On Mar 2, 2011, I emailed Victoria Hyundai about a Ford Freestyle they had listed in the online Auto Trader. I emailed them through the link on their ad. The ad did not contain a price. I asked for the price of the car. I subsequently received a return email from one of the sales staff advising that the price was $16995. Later in the day I phoned and asked for the salesman. I was told he'd gone home for the day but the person I was speaking with, who identified himself as Mo, the sales manager, could help me. I asked some questions about the vehicle. I gave him the make, colour and most importantly, their stock number. Mo went away and came back with the information I had requested. I explained that I needed the car very quickly. As I lived in another city I explained that I would have to come to the Island on Saturday or Sunday to close the deal. We discussed price and essentially he asked me to make an offer. I offered $16000.He said he'd call me back after he checked with his boss. A short while later he called back and said that the price was agreeable. We talked more and I gave him my Visa number for the deposit of $1000. There was more talk about getting picked up at the ferry, and insurance for the car. I subsequently phoned back to check on the colour of the vehicle. In the ad it showed as black, but in the written portion it identified it as something else. He said that he would go and check. A few minutes later he called back to say that the vehicle was dark gray which was still acceptable to me. The next day I received a phone call from him asking whether I had been interested in a Freestar or a Freestyle. He advised that he'd got the cars confused and that he would have to go back to his boss. A short while later he phoned back to ask who had given me the original price of $16995. When I gave him the salesman's name he went on to say that that vehicle was fully loaded and the best he could do was $17500.When I told him that I thought this was a bait and switch deal and that I wanted no part of it, he advised that he would credit back my deposit. While I am not out monetarily I feel that I have been the victim of a bait and switch scheme or something similar. I had deliberately made a point of giving Mo all of the information to positively identify the vehicle. To say that he got confused is something that I would have to seriously question. I feel that Victoria Hyundai is being very deceptive in their business practices. Mo was not the slightest bit remorseful about any "error" he'd made and to me, it appeared that this was just a way of doing business. They are not someone I would want to do business with.
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