When Price Protection is not Price Protection - Official GM Positon

[Richardlord]

This is the official GM position on its Price Protection Policy and Program from a GM Rep on another Corvette Forum with my response - More on this later.
Hi Richard,
Thank you for the email. After reviewing your case, I see that Faye did reach out to you yesterday regarding the price adjustment. The information that was provided by the dealer was the correct pricing, as it was not through the MSRP, but through invoice pricing. At this time we will not be refunding you the difference.
Marissa
Chevrolet Customer Care
Marissa:
I appreciate that I finally have an authoritative answer from GM as to my price protected 2014 Corvette. The answer you provided is that the GM Price Protection policy and program is only partial price protection. On the retail $3,200 price increase of my Z51, GM only price protects customers up to the dealer invoice of $2,768 for a shortage of $432.
As I understand your response, as well as others from GM, my dealer may charge me the higher price, and its only obligation to me is to reimburse me $2,768. My dealer may structure the point-of-sale transaction such that I do not suffer the loss of $432, but that is at the discretion of my dealer. My dealer, Winegardner Chevrolet, of Maryland took the position that if GM is going to screw someone on Price Protection, it shall be me the customer, and not it the dealer.
It amazes me that on my C7 that retailed for $80,000, where I also purchased the GM 7 year Extended Warranty and the extended Wheel & Tire Warranty, and where I financed my C7 through my dealer, that GM and my dealer would screw me over $432. Why would GM and my dealer be so shortsighted and stupid? That makes no sense.
I expected so much better from GM and my dealer. From GM, I expected it to live up to customer expectations that Price Protection meant full price protection, and if it meant something less, GM would provide full disclosure on its Price Protection policy and program. From my dealer, I expected it to put me the customer first, protect my interests, and have me drive away as a fully satisfied customer. There was no GM survey on GM, but there was on my dealer, and I gave it a well-deserved lowest possible rating.
Both GM and my dealer made an enormous amount of profit on my C7, and for both to go on the cheap and screw my on GM’s Price Protection policy and Program over a few hundred dollars does not reflect well on either party. My dealer should have charged me the original price at point-of-sale, but instead charged me the higher price, which also meant an additional increase of $200 in sales taxes. My dealer did reduce the price of my C7 by $100 and an additional amount that almost covered the increase in sales tax. Still, I was still out some $332 that it said it would partially make up to me in service, but it did not.
Had I ordered my C7 just prior to the price increase, I would consider myself fortunate for whatever I got, and I would not complain about the price increase shortage. However, I ordered my C7 in August of ’13 and there was the March ’14 price increase. Chevy had over six months before the price increase to deliver my C7, but it did not until two months later in May, and it was ten months total from order to delivery with the result of both GM and my dealer totally alienating me as a customer in screwing me on price protection, but that is why we have small claims court.
So, now, that Chevy or GMC truck I was going to buy from my dealer, and that Chevy hybrid or Volt my wife was going also going to buy from my dealer, we shall not buy them from my dealer, and what we buy shall not be GM products.
Good going GM and my dealer.
I remain,
Richard Lord

[Hulkamaniac]

Dodge makes a good truck and the Dart get 41 mpg's.

I hate to see you leave the GM family, but Dodge has some nice cars too.

Just don't buy a Ford.

[Richardlord]

Originally Posted by Z51Stingray

Dodge makes a good truck and the Dart get 41 mpg's.

I hate to see you leave the GM family, but Dodge has some nice cars too.

Just don't buy a Ford.

Good to hear from you again - It just amazes me that between GM and my dealer they appear to have half a brain - To leave me a dissed customer after the amount of this transaction is dumb - I have made all my mods - I shall post them on the Forum - I took your advice on the Aero plate for my front license and even got skull screws like you did with red eyes to match my C7 - I love the Lashway Carbon Fiber side skirts and front splitter - I am disappointed in the change-out to the Hurst shifter, and may go back with the OEM but with a black ball - What I don't like in the OEM shifter is the two rows of stitching that irritate the palm of your hand - While the Hurst has a shorter throw, it is not really any faster as the OEM shifter has an assist to it - I find it harder to find gears with the Hurst especially in downshifting - More on all this later - NO FORDS!!!

[Hulkamaniac]

It's been rough since I got home from vacation. See post #3 for a full explanation... http://www.corvette7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=368498

At least you have your car and have a little bit more wisdom to pass on to others.

I ordered the ZR2 Side Splitters from RPI. Chin Splitter and other mods will have to wait.

[Richardlord]

Originally Posted by Z51Stingray

It's been rough since I got home from vacation. See post #3 for a full explanation... http://www.corvette7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=368498

At least you have your car and have a little bit more wisdom to pass on to others.

