Champion porsche won’t refund my deposit
05-08-2018, 08:53 AM
#1
Champion porsche won’t refund my deposit
I was going to purchase a new 2018 911 turbo S from Marco at Champion Porsche and put a $1000 deposit on the vehicle. Shortly after that I found a similar equipped car at another dealer that was willing to give me a better price on it (8% off vs 4%). I gave him the opportunity to meet the price but he said they couldn’t and understood if I took the other vehicle. I asked him to please refund my deposit and after 4 weeks of phone calls and emails it still hasn’t been refunded. I have spoken to my credit card company and they will resolve the issue but I thought Champion was a legitimate dealer. They certainly have lost any future business from me.
05-08-2018, 01:50 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Maybe you don't understand how deposits work? If they can get you the car you ordered at the price you agreed to, then they did their job, and probably passed up other deals on the car. If I owned Champion, I would give you the deposit back, but I'm not sure they absolutely have to unless you go post about it on Porsche forums....hey, wait!
(PS - I absolutely HATE taking the side of a Porsche dealer, by the way)
(PS - I absolutely HATE taking the side of a Porsche dealer, by the way)
05-08-2018, 02:49 PM
#6
Rennlist Member
whatever the agreement was regarding the deposit, it is very bad business practice not to refund the deposit
yes, the dealer may have lost a potential sale, but that happens all the time and it's just part of being in business
however, by not refunding the deposit, the dealer creates a very unhappy customer, who statistically will tell at least another 250 people of the bad experience, which can result in many more potentially lost sales
giving the deposit back in a timely manner demonstrates integrity and shows that customer satisfaction is the primary goal
yes, the dealer may have lost a potential sale, but that happens all the time and it's just part of being in business
however, by not refunding the deposit, the dealer creates a very unhappy customer, who statistically will tell at least another 250 people of the bad experience, which can result in many more potentially lost sales
giving the deposit back in a timely manner demonstrates integrity and shows that customer satisfaction is the primary goal
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05-08-2018, 03:53 PM
#8
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That seems to be the case, but that being said, getting all this bad publicity (yes, may many people are reading this), will cost that dealership a lot more than $1000. Stupid business practice, regardless of who backed out and who didn't.
This would cause me (and I am only speaking for myself) to question whether I should do business with this dealership, regardless of who was at fault.
If they are acting like this BEFORE the sale, how are they gonna treat you afterwards?
$1000? Really? That's just stupid on the part of the dealership.
Go higher up the ladder for sure. Either way, rest easy in knowing you saved a lot more than that $1000 by buying elsewhere.
Just dumb...
This would cause me (and I am only speaking for myself) to question whether I should do business with this dealership, regardless of who was at fault.
If they are acting like this BEFORE the sale, how are they gonna treat you afterwards?
$1000? Really? That's just stupid on the part of the dealership.
Go higher up the ladder for sure. Either way, rest easy in knowing you saved a lot more than that $1000 by buying elsewhere.
Just dumb...
05-08-2018, 04:35 PM
#9
As business owner, we value customer satisfaction and business integrity. I wouldn’t take a few hundred bucks to jeopardize my business integrity, in this case the car didn’t deliver and hopefully not being built yet. If the car is in production process, I could see why they keep the deposit but otherwise they should give him back the money.
05-08-2018, 05:00 PM
#11
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GotGolf52, I own a business as well (a few of them), and regardless of who's right and who's wrong, NO WAY I would let $1000 cost me negative press and publicity.
In this world dominated by social media, word of mouth is no longer word of mouth. It is word of keyboard. That word spreads much much quicker and much much wider. Your audience is no longer the guy standing next to you. It is the world standing next to you.
For $1000, even if I was 100% absolutely, positively, bet the mortgage on it, in the right, I would not let $1000 spread bad press about my company. Not a chance.
Clearly Marco at Champion Porsche does not think that way. Wonder if his boss does though.
Right or wrong, $1000 to not have the bad press, no brainer!!
In this world dominated by social media, word of mouth is no longer word of mouth. It is word of keyboard. That word spreads much much quicker and much much wider. Your audience is no longer the guy standing next to you. It is the world standing next to you.
For $1000, even if I was 100% absolutely, positively, bet the mortgage on it, in the right, I would not let $1000 spread bad press about my company. Not a chance.
Clearly Marco at Champion Porsche does not think that way. Wonder if his boss does though.
Right or wrong, $1000 to not have the bad press, no brainer!!
05-08-2018, 05:15 PM
#12
Rennlist Member
+1^
Why complain about a scenario on line before you exhaust an amicable resolution?
Someone spent time with you to put together what you felt was a "deal". They deserve your $1k and then some if they put a contract in place.
People like you should get brown taxed a G for wasting people's time.
Why complain about a scenario on line before you exhaust an amicable resolution?
Someone spent time with you to put together what you felt was a "deal". They deserve your $1k and then some if they put a contract in place.
