[japmaxse]

I'm experiencing some very annoying run arounds with my dealer regarding this $500 Costco card I was supposed to get two months ago. After many phone call attempts him telling me "I'll call you back next week" no call, again " I'm aware of the issue I'll call you as soon as I get word" no call. He just kept saying he needed to talk to this guy in charge of that promotion supposedly he was on vacation. At that point I was sick of the excuses and two weeks after that I called the new car sales manager to find out what the deal was and he says he knows nothing about the costco promotion and how it works and would call me back on the matter. I waited over a week no call . After many attempts again to get a hold of the manager I finally spoke to him today. Told him you never called me back. This guy had the nerve to repeatedly tell me I never spoke to him basically calling me a liar. Now I'm really annoyed at this point I had his name written down and everything, he's the only manager with that name that works there. Why would i make this up. So now it's deja vu all over again and tells me whats my telephone number I'll get back to you BS. I told him don't bother and to have a nice day, I hung up.

35 minutes later I FINALLY hear from my salesman after a month and a half. Only reason he called was because of the call I had with the manager. This guy tells me two weeks after I purchased the Outback on June 24 the promotion was over. His explanation was my information wasn't updated in the system for the promotion in time. Now tells me he has to see what he can do and they have a new deal with Costco on something to do with the invoice. As if he can use that maybe with me. I'm totally lost at this point I don't even know what to tell this guy. I just said just get back to me I gotta go. He said he would call me later today guess what it's the end of the freaking day NO CALL.



Contacted SOA and filed a complaint. Did I jump the gun on this or was right in contacting SOA? The SOA rep was very nice and was sorry and said he knows very well about the Costco thing and will get to the bottom of it with a phone call back next week.

 

[Tom28]

Why is them not updating your information in their system your problem?

Good call on calling SOA. I'd go back to the dealership and just hang out until I got satisfaction. Maybe ask to use their computers to look up the local BBB complaint number or something.

 

[bfoutch]

Wow! Really sorry to hear about your ordeal and your loss. I think you did the right thing to call SOA. I bought my Outback just a few weeks before the COSTCO promotion ended and had a completely different and positive experience. Jamie Cassady, the Internet salesman at Capital Subaru in San Jose filled out the redemption form for me as part of the purchase process. I had my certificate in just a few weeks.

This being said, and to help others if this promotion returns, I believe you could have filled out the certificate on the COSTCO website yourself. As soon as COSTCO verified your purchase with SOA (and after completing a short phone questionnaire from COSTCO) they would have sent you the certificate. I do not think you even needed the dealer to do anything. I have attached a redemption form for you, however it says that you needed to buy the car between March 15th, 2012 and June 15th, 2012, and then submit the form by July 15th, 2012.

I hope SOA makes good for you. At the least give you an extended warranty or service credit equal to the $500. Good luck.

 

[japmaxse]

Why is them not updating your information in their system your problem?

Good call on calling SOA. I'd go back to the dealership and just hang out until I got satisfaction. Maybe ask to use their computers to look up the local BBB complaint number or something.

Exactly.

Why in the world did it take him this long to tell me this. Matter of fact I was there twice in person once at the end of July to check out the new 2013 Outback, I talked to my sales rep about the Costco card he said at that time it's still too soon I gotta wait maybe a few weeks more. Ok no biggie. Then I went back there a few weeks after that in August to have them quote me on a very small dent I made on the tailgate and brought up the Costco thing again this time he tells me that there was this guy whose in charge of the Costco thing and will get back to me ASAP when he gets in the following thursday. Haaa he never called.

The only time this guy called me was a few days after purchase and obviously today. lol

Yea I should have stayed there and got to the bottom of it in person. But you know these guys always find a way to sweet talk you in thinking everything is ok . Man was I wrong.

 

[Novablue]

I'd email Costco too. Email seems to be the best way to get the ball rolling with them and they will call you once they get the info they need.

Costco wants you dealer experience to be great and if it's not... they will cut all ties with the dealer. Costco can override the dealer and work directly with SOA on your behalf as well. Let them know about any numbers and names you dealt with when talking to SOA.