I ordered the ZR2 Side Splitters from RPI. Chin Splitter and other mods will have to wait.

I also got hit with a nasty about the same as you - also had to get an antibiotic - took forever to go away and get over - get better and great on your C7 winner

[Hulkamaniac]

Glad you're on the mend too!

Tomorrow, our company is having their 4th annual car show.

I'll be entering Ursula and with a little luck, maybe bring home some hardware.

I wish my ZR2 Side Splitters were here. The waiting is just killing me.

[Richardlord]

Originally Posted by Z51Stingray

Glad you're on the mend too!

Tomorrow, our company is having their 4th annual car show.

I'll be entering Ursula and with a little luck, maybe bring home some hardware.

I wish my ZR2 Side Splitters were here. The waiting is just killing me.

I know - I waited for about six weeks for my Lashways, non carbon fibers - Lashway was really good to me for the wait and I got full carbon fibers - They are great, my carbon fibers, and Lashway

[Richardlord]

What to do? I am going to go after GM in Maryland small claims court and shall put in a claim plus interest. GM and perhaps my dealer shall have to explain who screwed me, let a judge decide on a culprit, and who pays.

Tilting at windmills? I. F. Stone said, “The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you’re going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins.” You have also probably read the quote, “The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing.” I played football in college, and I made up this quote, “When up against a superior opponent, make it pay a higher price in winning than you pay in losing.” I had players say to me after a game in which its team beat my outclassed team, “I don’t ever want to go up against you again!” GM, and my dealer, you are now my new superior opponents.

I have a lot of experience tilting at and making windmills pay a price. I once took a county to court pro se over a zoning issue that went all the way to the state supreme court. I lost in the end, but it did not cost me much, and the county spent tens of thousands of dollars defending its case including hiring specialist lawyers. Consequently, the county changed its zoning law. It cost the county far more in winning than I paid in losing.

I also took a person to small claims court in Maryland and won. This was an eBay scam where I lost thousands of dollars. Turned out a Russian entity stole an eBay account for point-of-sale, used a US citizen to launder the money through a US account, who sent the money back to a Russian account – so said a Maryland States Attorney. I found the money launderer (the States Attorney told me it could not have found this person and not to tell it how I did so – The States Attorney told me “I don’t want to know”), and it put out an arrest warrant against this person. In the end, this person paid me back as part of a plea agreement.

When this Russian thing was going on, I worked for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the Criminal Alien Division in Intel. While I had every US Criminal database at my disposal, I did not use any of them as it would have been improper for me to do so. I just used good old fashioned sleuthing on my own time, and grit and determination. I retired in January, and when I retired, we at ICE had deported 400,000 criminal aliens that year. At my retirement ceremony, ICE cited me as being instrumental in finding all these criminal aliens it deported, but I can’t tell you how I did it except to say ICE deployed millions of dollars of assets, Federal Officers, based on the database I created and my analysis showing where the bad guys were located. You don’t hear about the 400,000 criminal alien deportations on Fox News as that would credit Obama, and you don’t hear about this on MSNBC as to do so would offend a key demographic. This is just the men and women; officers, agents, and analysts of ICE, doing our jobs. Whatever you think of Federal employees, I am so glad I am retired, for I no longer have sleepless nights wondering if I did not do my job well enough, and what more I could do, such that a bad guy goes free, goes on the loose, and hurts someone - in your neighborhood.

So, GM, here I come. If you are a windmill, while you very may prevail, it shall not be without a price to your canvass. It shall cost me very little to file in small claims court and to serve GM, and as there are no lawyers, someone from GM is going to have to respond to the court at a cost. Always remember, make your superior opponent pay a higher price in winning than you pay in losing. And, I gave my dealer the lowest possible rating on the survey citing the failed GM Price Protection Policy and Program – let my dealer and GM fight that one out. Plus that pickup truck I am going to buy, and that hybrid or electric my wife is going to by, we shall not buy them from this dealer, and now not GM products. Such dealer and GM shortsightedness and/or incompetence over a few hundred dollars – stupid!

Maybe, just maybe, what I have done, am doing, and shall do, may affect the GM Price Protection policy and program so that others don’t get screwed as countless have. A pipedream? Probably. But someone once in this county had a pipedream against overwhelming odds that the 13 colonies should stand for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The fight against wrong and injustice has to start somewhere with someone, and if necessary, it first shall start with me, as it should with all Americans. That has been my life’s work in Federal law enforcement that shall not end in retirement, which along with my guns, can only be taken from my cold dead hands.

[laborsmith]

I. F. Stone! How about Emil Mazey and the Reuther brothers.

I admit I have not understood your complaint although it appears I am a minority but when anyone who refers to their self as a Lord invokes IF Stone, I can only ask: Have you no shame?

