fatts

No, but I had to go through the same deal. I almost walked out of the deal because I only wanted to put down $500 in case they screwed me, but they said that $2,000 was mandatory. And I had to initial the "Non-Refundable" part too. Hope everything turns out ok.

casey225

I had $500 refundable deposits at dealers where I was initially going to take an allocation close to my "dream car". Eventually decided to order what I want, my local dealer charges $1000 non-refundable. In general, I understand they don't want to get stuck with a custom order, but, in this case, these cars are so hot, they won't have any trouble moving one.

carlmock

doesnt matter if you have paid the bill... my AMX allows me 60 days after the bill is paid to contest any charge. some CC companies allow for 90 or 120 days.. look into it and do it in writing right away!!

TimboIS

You can contest charges from fraud, theft, etc. but not because you changed your mind.

Convinced

...and can be dealer specific. A dealer in Westchester told me the deposit was 1000. The dealer I ended up ordering from in the city told me 2000 for a special order. I did it over the phone, and they faxed me the order form. I almost passed out when I saw they'd indicated that my SD was non-refundable , but then I remembered I hadn't signed anything so I had a legal leg to stand on.

I recently called the dealer as I noticed they hadn't charged my card (I ordered a month ago) and I was just sent a new one due to third party fraud. I wanted to make sure there were no issues with the order. That's when they told me that they use that as a "good faith interest guage", but don't actually charge my card until I go pick up the car. Works for me .

jC

NINEZeRO

I would definitely complain about this salesperson. I don't think Lexus executives would want anybody like him working for their dealerships.

Langdell

Yes, but that store on the corner is a franchise with contractual obligations to live up to certain standards set by Lexus. The goal of any franchise arrangement is to standardize certain things across different stores. E.g., franchising is why you can get a Big Mac at any McDonald's in the country. Lexus set out from the beginning to impose higher customer service standards than you typically find in car dealerships, and various surveys suggest that they often succeed. E.g., http://www.luxuryinstitute.com/docli...a8003b95b7.pdf

A bit OT, but I'll share a positive experience. I found my IS350 by e-mailing dealers around Texas with my requirements and getting a response from one saleslady that they had the exact car arriving in their incoming allocation. I called her and gave her my debit card number to charge the $500 deposit to reserve the car. When I took delivery about a month later, she revealed that she never even charged my card because she trusted (correctly) that I was serious about getting the car. Not a big thing--I guess she could have tried to charge me at any time if I backed out of the deal. But it left a good feeling that she took me at my word.

tdog09

fatts, did u sign the contract? You didnt specify if you did or not.

fatts

Yes I wound up signing the contract, I just hope I don't get screwed now. I'm supposed to find out in a week if the order got picked up. I chose Blue Onyx Pearl with Cashmere and don't see myself changing my mind. Only time will tell if I'm kicking myself in the *** for signing "Non-Refundable".

cmusic

About 10 years ago I put $1000 check down at a Chevy dealership to order a new car. I never signed any paperwork, although I watched as the saleman filled it out. Two months later the car had never gotten to the dealer and I found a better deal on the same car at another dealer that had it on the lot. I went back to the first dealership and told the saleman of the car at the other dealership. The manager walked in and said he never authorized the sale that I had made with the saleman, but the car was still on order. I wanted to know where my car was that I ordered but the manager could not tell me. I walked out and the manager asked me to take two days before I bought the other car.

The next day I called my bank and found out the $1000 deposite check had never been cashed. I stopped payment on it. I called a third Chevy dealer and asked about their ordering proceedures. I found out that unless the customer signs the order agreement, GM will not special manufacture the vehicle.

The next day I go to the second dealer and buy the car. I call the manager of the first dealership and told him I bought the other car. He says he is sorry they could not complete the deal.

Two hours later the manager calls me back, mad as can be, and screams at me for cancelling the check. I ask him to look at my paperwork to see where I authorized them to order the car with my signature. He said he would see me in court and slams the phone down. I never heard from him again.

Bichon

Unfortunately, any conditions that a salesman makes verbally aren't worth the paper that they aren't written on. I would expect that all of the conditions of sale, including penalties for cancellation, timeframes and costs of making changes to the order, etc., would be clearly spelled out on the sales order. Any changes to what is printed on the form should be given in writing, and signed by an authorized representative of the dealer. Once negotiated, I'd expect, and more importantly the courts would expect that both the purchaser and the dealer to live up to those conditions.

It stinks that the salesman is telling porkies, and perhaps dealership management (with a little prodding from Lexus) will try to make you happy. But if push comes to shove, you'll have to live with the conditions on the documents you signed.

tdog09

I say agian, I Didnt Sign Anything. Told them to put in the order, and gave my credit info over the phone, that was it.

Now i'm just more curious than ever if the car was actually ordered and built (or being built). I'm over 2 months now in the wait and am expecting that much.

bigbwb

I apologize for hijacking if this is even the case, but i am experiencing a $500 deposit issue as I type this. The story is I got a quote for an IS250 rwd out of the Lexus dealership in Northern IL that was very good. I shopped around, no other dealers could match or beat it, not even the one I had been working with for the last couple weeks. So I put a $500 deposit down over the phone on my credit card for them to order/locate the exact vehicle I wanted. I never signed any paperwork at all, all done over the phone. The next day, my original dealership in Brookfield WI called and beat the other deal by $200. I then called the IL dealer and they wouldn't match it so the salesperson said to contact him and he would credit the deposit back if I went through the WI dealer. Of course I did want the extra $200 off(as any consumer might) so I proceded to contact the IL dealer and now a week has passed and no credit?

I have emailed them 3 times, called 3 times, and faxed different letters indicating I want my $500 deposit credited back and was told this would happen last week even. I check my online credit card statement daily and no luck. How funny is it that the original deposit showed up within 2 days and now that I want my money back, its been over a week?

I have left messages for the general manager and no response. At this point I had been very patient and gave them the benefit of the doubt. They originally had been very good to work with and friendly. Its a different story now. As of today I have contacted my credit card company to refute the charge and called corporate Lexus to fill them in on this whole issue.

I know I will get my money(and my new IS soon too ). I just did not want to take it to this level. Just a call back or an email even, saying they were going to credit me by the end of the week or something would have made me feel a lot better, but nothing.

To the OP, I feel ya....good luck too!

p.s. I own my own business which is nothing but customer service, and I hate to ever "bad mouth" any other business. I just want this resolved so I can enjoy my future IS 250 rwd SGM with premium pckg and black leather!