HondaTypeJ
03-14-2003, 11:22 AM
Check it out guy. Its a long article but wow, I never knew this. Doesnt change anything anyway...but still. Check it out:
Honda of Santa Monica was hit Wednesday morning with search warrants as part of a consumer fraud investigation con-ducted by Los Angeles County prosecutors. The dealership was closed all day as around 20 investigators with the Los Angeles County District Attorney?s Consumer Protection Division combed through documents and packed up boxes of evidence from 7 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit alleging fraud was filed Wednesday morning against the dealership in a downtown Los Angeles court. The suit was a civil action separate from prosecutors' actions. "We've been waiting for these subpoenas to be served," said attorney Daniel Hoffman, who represents the plaintiffs. "We didn't want to file our claim until then." Officials at Honda of Santa Monica said they knew of the possible class action lawsuit, but they were surprised by the district attorney's search of their files. In a statement, Honda of Santa Monica officials said they believed the lawsuit and the district attorney's investigation are related.
"Honda of Santa Monica is cooperating, and will continue to cooperate with the investigators from the D.A.'s office," they said. The civil lawsuit alleges the dealership, located at 1720 Santa Monica Blvd., has been conducting a scam in which they would overcharge buyers through false "lease or finance" payments. The suit says that since 1998, the dealership would require customers to first lease or finance vehicles for four months before buying them. The dealership would then collect two sets of payments - one for four months' of leases, and the other for the subsequent purchase.
Also, according to the lawsuit, dealership official?s added fictitious state taxes of $500 described as "VT Registration." Customers were told the money was for Department of Motor Vehicles registration, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit also says the dealership concealed customer complaints from Honda of America by having employees pose as customers. The dealership would allegedly supply an employee's home phone number on the complaint form. When Honda officials called to follow up on the complaint, believing they had reached a customer, a dealership employee would answer, instead telling the officials they had no problems and had received excellent service, the lawsuit alleges.
The dealership also did not provide Spanish contracts to Spanish speaking customers, as required by state law, the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs in the civil case - Laura Zemgals, Wendy Roa, Sergio Martin, Gary Tolan, Margo Killean, Robin Fulton and Mohammed Namavan - didn't specify an amount sought as damages. But attorney Hoffman said the "magnitude" of the lawsuit speaks for itself. Honda of Santa Monica officials said they had previously been served with a draft of the lawsuit, and had already begun a "vigorous investigation of the allegations in the lawsuit complaint." An employee at another Santa Monica dealership said Honda of Santa Monica had committed fraud in some of its contracts. "When people bought a car, they were being charged for things they didn't have," the employee said. "I don't know if all the salesmen got arrested, but I do have to believe that they did." Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman with the district attorney's office, said no arrests had been made. She would neither confirm nor deny that any other agency was involved in the investigation. Overcharging for a car allows the dealership to pocket a higher profit. In itself, it isn't illegal to strike a deal where buyer and seller agree. In this case, however, the fraud allegation stems from deceptive practices surrounding the sales. Investigators from the consumer protection division didn't say exactly what was contained in the documents for which they searched. They also couldn't say how long
The investigation will take, said Gibbons. "We have served search warrants as part of an ongoing criminal investigation," she said. "When you serve warrants for records there is a lot to go through so we are not talking about days, we are talking about a matter of weeks." Investigators with the district attorney's office carried out boxes of documents to a small truck parked in the alley- way between 17th and 18th streets. A Honda of Santa Monica employee said
The dealership would re-open for business tomorrow morning. An owner of another Santa Monica auto dealership said allegations of fraud in auto purchasing was unusual. Such cases are normally related to service, parts and the keeping of financial documents. "Usually, though it's because people were charged for services they didn't get, which could stem from an employee or management," the owner said. Honda of Santa Monica officials said that before being served search warrants by the D.A.'s office, they had already "instituted safeguards to ensure that all transactions are conducted with the highest degree of integrity." "The dealership will continue to evaluate its practices to ensure these safeguards are effective, and that customers are receiving the highest level of satisfaction in their car-buying experience," Honda officials said in their statement. Honda of Santa Monica is owned by North Carolina-based Sonic Automotive, which owns car dealerships across the country. Reportedly, Sonic bought Honda of Santa Monica in 1999 from Kramer Motors Incorporated, which is also named in the class action lawsuit. The Better Business Bureau of the Southland lists Honda of Santa Monica as having an "unsatisfactory" rating. An unsatisfactory rating is given when a pat- tern in the company's customer com- plaints causes concern, when the company does not respond to complaints, or when it will not substantiate its advertising claims, according to the bureau. "In this case, our complaint history for this company shows that although the business has responded to some customer complaints brought to its attention by the bureau, others remain unanswered," the bureau's report on Honda of Santa Monica states. One Honda of Santa Monica customer, Jean Barkley of Los Angeles, said Wednesday she was surprised to see the dealership being investigated. Barkley showed up at the dealership at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday to buy a car. "I've had my Honda repaired here for years without a problem," she said. "But I guess I'll have to look elsewhere.
