Review of AmericaChoiceRV in Ocala, Florida: Buyer Beware

[Medico]

I had a poor experience with AmericaChoiceRV that I thought all readers of this forum might want to know about.

 

First some background. My wife and I had a 2006 Country Coach Magna Rembrandt 45 foot coach that we had been trying to sell. After being unsuccessful for quite some time, including a 6 month stint at one consignment lot, we checked with AmericaChoiceRV and they said they would like to sell our coach.

 

After parking the coach on the AmericaChoiceRV lot for a couple of weeks we noticed a 2012 Class B Airstream Mercedes Interstate Sprinter coach that we liked the look of and offered a trade. We spent a couple of hours at AmericaChoiceRV speaking with the internet manager, and then a salesman he took us to. The salesman interacted with the sales manager on our behalf. Initially we were offered $180,000 for our coach (The wholesale value they looked up was $178,850). We then negotiated a price on the Airstream. The final offer, which we accepted was $180,000 for our trade and $98,500 for the Airstream. The sales manager verbally agreed to this offer as presented.

 

We signed the offer sheet as accepted and shook hands on the deal. The salesman took the offer sheet to the business office. The Finance Manager contacted 3 banks on our behalf and we were approved for a loan with all 3. We were taken into the finance office to sign paperwork, when suddenly the GM of AmericaChoiceRV put a stop to the deal. He said the coach was a soft sell and he could not get the wholesale value out of it. He then offered an auction price which was $30,000 less than their original offer. Our mistake was not asking the sales manager to sign the offer form as well. We expected them to honor a verbal commitment with a shake of the hands.

 

Bottom line is we were forced to accept a deal far less than the original offer they gave us. They knew we wanted out and did not honor their original offer for our coach. Now understand, I did not state a price for our coach. They came up with the figures. The sales manager and GM both apologized for the mistake, but would not honor the original offer.

 

I cannot recommend this dealership at all. They acted like the proverbial dishonest used car salesman! If you do go there be sure you get their signature as well as your signature on the offer sheet. We were both so shocked at our treatment we just left that day. We have never had a dealership pull something this outrageous in all the years we have been buying or selling vehicles or houses. They do not honor their offers. The method they employed was very underhanded. Visit this dealership at your own risk!

[pjstough]

How were you forced to accept the deal?

[WeBeFulltimers]

How were you forced to accept the deal?

 

I would like to know also!

[avan]

Well I also had bad dealings with them. They have two locations. 2 yrs ago, I looked at a rig at one location and negotiated a cash deal with the manager. It was an oral deal and I said I'd get back with him the next day. The next day the rig had been relocated to the other lot and they would not honor the quote of their manager. I realize that there was no deal until there was something in writing and $ changed hands. I, though, was not forced into a new deal. I walked...no ran believing that their brand of business ethics did not conform to my idea of how business should be handled. My concern would be if their word was no good before they got their hands on my money, how could I expect their word to be any better once they had my money. I have appreciated the opportunity to give my opinion of their business model a number of time since.

[Medico]

I was forced because we had to sell the coach and they took advantage of that. The main problem was they offered a deal which I accepted, then as we are going into the finance office to sign the papers they pulled the deal. That's why I say bad dealer and bad business practice! Yes we could have left, and hoped our coach was protected on their consignment lot, but after almost a year and a half we felt we had no choice. Again though that is a terrible business practice and very underhanded dealing and I want everyone to know just how bad they really are.

[pjstough]

O

 

I was forced because we had to sell the coach and they took advantage of that. The main problem was they offered a deal which I accepted, then as we are going into the finance office to sign the papers they pulled the deal. That's why I say bad dealer and bad business practice! Yes we could have left, and hoped our coach was protected on their consignment lot, but after almost a year and a half we felt we had no choice. Again though that is a terrible business practice and very underhanded dealing and I want everyone to know just how bad they really are.

Ok, I understand now. May I ask what was the last price you had on the coach when you were selling it yourself?

[Medico]

We were selling it ourselves about 7 months ago and the price was listed at $199K. On the first consignment lot the price was listed at $189K. We we parked it at AmericaChoiceRV in Ocala, they listed it on RVTrader at $266K, way too high. It would have gotten no looks at that price. Like I said at the time we made this deal they ran an NADA wholesale and got $178850. I would not even have started talking to them if I had known the crap they were going to pull. I am 64 years old and have purchased many vehicles and over a dozen homes and have never been treated like that. The salesman was actually walking us to the finance dept. to sign papers when the deal was halted.

[Chief 62]

If you do a search on America Choice you will find that many, many people have had bad experiences with them. For what it is worth, I would go ahead and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. It may save some other person from dealing with them.

[Kirk W]

While I agree that this was very akin to the "bait & switch" type of sale practice, the length of time your CC had been for sale might have been an indication that the dealer manager was correct in his assessment of a realistic price for it. As one who is 10 years your senior, I can imagine the pressure that you felt under. Sales people are usually limited in authority by the management that they work for & part of the issue here is knowing if that sales person actually made a mistake, or is this a common practice of the dealership to get the customer into a position of pressure? Most dealer sales forces in both the RV and the automotive industries are very practiced at manipulating numbers to keep their customers from actually understanding the real costs of their purchases. It is never a good plan to deal for an RV when in a position of pressure to act now, and you feel unable to just walk away.

 

The most talented of sales people are those who give their customers terrible deals, yet massage the numbers and the people to a point that the customer leaves feeling grateful and believing that he got a great deal. You would probably be very surprised if you could know just how common that result really is.

[Laura13]

On 10/3/2016 at 4:00 PM, Medico said:

I was forced because we had to sell the coach and they took advantage of that. The main problem was they offered a deal which I accepted, then as we are going into the finance office to sign the papers they pulled the deal. That's why I say bad dealer and bad business practice! Yes we could have left, and hoped our coach was protected on their consignment lot, but after almost a year and a half we felt we had no choice. Again though that is a terrible business practice and very underhanded dealing and I want everyone to know just how bad they really are.

Say that you’re lot was for sale, not sure whether you’ve sold it or not, we would be interested in it.

 

Laura