Community Forums

Berkshire · 02-21-2016, 10:27 AM

The end of December we ordered a new Coachmen Freedom Express 231RBDS to replace out 2007 Maxlite 23RS. Everything went very well, no high pressure tactics, and the final price was 38% below MSRP. The morning we were to take delivery I got an email from the dealer's finance person confirming our delivery time and to bring a cashiers check for a certain amount. I looked at the number and saw that it was over $1000 more than what was on the sales "Worksheet" (the term that was on the top of the paper) that we had signed. I pulled the paper and immediately saw the problem - they had not put in sales tax. In the back and forth of the negotiations no one had noticed this. I had a check for the amount that was on my sales document.

I decided to wait until we got to the dealership to talk this over. When we got there and sat down with the finance manager I began very politely and calmly with an explanation of what happened and that I had a check for the amount we had signed for. The finance person excused herself and said that she would get the sales manager. I need to add that I had called my friend who is an attorney with the county prosecutors office who works on the civil side of the operation - mostly contracts - to ask about the issue. In short, he said that the dealership did not have to honor the price on my "Worksheet".

The sales manager comes into the office where we are and I again politely and calmly explained the situation and emphasized that this had been missed by the sales person, the sales manager, and the finance/business office until the morning I was due to pick up my camper and that I expected them to honor that number. He was polite and calm as well and said that you have to pay sales tax and that is something they have no choice but to charge me. I said yes I understand, but that he should not turn this around on me. You do this every day and the paperwork clearly states this is the balance due on delivery. I suggested that he give us more on our trade to make the bottom line match the figure we had. He said that he would look at the deal and my trade and be back in a few minutes.

When the sales manager returned after about 15 minutes he had a new "Worksheet" that had increased the amount for my trade by over $1000 so that the bottom line matched my original signed "Worksheet". Both he and the finance manager apologized several times and thanked us for our business. The rest of the delivery process went very well. My wife and I were very glad that a potentially nasty situation turned out so well.

georgew48 · 02-21-2016, 10:38 AM

I had the opposite happen when we recently bought our new Georgetown. The dealer made a mistake and charged me tax on the full purchase price vs the difference between my trade and the new unit. I didn't catch it and a few days before I went to pick it up the dealer called and told me they made a 3, 000 dollar mistake in my favor. They corrected the paperwork and it lowered my payments. Good to see honest dealers out there.

Selah · 02-21-2016, 10:55 AM

You should mention the dealer name. Kudos should be given where kudos are earned.

Berkshire · 02-21-2016, 11:11 AM

The dealer was Colerain RV in Delaware, Ohio. They also did a great job on the walk-through - the tech took his time and gave us some great information.

**JohnRR** · 02-21-2016, 11:18 AM

Thank you for the positive posts, sometimes reading the Forums you'd think there was nothing but doom and gloom out there.

MSHappyCampers · 02-21-2016, 02:15 PM

WOW! You accomplished the nearly impossible! I bet there's not one dealer in 100 that would do that!

**TonyDi** · 02-21-2016, 02:33 PM

You did a great job negotiating that. I was glad to see you remained calm through the whole process.

Good luck and Happy Trails!!

Gary RVRoamer · 02-21-2016, 04:21 PM

Not sure if he should be happy or not. Obviously there was an extra $1000 in that deal that the dealer could afford to throw in. Despite what appeared to be a steeply discounted initial price.

georgew48 · 02-21-2016, 04:31 PM

My dealer is Paul Sherry RV in Piqua, Ohio.

Berkshire · 02-21-2016, 04:40 PM

Georgew48 - Paul Sherry is where we bought our Maxlite 23RS way back in the spring of 2006.

Gary RV Roamer - After the sales manager came back and gave us more for our trade to make it right, I thought I should have been more aggressive on the initial deal. My wife gave me a look when I said that on our way home! I believe it helped that our trade was very clean and in very good condition.

I do my best not to get upset. I believe that being calm, respectful, and polite, but at the same time assertive, works best.