Recently, about November 23, I decided to purchase a 2006 Accord.  I've
owned over 7 Hondas and Acuras and had pretty good experiences so far.
This one was different.

At first, things went well.  I e-mailed and called several dealers
looking for the best price on an EX-L.  One dealer was $400 lower than
the next lowest.  I called to confirm it was for leather, and a second
salesman verified it was.   On Nov 28, I asked them to begin looking
for the car and they took my $500 deposit.  They called the next day to
say they made a mistake, that they had accidently quoted cloth, but
that they would honor the price.  And they could not find a car in the
state (I wanted 5 spd manual), so they had to order from the factory
and it would be delivered around the end of December.  They sent a
confirmation fax on Nov 29 with price and model of the car, and a
statement that my vehicle was being built in mid to late December, and
that they would call soon with a delivery date.

All looked good, but something did not make me optomistic.  I put in a
post titled "Wary about my recent purchase"
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.honda/browse_frm/thread/728e6324
5ae7d5e1/fcf3de0f07af6b29?lnk=st&q=viperlars&rnum=2&hl=en#fcf3de0f07af6b29
where my worst fear was that they ordered a cloth car and were going to
install leather at the dealer.

On Dec 6, the salesman calls me and says they found a car in a
neighboring state and can have it to me within a couple days.  Only
problem is that it had pin stripes, mud guards, wheel locks and a trunk
liner.  It would only cost me $400 more.  I said No Way am I paying a
dime more for anything I did not order.  After he calculated his
"discounts", it only came to $189 and they would remove the trunk
liner.  Again, I said No Way, I will wait a few more weeks and get the
car you ordered.  That is when he told me they never ordered my car, so
if I wanted one before January, I'd have to take this one.

I asked the salesman to get the general manager on the phone.  He was
not there, so he transfered me to another senior salesman.  After I
tell him the story, and that I have a faxed confirmation that my car is
being built in December, he confirms that it had not been ordered, but
that he could still get me the car by the end of December.

He calls back the next day and says that he could NOT get the car by
end of December.  I call the general manager hoping he can help.  He
has no clue what these guys were up to.  I had to fax him back the fax
they sent me.  He says the car was ordered and I will have it end of
January and that is the best he could do.

I'm not happy, and still don't trust they are telling the truth.  On
Dec 8, I call American Honda to see if they can help.   They call back
on Dec 12 and tell me that they have just spoken to the general sales
manager and that he just ordered the car, and that I could expect to
get it late February, but most likely sometime in March.  I told the
woman at American Honda that I was told January, and she said that was
pretty impossible.

Today, Dec 13, I called and talked to the general sales manager.
Before I could even ask the question, he blurted out that I'd have my
car in late January.  When I told him American Honda said February /
March, he denied ever talking to them, although they knew his name.  I
asked him to fax over the order he made so I could verify the order
date, make model, etc.  He refused and told me he would no longer sell
the car to me.  He said I'd become a headache for him.  What about his
salespeople who are sending faxes confirming orders?

I asked him to fax a receipt of my $500 refund.  He then tells me I
have to come down to the dealership to sign for my refund.  It is about
an hours drive one way, otherwise, I would have loved to come down.  I
said if you can take my $500 without a signature, you can give it back
without one.  He said, nope, it was company policy.  I've just gotten
off the phone with the credit card company and they are handling it.