A San Antonio woman\u2019s truck-buying nightmare has spiraled into a months-long financial ordeal, according to a TikTok video she posted on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
User @yesseb.gomez\u2019s video details her side of what she portrays as a harrowing experience with a San Antonio dealership. What started as a search for a specific lifted truck has turned into a $13,000 financing discrepancy that the dealership has failed to resolve for months, according to her account.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like this close to freaking name-dropping this dealership in San Antonio that is completely ruining our lives,\u201d @yesseb.gomez says in her emotional video, with an on-screen caption reading, \u201cI am so close to a mental breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says the ordeal began several months ago when she and her partner found the exact truck they\u2019d been searching for at a large San Antonio dealership. Despite calling the buying experience \u201cone of the most unpleasant experiences I\u2019ve had ever buying a vehicle,\u201d the couple proceeded because the truck was exactly what they wanted and the price seemed right.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a very specific truck, something that we had been looking for for months, and nothing even came close to it. The price was good. So we went for it,\u201d she explains in the video.<\/p>\n
When the Numbers Don\u2019t Add Up<\/p>\n
The shock came weeks after the purchase when @yesseb.gomez says she received an email from Capital One, the lender financing the truck loan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI log in and I about have a freaking heart attack. I look at the loan total and it\u2019s about $13,000 more than what it should have been,\u201d she reveals.<\/p>\n
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She says that when she called Capital One to inquire about the discrepancy, a worker told her the dealership had submitted the higher amount. They suggested she contact the dealer to correct it, but that\u2019s where things got worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI call the dealership,\u201d she says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t remember who the finance guy was that did our loan, but I call the dealership, transfer me over to the finance department, and I talked to some random idiot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She says a worker told her, \u201cYeah, there\u2019s nothing we can do about it. You signed, so you\u2019re kind of screwed. There\u2019s literally nothing we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Runaround Begins<\/p>\n
Frustrated but determined, @yesseb.gomez says she tracked down the original finance manager through the dealership\u2019s website directory. Despite two weeks of constant calls and emails, she says she received no response.<\/p>\n
The couple eventually returned to the dealership to re-sign paperwork reflecting the correct loan amount, with the dealership promising to pay off Capital One and refinance through Toyota, according to a follow-up video<\/a> she posted later on Wednesday.<\/p>\n In that follow-up video, @yesseb.gomez explains that the dealership claimed it would take up to a week to send the payoff check. That was two months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a month of us going back in and doing all of that, Capital One is calling me because, like, I haven\u2019t given a payment,\u201d she explains. When she pressed the dealership for the promised check\u2019s tracking information, she says it provided a number that showed a shipping label had been purchased but never actually sent to the carrier.<\/p>\n \u201cThey just essentially bought a freaking tracking or a label that they intended to do nothing with. It seems like the label was bought August 8th. It\u2019s been almost two months of them sending out the check,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Expert Advice and Legal Options<\/p>\n The situation @yesseb.gomez describes may violate federal and state laws.<\/p>\n The Federal Trade Commission\u2019s CARS rule<\/a> is aimed at protecting consumers from \u201cbait-and-switch tactics, hidden charges, and other conduct that harms consumers and honest dealers.\u201d<\/p>\n The FTC has recently acted against dealers engaging in practices that resemble the situation @yesseb.gomez describes in her videos.<\/p>\n As recently as December, the FTC collaborated with Illinois<\/a> and Maryland<\/a> state authorities to prosecute dealers who carried out so-called \u201cbait-and-switch\u201d schemes where customers were misled about the total pricing of cars, and had extra charges added on after making a deal at an agreed-upon price.<\/p>\n