My HORRIBLE experience with Naples Motorsport. Pics included with this post!

Business 101

Customer,Customer,Customer

They are why you are there.
We have been in business since 1983 and have delt with some good and bad customers, A lot of the ones I thought of as unreasonable at the time have turned out to be repeat and very profitable customers only because we did the right thing.
I also can't think of one customer that I would avoid if I saw them on the street.
They took you for $16000 now but may have lost a repeat sale or sales equating to much more $ in the long run.

Russell

 

thanks again man!!
sounds like you're gonna have some fun with him

...git em!!

 

I didn't want to wade into this, other than clarifying the relationsip dynamics between Bay State Motorsports and Naples Motorsports, but I'm bothered by this thread.

In full disclosure, I am a Part-Time employee of Bay State Motorsports. I have never been employed by Naples Motorsports but have worked with both Todd and Rob on some minor things. Personally, I find them both to be good guys and both know a lot about exotics, especially Ferraris. That being said......

If Steve is unhappy about the final outcome of his transaction, fine. In fact, I would agree with him. I think Naples made a mistake. I'm sure they thought about it, considered all options/repercussions and did what they felt was in their best interest. I would have done things differently.

But this thread has become a sounding board about Naples in general. For people to "take Naples Motorsports off the list" because of Steve's deal is a little nuts. It's like McCarthyism at its worst. Are these same people prepared to put Naples back on the list should a different customer come and say that Naples gave them the deal of a lifetime? Or went the extra mile to make them happy? Or knocked thousands of dollars off the asking prices?

If we want to discuss Steve's deal, fine. Let's stay on subject. Steve should have done a PPI. Period. Naples should have disclosed the paintwork. Period. Regarding the re-stocking fee, Steve signed off on it, should we be bashing him? If we want to discuss Naples Motorsports as a reputable used car dealer then I think their overall success and repeat customers over the past decade are probably going to speak for themselves.

That's my .02. Take it, leave it, call me an idiot, post a picture of some guy with his head up his bum, whatever. Steve, I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope you can take it as an expensive learning experience while still enjoying these cars as a whole....and remember always get a PPI

 

Steve. Naples is probably counting on the fact that this thread will die, then slip down and out of view. I suggest that every 3-6 months, you dig it up and put a recent post at the end of the thread, thereby bringing it back to the attention of the members of the board. I think that one of the greatest services we can do as members is to put the crooked dealers on notice that their days of screwing the customer, and then believing they can get away with it anonomously are over. They deserve to be forced out of business. You may be able to afford the 16K, but there are many buyers out there who have saved and sacrificed for years to buy their 'dream'. To have it turn into this type of nightmare, and not be able to afford to recover from it would be tragic. Naples, and other dealers like them need to be hounded out of the business. You have helped in this endeavour.

 

If you look in the ferrari pimp post where todd actully posted about why they dont negotiate much on there cars, he blatantly states if a car needs a repaint on a panel, they have it done. I dont know why he would hide the fact that it had paintwork when they openly say thats parts of them making there cars "perfect" If a car needs interior work, they fix it, if it needs a panel repainted, they have it done. Hes very open about it in the other post. I agree they should have disclosed it but MAYBE they didnt notice the paintwork on that car or maybe they lied. Only todd and the manager know. It seems they HAD the best reputation in FL for a used exotic car dealership. I think its diminishing fast just because of this post. Stupid mistake on there part.

 

Dude, this is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Are you nuts? "hounded out of business" Steve bought the car without a PPI and then signed off on the restocking fee! Period. Naples didn't send someone up there to break his legs or run over his dog. Am I the only one who finds this a bit ridiculous?

 

Reading Steves initial post, it is obvious that there are several legitimate issues that should have led a reputable dealer to offer a proper refund/exchange on the car. To keep 16K as a 'restock' fee is grossly disproportionate to the 'inconvenience' of taking a car back. A classic case of short-sighted thinking is there ever was one. I hope Steve and Todd are enjoying the thread, and I am sure that they will probably not modify their 'business practices' accordingly. Of course, not a penny of my money will ever transfer through their business either. Pretty disgraceful IMHO.

 

I feel your pain. I recently bought a cs from foreign cars italia that I had a full pdi done but rather than just saying ship the car I flew in to inspect it myself. The lesson here is to trust your own judgement better than someone who stands to make a commision. As for the repaint i can not tell from the pictures but several ferraris i have owned i've later respayed the bumpers due to rock chips. Maybe with a good wet sand you'll get out the paint blemishes. Good luck

 

Francesco: a bit of advice from my 'dear old dad' is in order. "...just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD..."

