Dealer backing out of deal

bridge4 · Apr 10, 2023

I own a business, we made some changes and it effected how our clients events went and added some costs to them. We didn't fully anticipate these difficulties and it was OUR fault. So we paid all the extras needed to make things run how they should. It sucked, and it hurt our bottom line. But it was our mistake, and to put that on them is a great way to destroy your business.

The owner should be giving you what you signed and agreed on and having a chat with his salesman to make sure it doesn't happen again and he slows down.

Be nice, but be firm IMO. Theres always another dealer.

ttouring · Apr 10, 2023

smokewagon said:
Hypothetically.

Let's say I called a dealer and got a price quote on a tractor on a Friday. Came by the dealership the next morning, took the tractor for a spin, negotiated the addition of a $1000 feature, agreed on a price, shook hands, and made a deposit. Got a handwritten receipt as it was late in the morning with the rest of the paperwork to follow on Monday. Monday morning I get a call saying there'd been a mistake, dealer misread the factory discount offer, and the price has gone up signficantly. Otherwise come get my deposit.

Even gave me a hat! Hypothetically.

How would you

Had pretty much same deal on a new pickup truck. I buy somewhere else.. I'm sure like my truck there are other dealers. If I dealt with same dealer then I deserve to get burned .

smokewagon said:
that one?

Skypilota72 · Apr 10, 2023

Who’s the dealer so I may avoid a similar mistake?

redmt · Apr 10, 2023

I'd hold them responsible for the agreed upon price. I didn't see where the difference in price was mentioned but no matter,a deal is a deal, written or verbal. A man or company is only as good as their word.

tradosaurus · Apr 10, 2023

smokewagon said:
Hypothetically.

Let's say I called a dealer and got a price quote on a tractor on a Friday. Came by the dealership the next morning, took the tractor for a spin, negotiated the addition of a $1000 feature, agreed on a price, shook hands, and made a deposit. Got a handwritten receipt as it was late in the morning with the rest of the paperwork to follow on Monday. Monday morning I get a call saying there'd been a mistake, dealer misread the factory discount offer, and the price has gone up signficantly. Otherwise come get my deposit.

Even gave me a hat! Hypothetically.

How would you feel about that one?

If this was a legitimate mistake then decide if you want the tractor.

I wouldn't try to hold a dealer to an honest significant monetary mistake.

Stephen D · Apr 10, 2023

I had a car repair shop call me 3 weeks after completing my repair requesting that I come back in and give them $60 because they charged me based on someone else's invoice. I did in fact pay them, because it was truly a mistake and they undercharged me but if it were my business, I would have eaten the $60 to not look incompetent or risk alienating a customer. Or said another way, they screwed up so they should have taken the hit. Similarly your dealer could make a customer for life by letting you win this time. It's about the long game but few think that way these days.

John_Mc · Apr 10, 2023

I have a good relationship with my tractor dealer for over 20 years. That relationship has bailed me out when I broke something and needed a quick turn-around on service. If I thought it was an honest mistake, I'd just go in and talk to them about it. If they could not make good on the price, I'd angle for something else - perhaps some free maintenance or something. That might be a bit easier for the dealer to cover, especially if I'm not trying to bring it in during their peak maintenance season.

If I thought is was some scam the sales guy was trying to run on me, my reaction would be quite a bit different. I'd walk out, stopping to tell the manager/owner exactly why I was leaving. (If the manager was with another customer who gets to hear my rant, so much the better.)

piper184 · Apr 10, 2023

Honest mistake.
Devious trick.
Either way, you have been shown the true character of the people involved.
Only you can decide if you want to deal with people of that character.
If you do, hypothetically, what does that say about your character?

Foxnaround · Apr 10, 2023

Check w another dealer first and see if they will match or beat your original deal.

Paystar · Apr 10, 2023

smokewagon said:
Hypothetically.

Let's say I called a dealer and got a price quote on a tractor on a Friday. Came by the dealership the next morning, took the tractor for a spin, negotiated the addition of a $1000 feature, agreed on a price, shook hands, and made a deposit. Got a handwritten receipt as it was late in the morning with the rest of the paperwork to follow on Monday. Monday morning I get a call saying there'd been a mistake, dealer misread the factory discount offer, and the price has gone up signficantly. Otherwise come get my deposit.

Even gave me a hat! Hypothetically.

How would you feel about that one?

I would never deal with them again, I'd bombard the manufacturer with hate mail about their dealer and then go on every form of social media and you tube and slander them.

But that's just me, LOL

That's the problem with this world, the bad dealers don't get enough bad publicity. People are too complacent.

md11plt · Apr 10, 2023

smokewagon said:
Hypothetically.

Let's say I called a dealer and got a price quote on a tractor on a Friday. Came by the dealership the next morning, took the tractor for a spin, negotiated the addition of a $1000 feature, agreed on a price, shook hands, and made a deposit. Got a handwritten receipt as it was late in the morning with the rest of the paperwork to follow on Monday. Monday morning I get a call saying there'd been a mistake, dealer misread the factory discount offer, and the price has gone up signficantly. Otherwise come get my deposit.

Even gave me a hat! Hypothetically.

How would you feel about that one?

Your contract is only as good as the paper it’s written on. Read the fine print. Most people don’t honor a handshake or stand behind their word anymore. Good luck !

1M05 · Apr 10, 2023

Car manufacturers are doing away with their dealers. This is one of the reasons. The other is the insane amount over invoice they charge when they can get it.

olenjohn · Apr 10, 2023

smokewagon said:
Hypothetically.

