Schmitt Motorcars Strikes Again
04-07-2003, 01:39 PM
#17
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A quick search of the archives reveals many, many complaints about this dealership including charges of odometer fraud and reports of 40+ complaints with the BBB.
I have no idea what the real story is with these guys but I would not buy a car from them based on what I have read here on Rennlist.
I have no idea what the real story is with these guys but I would not buy a car from them based on what I have read here on Rennlist.
04-07-2003, 01:43 PM
#18
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Schmidt wrote: "We appreciate and enjoy Porsche buyers and rennlist members. If you review our "feedback" on ebay, you will see that we try very hard to take great care of our clients. Thank you all for your time and the "benefit of the doubt."
What about your feedback on Rennlist? I've rarely seen a positive experience noted here! Your web pics are amazing, though. Kudos to your marketing/picture taking/ad copy genius. I'll bet you really generate alot of web traffic with those snazzy ads and delicious ad copy. You deserve an award for some of the most splendid car ads on the net.
BUT, you might want to do a search on this site to see what Rennlisters are saying about your business. Then you might read some of these comments to your salesmen and try to focus on what's gone wrong with your business practices and how you can improve customer satisfaction.
I'm sure you can turn this around with the right attitude <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> . Keep on trying.
sr
What about your feedback on Rennlist? I've rarely seen a positive experience noted here! Your web pics are amazing, though. Kudos to your marketing/picture taking/ad copy genius. I'll bet you really generate alot of web traffic with those snazzy ads and delicious ad copy. You deserve an award for some of the most splendid car ads on the net.
BUT, you might want to do a search on this site to see what Rennlisters are saying about your business. Then you might read some of these comments to your salesmen and try to focus on what's gone wrong with your business practices and how you can improve customer satisfaction.
I'm sure you can turn this around with the right attitude <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> . Keep on trying.
sr
04-07-2003, 01:51 PM
#19
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I have also seen a lot of negative feedback from Rennlisters and heard nothing from Schmitt. I don't take sides for either one just from my personal exp.
I have not had any problems with Schmitt at all. They are about 40 miles away from me and I have purchased a car from them in the past with zero problems. The only thing I new about was a salesman that was holding deposits for a long period of time which is no longer there. I am more on the side hearing both sides and I appreciate them telling their side of the story. Based on their positive feedback I think they have made a turn for the best.
I am not affiliated with them in any way this is just based on my personal exp. with them. One thing that stood out odd to me is a post by EC993 that posted one time to say something about OD Fraud and he never posted again?? If I were Schmitt I would think maybe the competition is pulling one over on me. JUST MY .02
I have not had any problems with Schmitt at all. They are about 40 miles away from me and I have purchased a car from them in the past with zero problems. The only thing I new about was a salesman that was holding deposits for a long period of time which is no longer there. I am more on the side hearing both sides and I appreciate them telling their side of the story. Based on their positive feedback I think they have made a turn for the best.
I am not affiliated with them in any way this is just based on my personal exp. with them. One thing that stood out odd to me is a post by EC993 that posted one time to say something about OD Fraud and he never posted again?? If I were Schmitt I would think maybe the competition is pulling one over on me. JUST MY .02
04-07-2003, 02:05 PM
#20
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I certainly do not want to get into trying to prove how good my car is, but...it is a nearly perfect car. Garage-kept all its life. It looks almost new from sunroof seals down. Frequently detailed inside and out.
It was a bad experience that I am glad is behind me. I hope Schmitt will make good on his offer to refund some of my expenses. If he does I'll gladly post it here.
I feel I should add that I am NOT suggesting anything fraudulent occurred surrounding my deal. It was just totally unprofessional.
Look, I know what my car is, it took me months to find, and is a constant source of pride for me. We will never know exactly what happened in their back office. This is just my experience, your mileage may vary.
John B
It was a bad experience that I am glad is behind me. I hope Schmitt will make good on his offer to refund some of my expenses. If he does I'll gladly post it here.
I feel I should add that I am NOT suggesting anything fraudulent occurred surrounding my deal. It was just totally unprofessional.
Look, I know what my car is, it took me months to find, and is a constant source of pride for me. We will never know exactly what happened in their back office. This is just my experience, your mileage may vary.
