Ah. So you missed the part where the inspecting mechanic is the OP’s boyfriend? Presumably he either worked for free, or was paid in a method that the courts would be loathe to require him to return.
No I didn’t. So you missed my attempt at sarcasm?
Yep, and another one against the mechanic that replaced the thermostat, the fan switch, and refilled the antifreeze before determining where all the original antifreeze had gone. 
Your self-entitlement is apalling, your expectation that he extend his business hours to accomodate your schedule is absolutely ridiculous! People have lives, families, and other things to do than wait around for you. The onus is on you to arrive during his business hours.
You have little recourse unless you can prove that he was aware of the problem and concealed it at the time of the sale, which would constitute fraud on his part.
Car ownership and maintenance is expensive. They break down unpredictably, while the timing may be suspicious, you’ve provided no evidence here that the seller may be to blame.
Yep.
I’m wondering why you thought someone with a terrible attitude from Day One would have given you anything except more terrible attitude.
That said, sorry your car broke so soon after you bought it.
Yah, that part of the OP kind of made me go ‘BWAHHHH??’ as well. I mean, it’s a drag that your head gasket blew so soon after you bought the car although I’m not sure this is something you can predict - I thought it was like a light bulb - it works until it doesn’t. Also, surely your boyfriend would have noticed if something was really wrong at purchase time if he’s a mechanic?
However, casually expecting someone to stay 2 hour late at work because you’re buying a $6,000 car strikes me as rather presumptuous. Particularly the part about you doing him a favour by purchasing the car. There aren’t enough eye rolls in the world.
He’s doing YOU a favour by staying open for an extra two hours so you don’t have to miss work. Seriously, I don’t know what your job is but if your boss or a customer casually announced that you would be staying 2 hours late, no you wouldn’t be getting paid for it, and you should be damn well thankful for the opportunity…well, I guess this thread would read a bit differently.
Anyway, if you are going to leave comments online about this incident I would comment on the blown head gasket but probably skip the other stuff - it makes you look like more of a tool than the sales guy - at least the way you’ve worded it here.
Seriously. It sounds like you tried to make him stay late twice, and used the leverage you had by already having put a deposit down to twist his arm into staying late the second time.
You want her to sue her boyfriend? :eek:
It doesn’t. Lots of businesses have hours that don’t cater to working people. The remedy for that is not to insist that the dealer remain open until you can get there - it’s to take your business to a dealer with more convenient hours.
I bought a new car from a dealership which was open for sales until about 9 pm. The service department required that you drop off your vehicle by 7 am on the day of the service, and pick it up by 5:30, Monday through Friday. The only work the dealer ever did on my car was warranty work- for oil changes, brakes etc, I used my own mechanic who had more convenient hours. And I never bought a car from that dealer again
Something I’ve learned in helping run a family business (where our fees are easily as much as you spent and, frankly, usually much more) is that the later a person demands you stay after work, the less likely they are to show up. Is that fair? IDK, but I’ve got to go off of experience here. Whenever someone gets pushy and demands I sit at my desk for an hour and a half after closing so they can bring me VERY IMPORTANT PAPERS AND MONEY!!!1111!!! AND I’M THE CUSTOMER WORK WITH ME . . . yeah, about 75% of the time, they never show. It’s for that reason that we almost never book after hours appointments and if we do, we call like, three separate times to confirm the appointment.
You have to remember, too, that running your own business is hard: sometimes we get into the office at 530 in the morning so we can catch up on work before the phones start ringing. Sometimes we stay until 8 PM to get things done. So, if you want to come drop off your retainer check outside of business hours and it happens to be the one Wednesday where I plan to go to the grocery store, clean my bathroom, and walk my dog. . .well, it’s going to take a lot of convincing for me to stay, especially when I know you (the general clients, I mean) probably aren’t going to show up.
Frankly, I’ve had a person or two speak to me the way you did to that guy-- making a demand that I stay, speaking to me like I’m some child. Guess what my response is? You can take your business elsewhere- sorry, we don’t need your money that bad, honey. Much like how you should have seen that this dude was an ass from how he was acting out the gate, we are VERY aware of how our clients behave prior to signing and if you act like an entitled brat BEFORE signing, you likely will after. We don’t have time for that. Fortunately, we run a successful business and can screen our clients like that- I guess I don’t know that homie the car guy is in the same boat.