A copy of part of Steves initial post:

I’m a pretty easy going guy, and thanked Rob with an email, which I gave Naples permission to post on their website. Paying for the fluid change was way easier then getting an appointment at Shelton, here in Ft Lauderdale. At any rate the car was shipped back to me a couple of days later and I decided to detail it. I washed it, and pulled it into the garage for a couple coats of Zaino. That’s when it all hit the fan. Upon close inspection I noticed that the front bumper didn’t align up with the body. As I investigated further I noticed that there were paint droplets hanging from the metal above the bumper, and below the trunk. I decided to pull off the clear bra, and realized that the bra had hidden a paint job on the bumper. It was two toned. When I opened the trunk there was evidence of Bondo under one of the screws, and a very uneven tape line all around the inner part of the trunk. I don’t have the expertise to say that this car was in an accident, and to say that would be a guess. This post is about verifiable facts. Please see my photo’s at the end


If I had bought a car, even without a PPI, but that was described as 'perfect', I would also be incenced, and insist that the dealership explain the difference between my idea of 'perfect',...and their obviously 'creative' idea of 'perfect'...? Also, Todds' own website claim was that he could return the car if he wasn't satisifed, only for him to play games with Steve regarding the number of days that had passed since purchase, even though Steve pointed out that in that period of time he had only had the car for a day or two...the rest of the week it having been back at the dealer.

Francesco, a good, reputable dealer would have found a much better way to handle this other than cynically keeping 16K of the mans money.

I don't really care what they have to say (..and isn't it interesting that they have no comment on the matter?), I will not do business with people that DO business like this. It is nothing more than taking advantage of people. I would expect better service from a Lada dealer in Communist Poland...

 

I agree with you. There are legitimate issues. But I think that Naples did extend an olive branch, if you will, by taking the car back. Cars in FLA are not required to carry a warranty and are sold as is, Todd could have told the guy to take a hike. Instead Naples writes a check for $186K of money that's probably already been moved into another car. That sounds kind of reasonable to me. Naples isn't a Shelton, or rather Naples isn't a dealership with millions in cash on hand. It's not easy to write a check for close to $200K after you've moved it into the next asset.

 

...then they should be more careful as to how they describe their products..


(ps, I understand you are trying to represent a differing and reasonable arguement...and I respect and appreciate that....I just don't agree with the actions of Napels)

 

take 16k from him, then turn around and sell it again for MORE!

ya, they're REEEEEEEAL good guys

 

Casino...you're father was a wise man. I just think it is irresponsible to try and tear down someone's business on the merits of 1 out of thousands of deals.

If we did that, we could theoretically say that Tom Brady isn't the best quarterback in the NFL after his last game of this season

 

Dude, regardless of what you saw on the website, I'd be willing to bet they didn't make any more $ on that car.

 

ok...I agree with that. And to be fair, I don't know the history of all their other business dealings. I just think that they should have (and still should) found a more equitable way to deal with Steves complaints. I don't understand why some dealers try and gouge a customer one time, guaranteeing that the customer will never again do business with them? It isn't too late for Naples to turn this from a big disaster to a PR coup. I would be the first to give them kudos if they make a concerted effort to meet Steve in a half-way reasonable manner.

 

Shilling? Dude, I have noted, more than once, that I agree with you. Was I not completely clear in my first post that I would have done differently. I would have given you the whole amount back. I just think it's a little crazy that we're starting a "black book" on one misguided deal.

Steve, witness? You need to let this thing go...you're definetly starting to sound a little scary. I tried to add a voice of reason and now you're threatening me?

 

Steve, absolutely no hard feelings. Look, I do work for Bay State, I do know Todd, but I can promise you I know NOTHING of Todd's business. I just have a different point of view when it comes to the dealership vs. customer. I love Bay State. They have allowed me to be involved with cars that I will probably never be able to own. It's essentially been a dream come true just to be able to work there a few hours a week. I get nervous for the smaller dealers out there, like Bay State, that do work hard to please customers but sometimes things just don't....."click". Situations go from bad to worse and so on and so forth. One good deal does not a dealership make, but one bad deal can a dealership break. That's it.

Dude, your 05 is SICK. Drive it, love it. Happy motoring in all you do.

Mark

 

I don't see his problem. He asked for an 8% restocking fee and got it. He knew what he wanted and he knew how his customer would respond, surely.

 

I will own many more Ferrari's. I assure you that none will be purchased from Naples. Enough said! Tim

 

That's pretty expensive advertising, $2.00 a post. I think we should try to get it down a bit, say around .25. Thats only 64,000 posts

 

whatever they did or didnt sell it for they still got Steves money and he got the shaft.
A flat 1-2k restocking fee is one thing, a 8%(16k) for really doing nothing is total BS

I hope the 16k was worth just one more person talking about their experience with them .....and 9,000 and counting views

 

There's some merits to Francesco's comment regarding how we are all attacking Naples without even hearing their side of the story. As a person who work in the legal field, I believe it is imperative to hear both sides of the story prior to making any judgement. (We need to hear Naples side of the story) It is the foundation of our great country. Innocent until proven guilty. We cannot assert any assumption without any proven facts.

Mind you, IMO Naples exercised a bad judgement when they took that much money from Steve. But, I am sure they had their reasons whatever that may be. Instead, they should have accomodated Steve in other ways because afterall, he is "the Customer." Naples should always remember that they are in business; therefore, they are accountable to a higher standard than a customer. In doing business, it is the customer who is always right. "customer, customer, customer" as one posting noted.