You’re right. And my apologies to fellow LH members for not doing more to make prospective buyers aware of my experience. The truth is that Ashleigh seemed so nice and helpful at first that I wanted to chalk up my experience to a single glitch in the Matrix. But I’ve taken the red pill and it’s clear that was not the case. Ashleigh is great up until she gets your money and then you are no longer a priority. After that good luck in getting your car at the price promised or a timely refund after she can’t deliver.
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Reflection
So Monday, I was apparently bored, and decided to flood half my house… as many of my clients know, I HATE Mondays!
I started to research water damage restoration companies online. I did my due diligence , went to companies websites, saw what they were about, google reviews, BBB complaints, and even went to Reddit since there is no shame there! I didnt just click on the first ad and saw that a company was a member of organization and thought to myself " oh they are a member of this organization, they must be good, let me start working with them." If a doctor is part of AMA does that make them qualified to be my doctor?
The point I am making here, is that we should always research who we are going into business with. It is not about regulating more, criticizing the founders, or starting to personally attack a person. It is about understanding the business you are starting to work with. We cant get mad at google/angie’s list/homeadvisor and say " I had a bad experience , now I want you to regulate the funds or charge more to be part of those communities." or group plumbers in a negative manner if I had a bad experience with one. We need to do our diligence and decide if we want to work with a certain company, and if we have a bad experience, report it and let others be aware of it in a transparent/healthy way.
Next Steps
I do believe that there should be links in brokers/consultants handle to go directly to their review page and read about who you are going into business with. I think this would be a great way for future clients to understand who they are working with as they prepare for a large purchase. Even a policy on mediation with two parties disagree with a review and have it posted for all to review… There are several trusted Hackers that I believe are fair and balanced and could handle this well.
Conclusion
As I wait for my adjuster to come to my house, I am humbled to be part of this community and thankful to all that give to this place as well.
If you would like to donate to my HOI deductible please reach out, I was talking to a client when I forgot about the sink… just saying 
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oh no that’s exactly what i was doing - saving you from yourself.
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It may not be yours, but it certainly is @michael and @littleviolette’s, at least on this platform.
Here we have an evolving story of a broker with increasing numbers of dissatisfied customers, who is unwilling or unable to provide timely refunds of client funds when she can’t deliver the deal she promised. There is evidence that she’s pressuring clients to leave positive reviews, and actual screen shots of her pressuring a client to remove a negative one.
Her relationship with her dealer connection is unreliable at best, and borderline unethical at worst. This broker is unresponsive to complaints until forced, and when forced has a crappy attitude, lashing out at clients publicly and privately.
I challenge @michael and @littleviolette to consider: Is this the type of behavior you consider acceptable from a broker allowed to continue to do business on LH?
There’s a fine line between over-regulating/moderating and taking appropriate action to protect the community’s reputation. This is a new situation. Ultimately, Michael and Violette have to decide where that line lies for LeaseHackr.
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THs are not paid by nor are really associated with LH as far as I’m aware. On top of that you are proposing inserting LH into a quasi legal process using volunteer labor to resolve legal disputes without any of the protections afforded real arbitration companies. Implementing a system like that would be a royal clusterf&(*k for LH.
If a doctor is board certified with verified board certification it will at the very least give you avenues of conflict resolution should some arise.
My own personal opinion here. If LH is not willing to handle anything when the conflict arises, then put a disclaimer on every broker post that LH is in now way associated with the broker, all decisions are agreements are between the customer and the broker, and LH is a paid advertising program for the brokers, nothing more. Pretty sure one can rip off the entire legal language from any site that uses “sponsored” posts.
As it stands now, there is no clear understanding by especially new customers what is the relationship between LH and the brokers, and while it may be apparent to regulars and THs, it’s not very apparent to new and potential customers because of the “broker” tag.
Having said that, I’m going to stop posting in this thread, as this is now nothing but making noise with no indication that anything will ever be done and we are all just being treated like children that need to get their energy out, and calm down on their own.
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Give @michael and @littleviolette some time, they’ve run the forum very well for the past couple years, I’m sure they’re very aware of all of this and will take appropriate action. Can we put the pitchforks down for a minute now that people have finally taken the hint and blown the cover off this.