Correct me if I am wrong, and I know you will, my understanding is you ordered a car that was to be sold to a dealer than re-sold to you. After you ordered, the dealer cost was raised but because you ordered, the dealer cost was, in the long run, not changed and as a result the dealer was reimbursed the difference and then the dealer reimbursed you for the exact amount of their reimbursement. Accurate so far?

So, was GM supposed to reimburse the dealer for more than the dealer would have paid if there was no price increase? Or did the dealer NOT reimburse you for the specific amount they received from GM?

This inquiring mind wants to know.

Laborsmith

[Richardlord]

Originally Posted by laborsmith

I. F. Stone! How about Emil Mazey and the Reuther brothers.

I admit I have not understood your complaint although it appears I am a minority but when anyone who refers to their self as a Lord invokes IF Stone, I can only ask: Have you no shame?

Correct me if I am wrong, and I know you will, my understanding is you ordered a car that was to be sold to a dealer than re-sold to you. After you ordered, the dealer cost was raised but because you ordered, the dealer cost was, in the long run, not changed and as a result the dealer was reimbursed the difference and then the dealer reimbursed you for the exact amount of their reimbursement. Accurate so far?

So, was GM supposed to reimburse the dealer for more than the dealer would have paid if there was no price increase? Or did the dealer NOT reimburse you for the specific amount they received from GM?

This inquiring mind wants to know.

Laborsmith

I truly have enjoyed your responses. My last name is Lord and my mother's maiden name was Church, as in F.E. Church, and I am a member of the Dickenson Family Association, as in Emily, and I come from a long line of New Englanders where "kicking-against-the-pricks" is a tradition and expected.

That said, let's be clear here, what should have gone down, and what should have my dealer done. My expectation was that I should have been charged at the original price. My dealer and GM says that had my ddealer charged me at the original price, it would been reimbursed $2,768 by GM, and it would have lost $432. How is my dealer and GM wrong? How would have my dealer not been out by that amount? The Forum consensus is that my dealer would not have been out $432. So, what do you say to someone else who is price protected when its dealer says the same thing?

[Hulkamaniac]

My dealership gave me my original price of $68k and then honored Supplier Pricing on top of that to lower the price to $62k. They told me it was their problem to get their money from GM, not mine.

My car would have been $72k without them honoring the original deal and Supplier Pricing.

Next time Rich, make the trip to my dealer here in Iowa or go with Becky and Rogers Chevrolet in Michigan.

If you go after anyone, I'd say go after your stealership. Give 'em h*** Rydell!!! It sounds like they don't really care about your business in the way you were treated.

You have my support all the way.

[2cnd chance]

If I understand this correctly, GM (manufacturer) gave back in full the dealer (distributor) their price difference paid. Then the dealer (distributor) passed that exact amount on to you without their profit you paid them above that price...correct?

If this is correct your distributor screwed you not GM.

[NC C7]

Wow, trying to keep up with this makes my head hurt.

[Richardlord]

So it begins.

First, this letter to my dealer to give it the opportunity to do the right thing.

After a week, I send out the obligatory demand letter to GM.

After a time certain, if no response, or a negative response, I file in Small Claims Court.

Richard Lord, MPA
Nancy Lord Zearfoss, Ph.D.
XXXXX XXXXXX XX
XXXXXXXX, Maryland

July 20, 2014

Mr. Jack Winegardner

Winegardner Auto Group

11001 Indian Head Hwy
Fort Washington, MD 20744

935 Solomons Island Road
Road Prince Frederick MD 20678

15113 Crain Highway
Brandywine, MD 20613

22675 Washington St.
Leonardtown, MD 20650

Dear Mr. Winegardner:

Recently, I purchased a 2014 Corvette from your Leonardtown location. Please be advised that I am a highly dissatisfied and disaffected customer. I gave Winegardner the lowest possible overall rating possible on the GM Customer Satisfaction Survey, and the following are my reasons for doing so.

My Corvette was price protected under the GM Price Protection Policy and Program. I ordered my Corvette in August 2013, over six months later in March there was a $3,200 price increase, and GM and Winegardner finally delivered my Corvette in May. The primary reasons for the delay were the Z51 and FAY Carbon Fiber Interior dash constraints. At the actual point-of-sale, Winegardner charged me at the increased price rather than at the original agreed protected price.

Winegardner put the fault on GM and gave the explanation that it does not get back $3,200 from GM, it only gets back $2,768, and would only send me a check in that amount. The financial result was that I would be out $432 and also have a $200 increase in sales tax for a total loss of $632. I expressed my opinion that it appears the Winegardner customer policy is that if GM is going to screw someone on GM Price Protection, it shall be the Winegardner customer, and not Winegardner.

