The embarrassing reputation attached to auto salesmen is tenacious. And it is not the practices of the HGregoire company, revealed by investigations by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), which will restore the image of this industry.
Posted at 6:30 a.m.
“HGregoire is the freedom to choose with confidence,” promises the website of the Quebec used car giant.
This is not exactly what the AMF discovered by collecting customer testimonials.
Instead, she accuses HGregoire of “undue pressure” and “deceitful tactics” to encourage consumers to obtain insurance. In some cases, guarantees were allegedly sold without any explanation of their nature. And even without the knowledge of the customers. It’s so cheeky!
Thus, in the middle of July, 31 statements of offense were sent to HGregoire and to employees for a series of behaviors that contravene the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services. The documents are now public. Each relates to the experience of a customer.
In all, the Saint-Eustache company received fines totaling $314,850 including fees and customary contributions. This is the highest amount ever imposed by the AMF on a car dealership.
HGregoire pleaded not guilty. A judge of the Court of Quebec will therefore have to decide.
The AMF is demanding – in 29 cases out of 31 – penalties well above the minimum amount provided for in the law. Its supporting documents: “number of victims”, “breach of trust and manipulation”, “greed (motivation)”, “intentional nature of the offence”, “harm caused to the market”, “number of insurance protections sold to the same person”.
The words hit hard.
No HGregoire executive would grant me an interview. In a written statement, the retailer assures that it takes “all allegations of this nature very seriously”. He adds: “the practices mentioned in the statements of offense go against the philosophy of the company”.
For Martine Quirion, there is no doubt that HGregoire must pay the $17,520 statement of offense resulting from her testimony.
“When the AMF called me and I went through my contract, that’s when I realized that I had been paying for life insurance for two years! she told me. This $2,600 bill, hidden in his payments, “is the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Because in addition, his Sante Fe 2013 is “a lemon” that ended up in the garage a month after the purchase and many times since. Fortunately, by calling Industrial Alliance, she was able to put an end to the policy.
HGregoire also sold life and disability insurance to Francesca one evening in January, without telling her. ” I was tired. I trusted myself by telling myself that it was HGregoire. I was a nanny. I signed without looking too much. I am ashamed. Price: $1,880, for a $7,800 Kia Rio.
The next morning, at 9 a.m., the lady went back to see the sales team. We explained to him that insurance was compulsory, otherwise the credit would not pass. She didn’t believe him, given his financial situation. And anyway, she already had that kind of insurance at work. It was finally an employee who came to his rescue in secret. He suggested that she call the insurer in Alberta to cancel everything. The check she received did not make her forget her bad experience.
Francesca was right, life, health and job loss insurance is not often requested by lenders. And when this is the case, one can shop around by contacting a broker. This makes it possible to obtain much better rates, as demonstrated by an AMF study, since the employees of the concessionaires pocket juicy commissions.
It’s simple: dealers cannot force a customer to take out the insurance they offer.
The AMF ensures that it has been doing everything possible since 2009 to clean up the automotive industry by multiplying opinions and regulations. “If we can sanction practices to stop them, we do it,” swears Jean-François Fortin, director general of market control. Obviously, we can’t put all companies in the same boat, let’s insist on that. But there is still a long way to go.
Moreover, the AMF recommends that consumers always be “vigilant” and “ask questions”. The problem is that insurance and extended warranties are complex products that intimidate many. So you have to know what to be wary of, even when buying a new car.
Take that Volkswagen customer I told you about in July. After driving a few kilometers with her new car, she discovered that it was not equipped with all the options provided for in the contract. No “emergency brake assist” or “blind spot detection with traffic warning”. How could she have known to ask the salesman if her new Taos would have all of its pieces?
Certainly, it is important to be an informed consumer. But what a burden to always be on your guard…
Here as elsewhere in the world, we make jokes about car salesmen and caricature them. But it is clear that they too sometimes laugh at consumers.