You must have purchased or took delivery during the promotion, that date is recorded by the dealer.

I can't imagine why a dealer would mess-up a purchase date... (sarcasm)

 

[rockthebeef]

I believe you're talking about the $500 rebate that ended Some time in June 2012. I was able to do it as were other members here.

If I remember correctly, you had to make the purchase by a certain date (June 15th?). According to the instructions on Costco's site at the time, you fill out the online form and wait for the Costco-affiliated dealer to contact you.

Whatever happened between that point and the actual purchase didn't matter AFAIK. Upon purchase (from any dealer), you log back onto Costco's site and enter your info (VIN, Dealer's Name, etc.). Several weeks later, a $500 card comes in the mail. That's how I got it. I don't even think it mattered if you actually bought from the Costco dealer, as long as you had inquired about the program via Costco's website.

As bfoutch just said, I don't think the dealer had to do anything. His dealer was nice enough to fill out the form but the customer could have also filled out the form at Costco's website.

In your situation, without anybody actually taking action on submitting the rebate to Costco, I hope you're not S.O.L. Best of luck - seriously. It sounds like you had a crappy dealer, but I'm not so sure that they were required to submit your purchase information to Costco. Bottom line, somebody dropped the ball.

I would hope if you contact Costco and make a big enough stink about it that they may find away to get you your rebate.

 

[japmaxse]

Wow! Really sorry to hear about your ordeal and your loss. I think you did the right thing to call SOA. I bought my Outback just a few weeks before the COSTCO promotion ended and had a completely different and positive experience. Jamie Cassady, the Internet salesman at Capital Subaru in San Jose filled out the redemption form for me as part of the purchase process. I had my certificate in just a few weeks.

This being said, and to help others if this promotion returns, I believe you could have filled out the certificate on the COSTCO website yourself. As soon as COSTCO verified your purchase with SOA (and after completing a short phone questionnaire from COSTCO) they would have sent you the certificate. I do not think you even needed the dealer to do anything. I have attached a redemption form for you, however it says that you needed to buy the car between March 15th, 2012 and June 15th, 2012, and then submit the form by July 15th, 2012.

I hope SOA makes good for you. At the least give you an extended warranty or service credit equal to the $500. Good luck.

Oh my goodness I never thought of that thanks. My sales rep told me not to worry he will handle it. So I let him. He didn't do a **** thing.

Yea I hope SOA has some good news for me next week.

 

[rockthebeef]

If it helps any, I found the form. It was supposed to be turned in by July 15th, but maybe they'll work with you to keep you happy.

http://www.costcoauto.com/Subaru/pdf/2012subaru_redemption.pdf

 

[Spindle]

Oh my goodness I never thought of that thanks. My sales rep told me not to worry he will handle it. So I let him. He didn't do a **** thing.

Yea I hope SOA has some good news for me next week.

Good luck with SOA...although I wouldn't get your hopes up. My experience with them has been that they'll simply ask the dealer what happened. If the dealer is savvy enough, they'll just feed SOA a line of BS. SOA will shrug, say 'OK' to the dealer, 'Sorry.' to you... and that will be the end of it.

Seriously...Good luck. I hope it works out for you....

 

[selenski]

One thing for sure is that Costco wants you to be happy. I bought my OB in May and had no problem with the purchase or getting and spending the $500 card. I would suggest calling or emailing the Costco Auto program (info is on Costco.com) and asking for their assistance. The Costco program has a procedure that they want you to follow, so I hope you followed that. One salesman that I talked to showed me his personal Costco membership card and said, "Yeah I do the Costco pricing". I ran away. Using the Costco program made buying my OB a totally positive and stessfree event.

 

[japmaxse]

Called Costco this morning and yup nothing they can do since my purchase was after June 15th.

I haven't heard from SOA yet but I have a feeling they won't be able to do anything for me as well. I'll have to most likely fight with my dealer on this myself. Way to feed me the crap to get a car sale.:soapbox:

Any suggestions? How should I approach this?

 

[21staylor]

Did you get anything in writing that mentioned the $500 card or that they would fill out the form for you? If not, looks like you might be out of luck since your purchase didn't qualify for the promotion. Maybe see if they'll toss in something else for free like oil changes since they don't cost the dealer much as a token of goodwill to keep your business. Sorry about that.