Honda of Santa Monica was hit Wednesday morning with search warrants as part of a consumer fraud investigation con-ducted by Los Angeles County prosecutors. The dealership was closed all day as around 20 investigators with the Los Angeles County District Attorney?s Consumer Protection Division combed through documents and packed up boxes of evidence from 7 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit alleging fraud was filed Wednesday morning against the dealership in a downtown Los Angeles court. The suit was a civil action separate from prosecutors' actions. "We've been waiting for these subpoenas to be served," said attorney Daniel Hoffman, who represents the plaintiffs. "We didn't want to file our claim until then." Officials at Honda of Santa Monica said they knew of the possible class action lawsuit, but they were surprised by the district attorney's search of their files. In a statement, Honda of Santa Monica officials said they believed the lawsuit and the district attorney's investigation are related.
"Honda of Santa Monica is cooperating, and will continue to cooperate with the investigators from the D.A.'s office," they said. The civil lawsuit alleges the dealership, located at 1720 Santa Monica Blvd., has been conducting a scam in which they would overcharge buyers through false "lease or finance" payments. The suit says that since 1998, the dealership would require customers to first lease or finance vehicles for four months before buying them. The dealership would then collect two sets of payments - one for four months' of leases, and the other for the subsequent purchase.
Also, according to the lawsuit, dealership official?s added fictitious state taxes of $500 described as "VT Registration." Customers were told the money was for Department of Motor Vehicles registration, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit also says the dealership concealed customer complaints from Honda of America by having employees pose as customers. The dealership would allegedly supply an employee's home phone number on the complaint form. When Honda officials called to follow up on the complaint, believing they had reached a customer, a dealership employee would answer, instead telling the officials they had no problems and had received excellent service, the lawsuit alleges.
The dealership also did not provide Spanish contracts to Spanish speaking customers, as required by state law, the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs in the civil case - Laura Zemgals, Wendy Roa, Sergio Martin, Gary Tolan, Margo Killean, Robin Fulton and Mohammed Namavan - didn't specify an amount sought as damages. But attorney Hoffman said the "magnitude" of the lawsuit speaks for itself. Honda of Santa Monica officials said they had previously been served with a draft of the lawsuit, and had already begun a "vigorous investigation of the allegations in the lawsuit complaint." An employee at another Santa Monica dealership said Honda of Santa Monica had committed fraud in some of its contracts. "When people bought a car, they were being charged for things they didn't have," the employee said. "I don't know if all the salesmen got arrested, but I do have to believe that they did." Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman with the district attorney's office, said no arrests had been made. She would neither confirm nor deny that any other agency was involved in the investigation. Overcharging for a car allows the dealership to pocket a higher profit. In itself, it isn't illegal to strike a deal where buyer and seller agree. In this case, however, the fraud allegation stems from deceptive practices surrounding the sales. Investigators from the consumer protection division didn't say exactly what was contained in the documents for which they searched. They also couldn't say how long
The investigation will take, said Gibbons. "We have served search warrants as part of an ongoing criminal investigation," she said. "When you serve warrants for records there is a lot to go through so we are not talking about days, we are talking about a matter of weeks." Investigators with the district attorney's office carried out boxes of documents to a small truck parked in the alley- way between 17th and 18th streets. A Honda of Santa Monica employee said
The dealership would re-open for business tomorrow morning. An owner of another Santa Monica auto dealership said allegations of fraud in auto purchasing was unusual. Such cases are normally related to service, parts and the keeping of financial documents. "Usually, though it's because people were charged for services they didn't get, which could stem from an employee or management," the owner said. Honda of Santa Monica officials said that before being served search warrants by the D.A.'s office, they had already "instituted safeguards to ensure that all transactions are conducted with the highest degree of integrity." "The dealership will continue to evaluate its practices to ensure these safeguards are effective, and that customers are receiving the highest level of satisfaction in their car-buying experience," Honda officials said in their statement. Honda of Santa Monica is owned by North Carolina-based Sonic Automotive, which owns car dealerships across the country. Reportedly, Sonic bought Honda of Santa Monica in 1999 from Kramer Motors Incorporated, which is also named in the class action lawsuit. The Better Business Bureau of the Southland lists Honda of Santa Monica as having an "unsatisfactory" rating. An unsatisfactory rating is given when a pat- tern in the company's customer com- plaints causes concern, when the company does not respond to complaints, or when it will not substantiate its advertising claims, according to the bureau. "In this case, our complaint history for this company shows that although the business has responded to some customer complaints brought to its attention by the bureau, others remain unanswered," the bureau's report on Honda of Santa Monica states. One Honda of Santa Monica customer, Jean Barkley of Los Angeles, said Wednesday she was surprised to see the dealership being investigated. Barkley showed up at the dealership at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday to buy a car. "I've had my Honda repaired here for years without a problem," she said. "But I guess I'll have to look elsewhere.