ComplaintsforJohn's Trailer Sales

• Initial Complaint

  12/20/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In August 2021, I called John's Trailer Sales at their main office in Temperance, MI to inquire about a NEO 7 Round Top Snow Trailer. The price listed was $6,450.00. When I called, I spoke to John's son Brian. He told me that they didn't actually have that advertised trailer on the lot, but it was due to be built the second week of November and that the price of this trailer increased by 30% due to an increased cost of materials. If I wanted to "lock in" the new inflated price, I had to choose features/options that I wanted on the trailer and put down a deposit by August 17, 2021. Once I chose all of the features, colors, upgrades, etc., the final cost came to $9,937.00. I then called again on August 17, 2021 and spoke to John, the owner, as Brian was unavailable. I told him that I wanted to pay the deposit on the above trailer. John took my debit card payment of $200.00 over the phone and said that he would text me a copy of the bill of sale. John did text me a copy of the bill of sale, but it had incorrect amounts on the breakdown of charges. Brian had quoted the final price at $9,937.00 and on the invoice that John texted me, it had a grand total of $10,068.00, for a difference of $131.00 that I was being over-charged. I called John about this right away and asked why the amount differed from the agreed amount that Brian gave me. John stated prices inflated. When I told him I didn't understand how this could be when we already agreed upon a dollar amount, he agreed to remove the $131.00 inflated price and texted me the new bill of sale, with the correct final price of $9,937.00 and wrote "copy your invoice balance is $9737". (Please see attachments) The next contact I had with John's Trailer Sales was a voice mail message I received on December 6, 2021, stating that the trailer was ready to be picked up at their Middlebury, Indiana location. On December 7, 2021, my husband called the Middlebury location to let them know we would be picking it up, we just didn't know the exact date yet. He was advised that it just had to be picked up by December 19, 2021. On December 15, 2021, my husband ***** and I arrived at the Middlebury location around noon to pick up our new trailer. When we arrived, the lady working at the desk was on the phone and when she got off the phone, she complained to me about the customer that was on the phone having a question about their trailer. She received a second telephone call while we were there from another customer and when she got off the phone, she complained to me about that person too. I told her we were there to pick up our new trailer and she got a ziplock bag off the wall that had our paperwork in it. She gave me an amount of $10,234.00 to pay. However, she did not go over the charges with us, nor did she show us the paperwork. I wrote her a check for $10,234.00, not realizing that the amount she told me to pay was incorrect as it had been 3 months since I last talked to anyone from this company. My husband went outside to hitch up the trailer and the lady handed me the ziplock back with the paperwork in it. The bill of sale was covered by the 'Certificate of Origin For a Vehicle' (Please see attachment). Shortly after we left, while we were still driving home, I opened the ziplock bag and was looking at the papers. The bill of sale was a modified, faxed copy of the original. John had added a line item of 'surcharge' with a cost of $497.00. It can clearly be seen at the bottom of the bill of sale, that he modified the original price to an increased price of $10,434.00 minus our $200.00 deposit, leaving a remaining balance of $10,234.00. (Please see attachments) As soon as I saw this, I called John's Trailer Sales at their main office in Temperance, MI and asked to speak to John. The girl that answered the phone (which I think was his daughter), said that John wouldn't be in until later in the afternoon. I asked her to have him give me a call as there was a charge on the bill of sale that we were unaware of and that had not been discussed with us. When I told her it showed a 'surcharge' amount of $497.00, she said that due to inflation, they had to charge that. I asked her how this could be charged, when that wasn't part of the original agreement and finalized price. Her response was "you didn't have to take the trailer". A short