Smarties stop abusive dealer doc fees - HELP

vanslam · 02-06-2008, 08:20 PM

This was brought to light on another thread. Dealer fees..

We are hoping that all the Smarties and their friends and families that visit this thread will forward the below email to PAG and Smart USA or anyone else you can think of that will make a difference. We are hoping to make someone do something about this unfair business practice. Let's make a difference.

Remember, even the greatest water fall starts with a single drop of water.

Send to :

smart USA Distributor, LLC
1765 Telegraph Road
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Attn: Roger S. Penske -CEO

not to be confused with Roger S. Penske, Jr - President

Ken Kettenbeil
kkettenbeil@smartusa.com
248.648.2582

Penske Automotive Group, Inc.
2555 Telegraph Road
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302-0954

Tel: (248) 648-2500
Fax: (248) 648-2525

info@penskeautomotive.com

***********************************

Mr. Penske - Please help us!!

My name is (YOUR NAME) and I am a current smart car reservationist and belong to www.SmartCarofAmerica.com which is a US fan based smart club.

As you are aware, our Smart Cars are delivered to the assigned dealer based on the buyers zip code. If a buyer was to purchase from a dealer outside his/her zip code that dealer would be realize a financial penalty from Smart USA. One of our main complaints is that some dealers are charging excessive documents fees. We do not have the option to support a dealer who is not charging an excessive fee based on Smarts delivery procedures. In order to avoid the excessive fee charged by my local dealer, I would prefer to have to have my car delivered to a another dealer in the same or neighboring state.

Our club has been tracking, by state, the For Profit "Doc and/or Prep fees" that each dealership is charging. As you can see from the list below some dealers are charging what our group believes are excessive fees.

Orlando Fla- 799.00 PLUS 30.50 misc fees
Palm Beach Fla- 595.00
Louisville KY- 499.25
Ft. Lauderdale Fl (Westin)-499.00
Sarasota, Fl- 489.50
Orange Park Fl- 479.00
Chandler Az.-400.00
Merriam, Ks- 399.00
Va Beach, Va- 399.00
Charlotte, NC - 399.00
Winston Salem, NC -389.00
Carey, NC - 398.00
Knoxville, TN -395.00
Alexandria, Va-349.00
Atlanta, Ga- 299.00
Hartford Ct- 299.00
Omaha, NE -279.00
La Vista NE-259.00
Bedford Oh- 250.00
Columbus Ohio- 250.00
Edison NJ-249.00
Bloomfield Michigan - $180
Both Chicago dealerships-150.00
Indianapolis-150.00 (raised from first delivery which was 95.00)
Milwaukee, WI - 125.00
Germantown, Md.-99.00
Cherry Hill NJ- 95.00
Tulsa, Ok - 89.00
Pittsburgh, Pa-55.00 (plus 29.00 misc dealer fees) TOTAL of 84.00
9-10 Ca dealerships-55.00
NYC NY -50.00
Portland, OR-50.00
Seattle Wa.- 50.00
Tukwila Wa. -50.00
Roundrock Tx- 50.00
Dallas, TX- 50.00

In New Jersey if you are required to buy from Smart in Edison you must pay a $295 document fee, but at Smart of Cherry Hill there is only a $55.00 document fee. However, Florida has the highest Doc Fees in the nation at $799. Furthermore, to add insult to injury the Orlando center is now forcing each buyer to purchase Window Tinting for $395 and they are tacking on an additional $30.50 for miscellaneous fees which are unexplained.

To validate this instance, I have also copied the post of SmarTIKI who is one of our members on SCOA detailing his dealer fee experience.

I request that you assist us in STOPPING these unfair business practices of these dealers in the US. Those dealership utilizing this practice are jeopardizing the smart Center relationship by taking advantage of Smart car buyers, that I believe you have meticulously invested your time and money to establish.

Again, please help restore my faith in your guidelines that require the smart Dealerships to act fairly and in good conscience when dealing with customers. Dealers such as the Orlando should not be allowed to conduct business in this fashion. They, like all of your other smart dealerships, need to act in good faith while representing you and smartUSA.

