Complain about a product or service

Central Kia

Plano TX

Glen of McKinney TX (1/8/01):
My wife and I traded our 1997 Black Mercury Sable, fully loaded, and in return purchased a 2000 Kia Sportage from Central Kia on January 6th, 2001 in the evening. We looked at a 2000 model and were interested because of the price/rebate. We took a brief test drive and went inside to see if we could be approved - the details and specifications of the car were never explained to us because they weren't sure we would be approved.

The only thing we noticed wrong with the car was a 3" x 2" piece of paint missing off the right rear bumper, which they agreed to have repainted on Monday and a Due Bill was issued. There were also a few small scratches to be repaired. Naturally, it took quite a while to become approved and do the paperwork. By this time it was dark out.

We were rushed because of their closing time and the car was never detailed (cleaned, vacuumed) because we were told that the cleaning staff were lazy and soon to be fired. This is where we had our first bad feelings about this company. We were foolish enough to agree to the sticker price even with the paint damage - we were being flexible. We didn't even ask for one penny off the 'sticker price'. We were surprised we were even getting approved.

The next morning, we got in the car to go to church and my wife noticed what seemed to be dry blood in the knee area on the dashboard. Since she had a light color on, I cleaned it off and on the rag it turned red. Then she noticed dry blood on the side of the driver's seat and sun visor. Upon further inspection, we noticed that there were small leaves under all the mats, in between the seats, and EVEN the GLOVE BOX. The car appeared to be USED and was sold to us as New.

After church, my husband drove back to the dealer and they were closed. Monday morning, I went to speak with Sanders (our salesman) and/or owner of the dealership. Sanders went out to the car and also saw the bloodstains. He apologized, then said he would get me a different 2000 model or into a 2001 that had the same features/price comparable because of the trouble.

Sanders then asked me if I would accept the 2001 Kia Sportage in Silver that had the exact features and a $350 price difference. I asked if my payments would go up and he said "No" and then replied, "We will eat the cost difference between the old and new model - Don't you worry, my main concern is to make my customers happy".

I also told him then that I was concerned about the high mileage, 2139 miles, and he said that was a concern of his, too. He then said "Before I showed you the car the night before, I asked Vernell if it was all right to sell this car with the high mileage and Vernell said 'Don't worry about it'". I then apologized for the inconvenience and he said "Don't dare apologize, it was our mistake".

Sanders wrote up the change of paperwork for the new car, brought it to Mickey (his supervisor), which at that time, Mickey strongly disagreed with Sanders, and said, "The best he could do was to try to clean this car up". I then asked Mickey if he could try to get the same model from a different dealer, which they normally can. He said they would try to get a different car to replace it and to call in the afternoon.

I left for work with hopes to be satisfied. I came back later that day to see if they were going to fix the problem and they said they didn't find another model and blew the issue off like it was no big deal. Mickey said "We'll just clean it up for you" and I told him I don't want a car that had blood in it and seemed to be used. I told him just give me my Sable back and we'll void the deal. He replied, "You can't do that" and started getting angry. I then asked to speak to a higher manager or the owner and he flat out refused, and said again "We have to clean the car up".

On another note, Mickey told me has only been employed by that dealership for 9 days. I left angry and my wife and mother-in-law pulled up as I walked out the door. That's when Vernelle walked up and saw my wife was upset and asked us what was wrong - we told him what happened. That's when Vernelle told us that we bought a Demo Car. This was the first time those words came out of ANYONE'S mouth. If we knew that it was a Demo Car, we would have NEVER PURCHASED IT. Vernelle said "I apologize if I didn't tell you before" and I said 'It's too late now, an apology won't fix this'. Vernelle and Sanders were very pleasant, even though they were deceitful.

I AM A PERSON WHO NEVER, EVER BUYS ANYTHING USED. We were flat out lied to, and are now being denied any rights. We all went back in to ask why were sold a Demo Model without being told and Mickey said, "You signed for it, it's yours - we didn't force you to sign anything." My wife asked to speak to the owner, again, and he said we couldn't talk to him; we had to make an appointment. Mickey had a very arrogant attitude and seemed like he didn't want to remedy the problem, even telling my wife and mother-in-law to their faces "There's nothing he could do for us". He told us "We don't have to tell you it's a Demo Model". I then lost my cool and swore at him.

Mickey walked us to the front door, told us "Here's the door" and said "Leave, call later to make an appointment with the owner, I can't help you". I then said 'Whatever happened to customer satisfaction?'. They just seem like they wanted to get rid of this particular car and are glad they found two suckers. The bad thing is, my wife and I are the suckers and we are looking to you for help. We just want what we paid for - A NEW CAR.

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