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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
06/19/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
On Jun 16, 2022 I paid $49 to list my car for sale on Autotrader.com. However, up until now all I have received was scammers trying to mail me a certified check without knowing the details of the car I'm selling. I feel like this isn't even a legitimate car selling website. I have tried emailing Autotrader but have not received any response at all. I am removing my ad listing for safety concerns and would like a full refund of the $49 I paid.
Business response
06/21/2022
We apologize you experienced fraud leads on our platform. As a customer service, we have refunded the cost of your ad.Customer response
06/21/2022
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Pei Si MooInitial Complaint
02/08/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
I have contacted auto trader numerous times about this issue and its not getting anywhere, the sales person ******** ******* who signed me up for the services keeps ignoring our calls and emails. I have asked many times to speak to a supervisor, they do not connect me with the supervisor. I have not used their services and they keep sending me a ****. The sales rep ***** not care or feel remorse in any shape or form as soon he he got his commission he stopped answering our calls and messages. We canceled the Autotrader account as soon as we dedecided to cancel our business. we never made an active account or put any car up for sale. We contacted ******** immediedtly and he informed us that it will be ok and there won't be any chages for the services that have not been used. since then they accused us of lying and saying our business is still open. I sent my last email to ******** on Jan 20 at 4:09 PM and showed him the proof of our business has been closed since 10/2021 and I personally spoke to the Department of CA motor Vehicle. Since they have not done anything but caused us unneccssary headache and hassle and 4 month later issues has not been resolved and we kept getting a **** of $150 for the services we never used. I have attached a proof of DMV records.Business response
02/21/2022
Thank you for sending in proof your business closed. The date of this notice of closure is 10/31/22. The **** you received was for your account prior to this date as you signed ** in September, and thus it would be a valid ****. However, i have made an exception and have closed your account and closed this ****. The **** you received has been closed.Customer response
02/23/2022
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
******** (**** Auto Llc) MoghassemiInitial Complaint
01/10/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
On 12/1/21, I paid $49 to list my car on Autotrader.com. In the 30 days my car was listed on their website, I didn't receive a single message from an actual buyer. The only people interested in my car were "Anonymous Buyer"s that couldn't meet in person and wanted to send me a check in the mail. Total scam! Thankfully I have been educated to avoid scams, but it truly scares me that someone would unknowingly fall for these offers. When my ad expired, I was extremely unsatisfied with my experience, so I emailed Autotrader in hopes of directly resolving my problem. In response, they told me that per their refund policy, they could not refund me as I requested. After this interaction, I believe that Autotrader.com is a scamming platform and not worth anyone's time or money.Business response
01/21/2022
Thank you for contacting Autotrader. We apologize you had this experience. A refund in the amount of $49 was generated to the credit card on file.Customer response
01/24/2022
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
***************************Initial Complaint
12/08/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I spent $49 and got more headaches and problems than I could ever have imagined. I wanted to cancel this 10 days in because all I received was out of state, criminal intent, emails. Every single person said the same thing, they were interested in my truck and would need to have someone come sign on their behalf and pick up the truck. Like most ALL private sellers, we don't do this everyday. Autotrader does and they know better. I accepted ***************** *********************** offer. He sent me a fraudulent check. Only because this whole experience through autotrader felt way off from the start.......I told **********, the criminal, I needed to hold off at least one full week until the $19,950 cashiers check clears and then he can set up the pick up. Sure enough, the check was sent back from the **** Reserve 4 days later. This is NOT a service for private sale. ONLY dealerships. This service should be shut down as far as private sale is concerned. ALSO, no service was really provided. They should only be able to collect the $49 if the vehicle sells through their service. I sold my truck through ******** Marketplace. It cost me NOTHING and I sold to a local buyer. I want my $49 back. I didn't receive a single legitimate person of interest from this service. All out of state, criminal inquiries wanting to steal my truck and money from me. This is serious, life changing risk going with autotrader. There isn't near enough warning, thus this is dangerous for any private seller. ONLY dealerships have the ability to fully understand and protect themselves.Business response
12/08/2021
I'm sorry you had this experience on Autotrader.com. I have refunded the listing in full as it was less than 30 days old.Initial Complaint
12/08/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
I signed up to sell a vehicle on Autotrader.com for $49. I've asked for a refund since their site was not sending me notifications of buyer interest messages left for my listing. I missed several sales opportunities due to this. I have received numerous site errors, downloaded the app and couldn't sign in, and proceeded to email autotrader about my interest in a refund. I requested a refund on November 11th, 2021 and never heard back, so I emailed again on 12/6/21. Today (12/6) I was emailed a link to their refund policy and told I was not getting a refund. As a consumer, I expect the site to work as advertised. As of today, I have received 1 email and 1 text message regarding my vehicle listing, though multiple others had expressed interest in the vehicle and I didn't receive the same notifications. As mentioned, I lost several sales opportunities because of this.As well, I was contacted by another person through the site who ended up sending me a fraudulent check. Thankfully, I didn't fall for this scam, though the scam originated on the autotrader site.I am requesting a refund due to their site not functioning properly, causing me to miss sales opportunities. Autotrader should take responsibility for their poor IT set-up and refund my money. I have screen shots of other errors the site displayed, which have already been sent to autotrader customer service.I will attach 2 missed messages and 2 site errors that I took screen shots of.Business response
