Dealer Practices

I am still stunned at the horrific business practices of this dealer. After finding and inquiring about a new Buick Enclave on the internet I was contacted by a salesperson (Jason) at Lou Fusz in St. Louis, MO I was informed that my final price would be approx. $2K more than the advertised price of $49,430. $1000 for not trading in a vehicle, $698 protection package they say they charge to all new vehicles, and $199 admin fee. OK. The $1K is legit because I am not trading in a vehicle, the protection package is pork to boost profit as well as the admin fee. Still the car was a good deal so I agree to purchase it and pay a $1,000 deposit Saturday Feb. 10 via telephone and also tell them I want to use my GM card earnings from my GM credit card. Salesperson said paperwork would be to me early the next week and I told him I would pick up the car the following Saturday 2-17. After not receiving any paperwork via FedEx as promised, I inquired to Jason and he said that he had talked with his manager and been told that it would be fine to wait until Saturday when I came in (which is a 300 mile drive) to complete the paperwork. I questioned this and told him that I wanted to spend as little time as possible at the dealership since I was going to have a bit over 8 hours of road time that day to travel that far. He assured me all would go fine and they would have everything ready when I arrived and he sent me a picture of the vehicle with a sold to (my name) placard in the window. He even called me later in the week to ask what time I would be in. I told him shortly after noon on Saturday. Saturday morning after me, my wife and our young son got on the road (in a light snow) I get a nice text from Jason telling me to be safe because it was snowing there also and to let me know that he was having trouble getting the all weather floor mats I had requested and he had said would not be a problem and he may have to mail them to us. Shortly after 12pm after driving for just over 4 hours and being within a few miles of the dealership I receive a call from Jason saying that I would not be able to use my GM card earnings (approx. $1,500) on the purchase of this vehicle. Totally shocked and disappointed I ask why and state that I have bought 3 other GM cars in the past and used earnings from my GM card. Also, why wasn’t this conveyed to me a week ago or at least earlier in the week. He says that since this was a special GM incentivized and discounted car that they would not let me use the earnings rebate from my card. Of course, this is totally unacceptable after being told that they could be used and our deal was done. Jason was very nice and was apologizing and taking the blame for not finding this out sooner and letting us drive 300 miles, one way for nothing. So he says he will talk to his manager and see what can be done. I get a call shortly after saying they cannot do anything about it since it is GM not taking it. I immediately make the point that I should have been informed of this last week and ask for him to refund my $1,000 deposit and that I am turning around. Funny thing here is that I already had received an E-mail from GM thanking me and stating that $1581.62 had been redeemed from my GM card earnings by Lou Fusz Buick. After returning home over four more hours later I called Jason again questioning why GM had redeemed my earnings to Lou Fusz Buick for a Buick Enclave but he told me they would not. He states that this will be refunded back to my earning for my card and something about this was taken before entering the VIN which was linked to this special deal….. By this time we were definitely thinking something very shady is going on so I ask him to ask his manager to call me. Larry Buschhron, the manager calls me shortly thereafter, again a very nice guy and apologetic but still has the same story as the salesperson. He did offer to pay for my travel expenses because he agrees that this should have been resolved prior to me driving there. This is a nice gesture but to me once a deal is made it should be honored. Lou Fusz had a week to get all of this paperwork done and could have let me know days sooner and then let me make the decision if I still wanted to proceed with the deal. But dropping this on me when I am minutes away from the dealership is not acceptable business practice, not acceptable customer service and not acceptable follow up once a deal is made. Now it is back to the drawing board on finding a new car for my family. Now it is back to the drawing board on finding a new SUV for my family. BTW, I would probably still have bought the vehicle if they would have offered to split the difference of the 1581.62 even though in reality they should have eaten the entire amount. Should I be this surprised and upset?