Dixie Cat
09-24-2008, 05:43 PM
Bill Heard closes its 14 auto dealerships; 2,700 lose jobs...:icon_sad:
Owners with autos being serviced by Heard shops are advised to recover them
By KRISTI E. SWARTZ (kswartz@ajc.com)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Financially troubled auto seller Bill Heard Enterprises has closed all 14 dealerships, putting 2,700 people out of work.
The Columbus-based company, one of the leading U.S. sellers of Chevrolet vehicles, said Wednesday that the combination of rising fuel prices, a slowdown in car sales and problems in the banking sector piled up to “create a business environment in which the company simply did not have the resources needed to continue to operate.”
The written statement was released through Alan Ulman, an Atlanta public relations professional.
Ulman said he did not know how many of the job losses would be in metro Atlanta. Heard had five dealerships in Georgia and nine in six other states — Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas. It closed its Scottsdale, Ariz., dealership on Sept. 12.
Though it blamed the current economic turmoil, the company’s financial and legal problems have been mounting for several years.
The most recent example was GMAC Financial Services’ decision last month to discontinue credit for new inventory for some of Bill Heard’s dealerships. It cited concerns about financial losses at the company.
The company also has had several battles with the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, which has been investigating the company since 2003.
Last year, the Consumer Affairs office filed a lawsuit that accuse the company of engaging in a 16-year pattern of deceptive sales pitches. The allegations came a year after the company sent 10,000 Georgia car owners a flyer with the words “Urgent Potential Recall Notice” that appeared to come from General Motors.
The suit, the first the agency has filed against a car dealer in three decades, said the recall notice “was intended and designed to mislead recipients into believing that their automobiles were subject to an urgent recall, so that the recipients would call Bill Heard’s sales staff and be solicited for an automobile purchase or service contract.”
Company officials told the Journal-Constitution that they placed blame on an advertising firm.
Bill Cloud, a Consumer Affairs spokesman, said officials received many phone calls Wednesday after the news broke and were trying to determine what the closure of the dealership locations meant.
“Is it bankruptcy, are they just going out of business, what?” Cloud said. “We just don’t know.”
Cloud said it was unclear what impact the closures would have on the state’s lawsuit.
Cloud advised car owners to make every effort to get their vehicles from the business. For instance, he said if a car owner had left a vehicle at one of the dealerships for servicing or was in negotiations for a trade-in, it is in the owner’s best interest to recover the vehicle.
“We’re advising consumers that have cars in the process right now to go get them,” he said.
Ulman said the company did not address whether it was filing for bankruptcy or taking any other steps. He also said he did not know what would happen to the pending legal matters.
“Today’s announcement is that it’s a closure, and we’ll see what comes next,” he said.
As for customers who have cars that are being serviced, Ulman said they should start by calling the local dealership and then the company’s corporate office in Columbus.
Owners with autos being serviced by Heard shops are advised to recover them
By KRISTI E. SWARTZ (kswartz@ajc.com)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Financially troubled auto seller Bill Heard Enterprises has closed all 14 dealerships, putting 2,700 people out of work.
The Columbus-based company, one of the leading U.S. sellers of Chevrolet vehicles, said Wednesday that the combination of rising fuel prices, a slowdown in car sales and problems in the banking sector piled up to “create a business environment in which the company simply did not have the resources needed to continue to operate.”
The written statement was released through Alan Ulman, an Atlanta public relations professional.
Ulman said he did not know how many of the job losses would be in metro Atlanta. Heard had five dealerships in Georgia and nine in six other states — Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas. It closed its Scottsdale, Ariz., dealership on Sept. 12.
Though it blamed the current economic turmoil, the company’s financial and legal problems have been mounting for several years.
The most recent example was GMAC Financial Services’ decision last month to discontinue credit for new inventory for some of Bill Heard’s dealerships. It cited concerns about financial losses at the company.
The company also has had several battles with the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, which has been investigating the company since 2003.
Last year, the Consumer Affairs office filed a lawsuit that accuse the company of engaging in a 16-year pattern of deceptive sales pitches. The allegations came a year after the company sent 10,000 Georgia car owners a flyer with the words “Urgent Potential Recall Notice” that appeared to come from General Motors.
The suit, the first the agency has filed against a car dealer in three decades, said the recall notice “was intended and designed to mislead recipients into believing that their automobiles were subject to an urgent recall, so that the recipients would call Bill Heard’s sales staff and be solicited for an automobile purchase or service contract.”
Company officials told the Journal-Constitution that they placed blame on an advertising firm.
Bill Cloud, a Consumer Affairs spokesman, said officials received many phone calls Wednesday after the news broke and were trying to determine what the closure of the dealership locations meant.
“Is it bankruptcy, are they just going out of business, what?” Cloud said. “We just don’t know.”
Cloud said it was unclear what impact the closures would have on the state’s lawsuit.
Cloud advised car owners to make every effort to get their vehicles from the business. For instance, he said if a car owner had left a vehicle at one of the dealerships for servicing or was in negotiations for a trade-in, it is in the owner’s best interest to recover the vehicle.
“We’re advising consumers that have cars in the process right now to go get them,” he said.
Ulman said the company did not address whether it was filing for bankruptcy or taking any other steps. He also said he did not know what would happen to the pending legal matters.
“Today’s announcement is that it’s a closure, and we’ll see what comes next,” he said.
As for customers who have cars that are being serviced, Ulman said they should start by calling the local dealership and then the company’s corporate office in Columbus.