Chicago Buyers Beware: Al Piemonte Ford in Melrose Park, IL

Not trying to offend but if you teach ethics for a living, why was your first response to register an account and publicly shame the dealer - probably the least effective yet noisiest act of retribution? If you have a bill of sale, I would think you have legal grounds for a suit. That would be far more effective and not come off as rage posting, and with very few facts… was the bill of sale signed by a manager? Did you put a deposit down? Not many details but a lot of raging here. Don’t get me wrong - the dealer sounds like a slime… and also not unlike many other dealers who unfortunately engage in such slimeball behavior. I would file a written complaint with Ford and more importantly speak to an attorney. The only way to change this behavior is if people like yourself follow a legal path; they don’t care much about public hate posting- but they know most people will do nothing more.

Damn sorry to hear about this that had to be a punch in the gut. I'm from the south subs of Chicago, I've heard of a few other dealers in the area doing stuff like this and its just sad to hear about.

I don’t know that I would call that raging. Sounds like they were just warning people.

TK1215

I don’t know that I would call that raging. Sounds like they were just warning people.

I guess that’s subjective. I feel like this warning could apply to any dealer, depending on the facts. If he didn’t put a deposit down, and bill of sale wasn’t signed, then any dealer could sell a car at any time. Crappy but truth. If he did all the paperwork by docusign though, and had a done deal, or had money in it, that’s a different story.

Sulley

Not trying to offend but if you teach ethics for a living, why was your first response to register an account and publicly shame the dealer - probably the least effective yet noisiest act of retribution? If you have a bill of sale, I would think you have legal grounds for a suit. That would be far more effective and not come off as rage posting, and with very few facts… was the bill of sale signed by a manager? Did you put a deposit down? Not many details but a lot of raging here. Don’t get me wrong - the dealer sounds like a slime… and also not unlike many other dealers who unfortunately engage in such slimeball behavior. I would file a written complaint with Ford and more importantly speak to an attorney. The only way to change this behavior is if people like yourself follow a legal path; they don’t care much about public hate posting- but they know most people will do nothing more.

It's just a lousy thing that happened. I'd hate it to happen to others - hence the heads up.

Sulley

Not trying to offend but if you teach ethics for a living, why was your first response to register an account and publicly shame the dealer - probably the least effective yet noisiest act of retribution? If you have a bill of sale, I would think you have legal grounds for a suit. That would be far more effective and not come off as rage posting, and with very few facts… was the bill of sale signed by a manager? Did you put a deposit down? Not many details but a lot of raging here. Don’t get me wrong - the dealer sounds like a slime… and also not unlike many other dealers who unfortunately engage in such slimeball behavior. I would file a written complaint with Ford and more importantly speak to an attorney. The only way to change this behavior is if people like yourself follow a legal path; they don’t care much about public hate posting- but they know most people will do nothing more.

The fact that this individual was not able to complete the purchase because the dealer sold it to someone else is indefensible. Period. Further, outthere_overland's post is nowhere near what you call a "rage posting". Their post is clear, concise, and summarizes the facts from their perspective, and ends with a recommendation.
Your post on the other hand is somewhat self contradictory in that you accuse outthere_overland of the rage posting but then ask a number of questions for more details which, had he gone on and on with the details, the post would have most certainly sounded like more of a rage.
I would suggest you reflect on outthere_overland's last sentence, "While this is just my opinion and experience, I would hate to see this happen to anyone else. So be cautious".
He's not raging, he's making people aware to be "cautious"; to be informed. Those in the area of Melrose Park should be thankful for his post.

Coldsmoke

The fact that this individual was not able to complete the purchase because the dealer sold it to someone else is indefensible. Period. Further, outthere_overland's post is nowhere near what you call a "rage posting". Their post is clear, concise, and summarizes the facts from their perspective, and ends with a recommendation.
Your post on the other hand is somewhat self contradictory in that you accuse outthere_overland of the rage posting but then ask a number of questions for more details which, had he gone on and on with the details, the post would have most certainly sounded like more of a rage.
I would suggest you reflect on outthere_overland's last sentence, "While this is just my opinion and experience, I would hate to see this happen to anyone else. So be cautious".
He's not raging, he's making people aware to be "cautious"; to be informed. Those in the area of Melrose Park should be thankful for his post.

I’d challenge those assumptions. Is it really indefensible? We don’t know without facts. Was he asked to put a deposit down? Was anything signed? If you get to the store and the last TV was sold, is that the store’s fault? I hate slimy dealers as much as everyone else, but there’s not a whole lot of detail here. I would challenge an ethics teacher’s choice to publicly shame the company for merely selling a thing without any written or financial attachment to it. Would love to know more details, but I’ll reserve judgment until I hear them. If there was a breach of contract of any kind, he should absolutely complain to Ford and file suit. But without anything signed, and no deposit, any other dealer would sell to someone walking in the door with money in hand. If anything, this is a good life lesson and doesn’t necessarily need to target one dealer.

This doesn’t sound like a custom order but tell me if that’s incorrect. It sounds like they had inventory and sold it.

What’s more, he could have just as easily backed out of the deal himself and nobody would give him any grief over it. Many people have done this on vehicles -they’ve even ordered- and we don’t hold them accountable like this.

The title of the post makes it pretty clear the goal was to shame the dealer specifically. Wasn’t about the story, so much as raging against the dealer IMO, especially with loaded language like “beware”… But that’s just my opinion. One can post more details in a way that doesn’t sound like raging or attempt to call out the dealer specifically (even if naming them).

I do feel sorry for the guy. I’ve lost out on things before too. It’s no fun. Life lessons.