time after this, John called me, while we were still on the road. When I asked him about this surcharge that was added to our bill, he immediately got defensive and was very rude. I have never had a business owner speak to me the way John did. It was difficult to have a conversation with him because most of the time he was yelling and talking over me. When I was able to get him to listen, I asked him why this surcharge of $497.00 was added to our bill of sale. He said it was because the price of everything has gone up. I asked him what that has to do with the sale of this trailer back in August when we were given the final price and placed the deposit to "lock in" the price? He said that only "locked in your spot" ( which makes no sense because I chose the options/features for how this trailer was to be built and put a deposit down) and that he has it posted all over his office that the prices could go up due to inflation. I reminded him that we have never been in his office and this sale was all conducted over the phone and no one has ever told us that the final price could go up. His response was "I'm sorry, then I forgot!", meaning that he "forgot" to tell us that the finalized price could go up due to 'inflation'. He then said "you still have the trailer hooked up right? "BRING IT BACK!" He then belittled me by saying that if $500.00 is "gonna break you that much, bring the trailer back!" He repeatedly told me to bring the trailer back and he would buy it back from me and give me $500.00 more than what we paid for it. When I told him that the trailer is not the issue, it's the $497.00 surcharge he added to the bill of sale that is the problem, he said everything has gone up in price, groceries, tires, etc. and that he has another customer that he called and told them that he was adding $2,500.00 in surcharge to their bill and they agreed to pay it. I asked him what all of that had to do with this sale? And that we have never received a call telling us that our bill could go up. He said that he is only making $700.00 on this sale. I asked him if it was good business practice to add $497.00 to a customers bill unbeknownst to the customer? He continued to yell at me and then told me to turn around and bring the trailer back and he would give me $1,000.00 more than what I paid for it. I told him the only thing I wanted was the $497.00 returned that he added to the bill without our knowledge. I told him that I would be filing a complaint about this. He then said "you hate me!, put a bad review on my website!" I tried to tell him I'm not interested in putting a bad review on his website, but I couldn't get a word in as he kept yelling over me. When he finally stopped, I told him that it's obvious this conversation is going nowhere and that I would be filing a complaint with the BBB and would be contacting an attorney. He then ended the call by hanging up on me. At 4:30pm, which was 2 hours after John hung up on me, he texted me a picture of the bill of sale, that once again had more modifications done to it. He wrote on it what the factory had assessed him in "surcharge" and out of that, he only charged me $497.00 of that. Again, we had already agreed on a final price in August. He also attached a partial piece of paper that talks about surcharges, however, this is the first time I have seen this. I believe that he stapled it to that modified bill of sale to cover what he did because he knew I would be filing a complaint. I also feel that the text message he sent with it tries to shift the blame on me for not knowing he added the bogus 'surcharge' to our bill. I also want to note that John did not keep telling me to bring back the trailer and that he would pay me more money for it out of the goodness of his heart and to try to make anything right with us. He only wanted it back and to pay us more for it so that he could resell it to someone else for an even bigger profit. However, we never said we wanted to return the trailer. The trailer wasn't the problem, it was the "surcharge" he added to our bill of sale that no one informed us about. I did not respond to his text message. (Please see attachment & images of text message thread) I am asking for the 'surcharge' of $497.00 that was wrongly assessed to our bill of sale be returned to us by John's Trailer Sales. Thank you for any assistance you can provide to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, ******* ********

