'A very isolated incident': B.C. dealership responds to complaints about electric vehicle purchases
Car dealer Go Auto confirmed there were “some challenges” with the sale of electric vehicles after it took over ownership of Dams Ford Lincoln on the Langley Bypass, but said it is actively resolving those issues.
The admission comes after buyers told CTV News the vehicles they ordered from the dealership months ago were either not built or sold to someone else.
“It’s a very isolated incident,” said Jared Biggs, Go Auto Senior Vice President. “It would represent less than point one per cent of the transactions that our family-run business would complete in a year.”
One such customer is Ryan Lopez, who ordered an electric Ford Mustang Mach-E in July of 2022.
Despite having the car’s vehicle identification number, or VIN, and watching its assembly progress online, “they couldn’t find any history of my car being ordered,” said Lopez of the new management at Dams Ford Lincoln.
That same Mustang was sold to somebody else.
The most recent customer to come forward is business owner Dave Mellis, who said he has purchased at least a dozen vehicles from the Surrey dealer over the years.
In September 2021 before the dealerships changed hands, Mellis signed a contract and put down a deposit for a Ford E-Transit Cargo Van. He was told it would take several months to a year to be built and delivered.
In the meantime, Dams Ford Lincoln was sold to Go Auto in August 2022. When Mellis asked the new management for an update on the electric van, he received an email message indicating it hadn’t been built.
“I have noticed that your 2022 E-transit order has not been built. Are you interested in ordering a 2023 E-transit. The MSRP has gone up on the vehicle,” the email read.
He went to the dealership to get his deposit back. The attendant questions why he wanted a refund because “it was in the system and ready to be delivered,” Mellis said.
When Go Auto bought Dams Ford Lincoln, it assumed all existing contracts, and Biggs said during the transition, clarity may have been missing on some of the files.
“I would invite anyone across any of our locations – and specifically Dams Ford with that transition of ownership – if they feel like there’s an issue that’s unresolved, or they have any concerns, I would personally love the opportunity to sit down with them, rectify any issues,” he said.
He insisted customer care is the company’s core value.
Biggs also told CTV News his team will be reaching out to Dave Mellis to see if they can resolve the issue surrounding the van, and said a new Mustang has already been found for Ryan Lopez and that “he’s definitely a happy customer.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
American Airlines drops law firm that said a 9-year-old girl should have seen camera on toilet seat
American Airlines has replaced the law firm that told a judge a nine-year-old girl was negligent in not noticing there was a camera phone taped to the seat in an airplane lavatory.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Nicki Minaj's England concert postponed after rapper was detained by Dutch authorities over pot
Nicki Minaj's concert in Manchester scheduled for Saturday night was postponed after police in the Netherlands discovered marijuana in her bags as she was preparing to leave the country.
1 dead, 3 in hospital after flying wheel crashes into bus windshield on QEW
A man is dead, and three others are in hospital after a flying wheel crashed into a coach bus on the QEW in St. Catharines.