 

[EXMLowner]

japmaxse, sorry to hear about your bad experience on these COSTCO REBATE thing, Like everyone said SOA can't do anything about it, this is COSTCO promotion and you purchased your OB after the promotion expired. And when you filled out a survey at costco site they will send you another $50.00 coupon/gift certificate reedemable to your dealership. I got $550.00 total.

 

[japmaxse]

Nope nothing in writing 21staylor. I totally took his word as he seemed to be a really nice guy and told me repeatedly that he will handle it. That's pretty much it. Last thing he told me was he will try and see what he can do. Still no call.


At this point I really need to go to the dealer and speak my mind. But I want to wait to see what SOA tells me.

 

[japmaxse]

japmaxse, sorry to hear about your bad experience on these COSTCO REBATE thing, Like everyone said SOA can't do anything about it, this is COSTCO promotion and you purchased your OB after the promotion expired. And when you filled out a survey at costco site they will send you another $50.00 coupon/gift certificate reedemable to your dealership. I got $550.00 total.

But doesn't the salesman represent Subaru and he promised me something he couldn't deliver. Lets not forget the many months of BS lines he fed me. I think it would be appropriate that SOA foot the bill on this one and deal with the dealer themselves with some sort of disciplinary actions. If not then the Dealer itself needs to write me a check or something and deal with their misinformed/liar of an employee.

 

[G-Omaha]

If it isn't written on the sales order, it is just hype - same as all contracts. Verbal assurances and guarantees are only worth their weight in wind - nothing more.

 

[Hunny Bunny]

Nope nothing in writing 21staylor. I totally took his word as he seemed to be a really nice guy and told me repeatedly that he will handle it. That's pretty much it. Last thing he told me was he will try and see what he can do. Still no call. At this point I really need to go to the dealer and speak my mind. But I want to wait to see what SOA tells me.

Generally, dealer has no duty to you if it wasn't in writing and signed, especially on behalf of a third party like COSTCO. Was this $500 card a part of your car price bargaining? If it was just a coincidental event, then you are out of luck and SoA has nothing to do with that. When I was negotiating my car price, I specifically put in writing that dealer must fill out and submit that COSTCO form as a part of purchasing contract. So I've got my card in time, plus $50 rebate for any service or parts:29: On another hand, Is it worth your time and efforts to try to get this $500 thing? You may spend all the time you're wasting on this rubbish more productively to earn more than this pocket change. Money is just a renewable resource.

 

[EXMLowner]

But doesn't the salesman represent Subaru and he promised me something he couldn't deliver. Lets not forget the many months of BS lines he fed me. I think it would be appropriate that SOA foot the bill on this one and deal with the dealer themselves with some sort of disciplinary actions. If not then the Dealer itself needs to write me a check or something and deal with their misinformed/liar of an employee.

What I would do is to talk to your salesman "NICELY" and explain what you been through for his wrong information not to check the whole deal in regads to this COSTCO rebate. He shoud not just tell you that you can get a rebate for purchasing a new Subaru and after all its already expire. Ask hinm if he can buy you a lunch or something.

 

[GasGuzz]

Submit this Redemption Form to the Costco Auto Program before July 15, 2012.<O</O
<O</O
Without sugarcoating… Unfortunately you did not conform to the fine print, regardless of what the dealer promised. The dealer/rep already received their sales vouchers, nothing more for them to gain (that’s why the run-around).<O</O
Tell them you’ll post/comment-on your experience, after that… Sure while $500 is a large pill, it won’t change your life. Don’t let the dealer spoil it, enjoy your new OB.<O</O

 

[japmaxse]

UPDATE!


I finally got this resolved, gotta say this was quite a roller coaster ride. So it comes to find out my salesman most likely made up an agreement document for the Costco program in writing and had it signed by the Manager at the Dealer. So they simply faxed it to SOA and then I also had to make a copy of my Costco membership card to give to SOA too. I'm still not sure why they needed that but I got the call and the $500 card will arrive at the end of next week.

:dance2:

Thanks for the help guys.