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After months of hassle dealing with a broken car purchased through Carvana, the mega online retail dealer is finally apologizing and reimbursing a Maine woman for the ordeal.
Lauryn Smith bought a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan from the site in July of this year, that broke down just days after the purchase. According to The Boston Globe, Smith was initially promised by Carvana that the company would take care of everything to get the car fixed and on the road, but that clearly didn’t happen. The company was supposed to have her car towed from the spot she was told to leave it in.
The Tiguan was finally towed, but Carvana wanted her to pay the bill. Then the car began racking up storage charges. Smith, of course, refused and insisted the charges were Carvana’s mistake and responsibility.
That’s because this story gets a little more muddled. When Smith originally ordered the car, she soon discovered that there were enough issues with the crossover to cancel the sale. It’s something Carvana allows customers to do within seven days, no questions asked.
However, with Carvana’s permission, Smith was able to continue driving the for several days and that’s when the car died, at a gas station, while she was running errands, according to The Globe.
A Carvana representative on the phone told Smith to leave the car where it was and the company would have it picked up. Smith confirmed the rep’s instructions before arranging a ride home.
But Carvana failed to pick up the car at the gas station, leading the station owner to have it towed away. By the time Carvana contacted Smith in early August, the bill for towing and storing the car had skyrocketed.
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The Globe reports that a manager at Carvana then told Smith her credit could be “severely” damaged if she didn’t agree to pay the fees. Smith said that felt like bullying, and she would be right.
Smith challenged the company to listen to the recorded phone calls between Smith and Carvana representatives to verify that she was right.
But Carvana apparently didn’t do that initially, while continuing to insist Smith pay up. In the face of possibly ruined credit, Smith paid $1,700.
Carvana’s position, however, changed quickly after the Globe column. Almost 200 readers posted comments to the online version of the column, most of them critical of Carvana.
After all that, Carvana at least attempted to make right with her.
A manager of the retailer, who agreed to the apology and check, listened to all the recordings, and looked through over five pages of notes Smith had taken pertaining to her dealings with the online used car sales giant.
Smith received that apology from Carvana, and a $2,000 check — which included the $1,700 reimbursement for the towing and storage charges she paid out of pocket. The last $300 was to make good on the “headaches” it caused her.
“I’m happy Carvana has stepped up to take responsibility. But the reason I shared this with the Globe wasn’t only about me,” Smith told The Globe. “I worry that other people get treated badly all the time, and I wanted to show them there’s a way to fight back.”
The Globe also reports it tried to email and call Carvana several times asking for the retailer’s side of the story — but never received a response. However, Carvana says it found those emails, in their press office spam folder.
“We care deeply about the experiences of every one of our customers, and we worked closely with Ms. Smith to resolve this issue as we are committed to ensuring that in the rare cases where we don’t initially live up to our brand promise, we work to make it right,” Carvana said in a statement to the outlet.
Now, Smith is reportedly about to lease a car from a local dealership.
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