It's done.
I sold our 2012 VW Jetta Sportwagan back to VW on 11/29/16
My co-owner wife and I show up at the local VW dealership a bit early, 3:15 (appointment was for 3:30). No buyback specialists in sight. The salesman there tells me that they are out getting something to eat and that they won't be back till later because the next buyback appointment isn't till 6:30. WHAT?!
I show the salesman the e-mail that says my appointment is at 3:30 today. He phones the buyback dude and tells him what's happening. Buyback dude heads back to the dealership asap. Shows up at 4:00.
Buyback dude tells me that his next appointment isn't till 6:30. I show him my e-mail. He makes some calls and gets nowhere. He doesn't have my claim number and can't find my name on any lists. Fortunately I have the claim number. He locates my info with that.
Ah, there's my name. Appointment for 11/29/16 @ 3:30. Um, yeah.
Buyback dude looks over our paperwork, everything looks good. We go out to the Jetta and he takes some pics and checks the odo. Mileage looks good at 46,525 he says that we'll get the full amount stated in my formal offer from VW.
We go back inside and he enters the numbers on his tablet. So far so good, till I see the amount due to us. $23,626.73 WHAT?!
My formal offer letter from VW says $24,076.73. So where did the $450 go? My mileage is under the allotted amount so what gives? The buyback dude didn't have a clue. He called the claims number and put his phone on speaker. Then we waited, and waited. I told him no way was I going to wait for who knows how long for someone to answer. We'd already been there for an hour and a half. I said that I would call them in the morning from home, when I can wait at my leisure. He finished up and gave me a paper receipt. I checked my e-mail and I also got a e-mail receipt, nothing more.
I then waited two days before calling the Claims Hotline. I wanted to make sure that the buyback funds made it into my checking account via EFT before I started complaining about the amounts being different.
Waited ~25 minutes on hold, listening to the same 30 second classical musak clip over and over and over...
Hey, is that Wagner?
I think that VW's plan was to make folks mad, or go mad, with this musak till they hang up.
Spoke with a real person for about 30 seconds. I explained to Bethany that the amount on my final offer letter and the amount that I actually received differ by $450. I'm back on hold, no musak thank goodness, waiting while she checks...
Oh boy, Bethany knows nothing, nothing! (the people on this hotline are from a 3rd party company that was contracted to do the buybacks and their training leave a bit to be desired)
She first told me that the reason that my payout was less than my offer letter was because of the damage to my car. WTF? My car was in perfect condition and I have the pics to prove it, so do the 'buyback specialists'. Besides, the payout amount was already determined before I even arrived for my buyback appointment.
She's checking...
After an hour on the claims hotline, mostly on hold listening to my now favorite 30 seconds of Wagner...
Spoke with Shera, who is a supervisor, who also knows nothing. She told me to go back to the dealership for restitution. WHAT?! I told her that the dealer is just acting as a physical location for the buyback and they have no stake in it. Worse, they don't care because they're not making any money on their time.
Now I'm told that my case has been escalated to the next level and that I should hear something in 3 days. I'm not holding my breath...
I asked if there was another number that I can call to speak with whoever my case was escalated to once the three days has passed and I hear nothing?
Um, no. Call the claims hotline back.
Oh good, I'm already missing that snappy 30 second musak clip.
Nice.