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This past summer I bought a new Saab 9-3 using their IDS (European Delivery) program. I had purchased a Saab convertible through the same program and same dealer (Blue Grass Motor Sports, Louisville Kentucky) in 1996, and at that time the total experience was very satisfying. So I decided to do it again.
At the time I placed the order (August) the prices for the 2001 models had not yet been set. So Saab US added $750 to the 2000 price with the stipulation that, if the actual price increase were less than $750, I would be refunded the difference. I agreed and paid the additional sum.
When I returned from Europe in November, I learned that the price increase had been less than $750 and called Saab US to request a refund. I was told that they had sold the car to the dealer at a predetermined price and that any refund would have to come from the dealer.
I contacted Blue Grass and asked about a refund. They agreed it was due me and that it would be mailed to me. This was early November.
In December I was advised by Saab that my car had arrived in the US and had been shipped to the dealer. I called the dealer to let them know and also reminded them that I had still not received the refund due me. I was told that it would be processed immediately.
Three weeks passed and I had received neither a call from the dealer telling me that the car had arrived, nor a refund check. I called Saab USA again and was told that the car had arrived at the dealer some time ago. They called the dealer who then found my car sitting among all the other new 2001 Saabs, but without a window sticker and with 5000 miles on the odometer. They never apologized, but merely explained that someone had taken off the Swedish license plates and they didn't recognize that it wasn't a new car (no window sticker, no plastic seat coverings, etc, that come with the new cars.)
By February I still has not received a refund. So I called again. And again. And again. At first the sales rep said he didn't know what the problem was and he would check. He never called back. This happened several times, and then he suggested I call the sales manager directly. I did this several times also. He was never available to take my calls, nor did he return them as requested.
By mid March my patience had worn thin and I wrote to the sales manager complaining about the treatment I had received and advising that if the refund weren't issued, I would take legal action.
No response. So I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. My check arrived in the mail the day after the Bureau contacted them.
So much for customer relations. I sold both the Saabs and now have a vey nice Volvo S60 T5 with which I am very pleased.
In this process I discovered a few things about IDS. The European delivery price is supposedly fixed by the factory and the dealer merely acts as a conduit for paperwork. Yet when I called Saab USA to ask about the refund due me, I was told that they had "sold" the car to the dealer. But all the paperwork says that Saab has sold the car directly to me. Apparently what happens is that the dealer collects the "fixed" price from the customer but is not required to remit the entire amount to Saab. I gather that what they are allowed to keep varies somewhat according to the dealer's standing with the company. I do know that the factory invoice price listed on the form used to set import duty was almost $2000 less than I paid for the car. (This was duty levied at the new car-not used car- rate.) Despite what they say, there is pretty strong evidence that the dealers do make money on these transactions--at least some of them do.
, Sun, 15 Apr 2001 21:41:24
, Sun, 15 Apr 2001 11:48:07
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