It has been 10 days since I last set foot in Rosenthal Landmark Honda. Over that time period, I’ve had five calls from my salesman. My wife has had four. Add in a couple of email messages, and Landmark has contacted me an average of once a day.

I stopped answering Landmark’s phone calls on Feb. 24 because my salesman wouldn’t send me the price quote I requested. At that point, someone at Landmark had the brilliant idea to start calling both me and my wife. No one left a message despite placing all those calls. Finally, on the ninth call yesterday, my wife answered the phone. She told the sales manager we weren’t interested and to contact me in the future.

Can you guess what happened? Our salesman wrote her today.

Melissa – Good morning !

My manager spoke with you yesterday. Then he spoke with me.

I want to apologize to you if I missed a couple of things when Rob was here.

I should have looked your Honda Accord over and noticed the worn tires. Then, maybe I would have asked Rob about the brakes. Instead the Appraiser told us that the brakes are metal to metal and need to be repaired. Those two things lowered the value of your trade.

If I had asked how important it was to stay around your current payment, I could have shown Rob Honda models more within reach.

If you would like different Sales Consultant to contact you in the future, please let me know now.

Best wishes,

Jim Whelan
cc : Rob Bluey

To say that I was outraged is an understatement. First of all, my wife is eight months pregnant, which is why she didn’t accompany me to Landmark Honda on Feb. 22. I purposely kept her out of the picture only for Landmark to bring her into it. And even after she asked the sales manager to contact me, Whelan sent her the above message.

The message itself is offensive. Landmark’s so-called “appraisal” included driving my car around the block. From that short test drive, the used-car dealer diagnosed that I needed new brakes. However, when I took the car to Merchants last week, the mechanic said the brakes looked new. He said it was absurd for Landmark to make such a determination without examining the vehicle.

As for the “trade” value, that again is a clever way for Landmark to twist the situation. I wasn’t trading in my car; I was asking to end my lease early — and only because Whelan initiated the contact. When the dealer wouldn’t cover the cost of my remaining payments, I knew it was time to walk out. Had the sales manager paid off my lease and honored Honda’s CR-V special, I would have bought the vehicle on the spot.

Rather than let Landmark’s harrassment continue, I put an end to it. When I phoned Whelan and told him never to contact me or my wife again, I made clear I would never do business at Landmark Honda. And I’m not the only one. My office neighbor Charlotte, who heard my raised voice through the wall, said she also had a Landmark Honda horror story. Only she walked out of the dealership by tearing up the contract.