Honda World

Talk about a sour taste in your mouth after dealing with a dealership.



I made contact with the Finance Manger (Crystal) at 10:15am this morning. I wanted to ensure that I was the first person to talk to them after seeing an ad for a 2007 CBR1000rr on a local classified site (ksl.com). I submitted my application and was told that I would get a call back when a credit decision was made.



After a couple of hours a sells person (Josh) called me and asked if I would drive down to look at the bike. He said that the bike had been traded in the day before and wanted to make sure I would get it.



Because I have been looking for the right bike at the right price, for about a month, I knew that he was lying to me. I had seen this same bike multiple times before, just priced at a higher amount. I knew the bike was nice, but the price was outside of what I was willing to pay, so it was always printed out but ended up in my "maybe" pile. I did not call Josh on this though, there was nothing for me to gain.



I politely told Josh that I knew my credit was not stellar, and that because it was 60miles one way, I wanted to know that I would be riding off in to the sunset rather than kicking myself for the hour long drive home. He said that he understood, and would make sure that I would get a call back as soon as they knew one way or the other.



After a few more hours of waiting, and time approaching the point of no return (past the time I could leave my house and make it there before closing time), I called the dealership and asked for the status of the application. Crystal told me that the application was denied and I would have to talk with my bank for information. When I called my bank, they informed me that the application had indeed been denied for the requested amount ($7000 on a bike advertised for $4800) HOURS before and the dealership acknowledged the decline 3 hours earlier.



I called Crystal back to ask what had happened and why I had not been informed earlier. She side stepped the question and informed me that as we spoke someone else was ridding away on the bike I had wanted and that she would be happy to locate a newer, much more expensive bike for me.



No I get that cash is king, and that my application was denied, however, no one at the dealer went to bat for me with the bank as is typical, they did not try another bank, nothing. This is truly not the way to run a dealership. I can promise that I will never buy a bike from this dealership in the future, nor would I recommend them. I suppose if you knew what you were buying, and had cash in hand, they may only slightly rip you off, but I would rather go to Newgate Power Sports or go private party.

I was told on the phone by the sales manager, Ryan, that he could give me the best price around on a honda atv/utv because he was "powerhouse dealer". This was also his excuse for not quoting me anything other than MSRP over the phone. He said Honda gave them deals that they didn't give to other dealers because of their status as a "powerhouse". It was clearly a ploy to get the customer into the door and use further sales tactics. I fell for it and wasted a fair amount of my time just to be told that their UTV's are the hottest thing around and they wouldn't budge off the MSRP. Ryan then told me that it was LESS EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE THE CUSTOMER THAN THE UTV! He obviously doesn't understand the idea of repeat customers. Instead he tells me that in the future if i have a hybrid UTV that his dealership will be the only place withing three states to have it serviced. This guy is out to lunch and I can't believe he's in the position he's in. I'm not buying a Honda Prius and really don't feel like I'm the one missing out, as he seems to think.



FWIW, I called a dealer 20 minutes away, Monarch Honda, and they gave me an out the door price that beat Honda World over the phone and even came off of that number by a fair amount. I will be headed down there next weekend to pickup my new ride. Best part is that they are happy to sell me the vehicle and will get my return business next year when I get a Honda Foreman.