John B
04-07-2003, 02:28 PM
#21
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Based on all these threads, why would anyone want to take the chance of this happening to them?
I'll put them in the category of Premiere...nice pictures to look at on the website but I won't buy a car there.
I'll put them in the category of Premiere...nice pictures to look at on the website but I won't buy a car there.
04-07-2003, 02:49 PM
#22
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It's hard to imagine an honest, well-run business with that many BBB complaints and such bad Rennlist press. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />
04-07-2003, 03:11 PM
#24
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Hopefully I can add some value to this conversation, as I was neither the potential purchaser nor the seller in this transaction. Just a neutral observer along for the ride. (For what it’s worth….I am a 40 year old VP of Manufacturing for a Fortune 500 company with headquarters in St. Louis. That is one of the reasons I went along, as I had been to the dealership several times before and knew the area.) I find the narrative provided by John B at the start of this thread to be an accurate description of what took place in St. Louis last weekend. This posting is not intended to be a bashing session for any dealership, just an accurate accounting of the conversations in question.
Carsschmitt.com offers in the reply posting that the subject car was “oxidized”. Several issues may have been at play here, as we did leave Knoxville, TN at 5:00am Saturday morning in a slight drizzle. 550 miles of travel in my experience has often left the paint of a car with a haze that is quickly taken care of with a wash. No offer was given by the dealership to attempt to take this factor out of the equation. ( Or even mentioned during our exchange that day) From the cars I have known John B to own, (several great shape Jag E-Types, Mercedes, Acura NSX, new Boxter in 2000, etc) I have never known any of them to be anything but near showroom quality cars. His ZB car had roughly 22,000 miles on it at the start of the trip, and looks like it came off the showroom floor. Their only comment was that they would not trade for a ZB car.
That leads me to my second point. I personally looked at the original FAX of the sticker that John sent and verified that it did contain a confirmation of “Sent Successfully” on Friday, April 4, 2003. The first line of the additional add-ons clearly stated the up-charge for Zenith Blue Metallic paint. I don’t understand their FAX issue other than the dealership did receive it, and they claimed that they had not.
There was also a comment made about the condition of the leather in the ZB car. As I stated earlier, this car only has 22,000+ miles and the leather is flawless. No representative of the dealership ever opened the door to inspect. Again, I am perplexed how you come to those conclusions without ever seeing it in person.
The exchange did in fact take place on the showroom floor of the dealership, with the DS owner, John B, the salesman and what I took was the business manager/sales manager. An offer was made early on by me to move the conversation to a private office. As a businessman, I understand and respect the art of privacy in appropriate situations. The management declined and continued their tactics.
Probably the most disturbing act during this process was the fact that John B received an e-mail from the dealership this morning (Monday) continuing to harass and belittle him. The deal is off, there is no chance of salvaging an agreement, yet the aggressive behavior continues.
All in all, a very unpleasant experience. I purchased a 993 several months ago from another dealership, and was pleasantly surprised with the treatment and level of professionalism I was afforded. The car I purchased was not as fresh as I had liked, but I felt good about the deal as I was treated with respect…..and thus I am now a Porsche owner.
Hopefully this will give everyone a third-party interpretation of the events in question. It is clear, I will never purchase a car from these individuals or will recommend any friend or acquaintance do so either.
Carsschmitt.com offers in the reply posting that the subject car was “oxidized”. Several issues may have been at play here, as we did leave Knoxville, TN at 5:00am Saturday morning in a slight drizzle. 550 miles of travel in my experience has often left the paint of a car with a haze that is quickly taken care of with a wash. No offer was given by the dealership to attempt to take this factor out of the equation. ( Or even mentioned during our exchange that day) From the cars I have known John B to own, (several great shape Jag E-Types, Mercedes, Acura NSX, new Boxter in 2000, etc) I have never known any of them to be anything but near showroom quality cars. His ZB car had roughly 22,000 miles on it at the start of the trip, and looks like it came off the showroom floor. Their only comment was that they would not trade for a ZB car.
That leads me to my second point. I personally looked at the original FAX of the sticker that John sent and verified that it did contain a confirmation of “Sent Successfully” on Friday, April 4, 2003. The first line of the additional add-ons clearly stated the up-charge for Zenith Blue Metallic paint. I don’t understand their FAX issue other than the dealership did receive it, and they claimed that they had not.
