| rev:text
| - I have the documents with names, dates, times, and even signatures along with email records that all this happened.
After a test drive of a different trim level then the car I had requested to see, the pricing rep at Arrowhead Honda in charge of their Costo buyers program, Tony Toaca, becomes almost giddy. The 2016 Civic EX w/sensing, that I was hoping to see isn't on their lot in the color I want. Up to this point now one has shown me anything with Costco prices (which I was pretty sure how the encounter was supposed to begin).He tells me, because he doesn't have the exact color I want, that he would need to get it from somewhere else, which means he "can't show you the regular Costco pricing sheet". He says he needs a few minutes, because he has to come up with a "new Costco price". He must not be good at poker because he seemed almost giddy at this point. I could see the wheels turning in his head. I knew the fix was in. He'd found some loophole that meant he could ignore the Costco "low, prearranged" pricing and was going to make up a great price... for him, not me. Please realize I wasn't planning on buying that week and had been upfront about my mid/end of the month time frame. I didn't ask them to order anything from somewhere else. I wasn't in any type of urgency or under the delusion that I would be missing on the last vehicle Honda would ever make. All I ever wanted was to see if I liked the infotainment center on the EX and to view the Costco prices on a few of the different trim levels. Tony came back with a freshly made document with Costco's name on it and a price of $399 off of MSRP. The highest price in town! No one was really listening to me though, they were charging ahead with this great sale of theirs. I hadn't even decided if I wanted those features. I didn't really like the infotainment system and was considering the LX with or without Honda Sensing. Tony's fabricated non-prearranged, non-Costco typical price range, was $22,775. So my amazingly low, Costco wholesale price was going to have me pay over $1,149 over the listed Truecar sales price (at 3 nearby dealers) and even more than that down the road at the Honda dealership with the lower advertised online prices??? I was expecting Arrowhead Honda to abide by the guaranteed "low, prearranged pricing and an exceptional buying experience". Costco never even saw this price, and they most certainly wouldn't have approved it for their members.
When Tony, and the other closer they brought in, finally swaggered out of the room, they left me and my salesmen alone to contemplate what just happened. We both shared a mutual look of bewilderment that we had been suppressing over what the heck just happened. I mouthed the words "What the [blank]" and he looked at me and shook his head and said somewhat softly, "I know"...."I know". When I finally left (without buying) my salesmen asked me to just give him some time and he'd sort this out. No thanks! I felt completely disrespected. The whole little song and dance they did was so obvious. I had been a successful commission sales person for over 10 years before starting nursing school. I'm familiar with unscrupulous sales tactics/behaviors when I see them. I was the type of salesperson who cared about what my customer needed and lead with transparency. With my past knowledge of commission sales, I feel I have a better than average perception of what a honest deal should have looked, sounded, and felt like. This was not it. Oh, and then there was the clue about the extra $1-?k they were trying to charge me above the sale prices elsewhere. Btw, Costco members aren't required to pay for dealer addons. The dealer can take them off if they want or leave them on. I imagine my treatment was typical of this place. I filed a complaint with the BBB, and the dealership petitioned to have it removed, stating I don't exist, and this never happened. So I am providing the BBB with copies of the photos, business cards, text messages, and emails. Costco has told me they are launching an investigation.
Sam I. is my online name.
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