office so that her mechanic could work on it. She asks me to provide a printed list of all the issues and indicates that her mechanic will take care of everything. I provide a printed list of each of the above issues and also email it to her.
2006-05-05: April assures me over the phone that everything on my list is resolved. I pick up the van from a Toyota dealership, where she had brought it for diagnosis of the check engine light. Unfortunately, the codes had been reset in the meantime (presumably by April’s mechanic), so the dealership was unable to diagnose the problem.
2006-05-08: My mechanic reports that the pads and rotors are new, but only one valve cover gasket was replaced; the other is still leaking. The timing cover shows no evidence it was even removed, and still evidence of leaking. The rear wheel cylinders are still leaking, although the rear brakes were cleaned and adjusted.
2006-05-08, -09: I leave four phone messages and one email indicating there were still problems, and appealing to April to pay for my mechanic to fix them. I ask her to call me back.
2006-05-09: I receive an email from April asking me to provide a quote from my mechanic.
2006-05-10: Over the phone, April reluctantly agrees to pay my mechanic to resolve these problems. She agrees to call them that morning to make arrangements to pay. Despite several reminders from me, she does not call my mechanic. I give my mechanic instructions to proceed with the repairs anyway.
2006-05-12 - Much to my surprise and gratitude, April pays my mechanic for labor and parts on the timing leak, valve cover replacement, and wheel cylinder leak. I pay the mechanic for remaining items (water pump, tie rods, alignment). I call April and thank her for her kindness and professionalism.
2006-05-14: The vehicle’s check engine light comes on again.
2006-05-14, -15: I email April twice describing the check engine problem, reminding her that she had indicated this would be fixed. In my second email I detail the diagnostic charge at my mechanic ($75; I can provide a receipt documenting this), indicate that they had found the problem to be with the catalytic converter, and provide the quote I received from R&J Exhaust in Apex ($252.50) for replacing the catalytic converter.
2006-05-15: At 12:45PM, I speak with April on the phone. She is concerned that $252.50 is too expensive and asks me to take the van to a muffler shop she knows, at a considerably greater distance from me. She says she has to arrange things with the shop in order for me to get the price she has negotiated with the shop. She indicates that I must call her in 1 hour to confirm the arrangement.
2006-05-15, -16: As requested, I called April, six times over the course of 24 hours, each time leaving a message and asking her to call back. She never returns my calls. In the final two messages, on 5/16, I indicate my intention to take the van to R&J Exhaust in Apex if she doesn’t follow through on her promise to make arrangements, because the problem needed to be resolved promptly.
2006-05-16: I take the van to R&J Exhaust, and they perform the repair. The total is $220, less than the quoted value; I can provide a receipt documenting this. I email April and leave a phone message for her, asking her to contact them to cover the cost.
2006-05-17: April emails and indicates that she is only willing to pay $85, which she states is what her shop would have charged. She writes “I will call them this morning to take care of that”.
2006-05-17: I call April and leave a message explaining why I feel she is responsible for the full amount. I ask her to call me back to discuss. She never calls back.
2006-05-17: In the afternoon, I visit R&J to pick up the van. April has not yet paid, contrary to her email. I pay in full, $220, in order to release the van. I email April again reminding her of her agreement to pay, and of my expectation she would reimburse in full.
2006-05-24: There were further delays on April’s part in providing me the permanent license plate for the van; my temporary plate was to expire on 5/29. But eventually she agrees over email to provide the plate on the afternoon of 5/24. She continues to express unwillingness to pay $220, but offers to “split the difference” and pay $152.50. We agree by email that I will pick up a reimbursement check for this amount when I pick up the tags on the afternoon of 5/24.
2006-05-24: I arrive at April’s sales office to pick up the tags and the reimbursement check. April isn’t present, but another woman is. She gives me the license plate and registration, but when I ask about the check she says she has nothing else for me, contrary to what April had agreed to over email. I immediately call April on her cell phone and she assures me that she will mail the check that very afternoon.
2006-06-15: Contrary to what April indicated in our phone conversation on 5/24, I have not received a reimbursement check from her. I have sent a few emails, indicating our address, reminding her of her responsibility to deal fairly with the check-engine light false representation, reminding her of her specific promise to mail me the reimbursement check, and indicating that we have not yet received the promised check. Despite all this, I have received no communication from her of any form since the phone conversation on 5/24.
Presently the van is in great working order; we have driven it on two long trips with no problems.
I can provide documentation for all email exchanges, and also a summarization of every telephone conversation and message. I’ve kept notes from the very beginning, taking greater care for detail as my suspicions grew.
Throughout this process, I have endeavored to show good faith. I have been careful to personally pay for all repairs that are not related to false representations made by the dealer. I have shown great patience, even in response to significant delays, failures to return phone calls, having no use of the vehicle due to its being in the shop, etc. I have shown willingness to “split the difference” even though I think any fair observer would agree that I ought to be reimbursed in full. My desire is for fair treatment, not to exact revenge.
Because April continues to demonstrate bad faith by ignoring my appeals, and because she has demonstrated a continuing pattern of deceit and delays, I believe that any fair observer would agree that she ought to reimburse me for both the check-engine diagnostic fee ($75) and the catalytic converter replacement ($220), in full. This amounts to $295.
Given that Ms. Towers has demonstrated a clear ongoing pattern of deception, delay, and general bad faith, in effect rebuffing my own attempts at showing good faith, I seek a full and fair refund of $295 ($75 for check engine diagnosis, and $220 for catalytic converter replacement). My willingness to accept her offer of $152.50, which she never made good on, was based on the assumption that she was acting in good faith.
Ms. Towers never responded to this BBB complaint. See the BBB report for Advance Auto Sales, which reflects an unsatisfactory rating as a result of her failure to respond.