There was also a comment made about the condition of the leather in the ZB car. As I stated earlier, this car only has 22,000+ miles and the leather is flawless. No representative of the dealership ever opened the door to inspect. Again, I am perplexed how you come to those conclusions without ever seeing it in person.
The exchange did in fact take place on the showroom floor of the dealership, with the DS owner, John B, the salesman and what I took was the business manager/sales manager. An offer was made early on by me to move the conversation to a private office. As a businessman, I understand and respect the art of privacy in appropriate situations. The management declined and continued their tactics.
Probably the most disturbing act during this process was the fact that John B received an e-mail from the dealership this morning (Monday) continuing to harass and belittle him. The deal is off, there is no chance of salvaging an agreement, yet the aggressive behavior continues.
All in all, a very unpleasant experience. I purchased a 993 several months ago from another dealership, and was pleasantly surprised with the treatment and level of professionalism I was afforded. The car I purchased was not as fresh as I had liked, but I felt good about the deal as I was treated with respect…..and thus I am now a Porsche owner.
Hopefully this will give everyone a third-party interpretation of the events in question. It is clear, I will never purchase a car from these individuals or will recommend any friend or acquaintance do so either.
04-07-2003, 04:05 PM
#26
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</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Tom Pepper:
<strong>Is it possible that Sadam's Minister of Information works for this dealership? <img border="0" alt="[nono]" title="" src="graemlins/nono.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica"><img border="0" alt="[hiha]" title="" src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" />
I can't wait for that guy's next press briefing to be interrupted by about 20 US Marines...
<strong>Is it possible that Sadam's Minister of Information works for this dealership? <img border="0" alt="[nono]" title="" src="graemlins/nono.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica"><img border="0" alt="[hiha]" title="" src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" />
I can't wait for that guy's next press briefing to be interrupted by about 20 US Marines...
04-07-2003, 04:30 PM
#28
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Despite reading the Carr**** reply, I would agree with others about all of the complaints from this one dealership.
I have never been to this dealer, but was speaking with them on the phone about a adventurine green 993 they had for sale. I
couldn't get many details of the car from them,
and they seem like they weren't interested in taking the time to answer some questions about the car. Besides, I got tired of hearing about the deposit that they have for this car. Funny thing is I continually saw it on eBay many, many weeks after I said 'no thanks'.
I would be very upset if I had hopped on an airplane to get treated like this. No thanks!
Keep looking for that car, its out there.
Chris
I have never been to this dealer, but was speaking with them on the phone about a adventurine green 993 they had for sale. I
couldn't get many details of the car from them,
and they seem like they weren't interested in taking the time to answer some questions about the car. Besides, I got tired of hearing about the deposit that they have for this car. Funny thing is I continually saw it on eBay many, many weeks after I said 'no thanks'.
I would be very upset if I had hopped on an airplane to get treated like this. No thanks!
Keep looking for that car, its out there.
Chris
04-07-2003, 05:00 PM
#29
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Is noone outraged by the dealers quote along the lines: " just as the buyer can back out of a deal due to a scuffed car, so can the seller back out of a deal..."
How can a dealer with a deposit check and presumably a signed (and sent via fax) contract.
And then I about fall over when the dealer trying to improve their public standing says the car was not as explained - it has oxidized paint. If I believed this in the first place (which I don't), I would ask him to have his detailer fix it right up, shouldnt take more than an hour or two. Any deaer dealing with auction cars has a detailer on site...
And finally, he puts the blame on the buyer for not saying the car was Zanzabar Blue, but his idiotic used car manager or salesman or toilet cleaner who made the offer accepted Dark Blue as a Porsche 993 color? Give me a freakin' break.
That dealer needs to get a life. In closing, I will cut and paste the actuall findings for the BBB searching:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">from the BBB
<strong>SCHMITT DANIEL CLASSIC CAR GALLERY
General Information Company Address: 3455 N LINDBERGH
ST ANN, MO 63074
Business Classification: AUTOMOBILE DEALERS-FRANCHISED (NEW & USED SALES)
Company Contact DANIEL SCHMITT OWNER
Telephone #: (314) 291-4441
The report that follows has been obtained from sources deemed to be reliable and is not to be used for sales or promotional purposes. The Bureau reports on members and non-members. Membership in the BBB is voluntary, and members must meet and maintain BBB standards. If a company is a member of this BBB, it will be stated in this report.
