Website Offers Car Buyers Place to Vent About Dealers

[USAFANG67]

By Jim Mateja
WardsAuto.com, Nov 13, 2006 11:39 AM
CHICAGO – Car buyers who want to tell the world about their sales experience, whether frustrated or thrilled, now have an outlet.

MyDealerAndMe.com is a new website designed to bring consumers and dealers together.

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Marco Gonzalez, a new- and used-car sales veteran in Miami, came up with the idea. He felt consumers needed a place where they could let others know how happy they were with their car-buying experience.

“I’ve been in this business for 23 years, and all you hear are the negative comments,” he says. “But we satisfy people on a daily basis; there’s just nowhere to tell people.”

Although Gonzalez sees the site as a place where consumers generally toss bouquets at dealers, they also are allowed to gripe. Dealers will respond to those that do, and the hope is differences will be settled amicably.

Any consumer can log onto the site to venerate or vilify a dealer. The dealer will be e-mailed when a negative comment has been posted. But the dealer has to pay a $349 annual fee to become a MyDealerAndMe member to respond to a complaint.

To keep cranks away, Gonzalez says consumers must enter their name, e-mail address and vehicle identification number of their car or truck. That way, the aggrieved dealer can verify whether he sold that person the vehicle.

“Dealers have a chance to give their side of the story and, hopefully, we’ll clear the air and resolve problems. We don’t want people just to take shots,” Gonzalez says.

But just in case, he adds, “We are not responsible for comments posted on the page.”

However, any offensive tirade will be deleted, and gripes will be removed from the site once the complaint is resolved.

If a dealer decides not to pay $349 to be able to respond, Gonzalez will determine how long to keep the complaint or compliment posted.

Gonzalez also says the site will rate dealers. Five stars will be awarded those with only positive consumer comments and zero stars if the responses are only negative.