Let's say I called a dealer and got a price quote on a tractor on a Friday. Came by the dealership the next morning, took the tractor for a spin, negotiated the addition of a $1000 feature, agreed on a price, shook hands, and made a deposit. Got a handwritten receipt as it was late in the morning with the rest of the paperwork to follow on Monday. Monday morning I get a call saying there'd been a mistake, dealer misread the factory discount offer, and the price has gone up signficantly. Otherwise come get my deposit.

Even gave me a hat! Hypothetically.

How would you feel about that one?

If the dealer made an honest mistake and came to you in a good faith presentation then I would work with him. if he was doing this “dirty handed” the situation is totally different. I bought custom sized windows from a vendor that quoted me high performance insulated glass then switched the order to standard insulated glass without my knowledge. I found it out when I went to pick up the windows. The manufactures build tags we’re stuck to the packaging. When confronted, he claimed he quoted the standard even though the paperwork showed high performance. If he would have been forthcoming before hand I would have paid the “up charge“ difference. They knew they were in a tough situation. When the department head, sales rep and store manager went into private to figure out how to handle it, they happened to have left their paperwork laying on the counter. I may have happened to see what their actual cost was. The windows would work fine but just not as efficient as I wanted. So when they returned I made them an offer for the standard windows that were there. Store manager told the sales rep. “Sell them. Rewrite the order at the new price and help him load them.”“ Dept. head and sales rep started to balk but was shut down. Store manager knew it would be nearly impossible for them to sell the windows since they were custom sizes. End result is the store lost about $500 dollars on the deal. If they had been upright honest in the front end they would have made some money. I sure somebody got a sore arse when the store manager was done with the culprits.

Alan46 · Apr 10, 2023

Why haven’t we heard anymore from the OP? We would like to know the outcome!

Lineman North Florida · Apr 10, 2023

People make mistakes all the time at least us mortals do, I would run the numbers and see if what he said made sense and if it appeared to be an honest mistake I would see if I could afford to complete the deal and if I could I would proceed with purchasing the tractor, if it appeared crooked or shady I would get my deposit back, tell them how I felt and I would go back to tractor shopping. Sometimes if it was an honest mistake you have to put yourself in the other man's shoes. How would you want him to treat you if the role's were reversed? It's easy to be a double barreled azzhole , it takes a little decency and humility to act like a reasonable grown man.

Rockbadchild · Apr 10, 2023

Skypilota72 said:
Who’s the dealer so I may avoid a similar mistake?

you have to ask who is the Hypothetical dealer... saying it would be against TBN rules

rScotty · Apr 10, 2023

tradosaurus said:
If this was a legitimate mistake then decide if you want the tractor.

I wouldn't try to hold a dealer to an honest significant monetary mistake.

Same way I feel. They owe you an explanation and a conversation - but an honest mistake is just that.
rScotty

Rockbadchild · Apr 10, 2023

is the salesman new at it ? I have hard time believing it...but regardless if its true remember that they make a commission, they have room to play regardless on the discount, especially on add on, make him work for it, doesn't matter what it is like a free servicing or more accessories ... tell him to work with you or walk away...

Bobrown14 · Apr 10, 2023

Same thing happened to me when I bought my Toyota Tacoma pu truck.

At least they were honest and told me since I inquired about the pu truck ONLINE and went into the shop and took the test drive with another sales rep I had to pay both internet sales and shop sales peoples commissions which added $1500 to the bill I was paying with a certified bank check.

I still got a great deal tho since Toyota didn't realize how popular that truck would become over time.

I was fvcking pissed off. I was there on a Monday AM to take ownership before they sold it out from under me. I had put a deposit down late Saturday afternoon right before closing and showed up first thing Monday with my check.

Sooo when they told me I had to pay the extra commission I asked to talk to the sales manager. The whole dealership was full of people in the waiting room getting service down on their cars. I blew up on the sales manager made a big deal loud pissed off...... I drove the truck of the lot after paperwork done. I still got a great deal.

Btm line if you want the tractor pay for it or go somewhere else, you may still get the same or worse treatment elsewhere.

blacktruck · Apr 10, 2023

smokewagon said:
Hypothetically.
Let's say I called a dealer and got a price quote on a tractor on a Friday. Came by the dealership the next morning, took the tractor for a spin, negotiated the addition of a $1000 feature, agreed on a price, shook hands, and made a deposit. Got a handwritten receipt as it was late in the morning with the rest of the paperwork to follow on Monday. Monday morning I get a call saying there'd been a mistake, dealer misread the factory discount offer, and the price has gone up significantly. Otherwise come get my deposit.
How would you feel about that one?

Really good question and we have all been there or somewhere close over the years a time or two. I'll throw my $0.02 in just because I can and it is an open forum.
There has been a lot of good discussion on here so far. I would consider if this is a one time deal or is this a place you have dealt with in the past? (Think long term relationship) I would consider if this is an honest mistake or what I suppose to be a scam. I would consider the options offered by the dealer for remedy. In the case of an honest mistake, I am not out to burn the dealer. Dealers have to make a profit to remain in business and on most small businesses, margins are frequently razor thin. If it's a big dealer, I would expect the remedy to be equitable to me more than the dealer but still relatively equitable.
If you have read through all of this, my answer is simple. I would go with my gut feeling and act accordingly. I've bought some good deals in the past. I've bought some deals that weren't so good but it was for things I wanted or needed. I managed to live through all of those things and won't be upset if I either buy or walk away from a deal.