Derek Smith | Page 33

Manipulative, Deceitful, Typical Used Car Salesmen If you don't know, Weeks Pre-owned (WPO) is the used car subsidiary of Danbury Audi/Volkswagen. If you think the cliche about used car salesmen is a t If you don't know, Weeks Pre-owned (WPO) is the used car subsidiary of Danbury Audi/Volkswagen. If you think the cliche about used car salesmen is a thing of the past, think again. These guys are incredibly friendly but will try to deceive you at every turn...and it starts at the top with their Pre-owned Sales Director, Peter Darbisi, who admitted to intentionally trying to hide a TPMS issue from us. Their service department (Danbury VW) was honest and fair. They told us that they were instructed to reset the indicator light in an attempt to hide the issue. I ended up having to go to the management at Danbury Audi to finally get a resolution. Here's my story... Due to my lack of time, my best friend, Barbara, went to WPO and met with Daniel Putzig. Barbara spent many years as a Service Manager for reputable dealers in Westchester County and Greenwich CT before becoming a stay-at-home mom, so I trust her implicitly with car decisions. She called me from the dealer and told me the car looked good and drove well. She said there was a piece of trim that needed to be reattached but Daniel said he would take care of that before pickup. She also said no indicator lights came on during the test drive, which Daniel had specifically pointed out to her. I said, great, put down a deposit. Easy, peasy. We put down a deposit that night and scheduled to pick it up that following Wednesday. When I arrived Wednesday for pickup, I signed all the documents but Daniel was not in the office so Derek Smith handled the signing. After the signing, Derek handed me only one set of keys and said the vehicle was turned in with only that set but they were going to contact the prior owner to see if they had the other set somewhere. Who, in their right mind, only wants one set of keys to their vehicle??? Since nobody had gone to DMV to process my registration and title, I left the lot with a dealer plate on the car. This turned out to be my saving grace. As soon as I was leaving the Weeks parking lot, the TPMS indicator light came on. Obviously, the indicator light had been on prior and Weeks reset it hoping that it wouldn't come back on for a while. Also, that piece of trim had not been reattached. After that, the experience was nothing but a nightmare. Both Barbara and I repeatedly contacted Daniel asking for resolutions to these 3 issues without receiving clear and explicit actions that were going to be taken. He was also very reluctant to put anything definitive in writing via email. We always seemed to receive responses that left us scratching our heads because it didn't really answer our questions or it required us to ask more. Finally, after two weeks, we thought we had gotten to a place where things were going to get resolved, only to sadly realize it was all a ruse to get us back into WPO just so they could get their Dealer plate back as they had no intention of fixing the TPMS issue all along. Fortunately, I am a skeptic and did not give Barbara the dealer plate to bring with her. I wanted to make sure everything was completed before returning that highly-coveted item, which seemed to be the only thing Daniel cared about during our back and forth. Per Daniel's instructions, Barbara took the vehicle to their service department at Danbury Volkswagen where she met one of the service advisors. When the vehicle was done, she told Barbara that the TPMS indicator had to do with the wheel sensors but that she was instructed only to reset the light and do nothing else to the vehicle. She also said the key machine could not cut the after-market blank key that Daniel had provided. The service manager further informed her that 3 wheel sensors had coded and even provided a printout. He also confirmed that the vehicle had been there prior to have the TPMS indicator light reset before we purchased the vehicle. Barbara then took the vehicle back to Weeks where Daniel reattached the trim. While that was going on, Barbara was approached by Peter Darbisi, the sales manager. Mr. Darbisi was extremely abrasive and made Barbara feel completely uncomfortable. He told her to come into his office where he insisted multiple times on closing the door even though she told him repeatedly that she was not comfortable with that. The door was ultimately left open. During this "conversation", Mr. Darbisi insisted that I bought the car "as is" and they didn't have to fix anything. He also admitted to resetting the indicator light but said that didn't matter because it is common practice to do so. When Barbara had finally had enough of his intimidating tactics, she stood up to leave at which point he yelled at her "Sit back down!" Barbara was so threatened that she felt he was going to grab her or her bag which he thought contained the dealer plate. No wonder he wanted the door closed. That was it. Barbara was done and left his office. Back out in the showroom, Mr. Darbisi continued his tirade, threatening to call the police and report the dealer plate stolen. He was insistent that Barbara had the dealer plate on her person. He also screamed at Daniel to take my license plates off the vehicle, which they had just put on. They also ripped off my window registration sticker making it unusable. Further, Mr. Darbisi told Barbara he had recorded their entire conversation... AFTER the fact. We then contacted Danbury Audi directly and I eventually spoke with the General Manager who admitted that WPO had been dishonest by intentionally not disclosing the issues. We reached a mutually-agreeably decision and the rest is history. I get buying a used car is "as is" BUT it is not supposed to be "as hidden". WPO clearly hid the TPMS issue by resetting the indicator which was confirmed by the service department and admitted by Mr. Darbisi. Had the indicator light been on during the test drive, we would've been able to make an informed decision. WPO also clearly tried to hide the fact that there was only one key and remote for the vehicle by not disclosing that information until AFTER the deal was done. Had it been disclosed up front that there was only one key and remote, again, we would've been able to make an informed decision. But those things were clearly and intentionally hidden in an attempt to deceive the customer, which is, at the very least, unethical. We purchased this vehicle from what was supposed to be a reputable dealer, not a sleezy used car lot where you might expect these underhanded tactics. Honestly, had WPO been transparent about those issues, I would've probably purchased the vehicle anyway. Neither was a show-stopper. Daniel Putzig was a nice guy, probably in a bad position having to go through Peter Darbisi for every decision, which I'm guessing is why we never got clear answers from him. Derek Smith we didn't deal much with other than when we picked up the vehicle. Peter Darbisi is a liar, cheat, and thief...among other things. As their leader, I would never deal with WPO again. More

