‘It's cost them $50k’: Guy leaves 1,500+ one-star reviews after getting swindled at the car dealership

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 25, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

There's nothing more frustrating than getting ripped off and there's no place more notorious for duping their customers than a car dealership. While they may not be snake oil salesmen, car salesmen are pretty darn close, leveling up their deceptions with a stiff handshake and a greasy haircut. 

But the guy in our next story would not go down without a fight… A fight in the review section. 

After setting up a purchase at a dealership across state lines (with signed paperwork, a paid deposit, and everything wrapped up in a nice, neat bow), the grimy salesman at the car lot still dared to try and swindle this guy into buying a more expensive model. They probably never imagined that this failed bait-and-switch would result in a plumeted ranking online. This petty customer spent the next 2-3 years writing bad reviews in his spare time, bringing their 4.5-star rating down to a 1.9.

I guess there's one car dealership manager out there that regrets saying, 'Go ahead and leave a bad review'. Scroll for the entire story of epic vengeance and malicious compliance.

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  • 01
    "Go ahead and leave a bad review"
    via canva
  • 02
    Posted by u/Expensive__Support 47 minutes ago Dealership pulled Bait and Switch It cost them over $50k LOC D
    via Expensive__Support
  • 03
    The city I live in has extremely inflated vehicle values compared to the surrounding areas. If you buy the same car from a neighboring state, you can often save $3-4k without really trying. When I buy a new vehicle (which happens every 3-4 years), I always look in the surrounding states to compare pricing.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 04
    This story happened about 5 years ago and the malicious compliance is still ongoing to this day. I was shopping for a new car (brand new) - and found one that matched my specs about 12 hours away in a neighboring state. It was priced about $5,000 below comps.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 05
    After looking up flights, there was a 1 way direct flight that took me to their local airport for around $175. Plus the gas to drive back - I was looking at a total of maybe $275 to save $5,000. Absolutely worth it in this situation.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 06
    I reached out to the dealership - negotiated a bit - and agreed on a price. I let them know that I would be flying in to pick up the car - and offered to pay in full in advance of the flight. They told me that all they needed was a $1k deposit - and that the car was considered mine. We signed a contract and I paid the deposit.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 07
    I reached out to the dealership - negotiated a bit - and agreed on a price. I let them know that I would be flying in to pick up the car - and offered to pay in full in advance of the flight. They told me that all they needed was a $1k deposit - and that the car was considered mine. We signed a contract and I paid the deposit. And then I booked the flight (for 3 days from then).
    via Expensive__Support
  • 08
    First sign of things gone awry: When I showed up at the airport, the dealership was supposed to pick me up. This had been arranged in advance. A quick phone call later – and I grabbed an uber to take me the 20 miles to the dealership with the promise of them covering that cost. No big deal either way.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 09
    Second sign of things gone awry: When I showed up at the dealership, the salesman I had been speaking with asked me if I wanted to walk the lot with him to look at a few cars. Yes, cars. Plural. Questioning what he meant by that, we walked into the lot to see these "cars" that he was talking about.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 10
    Were these some special type of gold inlaid, full self driving, full self flying, amaze-mobiles? No. They were not. When I point blank asked to see the car that I was buying - the one with VIN XYZ listed in this signed contract with a deposit on it - I was told it was no longer available.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 11
    The salesman offered to show me similar cars - which would have been fine were we able to come to similar terms on pricing - but all of these cars outrageously priced (think 2k over MSRP instead of $5k under MSRP). - (Important note for later: There was never a mention (or any paperwork, signage, etc) of any incentives for giving 5 star reviews.)
    via Expensive__Support
  • 12
    Fast forward 2-3 hours. I am now convinced this dealership never had this specific car on the lot - and that this was 100% a bait and switch gone wrong. The dealership was unwilling to sell me a similar vehicle at a similar price to our negotiated one (we were over $5k apart) - and were unwilling to pay the flight costs for this bait and switch scenario.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 13
    A heated discussion ensued between myself and the GM - where he told me to "go ahead and leave a bad review" - but that I wasn't getting any "free” money from him. I took an uber to a nearby hotel and booked a flight back home for the next day. Total cost? Around $750.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 14
    Cue malicious compliance: This dealership had an average Google rating of right around 4.5 stars and around 400 total reviews. Pretty solid for a dealership. That night, while I was sitting in the hotel room, I had some time to burn. I
    via Expensive__Support
  • 15
    spent a couple of hours creating new email accounts just so that I could leave multiple reviews for this dealership. All said and done, I had left around twenty 1 star reviews over the course of that night - and then sort of stopped caring about the reviews. At this point my focus shifted to recovering my lost travel expenses.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 16
    A few days after getting back, I sent the dealership a demand letter for $750, which they promptly ignored. Since we had done the original contract (with the deposit) in both states, I was allowed to file a small claims suit in my state ·
    via Expensive__Support
  • 17
    which I did. The dealership never showed up to court - and I received a default judgement for $750. (I did collect that, by the way. It took a few certified letters - a few phone calls - and about a year - but I did get a check for $750.)
    via Expensive__Support
  • 18
    As you can imagine, I was still not a happy camper. What they had done was wrong on so many levels. All of my friends knew the story of how I was bait and switched - and the fact that I flew to the dealership on a one way ticket only made it that much worse. They had all left a bad review or two - but nothing more than a normal mad customer.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 19
    Cue malicious compliance (long term): I don't know how it started - or how it ended up lasting as long as it has - but at some point I had some time on my hands and left a bad review for this dealership. Just one. Not two. Not three. One.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 20
    In doing so, I noticed that all of the reviews I had left right after leaving the dealership were gone. Probably taken down for being "fake" or because I had left so many at the same time and the dealership reported them.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 21
    I wanted to make sure this dealership wouldn't do this to someone else. So the next day, I checked to make sure that one bad review I had just left was still there. It was and since I was thinking about it, I went ahead and created another account - and left another 1 star review.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 22
    Fast forward 2-3 years. It has now become a habit. Every time I have a few minutes to spare, I create a new account and leave a 1 star review for this dealership. Their current rating? 1.9 stars with nearly 3.5k total reviews.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 23
    I am personally responsible for at least half of those reviews. When you open the dealer's website, one of the large banners that flashes across the screen advertises $50 for a 5 star review - something about showing the review to your salesman to get a $50 visa gift card. It has been this way since about a year after this bait and switch occurred - right around the time the 1 star reviews began to accumulate.
    via Expensive__Support
  • 24
    Assuming I am responsible for half of their reviews - and the fact that the dealership only has 3.5k total reviews - they have paid $50 per review for at least 1,000 reviews (likely more than that).
    via Expensive__Support
  • 25
    Meaning, they have implemented a policy to pay for reviews – have spent $50k doing so - and have still seen their average rating drop consistently since telling me to "go ahead and leave a bad review."
    via Expensive__Support
  • 26
    Wodan11 2 hr. ago It's also good practice to leave a 2 star instead. Say something nice, such as, "hey free nespresso in the lobby!" And then proceed to tear them a new one.
    via Wodan11
  • 27
    Expensive Support OP 1 hr. ago It is very hard to ignore 1500+ 1 star reviews... But you do make an excellent point!
    via Expensive__Support
  • 28
    ThrowawayAccount41is 2 hr. ago This might be one of the top 100 most epic malicious compliances I've ever read. Vote Reply Share speculatrix 2 hr. ago And r/nuclearrevenge!
    via ThrowawayAccount41is

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reviews salesman epic ripped off review malicious compliance revenge one star reviews Car Dealership bad review petty sales swindled reddit thread Reddit five star reviewss
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