Berserker

Ok, I'm an idiot because I placed a non-refundable deposit down on an 06. We agreed on MSRP, not over. I didn't think anything about it because I know I am going to buy the car. What I'm worried about is that I placed my order 4 weeks ago with the dealer and gave them the depost then. Each week I've asked if the dealer has placed the order and each week they tell me no. As of Friday, according to them, they had no pricing for 06s and said they could not place an order yet and didn't know when they would be able to. After seeing everybody is getting on the boards with dealers who have placed their orders for 06s, what i'm worried about is that the deposit translated to me being a buyer in the bag making me a last priority to give a rats #$% about. Should I be worried or am in a panic for nothing? What should be my next step with the dealer? I know it was stupid to place the non-refundable but I can't change that now and I don't want to make another dumb mistake dealing with them. They seem very nice but I have a really bad feeling when getting conflicting info from them and what other dealers are doing for customers on this board.

Route 66

Just talk to the owner of the dealership. He'll clear it up for you.

ponyboy66

You have plenty of time.
Be patient. Talk to the SM and the owner if need be.
Approach them proffesionally but directly.
Tell them exactly what you expect.
You will get your '06.

leesi

Everything will be fine...just talk to the dealer. By the way, what did you order?

ISELLFORD

Ford has not yet begun pulling '06 orders for scheduling so there is no panic. The things that bother me are the non-refundable deposit and the dealer telling you that there are no prices avaialble. Prices have been avaialble for a couple weeks now. If I were you I would politely ask the sales manager for a copy of the vehilcle order confirmation and dealer order receipt acknowledgement. If they refuse or tell you that they do not have one, ask for your deposit back since they have not fullfilled their end of the contract by ordering your car. This should at least get them off their butt and order your car and provide you with the documentation.

Berserker

Thanks everybody for Help! I'll go in tomorrow and talk to them. I'll post what I ordered as soon as I know it's actually going to happen. Don't want to jinx it

PolkThug

Berserker

Ok, here’s how it went today. NOT GOOD :-( I’m REALLY sorry for the long story; I just want to make sure it’s told accurately while it’s all fresh. I went into the dealer this morning and asked 1. if my order could be placed yet, specifying could I receive a dora yet and 2. is 06 pricing available; could my vehicle be priced yet? Once a week I went in to ask the same things and every single time I asked, I was told no. On the 18th after receiving conflicting info between what they were telling me and what customers were reporting I went in to express my concern about not being able to get a dora, priority number, and 06 pricing. I couldn’t actually get someone to post an 06 dora so it stayed I’m concerned and they’re saying on the net they can. The manager who was there on that day said that they had 06 allocations and could not yet order my order which I just didn’t get at all. I went in each week to ask about a dora which was 4 times total. As of this morning my priority with the dealer as stated by the dealer all 4 times I asked was still that the original vehicle request sheet we filled out 5/24/05 was first in the pile. I let the salesperson know this morning that I have indeed read more information on the internet about customers receiving a dora and 06 pricing. I then told the salesperson that I was going to go to other dealers to research this and said that if they gave me different information that I would want my deposit back. I highlighted the point with the salesperson that my main concern was that I was being put on the back burner because I was a sale in the bag with a non-refundable deposit. She said she totally understood and I said I would get back to her with what I found out. So I started calling other dealers to find out what would happen if I place an order with them. Both major dealers in the area I called knew what I was asking for and after checking with their manager told me they could price me for an 06 and give me a dora and priority number that day. An hour later I had a Dora and priority #10 with a locked in price for an 06. I went down to my original dealer and said, here they are I want my deposit back. OF COURSE it then turned into a; “we didn’t understand what you wanted until now.� Please… The manager also stuck to his story that “no dealer has 06 pricing� He also said there was no way I was locked in with the other dealer. I called the dealer who gave me a dora and priority 10 and asked them to be very specific. Am I locked in for the price we agree on. He said that the price can change a little but they would not haggle with me over what that amount would be and had no problem locking me in for 06 pricing. I asked that he be very specific in telling me if this was 05 pricing or if they were actually going on 06 pricing info from Ford. He was absolutely sure that it was 06 pricing from Ford. Which matched the post made by ISELLFORD on June 3rd where he says, I showed him this info and he stuck to saying it was wrong info. I then said, well since you haven’t placed my order, I want my deposit back. Now this is 4 weeks I’ve asked about them placing the order including this morning and get this, he then says “of course the order is placed, it doesn’t make any difference to me, I’ll sell the car one way or another� I was shocked at him saying this because to me it sort of confirmed that they did have allocations. So it went from 4 weeks of no we can’t place your order or give you a dora to “we’ve placed the order.� So I’m out a thousand + bucks unless the judge decides for me. But I’m so happy with this new dealer. When I asked for a dora and priority number, his manager got on the phone with me and was shocked that I knew what a priority number was. I said I’d done some research and he went on to tell me how everything works with all the technicals for about 10 minutes and even said I hope I’m not boring you. I said no no no please continue.