Thank you kindly and I look forward to your response.

Best Regards

************************************************** ******************************
Copy of the post is as follows:

www.smartcarofamerica.com
Select - Forums
Posted under: Smart Car General Discussions
February 2, 2008 - 6:15pm EST
Member: SmarTIKI
Thread Title: Orlando is Forcing Window Tinting for Extra Profit!

"In a PM from kwagar, who has already picked up his car, I was informed that the Orlando smart dealer is adding window tinting to all of the smarts to the tune of $395.00 in extra profit! How can they do this without our consent?! These are not dealer-ordered cars being purchased off of the lot. These cars were ordered directly by us, with exactly the type of options that we wanted, and are being delivered to dealers based on our zip codes. We have no choice in where our cars are being delivered...but we should have a choice as to whether or not dealer accessories, alterations, etc., are being added!"

$795.00 for "doc fee" ...
$395.00 for window tinting ...
$30.50 for something called "miscellaneous fees" ...

That's $1,220.50 in bogus charges! Lucky me for having to pick up my car in Orlando!

************************************************** ******************************
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Smart USA Letter
************************************************** **********************************************
************************************************** **********************************************

Please help us!!

My name is (YOUR NAME) and I am a current smart car reservationist and belong to www.SmartCarofAmerica.com which is a US fan based smart club. As you are aware, our Smart Cars are delivered to the assigned dealer based on the buyers zip code. If a buyer was to purchase from a dealer outside his/her zip code that dealer would be realize a financial penalty from Smart USA. One of our main complaints is that some dealers are charging excessive documents fees. We do not have the option to support a dealer who is not charging an excessive fee based on Smarts delivery procedures. In order to avoid the excessive fee charged by my local dealer, I would prefer to have to have my car delivered to a another dealer in the same or neighboring state.

Florida has the highest Doc Fees in the nation at $799. Furthermore, to add insult to injury the Orlando center is now forcing each buyer to purchase Window Tinting for $395 and they are tacking on an additional $30.50 for miscellaneous fees which are unexplained. I request that you assist us in STOPPING these unfair business practices of these dealers in the US.
Thank you kindly and I look forward to your response.

Best Regards

************************************************** *******************************************
************************************************** ************************************************** '

PAG code of conduct http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....rol-govConduct

Our Customers, Manufacturers, Suppliers and Lenders
The Company is committed to dealing fairly and honestly with its customers, manufacturers, suppliers, competitors, lenders and employees.

We offer reasonable, competitive new and pre-owned vehicle pricing; comprehensive care and protection plans; ancillary products relating to the sale, purchase, service and maintenance of new and pre-owned vehicles; and courteous forthright service. Our goal is to satisfy our customers’ expectations 100% of the time. Employees, officers and directors should gain the respect and loyalty of our customers with honesty, fairness and friendly, courteous, forthright service. We should be honest, dependable and ethical in what they say and do. Each of us must deal with our customers, lenders, manufacturers and other suppliers with integrity.

To that end, no employee, officer or director may engage in any illegal, dishonest or unethical conduct. Compliance with our policy prohibits you from making any form of misrepresentation to a lender, customer or anyone else. Forgery, false or misleading statements of any kind, failure to make full and complete disclosure of the components of a transaction, including components of qualified payment, and unfair or inequitable treatment of anyone is strictly prohibited.

Connelly · 02-06-2008, 08:51 PM

Check out Another call from Dave Shembri.

Looks like kwager got a call from Dave Shembri.

vanslam · 02-06-2008, 11:01 PM

Yeah just saw it here is what he said. Thanks kwager

He said:

"Another call from Dave Shembri
So, I am in the Charlotte airport tonite on a business trip and at 8:00 PM my cell phone rings. It was Dave Shembri calling as a follow-up to his call to me in Devember to see if I had recieved my smart and to find out how I liked it!

I related to him that I loved the car but was very dissatisfied with the Orlando Dealer based on Prep fees, automatic window tinting and a rediculously high priced extended warranty that was twice the price of the smart extended warrenty.

