A year and a half ago, I had a bad experience with a local dealership. This is the actual "summary of events" from the Motor Dealer Council Of B.C. Consumer Complaint Form:

On July 14, 2005 I entered into an agreement with Kellie Keyes, a salesperson, at Riverside Nissan to buy a 2005 Nissan Frontier that the dealership already had on order. I was promised that the truck would be delivered before the end of August. A $2,000.00 deposit was taken on my Visa to be put towards the full purchase price of the truck.

I explained to Kellie that my decision to buy a Frontier over a Toyota Tacoma had come down to the fact that Toyota could not deliver in a timely fashion. I needed the truck as soon as possible and Nissan promised an earlier delivery date than Toyota, which was before the end of August.

On August 31st I called Riverside Nissan and was told by Daniel Keyes, the sales manager, that the truck had not arrived and that he did not know when the truck would be transported to the dealership. He could not provide me with a date that the truck would arrive or when the shipping (trucking) company would be bringing it over from the mainland. I suggested alternate arrangements to help me through this time until the truck showed up; such as a courtesy car or picking up another similar truck on dealer trade. He would not accommodate me in any fashion. He told me at this time that the truck could arrive tomorrow or in a month but there was nothing he could do about it, that he would call when the truck arrived on the lot. I explained my situation and the fact that Kellie Keyes had promised the truck would be delivered by the end of August. I told Daniel that since my truck had not been delivered as promised I would have to find one somewhere else and that I wanted my $2,000.00 deposit returned. Daniel Keyes replied by saying that we had a contract and although the truck was promised to be delivered before the end of August, it was not in writing so he did not have to adhere to it. He also explained that Riverside Nissan would keep my deposit and could sue me for breach of contract if I did not take delivery of the truck when it arrived.

On September 2, 2005 I took the day off work to drive to Riverside Nissan (as it is located in Courtenay and I live in Campbell River) to resolve the dispute. The truck arrived that morning. I explained to Daniel & Kellie Keyes that because of the way I had been treated I was not interested in any further dealing with Riverside Nissan and that I wanted my $2,000.00 deposit returned. I was told that I would not be getting my deposit back and that they were willing to go to court if they had to. Based on the fact that I did not want to lose $2,000.00 and I still liked the truck, I decided to lease the vehicle.

Kellie and I sat down and signed the lease that same day. I left the dealership without taking possession of the truck. I talked to a family friend who works in a different dealership and told him my situation and that I was uncomfortable dealing with Riverside Nissan now but did not feel I had a choice on taking the truck without losing my $2,000.00 deposit. He advised me that I could tell the dealership that I had changed my mind and did not want the vehicle because the Motor Vehicle Act states that there is a 24 hour cooling off period in respect to leases. They in turn would have to return my deposit to me.

I immediately returned to Riverside Nissan the same day (Sept. 2, 2005) and told them I had changed my mind; I did not want the truck. I explained what I had been told about the 24-hour cooling off period. At this point Kellie and Daniel Keyes became very upset with me and still refused to return my deposit. They both called me names, swore at me and Daniel Keyes threw a full coffee cup in my direction. I was ordered off the property and told I would not receive my deposit back.

In the end, the Motor Dealer Council voted in my favor, and returned my $2,000. They then went to Riverside Nissan and ordered them to pay back the $2,000 that had been given me, or else their(Riverside's) dealer license would be revoked.

wow, reading that already stressed me out...I had a very similar incident with Regency Nissan in North Vancouver...not accomodating at all for their lack of ability to get things done on time.

I feel you're stress but im elated that you had the last laugh. I would have though at least a smaller town dealership would be a little more civilized than the crooks in on the mainland...but i guess they're all stealerships in one way or another.

It's good that you have a local chamber of commerce (or the dealer council specifically)that is actually worth something.

Although I couldn't say for sure, I'd feel comfortable saying they were bluffing about taking you to court. A deposit is a contract for them not to sell the car, not you to buy it, and if there was a contract, they probably breached it by failing to deliver the vehicle on time.

But it looks like it worked out all right, so it's all good.