I emailed everyone who ordered, and after a respectable amount of time, if a deposit didn't appear, I called. Lots of clients who already knew me or were local even dropped their deposits by to me before ordering day. Gosh that seems a million years ago! I was taking care of this admin housekeeping a few days ago and saw checks written before Nov 17th!
My dealership didn't require a deposit from me prior to confirming the order. I even called them up a month or so later and asked how they wanted me to handle putting down a deposit and they said it wasn't necessary.
I just wanted to post the email I got from the dealership last night here (deleting actual user names) that supposedly lead him to want to cancel my pre-order. I was replying to the invoice that I received from Autonation Toyota at Hayward
Hopefully Erica and her team can intervene on this right away. And worst case, they might be able to pull some magic again and get you another car through a reputable dealer as soon as possible... And I sure hope Toyota of America takes shaddy dealers to task after the fact on these things. Bad dealers ruin their brand image.
Yes, my quote was 1000 off of MSRP. I did receive a call from Autowest to leave a deposit; which I did. Last week when I spoke with them was told it was on the Texas Highway; at that time they were unable to provide a VIN. I'll make sure to verify my contract price before heading to the dealership. And will provide updates.
When you ordered online at the website, and completed all the steps, including getting a price from the dealer and signing your order online, order confirmation sheet lists terms and conditions at the bottom. #3 states, " You will be required to place a $500 deposit with your Selected Dealer in connection with the order of your Prius Plug-in. This deposit is refundable at any time prior to the completion of your purchase. Contact your Selected Dealer for additional details." At that time, your dealer had to confirm with Toyota that he was taking your order and had agreed on a price. I don't see how he can get away with changing it now. I'm sure Erica and her team can get this straigtened out for you. Hang in there!
I have yet to see ANYTHING that Erica hasn't handled, settled, or fixed swiftly. She is amazing, so just have a little faith. And, patience!
That would be our Southern California Expert, right?!?! Thank God Dianne chose to relocate to the far southwest corner! And that we all have PriusChat, too!
I would speculate that the letter came from someone who is not a native english speaker. This is exactly the sort of thing that makes people distrust car dealers; not a good way to create customer satisfaction, nor is it a good idea to get the attention of Toyota Corporate.
Hi all, I have some good news and I would like to update the thread with the latest info. First of all, I would like say a BIG THANK YOU to the Toyota Folks here (Erica, Nataly and others) as well as the Toyota Customer Care team for their role in moving this towards a resolution. I also would like to thank all the folks in this forum for the immense support that you guys have provided - I do not want to name folks by name for fear of leaving someone out - but you all need to know that I really appreciate the advice/ support that you have provided. This evening a person (holding back names) called from the dealership and talked to my wife. I was out and did not get to talk to them. She summarised most of the stuff that they talked about. First of all, they apologized for all that transpired and specially for the email that was sent to me threatening to cancel my order. They said that they were quite shocked to see the email and that such an email should never have gone out. My wife chided them that they should be training their employees on how customers should be treated and it was quite tormentous for us to see that email after tracking the progress of the car week after week for the last 5 months. He said that we could get our car at the 'pre-order' price and that they are 'waiving' the TDA. He still claims that this was an unexpected charge from Toyota. (My note : I do not need them to do me any special favors by 'waiving' fees. I am only asking them to honor the price that THEY OFFERED). As mentioned previously by Dianne, I still do not beleive that this is an unexpected charge as every vehicle invoice has this charge according to her. Another poster mentioned the dealer waiting to get an invoice from Toyota before making the offer at the pre-order time. They have been reading the PriusChat forum and sounded concerned about their reputation. They had a meeting with the Toyota folks (I am presuming Erica &co and the Toyota Care people). Initially he said that we could go and pick up the car as early as tomorrow if I wanted. But he later called back as said that the car would likely only be ready by weekend - it could happen earlier. My wife got the VIN# of the car from him. So once again - thank you folks and I will update you guys further till the point that I am in posession of the car.
Woo hoo.. Another happy ending Kinda makes me wonder what happens on that meeting/phone call with corporate. I would pay $0.99 to download that on iTunes
Good job Vine! :cheer2: May be Dianne should open a branch in Northern Calif!! I will definitely love to be your first customer. AutoWest Hayward Toyota.....Sigh.....:deadhorse:
Really glad it worked out as it should have. I feel bummed for you that it will be hard to have a good purchase experience, but at the end of the day, this dealer will not be your life-long friend. (Bet they won't ask you to give them a "5-star rating" with Toyota! LOL) You'll see them that one day only, and then get to enjoy the PiP for many years to come. And I guarantee you will enjoy it; easily one of the most fun driving experiences I've had in a long time. Playing with the EV/HV/ECO options to optimize your gas usage actually makes commuting entertaining! So look forward to having fun with that! And of course, while most of us have not needed any support from Erica and team, it's GREAT to have them onboard and able to help those who do. THANKS!!
I'm with Tracksyde ... to be a fly on the wall of that telcon! Thanks Prius Team for cleaning up the messes of others!
Glad to see your case come to a closure and the higher ups at the dealer decided to act after being contacted by Toyota.
