AG: Atlantic Auto Group Defrauded Customers With Misleading Promotions, Fraudulent Sales Tactics

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Tuesday a settlement requiring 22 Long Island car dealerships to pay $310,000 in restitution and penalties to resolve false advertising claims.

The dealerships, all affiliated with Atlantic Auto Group based in West Islip, persistently defrauded consumers with misleading promotions and fraudulent sales tactics, Schneiderman said.

In total, the attorney general’s Nassau and Suffolk regional offices received more than 250 complaints regarding the dealerships and their advertising and sales practices, Schneiderman said.

Authorities say Atlantic used direct mail to send about 500,000 promotional items to residents across the island. The advertisements contained a scratch-off game card, a pull-tab game card, or a “Triple Diamond” game card where potential consumers were told they could win a cash prize, a free vehicle, a flat-screen TV or an Apple iPad.

A winning ticket contained three like symbols but it did not explain what, if anything, the person won, Schneiderman said. Instead, people were instructed to bring the game card to the dealership during event times in order to claim their prize.

Schneiderman said the game cards were deceptive and had the capacity to mislead consumers to believe that they were guaranteed winners of valuable prizes. In fact, virtually all of the consumers did not win a prize at all, the attorney general said.

“Purchasing a car is one of the biggest financial decisions many families will make,” Schneiderman said. “New Yorkers have a right to navigate the car buying process without being targeted by false and misleading promotions and sales practices.”

Atlantic will admit no wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement, according to Newsday.

Regarding the misleading promotions, an Atlantic co-owner told Newsday: “It was a vendor of ours that apparently did not do business the right way. We no longer use that company.”

Schneiderman said Atlantic also misled consumers through various other deceptive practices by:

• Publishing print advertisements which contained misleading or illegal features in violation of the Attorney General’s Auto Advertising Guidelines and a previous Assurance of Discontinuance entered into with two dealerships in the Atlantic Automotive Group

• Obtaining signatures on contracts of sale and financing agreements from consumers who mistakenly believed that they were filling out paperwork for vehicles they had won as part of the “Triple Diamond,” “scratch-off game card,” or “pull-tab game card” promotions

• Offering false monetary discounts off the sales price of a vehicle, by selling the vehicle at a high retail sales price which had the effect of nullifying the value of the discount offered

• Charging consumers for extended warranties, vehicle maintenance contracts, and administrative fees related to the purchase of vehicles that consumers did not want, had no knowledge of, or were told there was no charge for these products

• Providing consumers with blank documents or partially blank documents for their signatures and later filling out the documents with figures and terms other than what was agreed upon by the consumers

• Failing to give all necessary documents to consumers at the time of purchase

• Making various false or misleading statements to consumers during high-pressure sales transactions

• Encouraging consumers to apply for loans that they could not afford

• Refusing to refund deposits that had been made by consumers

The dealerships included in the settlement are:

• Millennium Honda, 286 N Franklin St., Hempstead
• Millennium Toyota, 257 N. Franklin St, Hempstead
• Millennium Hyundai, 220 N. Franklin St, Hempstead
• Advantage Hyundai, 440 Plainview Road, Hicksville
• Advantage Toyota, 400 W. Sunrise Highway, Valley Stream
• Advantage Honda, 1260 Northern Blvd, Manhasset
• Atlantic Volkswagen, 555 Sunrise Highway, West Islip
• Atlantic Audi, 251 Sunrise Highway, West Islip
• Atlantic Nissan, 193 Sunrise Highway North Service Road, West Islip
• Atlantic Hyundai, 193 Sunrise Highway North Service Road, West Islip
• Atlantic Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, 130 Sunrise Highway, West Islip
• Atlantic Toyota, located at 200 Sunrise Highway, Amityville
• Atlantic Chevrolet Cadillac, 1350 Sunrise Highway, Bay Shore
• Atlantic Honda, 1391 Sunrise Highway, Bay Shore
• Lexus of Rockville Centre, 700 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre
• Lexus of Massapequa, 4950 Sunrise Highway, Massapequa Park
• Audi of Lynbrook, 843 Sunrise Highway, Lynbrook
• Huntington Chevrolet, 370 Oakwood Road, Huntington Station
• Huntington Toyota, 1030 East Jericho Turnpike, Huntington Station
• Mid-Island Hyundai, 1815 Middle Country Road, Centereach
• South Shore Hyundai, 360 W. Sunrise Highway, Valley Stream
• Massapequa Nissan, 3660 Sunrise Highway, Seaford

Photo: Google Maps