Dealership pays $2900 after WINK News Investigation

ARCADIA, Fla. – A woman reached out to WINK News for help after a local car dealership did not deliver on what she paid for.

We stepped in to help get a refund for a woman, who paid for a warranty she found out, she never had. Our investigation put Arcadia Chevrolet Buick in the hot seat. Now, they say they will change the way they do business so this will not happen again.

Last year, Ann Langford treated herself to a red pickup truck. In July, her truck broke down. Ann did not expect to have to pay the repair bill because she had paid for an extended warranty when she bought the truck.

That warranty is laid out in her finance agreement with Arcadia Chevrolet Buick, where she got the truck. Ann bought a service contract with a company called Zurich, a top insurer.

We reached out to Zurich, which told WINK News they had no record of her in their system. So where did her money go?

WINK News Call for Action tried to help Ann get that money. Twice our volunteers called the dealership, and both times someone at the dealership hung up on them.

WINK News Call for Action Reporter Lindsey Sablan then called and was also hung up on. She called once more, and this time was told that a finance manager would not talk to her. So she had to go to the dealership for answers.

Once there, she finally talked to Tom Hunt, who said he was the corporate controller. Two hours after talking, the dealership told us and Ann that she would get her money back. However, it still took several more phone calls and another trip to the dealership, before Ann finally saw her check.

In a statement to WINK News, Arcadia Chevrolet Buick told us:

“Arcadia Chevrolet Buick (Pontiac Oldsmobile) has been in business since 1990. Over those 24 years we have sold over 40,000 new and used vehicles. In addition,  we have sold tens of thousands of extended service contracts and GAP policies without any prior complaints.
ACCORDING TO GENERAL MOTORS, Arcadia Chevrolet Buick is The number 1 rated Multi-Line General Motors dealership in the state of Florida in sales effectiveness AND we are in the top 10 in the state of Florida in Customer Service Index (CSI). We have instituted a second level of review of all 3rd party payables and are working with our current provider to improve our practices and their billing practices…”

If you purchased an extended warranty through any of the Plattner Auto Groups, we recommend you call the service contractor and make sure your warranty was registered.