According to the paperwork that Apollo had sent over a few days ago, Constance had purchased the SUV from the local Ford dealership.
With a couple hours to spare before they closed, I walked in and asked for the manager.
The salesperson didn’t hesitate to pass me off, likely due to the perpetually pissed-off look I always had on my face.
“Oh, one moment, sir.”
He scurried off like the little rat that he was and went into a corner office where a pompous-looking jackass was sitting with his feet up on his desk. His bare ankles were dark, likely because he played golf multiple times a week.
He got up and smiled at me through the glass.
I didn’t return the smile.
When he got to me, he held out his hand, and I reluctantly took it.
“What can I help you with, sir?” he asked.
“My girlfriend came in a couple of weeks ago to buy a new SUV. She’s had it in the shop for half of those weeks. I had to pick her up on the side of the mountain this week because it died,” I said. “And she said she called you to see about returning it, but you won’t take it back.”
The man’s eyes went wide. “Oh, our company policy is you can only return it after a week. She’s two weeks over that, and a few hundred miles, too.”
“Several of those miles y’all put on her car,” I pointed out. “Not to mention, y’all have had it for ten days of the three weeks that she had it.” I was thankful to get that report from Apollo so I could state all the facts that I had. “Oh, and let’s not forget that she brought these concerns to you within the time window, and you promised that you would fix them. But you haven’t. And now she’s driving around in her dad’s SUV…” That was a total guess. “And she has a car payment on a car that she hasn’t even gotten to use.”
The manager looked a little white. “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not our fault.”
“It’s not your fault that you couldn’t fix what the problem was, on a brand-new car, might I add, within the time frame that would be required for her to return it?”
He swallowed. “That was out of our control.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But at this point, something needs to be done. It has less than five hundred miles on it. She’s had it a total of eleven days. And she paid in cash, well over market value for something that she should’ve got at a much cheaper cost.”
“I don’t…”
I pulled out my phone and started reading off the shit that she paid for. “Extended tire warranty.”
He stilled.
“Ceramic coating on a car that was shipped here for her that she ordered through you. Yet, you took her car, added the ceramic coating on it, then forced her to pay for it when she told you that she didn’t want it.”
The manager shifted from foot to foot.
I caught the front lapels of my cut and said, “I think you need to fix this. Get her into a new car. Even trade. Fix what’s wrong with this car. Count it as a loss. I don’t give a fuck what you do. But make this right. She has a young kid that has medical problems. They run the Raptor Center for injured wildlife. And she’s mine.”
His eyes went to the name right above my heart as well as the patch that proclaimed me as a Dixie Warden.
He swallowed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I nodded once. “See that you do. I’ll be back if this doesn’t get taken care of to my expectations.”
Just as I stepped outside, I watched as the manager scurried back into his corner office and placed his phone to his ear.
I stepped outside and headed for my bike just to see a man step out of his Expedition that looked eerily similar to Constance’s and place his phone to his ear.
“Walt, what do you want? I’m right outside?”
Whomever this Walt character was started talking to the other snazzy lookin’ dude in high-pitched tones.
The snazzy dude frowned and placed his hand on his hip.
