Ignored Letter to carmax CEO
Bill Nash, CEO
CarMax Home Office
12800 Tuckahoe Creek Pkwy.,
Richmond, VA 23238, USA.
Dear Mr. Nash,
On September 28th, 2020, I purchased a 2017 Nissan Rogue from CarMax in Memphis, TN. On May 18th, 2021, I drove from Horseheads NY, to Rochester, NY as advised by CarMax Financial, after contacting them to inform them of my intent to re-finance my car through Navy Federal Credit Union, and asking the most amenable process to facilitate a smooth transaction, as I was currently on a contract assignment in Upstate NY. I was advised that the Rochester location was where I could go to make the pay-off, which was almost two hours from where I was working, but I felt more comfortable making the drive, then mailing the cheque.
Upon arriving at the CarMax location in Rochester, NY, I asked and was directed to an agent, who I was told by the concierge would be able to process my payoff. I presented a cheque in the amount of $17,212.71, I asked for, and was given a receipt after endorsing the cheque, and was told that I would receive a refund, which would represent the difference in the 10 day payoff calculation, and the additional cheque I presented to them for$53.90, as well as additional documents once the payment was actually, presented, and cleared.
I was not aware, nor informed that there was an issue with the transaction until I checked my online banking almost three weeks after I paid the car off, and saw that the refund cheque that I received from CarMax had bounced, and my bank levied a $15.00 fee for the returned cheque. I contacted Navy Federal and asked for details about the transaction, and was informed that the check was cancelled. Upon further investigation, my bank informed me that CarMax had deposited the cheque for $17,212.71 to Wells Fargo Bank, but had neglected to endorse or stamp it, and subsequently Wells Fargo did not clear the check.
The fact that CarMax then stopped payment on my refund cheque, thereby causing me a penalty and a black mark with my bank, is just criminal. I contacted CarMax after calling them for hours without actually reaching anyone, I spoke with someone in the Rochester office who had no idea what I was talking about, told me there was no record of my payoff, and that, if I had, in fact given someone there a cheque, they would not have it, because they are just the middlemen, and that the cheque would have been sent to the Corporate office for processing.
I called the Corporate office and spoke with Marquis, who was barely professional and seemed completely confused. He first stated that the cheque was there, I asked him what was going on with the deposit and he said he did not know because they would have to ask the Rochester staff, I then asked why they could not just re-deposit the check once the had endorsed it, he then stated that the check was not there, this after telling me five minutes earlier,that it was there. He then insisted that he saw the transaction in the accounting, but the payment had not been processed to my account. He stated that he wanted me to hold while he contacted the Rochester office to ascertain the location of the cheque. After leaving me on hold for over 20 minutes he came back to the phone and stated that he could not reach anyone at the Rochester location, and would have to call me back the next day.
The details of what went on for the next three weeks would take several more pages, so I will give you a synopsis of what I have transposed in more detail once already, should I need to retain legal representation on this matter. Over the course of almost five weeks I was misled, outright lied to, disrespected, disregarded, and ignored. The first ridiculous piece of information I received from Marquis, who I finally reached after he did not call me the next day or the five days after, was that no one knew where the cheques was located, I told Marquis that my bank would re-issue the cheque, once they had the initial cheque returned, but not before.
Again, I was told that the cheque was somewhere in the Rochester office. Rochester stated that it was sent to Corporate, Corporate insisted that they never had possession of it, this went on for three weeks, no one would give me a straight answer or take ownership of this major screw up. I asked for an escalation representative several times before I was allowed to speak with one, and by then they claimed that they had located the cheque and had re-deposited it and that I would subsequently receive another refund cheque and my payoff documents.
I would love to say that things went as they should after this, but they did not! I received a cheque for $29.39, the refund amount, about a week later, around the same time I received a notification from Navy Federal, advising me of the declining timeline for them to receive the Title naming them as the new Lien Holders. I contacted Carmax to ask when I would receive the Lien Release and Title because I needed to have the document updated at the DMV and send them to my Bank, I was told that there was no one in the office that could assist me and that I should call back tomorrow, which I did, I spoke with Kay again, and was told that they did not have the title there, that it was at the Rochester office, I called Rochester, who insisted that the Corporate office had the Title, this was now going beyond ridiculous.