I have a hard time believing you said what you said you said about him staying late for your convenience. I would have fired you as my customer on the spot. He may very well have entered into a positive business relationship with you, and been willing to pay for the gasket, if you hadn’t taken a shitty attitude from the very start. His business, his hours.
There’s a really great mechanic that’s close to my house. I leave for work at 8 and get home at 6. They’re open 9 to 5, with no weekend hours. Do you think it’s right to call them up and demand that they accept my business? No, I either take time off work or I find another mechanic.
Frankly, I’m flabbergasted that you posted the OP without reflecting for even a second on your selfish, entitled, horrible attitude. People like you are why sites like customerssuck.com exist.
Yeah, if the OP actually said this to the business owner, I’m surprised he still did business with her.
This applies to most customers. The ones who make the most demands are the least profitable. Not just in time spent on them, but they are the ones who buy the clearance items, and are astounded that you won’t give them a volume discount on top of the clearance prices. In retail establishments, the people who want to browse for another couple of hours after closing time rarely buy anything at all.
Yeah, this particular business has lousy hours for most people. Personally, I’d have gone shopping elsewhere, because no matter how much you love a particular car, you can almost certainly find a deal that’s just as good or even better if you look for another couple of weeks. But most people are able to swing a day or half a day off each month, to take care of things such as doctor’s appointments and such which can’t be taken care of after 5 PM.
Exactly. And thinking about this even more: he already stayed open late once for you, under the assumption that you’d be paying the bill in full . . . and you didn’t. If someone made me stay late because they were bringing a $6500 retainer in, but then only brought a few hundred dollars and then asked me to stay even later another night so they could bring me more money, well, I’m not sure I’d believe them. I don’t blame the guy.
I am going to try to address as many comments that you guys have put down. If I miss one of you, I’m sorry. The bulk of the concern, from what I can gather, is that you all feel I was being unreasonable by asking him to stay late for me. I understand where you guys are coming from, but this was where I was coming from or what led to the final blow up with the check.
I get out of work at 5pm every night and I’m an hour away from him. On Monday when I wanted to look at the car and knew that it wouldn’t be possible to get up there and talk to him during his business hours. So I asked my boyfriend to go up and look at the car. At this point during the process, I agree with you guys. His business. His hours of operation. I trusted my boyfriend to talk to the owner one on one to get a feel for the car and get more information about the car and where it came from. I had already run and paid for my own carfax after getting the VIN online. Everything looked good.
I asked the owner to send the buyer’s order to the bank to get the paper work started. After it was faxed over, my boyfriend told me that the owner requested that I be at his business by 4pm to go over some paper. At this time it was 2:30pm, so I asked by boss on short notice if I was able to leave to meet this guy. She said it was fine and docked my vacation time. I drove the hour to meet him. Once I got there, his attitude changed. I told him on the phone that I wouldn’t have the check with me until the following day, but he still insisted that I meet with him. Once I got there, He was upset that I didn’t have the check.
I explained to him that I told him on the phone that I wouldn’t have the check. By the time he requested me to leave work early; I wouldn’t have had enough time to get to the bank to get it where they were closed. He raised his voice and said that he could sell the car today if he wanted. At this point I am completely uncomfortable. I hate to play the “I’m 33 year old woman and know shit about cars or buying them” card, but I’m there. In the past, I have always financed my cars (which have all been brand new before this) through the dealer. This time I was able to get a really great deal with my credit union, so there were more steps then what I was aware or use too.
At this point I don’t understand why he is raising his voice at me or why he is upset. I told him on the phone, when he asked me to get out of work early, that I wouldn’t have the check with me. I hate to play the “my daddy hit me card” but the sound of any man raising his voice or yelling at me makes me want to curl up in a ball and hide. Immature? Yes, but a defense mechanism, just the same. I am sitting at his desk completely uncomfortable. In the pause of him being upset or annoyed, the phone rings. Based on the conversation, it was a man that was also buying a car from him. During his phone conversation (with me sitting right across from him) he told the gentleman that, “Staying late for him tomorrow wouldn’t be a problem. He lives just a few houses down from his business.”