  Business response

  12/20/2021

   We at johns trailer sales  try to keep all our prices to the bare min. we have been getting increases from every factory all year due to extreme labor and parts cost that are not 1% or even 5% , we are getting 50% -90% surcharge on all trailers this year , that is why it is noted on our website , basically when you order a trailer you are only saving a spot for production which can also not be guarenteed due to shut downs fro shortages and covid break outs , this trailer came in with a 43% surcharge , they where quoted at 30% surchage, and we do not know what the price is until it is delivered , because they are now at 55% , So the ********* trailer was delayed about 1 month due to shortages and covid break outs at neo mfg. We try to be as fair as we can on the increases , we usually make only15% profit  on the trailer. There increase was 13%  a total of $1291.81 , So johns wiped out most of the increase  , we held back $794.81  and ony charged the customer $497.The  ******** where called told there trailer was ready for pick up .I guess they did not ask or maybe they did not know what the price was at the end but if they asked we would have told them that the final balance was $10234 no tax included because they picked up the trailer in indiana and not temperance mi. where they ordered it over the phone, They went to Johns trailers in middlebury indiana , paid us the price of $10234, did not say anything about it sighed the paper work invoice and inspected the trailer  and did not say anything about the price at that time at all and it was on the invoice .    I john adams recieved a call from them I guess on there way home about the price , I again explained it to them we increased it surcharge only $497  when we where charged $1291.81 , we where sorry and if they thought that was unfair , even thou we think it is unfair for the factory to charge us also  but in these times that is what the factories need to do  to stay in business and make trailers for the people that still want them, I told them if you think that is unfair I am deffentily not making them take the trailer return unused and I will give them all the money back that I am not holding them to any contract that you have to take it , But I can not sell it to them any less, than that ,I am already eatin $794.81 , And before they got off the phone I even offered them $1000 to bring the trailer back  I will give them $1000 more than what they paid for it , Because we have a waiting list of peopple waiting for them that will be coming in next year at a surcharge of as of 12/20/2021 is 55% not 43% , I am sorry for this  but I as a small business owner am trying the best I can to try to be fair for the customer and  our dealership to try to get threw these trying times, There is no reason for us to sell this trailer to them when it costs over $1200   and we are only charging them $497 for the increase of surcharge and due to these unpresidental times od covid , parts increase 100% in 1 week aluminum up 300% this year , steel up 350% this year , axles up 200%, tires up 100%  plus OCEAN SURCHARGE OF 60%  on all parts  jacks , rims, screws,springs, etc any thing from china!  thanks  and again if they have not used it and it is in NEW condition  I will buy it back for $1000 more   and also on the open market they can get probable $2000 more for there is no inventory anywhere and the factory NEO MFG is 6 months out on production and also no guarentee on price just a prediction of about 70% surcharge  when it gets done     thanks john ***** 

  Customer response

  12/22/2021

   I am rejecting this response because:
  The bulk of John’s response does not address this sale nor my complaint. He heavily addresses the current rate/cost and percentages of inflation. This does not have anything to do with the sale of the trailer we purchased in August 2021, which we were already paying an inflated price of 30% more than what was listed in their advertisement for this trailer. This was in addition to any upgrades/features I selected for how the trailer was to be built. The price given at that time reflected an already inflated price, was in the corrected bill of sale and a $200.00 deposit was placed, leaving a remaining balance of $9,737.00. This was also followed up with a text message from John saying that this was the balance, along with a copy of the bill of sale on August 17, 2021.(Which was provided in the original complaint)
  
  
  John has also admitted that he ‘forgot’ to tell us that the final price could go up due to ‘inflation’ because this sale was all conducted over the phone rather than in his office. It is his responsibility to inform the customer of all of the details of a sale and we shouldn’t have to accept an additional $497.00 in ‘surcharge’ because he ‘forgot to tell us’. Also, there shouldn’t have been any additional inflation on the price to begin with as we were already paying 30% more than his advertised price, due to “the increased price of materials.”
  
  
  At no time were we told, received any call, text or anything in writing that stated that our final price could increase. At the time of pickup of the trailer, the final bill was not gone over with us, nor were we told that the price was inflated from the initial sale price. As a customer we should be able to trust that a business is being honest and following through with what the price is on the bill of sale that was provided on August 17, 2021, which was the same day I paid a $200.00 deposit to "lock in the price".
  
  
  
  In closing, I want to state again that we never wanted to return the trailer. The trailer was not the problem, it was the bogus $497.00 "surcharge' added to our bill of sale unbeknownst to us. I don't know why John feels that the solution is to "bring it back",  and pay us $1,000.00 more than what we paid, instead of doing the right thing and returning the $497.00 "surcharge." He cites that he doesn't make much on sales currently so why would he want to pay us more than what we paid for the trailer if we brought it back? The only thing we have asked for from him is to return the bogus $497.00 'surcharge.'
  

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