How do I feel about my purchase experience at Gateway Kia of New Brunswick? Awful, betrayed, second-class citizen, scammed, disgusted, hurt, regretful, sad, angry, threatened and sorry for the boss and his associates involved in this process. It was Saturday 4/7/12. My wife and I were looking to purchase a car to replace our Honda Civic Hybrid. Before coming to Gateway Kia we had checked out the Ford and Subaru dealerships but couldn’t find what we liked. On our way back home we saw Kia on Rt 1 North and tried 3 times to get to the dealership. We’d never had a Korean-made car, so since my family name, Chang, is also Korean we decided to give it a shot. We were greeted by a friendly salesman, Florel. When we decided on the model of the car we wanted, the Kia Soul, he told us that he was going to speak to his boss and try to get us the $5,000 discount when he went back in for the key; then, he took us for a test drive. When we came back and sat down to look at the numbers, Florel gave us the idea that we were getting the $5,000 discount on the car. He said that the reason why the remote start was removed from the deal was because I was getting the $5,000 discount off the sticker price. In addition to removal of the remote start, the destination charge of $750 was to be added due to the discount. He added a set of wheel locks to the deal. Later in the day of purchase 4/7/12, Sal, the finance manager, called my wife and me into his office for signing of papers. It was late and getting dark with most of the dealership’s lights turned off. As he was going over the numbers speedily everyone seemed anxious to get home and I was in the mixed mood of excitement and fatigue, I signed the papers blindsightedly where the ‘x’ marks were shown, trusting that Gateway Kia would not disappoint me by falsifying the numbers. In the middle of signing, outside of Sal’s office Florel (my salesman) hurried me up because he got Geico on the line waiting for me to start a new insurance policy. My concentration was split up during this hectic final process. After reviewing the papers I had signed over the weekend, I was shocked. On 4/10/12 I spoke to the boss, Nick. Basically, he just lectured me about the fact that my name and signature were on the Bill of Sale, I was legally bound to follow through with the sale. My wife showed up later on that day too depressed by this whole situation to come into the dealership; she was sobbing profusely and regretfully inside the car. Even though my wife and I try to cover up our awful and hurtful feelings about our experience at Gateway by not talking about it, those hurtful feelings still haunt our thoughts and emotions every time we enter that car, pass by the dealership on Rt 1 and someone mentions about our Kia Soul. My wife and I have two high school children living with us; after sharing our experience at Gateway Kia with them the older one asked us, Is it even ethical what they did to us? Gateway Kia has legal grounds to hold me legally liable for paying for the vehicle according to what the Bill of Sale states. To that end, as a responsible citizen, I am required to fulfill my duty as the consequence of the trust that I had in the dealership. Kia Gateway has successfully earned my business through betrayal and tactic team effort by its boss and associates. For the latter I give the dealership a rating of 10 (ten). For ethical integrity and customer satisfaction, 0 (zero). I am fully aware that legal proceedings in this case can no longer be effective to me in any way; Gateway Kia has successfully managed to make me lose my legal protection. Nevertheless, I still have the right to appeal to the public to get a poll of their opinion on this matter through the media. Truthfully and Sorrowfully Yours, Peter Chang
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