
Monday 29th of October 2018 04:42:17 AM
This was my first time going this route for purchasing a car, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I submitted an application to Auto Credit Express earlier this year and was contacted by a dealership in the same city where I live. In the event that this website blocks out names of dealerships included in comments, the dealership that contacted me shares the same name as the U.S. president who served between 1861-1865. I'm making a point of including the dealership because I didn't see any reviews or information on Auto Credit Express' website where they included names of dealerships. After being contacted by this dealership, I called Auto Credit to tell them I wasn't interested in purchasing a car from the dealer that contacted me. The agent told me that the dealership sells other types of cars by other manufacturers, but didn't specify the makes or models. The agent also didn't speak with much confidence. I don't know if she was new or if she was deliberately withholding information, but her answers just didn't make sense to me. Unfortunately, I had to have surgery shortly thereafter, so I called the dealership and told them that I would contact them in the summer. After recovering from surgery, I contacted Auto Credit Express again last week, and explained why I didn't go to the first dealership. I was told by the agent that I had to resubmit another application, which I did. That very same day I was contacted by a dealership that is in a different city from where I live and about a 25-minute drive. This dealership manufacturers American cars, and while I've never purchased any cars sold by this dealership, I was willing to check them out. Before visiting the dealership, I went online to check out customer reviews for the dealership and their reviews were AWFUL! This dealership had pages and pages of negative reviews as recent as this week! I called Auto Credit Express again and asked if they could set me up with another dealership and I told them the reason why. Auto Credit Express really needs to look into retraining their customer service agents. The young lady who I spoke to today reminded me of the agent who I spoke with several months ago, except today's agent had an attitude. It was like pulling teeth to get information! After explaining the purpose of my call, the agent's first response was that they couldn't set me up with another dealership, which I knew was not correct because I had already submitted two applications. Then the agent asked for my name so she could look me up in the system. After locating my records, she told me that I would have to submit another application to be set up with another dealer, and I said, "Yes, that's what I said I wanted to do". Then she proceeded to say that they could only set me up with one dealer. When I explained to her that I had already submitted two applications with Auto Credit Express, it was only then that she said that I would have to wait 30 days before submitting another application. It would've been helpful if she had said that at the beginning. Telling me that I couldn't submit another application is very different from saying "You have to wait 30 days before you can submit another application" - the two sentences have two different meanings. Then I told her that it was my intentions to go to the original dealer that had contacted me--I just had to wait until I had recovered from surgery. When I had submitted my application the second time, I was not told that I was going to be contacted by a different dealer. The agent I spoke with today said, "Well you can go through whatever dealer you want, but if you want to go through our service, you have to submit another application". That response was so off-putting, sarcastic, and a display of horrible customer service. Why would a customer contact this type of company if they had the option not to? It's obvious that I'm in a situation where I need this the service provided by Auto Credit Express, and to use a condescending tone and response such as "you can go to whatever dealer I want" was a slap in the face. Finally, this agent told me that Auto Credit Express does not send customers to the same dealer twice. Wow. I had to be subjected to an excruciating experience just to get that piece of information. I hope others who are considering contacting Auto Credit Express service will benefit from learning from my experience. And my message to Auto Credit Express is that some of your agents are rough around the edges and could use some additional training and coaching in communication skills. Customer service is not rocket science--you just need to put yourself in the customer's shoes and treat them the way in which you would like to be treated, so that they don't go online and write the type of reviews that I'm writing.