12/08/2021
We apologize you had this experience on Autotrader.com. I see you did request a refund via email on 11/8 which was well within 30 days of placing the ad, and I have refunded this listing in full back to the credit card used for purchase.Customer response
12/09/2021
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
*******************Initial Complaint
12/02/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I had a similar experience as others with Autotrader with leak of personal information and incessant spamming. I placed my ad on 11/17 and it wasn't posted for over 24 hours before I was contacted saying that it was flagged for spam. I had to call customer support to get the ad published over *********************************************** back and say that it was flagged because I used '+autotrader' in my email address (I do this to reduce spam on any site I register). I had to change my email so it wouldn't get delisted and afterwards received almost 100 responses over the next week or so, not a SINGLE one being legitimate. All asked for my address or phone number as part of an advance payment scam. It was incredibly disappointing and a waste of time constantly blocking messages for a service that was advertised as posting to verified potential buyers.Business response
12/06/2021
We are sorry you have this experience. The listing has been refunded in full back to the credit card used to place the original listing.Initial Complaint
11/23/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
Listed a car for sale with Autotrader.com on November 7, 2021. I received about 12 messages from anonymous buyers requesting I text them. I checked all the phone numbers provided and they came back as unviable to verify. More than likely made from burner phones. It appeared that all the messages sent to me were from scammers looking to solicit my personal information rather than inquire about purchasing a car. One message from an anonymous buyer addressed me by my first name. There should have been no identifying personal information listed in the ad so how did this scammer know my first name? I contacted Autotrader via email and asked that the ad and all my personal information be removed and deleted because I received nothing but scam messages for the past week. I also requested my $49 be refunded. I received a boilerplate email stating I should review their policy on refunds and they were not going to refund my payment. Autotrader had a fiduciary duty to scan all text messages and remove fictitious messages looking to scam sellers. As far as I'm concerned, Autotrader. com conspired in the scam to solicit my personal information and should be held accountable and made to refund my payment.Business response
11/30/2021
Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/11/23) */ We apologize you had this experience. I have refunded the $49 you spent back to the credit card used to purchase the ad. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2021/11/24) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)Initial Complaint
10/19/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
Listed my car on AutoTrader, early August. The site claims to match you with legitimate buyers and help with pricing recommendations. 95% of inquiries were spam from anonymous inquiries, some were aggressive . . . wouldn't stop contacting me. Also, depending on when I logged on, my automobile was listed as "priced high" and sometimes not . . .Business response
11/05/2021
Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2021/10/27) */ Thank you contacting Autotrader.com and I apologize you has this experience. I'm unable to find any listings using the name provided. In order to research this please provide the email address used to placed the ad and the VIN of the listing. You can reach us by calling Autotrader at XXX XXX XXXX. Thank you in advance.Initial Complaint
09/25/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
Kalidy Kia of Edmond Oklahoma is purposefully misleading customers with a price of XXXXX for the Kia Forte. I have told them about the advertisement, and they said they didnt have any for that price ever. This is fraudulent marketing. I would like to report them, and have them take down these ads I wasted time and money traveling across Oklahoma to their store. Thank youBusiness response
10/11/2021
Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/09/30) */ We are sorry to hear about your experience with the dealer. Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We are investigating this matter. The Autotrader TeamInitial Complaint
09/24/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
Over the past 4 months I've been using Autotrader's online system to contact sellers of certain vehicles. The company's messaging system sends an auto-generated message to me each time indicating that my message has been sent to the seller - then the line goes dead and I hear nothing back. These are not high interest vehicles I seek so obviously messages are NOT getting to the sellers. This is a deceptive practice and should be investigated. Thank you.Business response
10/20/2021
Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2021/10/04) */ Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We are investigating this matter. The Autotrader Team Consumer Response /* (3000, 10, 2021/10/05) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I would characterize this response as "pro forma". I'll believe its effectiveness if and when I see it. Thank you *** ******** Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2021/10/19) */ We have looked into the matter and confirmed that your messages were sent to and received by the sellers. While sellers can respond through our system, they have no obligation to respond. Sellers can choose whether or not to respond and when and how to do so. We apologize for the inconvenience and wish you luck find your next vehicle. The Autotrader Team
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Get a QuoteCustomer Complaints Summary
96 total complaints in the last 3 years.
42 complaints closed in the last 12 months.