Dodge Dealer Fires Employees Who Screwed Soldier Out of Challenger SRT Demon 170
Mac Haik Dodge says it will also donate proceeds from an auction of the unclaimed Demon 170 to a charity of the soldier’s choice.
Earlier this month, Dodge swooped in to save the day after a Mississippi dealership sold a Challenger Demon 170 that was already ordered by an active-duty servicemember. Now that Dodge righted all the wrongs and procured the soldier a new car at no extra cost, the three dealership employees that instigated the drama and then tried to cover it up have been fired, and the happy ending is now complete.
"None of the employees involved in the situation represent our core company values, and that's why they are no longer with us. The GM, Sales Manager, and Salesperson involved were all terminated after the truth came to light," said Mac Haik Flowood Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in a recent Facebook post.
Mac Haik Automotive Group has 17 dealerships throughout Texas and Mississippi. Some of its dealers have been caught price-gouging limited edition cars before, but this is the most egregious behavior from one of its dealers.
So what exactly happened? When Dodge opened its order books for its limited-edition, 1,025-horsepower Demon 170—the final sendoff for the hugely popular Challenger—a servicemember ordered one from Mac Haik in F8 Green and agreed to pay a whopping $50,000 over sticker. However, when another customer who ordered a different Demon 170 in Triple Nickel silver showed up to take delivery after an eight-hour drive, they learned that the dealership already sold their car to someone else. To fix that mistake, Mac Haik Dodge sold that customer the soldier's F8 Green Demon 170, which had already arrived at the dealer but was awaiting pickup by one of the soldier's family members while he was deployed overseas. Somehow, the employees expected this to blow over.
After the soldier found out through a Facebook group, the story spread like wildfire and even made its way to the desk of Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis. In response, Kuniskis procured him another Demon 170, one that was reserved to reward top-selling dealers. However, the car was already built and painted Pitch Black, so Dodge had it put through the Jailbreak program, repainted in F8 Green, and built to the soldier's original spec. Then, Dodge sold it to the soldier at MSRP, to spare the $50,000 dealer markup. To sweeten the deal even further, after legendary car nut Jay Leno got word of the story, delivery was arranged at Leno's famous garage.
The initial F8 Green Demon 170 was returned by the customer that bought it, as they didn't know they were buying someone else's car. It's now being auctioned off by the dealer and the proceeds will go to the charity of the soldier's choice. With Dodge stepping up, the Challenger community offering their support, and now the dealership beginning to make things right, it appears we've reached closure at last.
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