A Chevrolet dealership in Jacksonville, Florida has been forced to pay over $1.2 million in restitution after it failed to pay off the loans on customer trade-in vehicles, which negatively affected their credit.
The dealership, Riverside Chevrolet, didn’t pay off certain customer trade-in vehicles and was also found to have charged owners for warranties that they then refused to fulfill. Furthermore, ex-employees of the now-shuttered dealership accused its operators of fraud, failing to pay them and cheating them out of benefits.
The dealership was exposed after local news outlet WJXT was tipped off by customers and subsequently conducted a year-long, deep-dive investigation into the store. The station eventually turned its records over to the authorities and the Florida Attorney General’s Office opened a civil investigation.
According to WJXT, Riverside Chevrolet has agreed to pay a total of $1,215,219 in restitution to customers whose vehicle liens it failed to pay and it must also pay $235,000 in civil penalties and $15,000 in attorney’s fees. It’s not clear how many victims there were in total, but 17 of them were senior citizens, WJXT said. Others were military personnel whose dip in credit negatively affected their security clearances at work.
“This was an example of motor fraud at its worst,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said.
*Not Riverside Chevrolet pictured
General Motors froze Riverside Chevrolet’s assets shortly after its illegal activities came to light in May of last year. The dealership’s owner, Andrew Ferguson, then sold the store to Beaver Automotive Group in June of last year, which now operates it under the Beaver Chevrolet banner. Ferguson has also now been barred from owning or operating an automotive dealership in the state of Florida ever again.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM dealer news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Trying to deal with about 90% of dealerships has become unbearable. I’m not sure why this antiquated model of selling cars still exists.
Life is all about odds, doing business via email is the best oddds as it saves the customer a lot of time and while dealers can still lie or not honor what was said in an email, at least you have a papertrail…
I am originally from Long Island. Too many of those dealerships are owned by a relatively few groups/people. On the one hand the volume purchasing power can be advantageous and on the other it can be price/competition constricting. There were multiple dealers of the same brands to compete and rarely did the same corporate owner have more than one, but at times they did. Shop a new Mustang at Acme Ford against Zippo ford? Both the same owners.
Life is the way it is. You take your chances and hope for relative honesty. And maybe buying a used car can help avoid the dealership shuffle too.
Employees say the owners previous owners didn’t make payroll nor pay benefits also that the owners own a private jet, a riverfront condo, and a multi-million dollar home…
Previous owner referred to here is Riverside.
The original dealership located here was Jerry Hamm Chevrolet and was regarded as one of the most respectful and honest Chevrolet dealerships in the southeast with their Sales Management receiving many awards. I know this from a personal relationship of 20-plus years with the dealership its ownership and its management. Sales manager Mike Hamm where’s an award ring given to him for exceptional management and customer service.
I agree with Big Papa,
Todays GM dealership model is not good.
And GM relies on the dealerships for feedback, this is even worse.
If GM is relying on the dealership for customer feedback, and at the same time scoring the dealerships, it will simply no longer work.
Its just stalling the inevitable.
Working at GM dealership, the hardest part was seeing the owner get richer and richer. I bet a lot of dealerships owe a lot more to their employees while the owners buy as many sports cars and mansions as they want.
We had the same thing happen in Northern New York with the now defunct Dealmaker Auto Group.
They were not paying off the loans on trade-ins and other shady stuff.
I also agree that dealerships need to go away and the auto manufacturers should take control of the shopping experience. Too many hidden markups and bogus, slimy dealings have rotted the experience.
Don’t forget that the price of a new car on average has gotten way out of control for the average buying public… I make almost 100K a year, and yet I drive a 1994 Ford Explorer and a 1995 Saturn SL1 as my commuter. I support a full house (5 people) and the wife drives our newest vehicle, a paid off 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan. I shake my head at the way the auto manufactures have escalated prices over the past 15-20 years. A used 2016 GMC Sierra HD 2500 4 door with 47,000 miles is still going for over $43,000… That kind of money is a new 3 car garage addition on my house (that WON’T depreciate)…. I see people driving cars and trucks, knowing that they paid $61K for, and wonder if they will ever realize how much money they have thrown out the window. Doing quick math I see that it comes to a depreciation of approximately 38 cents PER MILE!!! That isn’t including gas, tires, oil, registration or insurance.
Just my two cents worth.. 🙂
The limited edition of the SS Monte Carlo is one of the cars that appreciates in value and it’s time for a new version and it’s a Chris cross of the past. My design is worth an ear or 2. Board room meeting with ms. Catherine ROE Gehring could make me your rolling wheels on your highways.
Why did this not become a criminal matter. Owner to jail matter. money walks.