He expressed what I took to be sincere discomfort with those issues and assured me he would be discussing those issues with the dealer. He was aware of the prep fees and had heard about the window tinting while he was not aware that they were not offerring the smart extended warranty.

He felt it was wrong to tint the windows without the authorization of the buyer.

He could not commit that things would change but did indicate that smart has some leverage and will use it to try to resolve the issues going forward.

He indicated that they were going to be adding a drop down menu on the configuration pages to allow reservationists to choose an alternate dealer for delivery if they so choose.

While this will not help those who have already configured it may resolve the problem for those yet to configure.

I can't say that things will change at the Orlando dealer but he did seem to be sincere in his comments that he would be doing what he could to get them to change their policies and procedures."

We'll see what happens over the coming weeks and months!

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/for...ead.php?t=3430

vanslam · 02-07-2008, 03:27 PM

Here is PAG code of conduct. Is this one of those, do as I say not as I do things?

PAG code of conduct http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....rol-govConduct

Our Customers, Manufacturers, Suppliers and Lenders
The Company is committed to dealing fairly and honestly with its customers, manufacturers, suppliers, competitors, lenders and employees.

We offer reasonable, competitive new and pre-owned vehicle pricing; comprehensive care and protection plans; ancillary products relating to the sale, purchase, service and maintenance of new and pre-owned vehicles; and courteous forthright service. Our goal is to satisfy our customersâ€™ expectations 100% of the time. Employees, officers and directors should gain the respect and loyalty of our customers with honesty, fairness and friendly, courteous, forthright service. We should be honest, dependable and ethical in what they say and do. Each of us must deal with our customers, lenders, manufacturers and other suppliers with integrity.
To that end, no employee, officer or director may engage in any illegal, dishonest or unethical conduct. Compliance with our policy prohibits you from making any form of misrepresentation to a lender, customer or anyone else. Forgery, false or misleading statements of any kind, failure to make full and complete disclosure of the components of a transaction, including components of qualified payment, and unfair or inequitable treatment of anyone is strictly prohibited.

vanslam · 02-08-2008, 08:20 PM

Good news - Here the latest news.

Orlando makes changes
I recieved a call this afternoon from Julie at the Orlando smart center to inform me that they have reduced their prep fees from $799 down to $499 and they will be sending me a check for the $300 difference. She also informed me that they will be picking up the smart 1 extended warrenty program to replace the one offerred to me which was twice as expensive. They are also no longer tinting windows unless requested by the reservationist.

I called Dave Schembri and thanked him for his support and action in speaking with the dealership.

My feeling now is that Orlando has made the necessary changes and are now at least competitive with most of the other Florida dealers. While I believe they made these changes under duress I am pleased that they have made them and pleased that the power of the people continues to work.

Thanks to all of you for your support as well as that of smart USA to correct this situation.

We could argue ad nauseum that this should never have happenned and that the Florida dealers continue to be too high in their fees but IMO the deal is over, they have made the changes needed and I can now move on too more important issues.

Thanks again to all of you for your support and thanks to Dave Schembri who acted on the information and dissatisfaction that I shared with him!

Yess.............

rrrucke · 02-10-2008, 02:53 AM

VANSLAM - EXCELLENT NEWS INDEED!!!

Thanks to our car club, we had the power to affect positive change and restore a lot of goodwill that was being lost between PAG, smart, MB and us. Well done Dave for pushing down and thanks Orlando for going far beyond what I even expected in the form of retribution (giving a refund, paying for a year on the EW and eliminating the "forced upon" tint job). Although these changes were initiated after substantial pressure, I hope you have learned a lesson. Be smart and don't mess with the smart community. Although small, we are a powerful force to be reckoned with! Thanks everyone who took the time to complain in writing to smartUSA and PAG. Our voices mean a lot!!Regina

**jwight** · 02-10-2008, 10:11 AM

PAG had around 400 dealers originally applying to be a smart center. The 74 dealers that got the nod need to remember there area others waiting in the wings and PAG can yank their smart center approval and give it to another dealer any time. That's the best leverage PAG has to keep the centers in line, other that the ones owned by PAG. In that case, Penske should be able to dictate how they conduct business.