Given my objection to this loss, Winegardner reduced the price of my Corvette by almost $200 to cover the increase in sales tax and another $100 to mitigate my loss. This reduced my loss to $332. Winegardner also said it would help me out on the price of modifications I was going to make to my Corvette to cover the difference.

While I objected to Winegardner charging me at the new price, it came down to either accepting my Corvette on Winegardner’s terms, or I would not get my Corvette. Had I walked away, I expect I would have lost my $1,000 deposit, had to buy my Corvette from someone else at a higher price, and with another delivery wait. I was not about to walk away from my Corvette and suffer a financial loss and a further delivery delay.

I also put this out on the Corvette Forum and Corvette7 Forum for review and comment on the situation. The universal reaction from Forum members including other Chevy/Corvette dealers was that the fault was with Winegardner and not GM. The explanation was that GM gave back to Winegardner the dealer price difference paid, passed that exact amount on to me, but not the extra profit it made above that price. The Forums consensus is that Winegardner got back its entitlement from GM, and pocketed an additional $432 profit that it improperly exacted from me. One comment was that Winegardner deliberately cheated me for extra profit, unless it simply could not figure out the math.

Before filling out my GM Customer Satisfaction Survey, I brought in my Corvette in to Winegardner for modifications. If Winegardner actually made up the $300 difference, I would let this go. I also additionally purchased from the Winegardner Parts Department a Stingray Underhood Liner and Stingray Trunk Lid Liner, and Splash Guards for Winegardner to install. I also had Winegardner install Lashway Carbon Fiber Side Skirts and Front Splitter, and a Hurst Shifter, which I supplied. Nothing complicated here. There were some other minor and simple modifications, and one was installing Z51 Badges on each side above the Stingray symbol. I could have done this mod myself, but I wanted to see what Winegardner charged me for this 5-minute each-side peal-and-stick badge application. However, Winegardner charged me about $100 for the peal-and-stick and some $800 overall for the modifications. When I concluded that Winegardener (1) did not price protect me, (2) likely cheated me as those on the Corvette Forums suggested, and (3) did not make up the shortfall on the cost of modifications, that is when I filled out my GM Customer Satisfaction Survey in the negative.

What make no sense to me is that on an MSRP sale of about $80,000 on a Corvette plus the purchase of the 7-Year Extended Warranty, 5-Year Wheel & Tire Warranty, and arranged financing through Winegardner, that in the end Winegardner would cheat me for the sake of a few hundred dollars. Winegardner made an enormous profit on this sale, and it likely was the highest sale from this location this year. I just can’t imagine Winegardner being foolishly greedy and shortsighted enough as to cheat me over chump change where eventually I would get to the truth of the matter acting and speaking out accordingly.

To be clear, the problem is not with Larry, my primary salesperson. Larry was great in helping me in the ordering process. I in no way blame Larry for any of this, and shall never speak ill of him for this sales debacle. Grant was responsible for the improper point-of-sale transaction, but I don’t blame him either for carrying out Winegardner policy as that is his job. The final decisions concerning this sale rested with the Winegardner family member stationed at the Leonardtown location, and thus the blame lies squarely on Winegardner, which it puts off on GM.

I regret Larry shall not be my salesperson for the GMC truck I was going to buy, or for the Chevy hybrid my wife was going to buy. The reason Larry shall not be our salesperson is we shall never buy another vehicle from Winegardner. Additionally, whatever vehicles we now buy shall not be GM products. I also don’t think Winegardner shall have any of my Southern Maryland Corvette Club members, or anyone on the Corvette Forums, buy a Corvette or anything else from Winegardner anytime soon if ever.

If Winegardner and/or GM make this right with me even at this late date I would drop this matter. However, I do not expect this to happen. For expediency sake, I shall disregard the universal and overwhelming opinion and conventional wisdom that the fault lies with Winegardner; for and as Winegardner says the fault lies with GM, I shall file suit against GM in Small Claims Court. I shall ask the Court for $732 plus interest where I would receive $432 and pay back Winegardner $300 for its supposed loss on this transaction. As Winegardner did not give me a price break on the modifications, and made a substantive profit, I shall not seek compensation for Winegardner for the modifications.

Before I can file small claims, I first have to send a demand letter to GM. I shall do so and include a copy of this letter. Winegardner may wish to discuss this with GM before I file small claims. Should the Court determine the problem lies with Winegardner and not GM; that shall change the dynamic, and alter subsequent court actions.

I shall post this letter on the Corvette Forums for review and comment.

I Remain,

Richard Lord