BBB Customer Experience Record
According to information provided by the firm, Daniel Schmitt is the owner. The company sells used vehicles and classic cars. On August 15, 2001 the BBB issued a news warning on this company regarding complaints received by this bureau. Complainants contacting the BBB have primarily alleged improper sales tactics and selling defective vehicles.
This company has responded to any complaint brought to its attention. When assessing complaint information, please consider the company's size, volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's response to them is often more important than their numbers. The BBB does not endorse any product, service or company. The following data concerns complaints processed by the BBB since the firm's BBB file was opened or during its three-year reporting period:
Complaint Record
The Bureau has received 36 complaints against this company during its three year reporting period. 9 complaints have been closed as resolved. 27 complaints have been closed as disputed.
As a matter of policy, the Better Business Bureau does not endorse any product, service, or company. BBB reports generally cover a three-year reporting period, and are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. Information contained in this report is believed reliable but not guaranteed as to accuracy. Reports are subject to change at any time.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">
How can a dealer with a deposit check and presumably a signed (and sent via fax) contract.
And then I about fall over when the dealer trying to improve their public standing says the car was not as explained - it has oxidized paint. If I believed this in the first place (which I don't), I would ask him to have his detailer fix it right up, shouldnt take more than an hour or two. Any deaer dealing with auction cars has a detailer on site...
And finally, he puts the blame on the buyer for not saying the car was Zanzabar Blue, but his idiotic used car manager or salesman or toilet cleaner who made the offer accepted Dark Blue as a Porsche 993 color? Give me a freakin' break.
That dealer needs to get a life. In closing, I will cut and paste the actuall findings for the BBB searching:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">from the BBB
<strong>SCHMITT DANIEL CLASSIC CAR GALLERY
General Information Company Address: 3455 N LINDBERGH
ST ANN, MO 63074
Business Classification: AUTOMOBILE DEALERS-FRANCHISED (NEW & USED SALES)
Company Contact DANIEL SCHMITT OWNER
Telephone #: (314) 291-4441
The report that follows has been obtained from sources deemed to be reliable and is not to be used for sales or promotional purposes. The Bureau reports on members and non-members. Membership in the BBB is voluntary, and members must meet and maintain BBB standards. If a company is a member of this BBB, it will be stated in this report.
BBB Customer Experience Record
According to information provided by the firm, Daniel Schmitt is the owner. The company sells used vehicles and classic cars. On August 15, 2001 the BBB issued a news warning on this company regarding complaints received by this bureau. Complainants contacting the BBB have primarily alleged improper sales tactics and selling defective vehicles.
This company has responded to any complaint brought to its attention. When assessing complaint information, please consider the company's size, volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's response to them is often more important than their numbers. The BBB does not endorse any product, service or company. The following data concerns complaints processed by the BBB since the firm's BBB file was opened or during its three-year reporting period:
Complaint Record
The Bureau has received 36 complaints against this company during its three year reporting period. 9 complaints have been closed as resolved. 27 complaints have been closed as disputed.
As a matter of policy, the Better Business Bureau does not endorse any product, service, or company. BBB reports generally cover a three-year reporting period, and are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. Information contained in this report is believed reliable but not guaranteed as to accuracy. Reports are subject to change at any time.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">
04-07-2003, 05:45 PM
#30
Burning Brakes
Chris,
quote
____________________________________________________
Despite reading the Carr**** reply, I would agree with others about all of the complaints from this one dealership.
___________________________________________________
I dont want to affend anybody with the cars$#^ statement!! I to was bamboozled by the above mentioned dealership. Only it was with a Rangerover and not a P-car. At the time I didn't think anything of it.........however since becoming a Rennlist member I have seen all the negative vibes about Cars$&^%^%&%!!
0.02
quote
____________________________________________________
Despite reading the Carr**** reply, I would agree with others about all of the complaints from this one dealership.
___________________________________________________
I dont want to affend anybody with the cars$#^ statement!! I to was bamboozled by the above mentioned dealership. Only it was with a Rangerover and not a P-car. At the time I didn't think anything of it.........however since becoming a Rennlist member I have seen all the negative vibes about Cars$&^%^%&%!!
0.02