Ford Explorer/ Ernie Haire Ford on Florida Ave in Tampa

I recently tried to purchase a new Ford Explorer from Ernie Haire Ford on

Florida Ave in Tampa.

I put a deposit down on the car and when I went to pick it up, the price

somehow changed after I had this in writing from the salesman I was dealing

with. Outrageous if you ask me. Please post to keep buyers away from this

dealership. Below is the email I received and minutes after put a deposit

down on it.

From: Maurice Rojo [mailto:Email User]

Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2007 11:45 AM

To: Michael Addabbo

Subject: RE: Your new vehicle

Sorry to hear about the car. I also understand completely about BS like "I

need one more car to get bonus" and whatnot - I hate that crap myself that's

why I never do it. I cannot comment on anything that Damian said because I

am not familiar with his affairs but I can tell you that everything that I

personally have discussed with you is 100% accurate - including the part

about getting the best deal the day you buy. It's been like that for decades

- a great deal can be negotiated over the phone/Internet but the final juice

is squeezed out of the grape only when the seller is satisfied that if he

meets the buyer's terms that he will indeed sell the vehicle to him then and

there. No one wants to waste their time - neither the seller nor the buyer.

The other thing is that you can hold someone to a contract but not a price -

some dealers will offer you the world over the phone but when you come in

things have a way of changing :) I will never do that to you. With that

being said:

My manager is willing to sell you our car at $24,300 OTD without the tint

and ball (I can get you a ball receiver though at no charge - they just

would not know about it :).

I hope that this price will work for you because without you here I cannot

work my manager for anything more - getting him to do this without a client

to introduce him to in person was hard enough.

As for the EB with the 3rd row - we have them, but again, there is no "best

price" to speak of. The "best price" is the price you get right before you

purchase the vehicle - nothing is set in stone at a car dealership -

everything is negotiable. You may not like hearing it but its true and the

truth sometimes has a bitter aftertaste... I will not sugarcoat anything

but I will always shoot you striaght. I can tell you though that you have

obviously done a ton of shopping and you know your prices well and there is

no way in hell that my managers would let you go without giving you the

"best price" if you were here and made an offer on their vehicle - not after

all of this. I hope that you can see by now that I am genuine in my words -

I am not just saying a bunch of BS just to get you in here and waste 3 hours

of our mutual time.

I am offering to make you a better deal than anyone - you have but to reach

out and take it - Isn't coming down and taking what you want better than all

of this back and forth? I hope to see you today and I look forward to

handing you the keys to your new SUV and putting this matter to an end for

all involved.

Thanks for everything!

Sincerely,

F. Michael Addabbo, Jr.

Future Link, Inc.

813-902-9396- direct

813-928-5077- cell

813-835-0359- Fax

Comment On This

This is Keith Theisen, and I am the Director of V.I.P. Sales at Ernie Haire Ford. I thank you for taking the time to share your experience with others, and I would like to address your concerns.

I remember your visit back in September of last year, and we did authorize Maurice to tell you that the price was $24,300 for the vehicle you wanted to buy. We agreed to this price because it was $500 less than what you had negotiated at Brandon Ford, and we told you that we would not lose your business over price.

When you arrived at our dealership and showed us the email where it stated OTD (which means out the door or including all taxes and fees) we immediately let you know that this was a mistake and apologized for the error. We did not attempt to play any games or try to switch you to another vehicle. We handled the issue as soon as it was brought to our attention.

Our price was after all rebates the same as the price that you were quoted from Brandon Ford and the same as the one that you had seen in their newspaper ad. I understood the frustration that the error in Maurice's email would have caused you, and I offered you an additional $500 off putting us $1000 less than our closest competitor.

I can understand how you may not have still been satisfied, but with the amount of shopping that you had done, you were well aware of the fact that if it really was an "out the door" figure that we were quoting, that we were not just $500 better than Brandon Ford but we were actually $3000 lower than the best bid in the marketplace. I am sorry to see that you neglected to mention this in your post so that other consumers can have a truer understanding of your actual experience.

As a show of our good faith, I will sell you a 2008 model for the same price that I quoted you on a 2007 model, $23,800. I want to be very clear that this price IS plus your applicable taxes and fees and minus all applicable rebates. This is over $500 less than the price that Maurice quoted you on a 2007 model and $1000 less than the price that you were quoted from Brandon Ford.

If you are still in the market, please contact me directly so that I can try to make it up to you for my salesperson's error. I hope that an additional $1000 and the extra value of a 2008 model will show you our good intentions towards doing the right thing.

Sincerely,

Keith Theisen

Director of VIP Sales

Ernie Haire Ford