Filed under: Car Buying, Chevrolet
World's best-selling Chevy dealer closing doors at all 13 stores
Bill Heard Enterprises sells more Chevy cars and trucks than any dealer in the world, but that distinction isn't enough to keep the doors open at the dealer's 13 stores. The soft economy, fuel prices and an over-reliance on the sales of trucks and SUVs were the reasons stated for the demise of these Chevy superstores. Another possible reason for the mass closure could have something to do with a pending suit against Bill Heard Enterprises involving signature forgery and deceptive marketing that could result in up to $50 million in fines.
2,700 people worked at the stores, and now all of those workers are out of a job. The dealer consortium didn't give workers any notice, either. Managers were told yesterday at 2PM that the stores were closing, and the doors are locked today. Customers with vehicles in the service area were told to pick up their cars, fixed or not, and customers arriving to pick up their new cars were given back their trade-ins. What a mess. We know GM is looking to cut back on its overpopulated dealer-body, but we're pretty sure the General would want the situation handled better than this.
[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Andre 2:05PM (9/25/2008)
Definitely sounds like a hot mess..
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Virginia Wolf 2:50PM (9/25/2008)
"Customers with vehicles in the service area were told to pick up their cars, fixed or not, and customers arriving to pick up their new cars were given back their trade-ins."------
Mess? No, Just business as usual at GM, consumer won.
Now do you see why 25 billion won't help?
Brian 3:03PM (9/25/2008)
@ Vagina
The dealer network is operated separately from GM. Their franchises. Plus their are plently of shady Japanese dealers out their to. I know of few just in my area.
3seriesisking 3:35PM (9/25/2008)
Virginia, I'm glad to see you take pleasure in the several thousand jobs this will cost hard working Americans.
Ford, Chevy, regardless of your loyalties when something like this happens it seems really stupid to not give a damn.
Matt 3:44PM (9/25/2008)
Wow, so what happens if you're waiting for a transmission or engine replacement? Towed to another dealer midway through the repair?
jg 4:57PM (9/25/2008)
'Definitely sounds like a hot mess.. '
"If it's not it'll do until the mess gets here."
Tom! 5:52PM (9/25/2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZuN0xXWLc
Just watch it. All I'm saying. It makes perfect sense for this, even the fact that it's another dealership with an owner "Bill"
JudgenJury 12:44PM (9/26/2008)
3seriesisking quote "Virginia, I'm glad to see you take pleasure in the several thousand jobs this will cost hard working Americans."
You forgot "dishonest" hard working Americans. Yup...I feel sorry for the lot of them. It's like watching your friend steal candy and not saying anything...you're still guilty of the crime even if you didn't actually "take" any of the candy. Sucks to be them...but I hope whoever buys those dealerships doesn't hire any of the lot back! That'd be stupid!!
geo.stewart 2:05PM (9/25/2008)
finally. about time. the world makes a little more sense now.
not much good to say about them. came out okay with them in the one dealings in the past but they tried every trick in the book and then some. dirty, underhanded,...
ba$tards, rat ba$tards
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VP 3:41PM (9/25/2008)
This one of the worst dealer chains in America no matter the manufacturer. I had a family member who purchased a car and they were told to bring the survey unfilled and we will give you a tank of gas. They had such bad lending practices that GMAC cut they off also. They were using a BMW financial arm to finance the cars just three months ago.
It seems according to a news report, RicK Hendrick's automotive group is looking into purchasing all of Heard's dealerships.
tbyron 2:08PM (9/25/2008)
The news account of this that I heard today indicated that this dealership was in the midst of substantial legal issues with the state of Georgia (related to their long-term sales practices) and also that GM was no longer providing new vehicle inventory financing to some of the locations. It sounds much more to me that the dealership had some rather serious management & ethics issues rather than them being a target of a dealer reduction initiative.
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Jack 2:35PM (9/25/2008)
I read in Automotive News a week ago that they were caught up in what is called "powerbooking", which is where you tell the bank that the vehicle you are selling has more equipment than it really does, therefore getting a higher loan amount than really necessary, and they were holding on to the difference as profit. There were even customers coming forward telling of how the sales managers and F&I managers were coaching them what to say if the bank calls them.
Bill Heard enterprises must have an excellent PR manager, as none of this has been exposed in the mainstream media.
Too bad dealers like this give the rest of us dealers a bad name. Believe it or not, some dealers do tell the truth and have above the table practices. Trust me, every domestic dealer in times like these has their concscience tested. You only have one name.
Temple 3:02PM (9/25/2008)
Some of their scams are pretty suprising, GM was glad this place shut its doors because it was giving them a bad name:
>misleading advertisements to warn customers of non-existent recalls, urging them to visit dealers for a voluntary “safety inspection".
>forged consumers' signatures on agreements without their knowledge or permission
>direct mail advertisement informing recipients they might receive financing at interest rates as low as 3.9 percent. The ad went only to people with low credit scores who were unlikely to qualify for such terms.
sk 2:09PM (9/25/2008)
No surprise, just look at his web site, what a joke.
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John B 3:26PM (9/25/2008)
I did look at his website, now you owe me a pair of glasses. My eyes, my eyes!!!
The Luigiian 5:17PM (9/25/2008)
Oh God.
That is the sleaziest layout ever. It's all there: Faux "patriotism", random crap all over the place, distracting animations...
It's like a parody of an auto website.
sk 2:09PM (9/25/2008)
No surprise, just look at his web site, what a joke.
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Jeff 2:10PM (9/25/2008)
Sounds like the world is a better place today than it was yesterday. One less slimy dealership.
What's the difference between a car salesman and a catfish?
One's a slimy bottom feeder
The other's a fish.
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Brian 2:30PM (9/25/2008)
Exactly why do you dislike carsalesman? Are you mad because the salesman have to make money off of your sale? I know a couple of carsalesman. Its a crappy job. Its dog eat dog job working over 65 hours a week on. The garaunteed weekly pay they advertise in the job is a joke. They take it back out of your commision. So if people ever wonder why their is 50 salesman on a lot is because the dealer really never loses any money. And they don't care on how high the turn over is. Their also isn't much money to be made anymore in carsales. Most dealers charge the customer a $800 dealer fee and not much left for the salesman to work with. Take an extra $700 off the sales price and their goes his commission. The dealer doesn't care. They made their money off the dealer fee.
Jeff 2:54PM (9/25/2008)
Brian,
They don't have to lie, they don't have to high pressure, they don't have to resort to game playing. Treat everyone like a customer and with respect. When they lie and play stupid games, they're slimy bottom feeders.
I don't mind a fellow making a living, I don't work for free either. However, I don't lie to my customers and I don't play stupid games with them. I treat them fairly and with respect and expect the same in return.
Why does one have to sit in the chair at the dealership for an hour trying to get them to just give a price on the stinking car? It's just amazing.