[Kev]

I know some of you don't troll over at the main E90Post PNW section, so I decided to post it up here too for my ex-M3 brothers.

I had a recent negative experience that I want to share with you guys:

I thought I wanted to order an S4 to replace my E55 late last year (Dec 2010), so I started asking around for the best price. Diane M. at Barrier Audi was the only one who accepted my offer for a MY2010 S4 custom ordered for invoice + 500. We went over the options multiple times before we confirmed the order (Phantom Black Pearl exterior, Black / Silver two-toned NAPPA leather interior, and every packages + options). She confirmed that my order was in and the car will be in bound in late March, early April.

We remained in contact over the next couple months and I was informed that my car has finally finished production and it was in-bound on a boat. Expected delivery is about 2 weeks at that point. She gave me the order sheet of the car and I immediately noticed that the NAPPA LEATHER option was missing on my order. I contacted her immediately and she was not sure whether it was ordered. Later, after a few phone calls, she confirmed that the car indeed did not have the nappa leather. Instead, it came with Alcantara inserts. Normally, I would be ok with that, but given my wife's strange qualms about Alcantara, I was not allowed to buy a car with Alcantara interior. I told her that I won't be accepting the delivery since it wasn't the car that I ordered. To her credit, she asked the service department if there is a way to retrofit the leather (of course not!). She pushed me a couple times saying that the car has so many options, it won't sell for a long time. However, I stood firm and the car eventually sold QUICKLY. There was some half-hearted apologies, but there was no offers to re-order the car or any form of compensation (e.g. early MY2011 delivery) for wasting my time.

Fast forward to August, I was once again looking for a replacement vehicle for my E55 AMG. I decided to give Barrier Audi another chance. So I got in touch with Diane again telling her that I am interested in re-ordering an MY2011 S4. I also reminded her that since they screwed up my order earlier in the year that I would like to order the car at invoice as a way of compensation. However, what I got in the email was nothing but attitude. She stated that she wants invoice + 800 (WTF!? now you want more money than what we previously agreed upon!?) because the demand for this car is so high (she said she delivered 3 that weekend). To compensate for the higher price, she said she MIGHT be able to find me an earlier build spot. I politely told her to go fly a kite.

It's a shame that Barrier Audi and its sales team would not own up to their own mistakes.