Forewarned is Forearmed...! (2)

Fraud?

I drove home in my newly purchased car. My wife and I were very happy with it. But I had a nagging suspicion, and I didn’t sleep well that night. In the morning, after my breakfast, I examined the sales contract. The details were on the back of a page so that they were not easy to find. There was a line that caught my attention: Security system: $750. What the hell? I refused to buy that system from the start. There was another page – a sales contract for the security system – and my own signature at the bottom of the page. Ámharach didn’t say anything about the system again after I initially rejected it. But unbeknownst to me, he put his sales contract on the screen and lured my signature from me. He was probably telling me a story at that time, to distract me from the same form. Legally, I was sunk, and I was properly ‘screwed’. I was embarrassed to be tricked like that. I was also angry and not ready to let this pass me by without a fight.   

My Response

I called Perry, explaining that I had not agreed to buy the security system, but among all the forms, there was one in which the system was sold to me without my knowledge. It was a mistake, I said. Oddly enough, Perry had no argument about it.

“No problem! Lucky will contact you, to disable the system and give you your money back.”

I went back to Toyota the next day to meet Lucky. I saw him walking between two buildings, and I called over to him.

“I have a client right now, but come back to me in half an hour,” was the answer I received.

Half an hour later we were back in his office. He showed me the contract.

“You signed here for the security system!” he said, looking very worked up.

“You’re right, but I didn’t realize it. I turned down the system when you offered it to me at a discount.”

“I didn’t do that, I didn’t say anything about it!” said Lucky defensively, interrupting me.

“The system was already included with the car,” said Lucky, and he waved a few forms in the air. “Haven’t you seen this form?” he said, pointing his finger at one form.

“I’ve never seen that form!” I said.

“It’s a good thing I haven’t cashed your check yet!” said Lucky, attempting to change the subject of conversation. “We have to sign a new contract now!”

We went through the same ritual again, and this time there was no mention of a security system on any of the forms he pulled up on the screen! That done, I wrote a new check without the cost of the security system. I was pretty happy with myself, but there was a little voice in my head telling me that what happened to me shouldn’t have happened. I thought about it later, and here are my conclusions and suggestions. I hope they help you the next time you need to buy a car!

Conclusions

In my opinion, this is not the first time Perry and Lucky have pulled this trick – it wasn’t their first rodeo! They were used to this trick to steal money from their customers. That’s the bottom line!

Perry and Lucky used a few techniques in this trick:

1. Put your customers at ease. It will then be easier to catch them unawares. The best way to do this is to tell them personal stories most of the time. You can make up sob stories to create a stronger bond. Because that’s the behavior of a trusted friend, and they are likely to feel sorry for you.
2. Distract your customers from their work. Make sure you are talking at times when you don’t want them to pay attention to something specific. For example, Perry was talking the entire time when I was trying to test drive the car. Also, it was not easy to interrupt him to ask him a question while he was telling me a personal story. I am sure that Ámharach was also telling me a story when he put the form regarding the security system on the screen.
3. Have a plan B as a team in case the customer sees the sales contract for the security system. It is clear that Perry and Ámharach were working hand in hand. When I asked Perry how that ‘mistake’ happened, he said that the security system must have been a default option in the contract, and that he did not include it in the contract. But Ámharach said that the security system was included in the contract he was given.

That’s plan B – back off and tell the customers involved that this was an internal misunderstanding. Don’t admit you did anything wrong. Put the customers on their guard through this process, and chances are they won’t complain, because didn’t they sign the contract confirming they bought the security system in the first place? Then, give them their money back immediately. You don’t want the same complaints to reach the management of the dealership, in case the fraud comes to light.

Recommendations

When a sales representative or financial representative is too friendly and talkative with you – beware! In my case, neither of them was too friendly or talkative the second time around! This shows that they weren’t genuine the first time but were working for their own benefit.

Read every page of the contract before you sign it, even if the financial representative is blabbering! If you don’t do this, you may end up unknowingly buying an option you don’t need, just like I did. Look carefully at the numbers too, and make sure there are no extra costs.

Examine the contract carefully one more time when you get home. If you see a ‘mistake’, go back and explain it to the sales rep. Chances are they have a plan B too and will fix the ‘mistake’ for you in no time!