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Smart car! A great selection of certified preowned cars, good customer service and very nice showroom. Derek was able to show me exactly the car I was looking f A great selection of certified preowned cars, good customer service and very nice showroom. Derek was able to show me exactly the car I was looking for (which had just come in) and made the car buying process as pain free as possible. I was also happy with the price offered with my try in. More

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Traded in my Jetta for a Passat I was looking to trade in my Jetta for a Passat. The website was easily accessible and the staff were very receptive and knowledgeable. Mr Derek Smith I was looking to trade in my Jetta for a Passat. The website was easily accessible and the staff were very receptive and knowledgeable. Mr Derek Smith made the transfer very smooth and was flexible to last minute schedule changes. More

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Derek Smith I found my experience of working with both Derek and Dexter easy and thorough. I wouldn’t hesitate on referring Derek heron to family or friends. I found my experience of working with both Derek and Dexter easy and thorough. I wouldn’t hesitate on referring Derek heron to family or friends. More

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2014 VW Beetle Convertible (Used) Derek helped me from start to finish and made it easy to buy the right car, best experience ever and Dexter made the closing simple without any of th Derek helped me from start to finish and made it easy to buy the right car, best experience ever and Dexter made the closing simple without any of the pressure to purchase any warranties that most dealers trey to do. More

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Great service! I had a wonderful experience with Weeks! Everyone was incredibly helpful and patient while I found the right car for me! Derek helped me through the e I had a wonderful experience with Weeks! Everyone was incredibly helpful and patient while I found the right car for me! Derek helped me through the entire process and was incredibly helpful and sincere! More

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Great Experience Was very impressed with the purchase experience, and dealing with Derek Smith. Knowledgable, professional and no bulls**t. Quick and efficient...sam Was very impressed with the purchase experience, and dealing with Derek Smith. Knowledgable, professional and no bulls**t. Quick and efficient...same experience with Derek as well. More

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Exemplary cars and service staff I was immediately in love with the 2012 VW Passat i found on the lot, it was only there for 1 day and there weren't even any photos on the site yet, i I was immediately in love with the 2012 VW Passat i found on the lot, it was only there for 1 day and there weren't even any photos on the site yet, i wasn't planning on purchasing a car that day but not only was this car in pristine shape, it had less miles, a lower price, a newer year, and better features than my first car. The service was professional, informative, and most importantly genuine. Felt like they really wanted to make sure i got a good car for a fair price and as quickly as i felt comfortable with. I especially enjoyed Derek's attentiveness, he was super helpful and made getting the plates, registration, and even insurance policy setup quickly and easily. This whole experience actually made me want to hurry and pay off this financing so i can get good enough credit to buy another car, they made it so simple for me i even enjoyed it. More

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Wonderful experience Derek was a pleasure to deal with. My grandson was looking for a car and Derek supplied the car he fell in love with within the first 10 minutes of b Derek was a pleasure to deal with. My grandson was looking for a car and Derek supplied the car he fell in love with within the first 10 minutes of being at the dealership. Derek made the perfect match. More

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Excellent service I was fortunate to find a rare gem, a CPO Audi A8 4.0t. Well kept, low miles, and a great price. He also gave me a great trade in price for my well I was fortunate to find a rare gem, a CPO Audi A8 4.0t. Well kept, low miles, and a great price. He also gave me a great trade in price for my well kept VW Passat 3.6 V6 engine. Weeks Pre-Owned Center has the BEST selection of pre-owned Audi in Westchester County/Fairfield County area. More

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