Gurnee Dodge - Gurnee IL

Gurneedodge.com

Visit Geno's Garage for Truck accessories.

Gurnee Dodge strives for complete and total customer satisfaction, yet we admit, at times we fall short. We ask that if your experience was less than satisfactory, please contact a manager representative at Gurnee Dodge in order to resolve the issue. You may call Danny Fohrman or Leo Kupsky at (847) 623-3000 or send an email to DANNYDODGE[a]aol.com.

The most recent reports are at the top of the list; the oldest are at the bottom.

Sales=Poor, Service=Don't Know, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Maybe,
Rating: POOR
On 07/23/2008, I purchased a 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan, VIN #1B4GP44322B525491, from Gurnee Dodge Inc. that had been advertised on E bay. The E bay site where Gurnee Dodge had this van for sale stated the following:

"There is a $150 documentary fee added on all our auctions. Out of State Buyers will be provided necessary paperwork to pay taxes if we don't collect here, and register in their own State, a temporary tag is available for only $10. Vehicle title will be sent to the out of state buyers via Fed-Ex, if there is a pay-off for the sold vehicle it might take up to 30 days till the title is available. Illinois and Wisconsin residents will have to pay taxes and registration fees."

This is also what was represented when the deal for the vehicle was made and throughout the entire sale process.

I arranged for a friend to pick up the vehicle for me (over 300 miles away). The agreed price of the vehicle was $2,250 plus a documentary service fee of $150.00 for a total of $2,400.00. I have copies of the Illinois Standard Buyers Order documenting these amounts as the exact amounts owed to Gurnee Dodge. On 07/23/2008 I paid (through my friend) $2,400.00 in cash for which I have a receipt from Gurnee Dodge. At the time of the purchase, my friend took possession of the vehicle and was told the title would be sent to me (as represented on their Ebay site). He was given numerous documents, including a Illinois Department of Revenue Form ST-556 Sales Tax Transaction Return showing the sale to a nonresident and indicating that no sales tax is due. This document was signed by a representative of Gurnee Dodge 0n 07/23/2008. After paying the agreed price for the vehicle, my friend took possession of the vehicle and delivered the vehicle to me.

On 07/29/2008, an employee of Gurnee Dodge named Richard Werk contacted my friend concerning the title. When I returned the phone call at 1:34 PM, Mr. Werk stated that they would "be glad" to take care of getting the title placed in my name if I would just send $145 dollars to the company. I told him that I did not want them to "take care of the title" and that I wanted the title sent to me as had been agreed upon when the sale took place. Mr. Werk, at that time, said they would send the title to me. On 08/01/2008, I received a voice mail from Mr. Werk asking me to call. When I returned the phone call, Mr. Werk stated that I would have to pay $145 to the company for sales tax and that the amount HAD to be paid by 08/04/2008 and demanded a credit card number to make the payment. When I questioned the sales tax and why (if it was a state law that it had to be collected by the dealer from the purchaser) it had not been disclosed to me when the purchase was made and why it had not been mentioned in the previous conversation we had on 07/29/2008. No coherent answer was received. Mr. Werk just kept saying it was "a law since 2005." When I asked him why, if it had been a law since 2005, the dealership did not seem to know about it and suddenly, after the sale, was demanding the money. Again, no coherent answer.

When I asked to speak to someone else about the problem, I was connected with the "Finance Manager," whose name I do not remember. I was told that the tax was due because my friend "had represented himself as a dealer, and that was why the tax was not collected at the time of the sale." -- A total lie!! At no time did my friend represent himself as a dealer. If so, the paperwork would have been in my friend?s name, not mine, and the dealership would have demanded a dealer license number. All of the paperwork indicates that I was the purchaser of the vehicle. The "Finance Manager" also told me that Mr. Werk had told me about the deadline of 08/04/2008 in the conversation of 07/29/2008 -- which was another complete and total lie. I was again told that I had until 08/04/2008 ( 3 days!!) to send $145 to the company or else I would not receive the title to the vehicle for which I had paid. I told "The Finance Manager" that I would pay the sales tax for the vehicle in Indiana. When I went to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and asked about the sales tax, I was told that the sales tax did not have to be paid in Illinois - that it could be paid in Indiana and is done all the time.

The Bottom Line - I had a contract with Gurnee Dodge. The oral and written contract of the sale was for a total price of $2,400, which I paid to them in cash and have a receipt. The oral and written contract did not include the $145 sales tax which they are now demanding. The agreement also was that the title would be sent to me by Gurnee Dodge. Gurnee Dodge has failed to live up to their end of the contract. They are, in effect, holding the title to my vehicle ?hostage,? in, what appears to me to be an extortion attempt to try to force me to pay taxes that were not part of the agreement. I have no problem paying the sales taxes that are due. But I do have a problem paying the taxes to a dealership that lies about the events of the sale, then demands money that was not part of a written agreement and practices extortion by holding a title to a vehicle because they know the owner lives 300+ miles away. I also have a problem when the owner of a company refuses to talk to a dissatisfied customer (unlike their little blurb at the beginning of this website). All I want is the title to the vehicle that I bought and paid for.

On 08/01/2008, I attempted to contact the President of Gurnee Dodge, Inc., Michael Fohrman, to try to work out the situation. My friend had talked with him earlier in the afternoon because he was the one who actually picked up the vehicle. He was hung up on. When I called the company, the only person that I was allowed to talk to was a woman who takes care of the license & titling. After talking to me, she put me on hold to connect me to Mr. Fohrman, but he refused to take my call. Apparently, written contracts do not mean much to this dealership. I certainly wouldn't trust any verbal agreements with them. I would (and will from this point on) avoid this dealership.
Submitted by: Withheld by request
Number of dealership visits=1, Last visit date=07/23/2008, Date report submitted: Aug 1 21:23:53 EDT 2008
Verification requested 6-26-2009

Dealership Rating:
	Good sales department, good service
	Fair sales, fair service
	Conflicting or not enough information
	Poor Service or Poor Sales Department
	Avoid like the plague!!
	Don't Know or No Experience

This page was edited on: June 26, 2009