@CarHax hit the nail on the head (more or less).
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Doesn’t this kind of crap get you removed from the bar?
Really surprised after reading this thread.
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Now an attempt to bury the situation?
Just apologize…present a plan of action…and implement it!
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How do you explain “life happening” only when needing to respond to existing customer seeking refund, and magically “life NOT happening” while posting new deals, scouting new customers.
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Greed, is what it’s usually called.
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The biggest red flag had to be the fact that she drives a Volvo whilst claiming to be a BMW specialist lol, couldn’t catch me dead in a Volvo if I was moving the nicest M models that BMW has to offer. 
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Until it is posted to reddit I imagine - I was scammed on leasehackr.
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1 review in the last month. 3 today. Hmmm. Someone is paying for or coercing for positive reviews to bury the situation, if not that’s a huge coinkydink. I sell a lot of cars and only get maybe 1-2 reviews a week. Most people don’t bother to write them unless they’re either super pleased or super disgusted, that goes for all reviews like restaurants etc.
I’ll admit when I was first starting out I offered a $25 discount for reviews, never said it had to be positive. This was also before new terms here banned such behavior. I looked at it as incentivizing people to take the time to write one.
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I think the LH platform could leverage reviews just a bit more, perhaps by establishing a ratings system. This would ENCOURAGE folks that feel discouraged leaving a bad review, simply because it breaks down the elements into specific segments, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, useful for both parties, in assessing how a deal went, without over-emphasizing how a particular segment went that was imperfect. It is also encouraging for members since it streamlines feedback, without the need to write a novel (unless a novel is required, of course). I would propose a simple rating system with brief segments that best describe the deal and it’s results. I think an overall ‘score’ is less important than the score of individual segments, since the segment score yields the most informative feedback. Something like:
Broker Ratings
O Initial Communication: Vehicle details/pricing clearly presented, timelines and process explained, fees/deposits and refundability process explained
O Initial Transaction: Forms explained and sent promptly, timely fees and deposits handled appropriately.
O Interactions: Dealer contacts, order timeline and fulfillment progress as described. Broker endeavors to resolve issues that arise, and works out viable alternatives. Dealer/Broker on the same page.
O Delivery: Vehicle meets client specifications, delivered at prior agreed pricing, Broker/dealer assist with physical delivery details and new vehicle orientation as needed. Leave transaction with all questions resolved and a positive experience.
Maybe 1-5 score, with a comment section beneath. I can see members benefiting from such a feedback process, as well as brokers. Any traction for something like this?
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And how would you let only verified customers submit this? There is no way to tell them from a competitor, though I like the ratings idea.
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You’re aware that electronic payments platforms issue 1099s, right?
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Careful not to generalize. There’s a lot of us on here that run this professionally, have a process, invest in software, provide paperwork, and provide a high level of service to our customers (and have hundreds of reviews to back that up) etc.
Let’s not let one amateur (who probably shouldn’t have even been on here in the first place - for a number of reasons) negatively influence your perception of other brokers.
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Nothing personal but this really got to me.
Leaving this thread open has caused so much swirl and has the potential to negatively affect those of us who run a squeaky clean business with customer interests and satisfaction above all else.
What more can really be said here until Michael and Victoria reply?
I’ve been typing replies/deleting them over and over but nothing really stung me until now. Many of us (I want to say all but cant make that guarantee) run legitimate businesses and have worked with/made friends with so many great members here. “Brokers” are not a single entity. Everyone operates differently and should be vetted and treated as such.
@temp1001 again nothing personal - but that comment definitely hurts when a lot of us put everything we have into this business and do it the right way.
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This is a bit of a stretch for a red flag. She’s not a BMW employee so has no obligation to spend any money driving any particular car.
Hell, I’ve seen true BMW dealer salespeople that don’t even drive a BMW.
What about Brokers that carry multiple brands? Are they somehow suspect because they push BMW, Audi and Mercedes, but don’t personally own one of each?
There’s some questionable stuff going on here, and enough similar stories to show a pattern, but let’s not start manufacturing more garbage for the dumpster fire either just to pile on.
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