Business ProfileforFord of Murfreesboro

The experience with this dealership was about as unprofessional and unethical as you can get. I worked with sales manager Austin W****. It started OK and after a couple questionable offer letters that didn't match what we had discussed verbally, we got it squared away and I put a $1K deposit down on a vehicle. I live out of state so booked a flight to come pick it up. 3 days before I'm scheduled to arrive, Austin calls and said the detailer backed it into the garage. He apologized and said they wouldn't be able to sell it since it would need to get repaired via insurance. Sounded a little odd, but I accepted it and asked for a refund on my deposit and compensation for my flight change fees. I also asked for photos of the damage. After a couple days of no photos, I get a call from the GM (Stephen W****) asking me to call him. I ask for a response in writing, and he admits the car wasn't damaged, they simply SOLD IT TO SOMEONE ELSE AND LIED to get out of the transaction. While I hoped he would acknowledge the severity of how unethical this whole situation was, he simply chalked it up to a mistake and said we should move on. After multiple attempts at seeking further details about who authorized the lie and asking for reimbursement for my flight costs, Stephen W**** went silent, and no additional compensation was received. He said if I sent him a W-9, he could process a $500 refund; however, I wouldn’t be comfortable sharing my SSN that is on a W-9, and find it hard to believe they couldn’t issue a refund based on the flight receipts. In the end, I still don’t know if Austin made up the lie or was told to do so by Stephen/management. I also don’t know if they used my offer to sell it at a higher price to someone else or if it was truly accidental. In the end, the specifics probably don't matter, and I've accepted I probably won't be reimbursed my additional costs, but I hope my experience helps others who are considering buying from this dealership.