Once he gets off the phone, he tells me that there is an ATM up the hill and to get 100 dollars for a deposit on the car. I do what he asks and come back. When I come back and give him the money, he mentions that he would like me back tomorrow before close to pick up the car. I said, “I can ask my boss when I get in there. I am not sure if the schedule will allow it.” He said, “If you want the car, you will be here.” I hardly ever stand up for myself. I will constantly let people walk all over me and take advantage of me before I will stand up for myself. My anxiety is raging when I find the courage to say, “You just said on the phone that you would stay late for that guy. I will only be probably 40 minutes after him.” He just looked at me and said, “Try. Ask your boss and tell her you are buying a car and that it is important for you to leave early.” I said okay, and walked out.
The next day when coming to work, I asked my boss. I knew it would be a stretch where she let me go early the day before on such short notice. I work in a 4 person tech team and one was already leaving early for a doctor’s appointment. With it being the end of the month, it was too busy to have two people gone. Unable to call out while I am at work, I text message him and tell him I am unable to get out of work early. He texts me back that it isn’t fair to him to have to wait for me. I respond back that I was able to get out of work early for yesterday, but that day isn’t possible. I told him that as soon as I got out of work, I would “haul ass” his way.” He responded back that I should tell my boss that I am sick so that she will let me out early.
At this point, I feel like I am being taken advantage of or he just isn’t listening to me. I can’t get out of work early. I am annoyed that just 14 hours or so prior he told a guy on the phone that he would be willing to stay late for him. Hell, he even offered it. Why am I getting such a hard time? Maybe feeling that I was being taken advantage of because I do come off as being a push over, I flipped out. I texted him back (where there was no real confrontation) what I had said before. In not so nice terms that I had a check for him and that I was the customer and to work with me. I felt that I had worked with him as much as my job would allow and he was willing to wait late for someone else.
Was it nice? No. Did it make me feel better? Hell yes. I felt like I was being pushed around and I was because I was allowing it. If it was any one of you and it would have cost me the car, so be it. I felt better yelling at him after 2 days or so of feeling that I wasn’t important like this other guy on the phone or that my job, that was paying the car, wasn’t a concern for him.
As for suing my boyfriend; I actually laughed at those comments. Not being mean, they were pretty funny. I wouldn’t mind suing him. 
lol Like I have been trying to say, I’m not saying that it was broken when I left the lost. For all I know it was it was okay or maybe even on the way out. I just felt there were rights or protections to the consumer when buying a car. It didn’t help my “You’re a push over” mentality that I have for myself when I called him back. Did I expect him to help me out? No. I didn’t. I was hoping there was some warranty that I missed. Though when I called and he didn’t even remember my name or the fact that he sold me a Honda 3 weeks ago was my last straw with the entire deal.
I was and I’m not looking for a new car or for him to say there was something wrong with the car. There have been other dealerships that within a few weeks of selling the car, they warranty it. He isn’t one of those dealerships… Fine… Though I still believe I wasn’t treated fairly in the customer service aspect as I could have.
Yes I have stayed late for customers. Up to 3 hours in fact. I love my job and the people I work with, so it didn’t bother me that a customer asked me to do some tech support and downloads for her. I feel it is a part of my job to give good customer service. I see that it is lacking a lot in todays world and I strive to keep the customers happy. I felt, even during his business hours, I wasn’t treated kindly.
I take responsibility in that. I should have left and not given him my business. Then again, that would have involved standing up for myself. Something, admittedly, I suck at.
Costly lesson learned.
Actually, the lesson’s not even that costly. Since the boyfriend’s a mechanic, it should only cost her the $200 for the replacement head gasket. (Presumably he’d be willing to do the work for free.)
Car sales is a “now” business. He has a piece of inventory tied up because of your deposit and he can’t sell it to anyone else while he’s waiting on you to get your shit together to come buy it. If you change your mind, he could be out a sale until months from now because he kept the car away from other potentially interested customers.
Wait, you were texting with the salesman? That’s seriously bizarre to me. Who initiated the texting, you or him?
Umm, your boss “owes” you more, as far as allowing you to leave early, than the businessman “owes” you to stay late.
Your boss said it was impossible to let you leave early. The car guy said it was impossible for him to stay late. Seriously, you deal with shit like that as an adult.
I don’t understand this bit. Prior to purchase, you had the car inspected by the mechanic of your choice. He did not notice the problem. So why is the used car dealer responsible?