When I called the Corporate office back I was put off again, someone would call me back, no one did, I called back and was told by Kay that they did not have my title, but they had determined that the Title had been sent to the Memphis Store, I asked her why, she stated she did not know and that Rochester had sent it to Memphis. She left me on hold over 45 minutes while she called Memphis, only tom tell me no one answered. I called Memphis immediately after they picked up as they usually do when I have called before and they insisted that they did not have the Title, that it was at the Corporate office, by now I was out of tolerance with all the incompetence, the half-truths and outright lies, and I told them so, then all of a sudden, the agent that I was speaking with, tells me that my Title is at the Shelby County Clerks Office. I called, they did not have the Title, and informed me that CarMax was still listed as the Lien Holders, 5 weeks after I had paid my entire account to a zero balance.
It was another entire week before I was told that the title was lost, I told Kay and the two other people she had conferenced in on the call that I already surmised that, and that I was almost certain that something illegal or fraudulent was going on. At that point they admitted that whomever had processed my $17,212.71 payment had processed it, as me having sold my car back to CarMax. I am convinced there is much more to this story, I was afraid that this was not the end of this madness, because that same day I received a duplicate refund cheque, when I mentioned it to Kay, her associate on the phone tried to claim that the cheque was to repay me for the returned cheque fee, that was levied by my bank, I told her that didn’t add up because the amounts were different and that they had told me that I would have to send them proof of the returned cheque and the fee, yet another lie, because she then said that the second cheque would also bounce because they had put an incorrect address on it, I refuted that as well because the address was correct.
She then played confused and said she would have to call me with the valid cheque number tomorrow, so I would know which one was good! This was not the end of this nightmare. I asked why they could not send me a Lien Release so that I could apply for a replacement title, I had asked for this on other occasions and had not been given an answer, this just made me more suspicious, that they had resold my title or my loan or worse. I was finally told that they would provide me with the Lien Release immediately, and that I could send that into the DMV with a $13.00 check and request a Duplicate Title, and that CarMax would reimburse me for the costs to replace the lost Title. She assured me that I would hear from someone the day after the 4th of July holiday, I did not hear back from them until I finally reached someone at Corporate that Friday morning. I asked to speak with Kay and was told she was in a meeting until 2:00pm and would call me back around 2pm.
She called me finally, minutes before 5pm, and told me that everyone in the office was gone for the day, so she would have to call me back the next day, she called me the next afternoon and told me that they had everything corrected and finalized, that my account was closed, and I had a zero balance. She said nothing about Lien Release, or the Title, so I asked her how soon she could send me the Lien Release!
You have no idea how furious I was when she told me she would have to check and see if they could give me a Lien Release! I did not owe CarMax a dime!, I had paid on time, or early, I had paid extra! I told her I was legally entitled to a Lien Release, that I would call an Attorney, that I had secured the contact information for the CEO of CarMax and that I would be contacting you, because I’d had about All I could take of this fraudulent circus. I received the Lien Release in my email the next morning. I thought my nightmare of dealing with CarMax was over, it was not, about a week later I received a call from the Rochester location telling me that they had received a FedEx packet addressed to me, but sent to them, I was not shocked, he stated that he would forward it to me, I said thank you, I received it 6 days later in a regular envelope and the document was glued almost entirely to the envelope. I am now down to the wire with respect to the deadline to get my Title to Navy Federal.
Today I received yet another blow courtesy of CarMax, I noticed that there was only one fog light on my car, my car has been pretty much garaged since I bought it, so I was shocked to discover today, that I had been sold this car missing a light. But I was wrong, the light was not missing, it was much worse! I took my car to a nearby Nissan Dealership to inquire about replacing the light, I was not happy, but I was devastated when the Service Manager took a look at it and discovered that the light was there under tape that was covered with paint, as a result of the car being painted. Upon further inspection he informed me that the car had been sprayed, due to damage to the body, likely from an accident, because there was still noticeable body damage to the front of the car and overspray, also someone had forgotten to take the tape off! (See Attached Pictures).
I wondered why the Salesman who sold me the car seemed to be gone right after I purchased this car. I was assured when I asked, that the car had no accidents, was a fleet car, and I was told that I would have a Carfax report in my paperwork that would clearly state that. I am furious, and I want this made right.
I am truly surprised that I am having such a terrible experience with CarMax, I did not expect this. I thought this was a reputable company.
I am hoping this is the exception, and that CarMax will make this right. I have already invested over $9,000.00 in this car, but I will not be a willing victim.