People like you should get brown taxed a G for wasting people's time.
05-08-2018, 05:34 PM
#13
Rennlist Member
Does not sound to me like a car being built. Sounds like he saw a car or one coming and said he would take it and then found a better deal on a car he liked. Has no one here ever changed their mind? Is there a $1000 tax for doing that.? Lets not hang the guy in public before we have more info. I agree if he had something on the boat or production line then that could be tricky but any business figures that until the deal is done it's not done. Not worth losing a potential customer down the road willing to spend close to $200k or better on your product. Not what I learned in business.
Last edited by Penn4S; 05-08-2018 at 10:46 PM.
05-08-2018, 05:36 PM
#14
Rocky Mountain High
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Intersting discussion. We're obviously only hearing the buyer's side of the argument from the OP. I'm guessing that the terms of the deal included language that allows the dealership to keep the deposit if the buyer backs out, to cover any costs they incur and any lost sales opportunity. That's the point of the deposit. I'm not defending Champion Porsche; I don't have enough information to make a decision on who is wrong and who is right.
05-08-2018, 06:14 PM
#15
I guess I was in a similar situation as the OP once.
I called a few dealers looking to order a car. I was saving my local dealer, that I like, for last because I wanted to do the deal with them but also get a competitive price. One morning I sent an email to my SA and said, effectively, "Here is my build code, if you can give me 5% off I'm a buyer." He sends back an email and says "Sure we can do that" Send me you credit card info and $2k deposit. I pick up the phone and gave him a deposit. ...the whole thing took ten minutes. Four hours later a different dealer, who I had done business with before, calls me up and says "we can do 10% off". This was after, the day before, he told me 8% was "not happening"
Well, I don't know about you but 5% is a big difference in my mind. I wanted to go with my local guy but also wasn't keen on giving up 5%. I called my original dealer, the one with the deposit, about 5 hours after I gave the deposit and said "I have a 10% off deal, what can you do?" I was hoping he would move to 8% to make me feel better but he said he would only go to 6% off. I wasn't thrilled but felt we had a deal. My wife was more like "WTF!. I want that 4%. Tell him to match or your going to buy it from the 10% off dealer " Ok..I didn't feel like sleeping on the sofa. and I did feel 4% was too big of a difference to ignore. About 24 hours later the local dealer said there was no way he could do better than 6% off and never actually ran my credit card for the deposit.
In CT, we have a 3 days to change our mind on a contract, so I guess legally the original dealer would have given the deposit back to me anyway. Actually we never even got around to signing any contract we just had a couple emails going back and forth and a phone call. The original SA spent a total of a one sentence email and two 3 minute phone calls with me before we parted company. It bothered me then, and it still does, that I backed out of the deal but I'm also not pretentious enough to think that 4% isn't real money. My SA said" If we can't match the price, we really don't expect you to buy from us. That just makes no sense for you. "He seemed more concerned about the price match than I did."
Although I didn't buy the car from my local guy, I feel they treated me very well. They will be first on my list if I am a buyer again.
I called a few dealers looking to order a car. I was saving my local dealer, that I like, for last because I wanted to do the deal with them but also get a competitive price. One morning I sent an email to my SA and said, effectively, "Here is my build code, if you can give me 5% off I'm a buyer." He sends back an email and says "Sure we can do that" Send me you credit card info and $2k deposit. I pick up the phone and gave him a deposit. ...the whole thing took ten minutes. Four hours later a different dealer, who I had done business with before, calls me up and says "we can do 10% off". This was after, the day before, he told me 8% was "not happening"
Well, I don't know about you but 5% is a big difference in my mind. I wanted to go with my local guy but also wasn't keen on giving up 5%. I called my original dealer, the one with the deposit, about 5 hours after I gave the deposit and said "I have a 10% off deal, what can you do?" I was hoping he would move to 8% to make me feel better but he said he would only go to 6% off. I wasn't thrilled but felt we had a deal. My wife was more like "WTF!. I want that 4%. Tell him to match or your going to buy it from the 10% off dealer " Ok..I didn't feel like sleeping on the sofa. and I did feel 4% was too big of a difference to ignore. About 24 hours later the local dealer said there was no way he could do better than 6% off and never actually ran my credit card for the deposit.
In CT, we have a 3 days to change our mind on a contract, so I guess legally the original dealer would have given the deposit back to me anyway. Actually we never even got around to signing any contract we just had a couple emails going back and forth and a phone call. The original SA spent a total of a one sentence email and two 3 minute phone calls with me before we parted company. It bothered me then, and it still does, that I backed out of the deal but I'm also not pretentious enough to think that 4% isn't real money. My SA said" If we can't match the price, we really don't expect you to buy from us. That just makes no sense for you. "He seemed more concerned about the price match than I did."
Although I didn't buy the car from my local guy, I feel they treated me very well. They will be first on my list if I am a buyer again.