I felt that the dealer had the chance to straigten things up this morning but they let me go with the info that I would go and be told the same thing by other dealers too. I kept things polite this morning but it got a little heated asking for the deposit back.

Ugly Ernie

Please keep us posted & good luck!

Berserker

I also forgot. I had the chance with the dealer this morning right before addessing my concerns to buy an 05 exactly what I wanted from the dealer. It was an order that a buyer backed out on. I said great, i'll buy it! They said great, that'll be 5000.00 over invoice. yup, 5000.00 over invoice. I was shocked because part of the sales managers pitch to me was that they were not marking up the mustangs like other dealers. Well I said no way to that became very concerned at that point about our deal for not higher than msrp on my order. I asked that we put that in writing and the manager verbally confirmed it with me but no attempt was made to give it to me in black and white. The salesperson took that answer from the manager and nodded to me as she wrote something about the car deal being for msrp on their copy of the initial order sheet with them. But I left with nothing written about a deal for msrp. After the salesperson added the note to their copy, we then sat down and I covered my concerns listed in the above post.

Berserker

I will, thanks!!!

Berserker

Well since I coudn't jinx the order with this dealer any worse I ordered a black gt interior upgrade/red leather, shaker 500, side airbags, active alarm

Imatk

Man I hate to hear stories like this. It's specifically becuase of this site that I got the great deal on my '06 that I got. I just wish you had come here before you put that deposit down

I had no idea about what a DORA was or VOC or anything else for that matter until Ed and others informed me.

I just want to say thanks to Ed and Brad and everyone here for all the great info.

And if I were you Berserker I would have an attorney write them a letter. I was in a very similar situation with a company I did some work for. Bottom line they owed me money and just didn't want to pay. A friend of mine is a lawyer and he drafted an awesome letter for me and guess what... those bastards paid the day they recieved that letter

Either way you can go to small-claims court, but if you can avoid the hassle, I guess if it was me I would want to, then by all means. But you'll get your deposit back I'm sure. It's not legal here in California to do that, but I'm not sure about other states.

Good luck man.

Berserker

Thanks for the advice. I wish I would have researched here first too. I just feel sick to death and all I wanted was to be a part of the process, be included in the "circle of trust" with my car order. Hopefully the experience with this new dealer will be much better.

Ballz

I love them Fockers!

As in Meet The Fockers.

Berserker

I loved that show too.

Berserker

Ok, I went to my new dealer and placed a new deposit down and everything went great. I was filled in on everything and everyone was so pleasant and fun to talk to. Very positive experience. On a side note, they had two GTs in the showroom. one white and one yellow.

Flyinlow

So did you get your deposit back from the original dealer? Did they give you a receipt for the deposit? Does the receipt say "non-refundable" on it? Do they have a document, signed by you, that says the car that is ordered is ordered for you?

If the receipt does not say non-refundable, they have to refund your money if there is not document showing that the car that is ordered is for you the customer. I would ask them to produce that document. In the United States, you cannot keep money for a product that the consumer did not buy, unless there is a specific contract (ie, its in writing) that the deposit is non-refundable.

Run that by any lawyer and I'm sure they will agree. Even if its in writing, for a small fee, an attorney would be able to get you the money back because its easy to prove they were lying based on other Ford dealers. All they would have to do is write the dealership a letter, and the dealer will back off.

ISELLFORD

A nice short letter to both the Better Business Bureau, and your local State's Attorney's office should be all you need to get your deposit back. Don't pay the $$ to hire an attorney unless you have to.

RedRaider

I had this same problem, only mine was a little smaller. I put a $100 deposit down, and cancelled the order w/ them cause they were jerks. I placed it on a credit card, and I called them and said they would refund it, but to this day that charge is still on my card. Any advice? Should I dispute it?