*Names edited out

"I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my Carmax experience. I purchased a 2005 Ford Focus back in January of 2010. I drove two hours one way to the Fayetteville location to purchase this vehicle. When I spoke to the representative ([female1]) at the time, it was not disclosed to me that the previous owner of the vehicle was a smoker, nor was it disclosed that there were burn marks on the seats. I took the vehicle home and drove it happily. About a month later, I started having a bad flare-up of allergies which I chalked up to the previous owner being a smoker. In May of 2010, it was getting to be too much and I contacted the same Carmax to let them know that I couldn't keep dealing with the smell and was looking to trade it in. The sales associate ([male1]) was very kind throughout the whole process over the phone and we made plans to meet at Carmax so I could have my vehicle appraised and trade it in. Another four-hour round trip drive. I was dinged on my appraisal for the burn marks, which were in the car when I purchased it but I was not told of it. Since the negative equity was too much and I couldn't put a whole lot of money down, I drove back home trying to figure out how I was going to get into a vehicle that would not cause an allergy flare-up. So, once my finances had leveled out a bit more, I contacted Carmax again in October of this year, saying that I would be able to put a bit more money down but I wanted to make sure that I would be able to actually get the car that was listed for the amount I would be able to put down. The sales associate, ([female2]), said that it was no problem, that 500 down would be perfectly okay. Since I only had Tuesday off at the time, and the vehicle I wanted was at the Raleigh location (only about an hour away from the Fayetteville location), she said it would be no problem get it to the Fayetteville location within two days, in time for me to come on Tuesday. So I called Monday night to make sure it was there, because I never received a phone call saying that it had arrived. It had not arrived yet and I couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone as to whether or not I should come down on Tuesday. They finally ended up calling [(female2)] at home, who in turn said that she would get someone to go drive there to get it. So I drove another two hours on that Tuesday, only to arrive to find out that the car was still not there, even though I had said that I would be arriving at the store around 12 noon. 45 minutes later, a gentleman came into the waiting area where I was and said that he was sorry, but he had a fear of small cars so he had to send someone else to go pick up the vehicle (the vehicle I was interested in was a SMART Car). Another 20 minutes and the sales associate ([female3]) showed up, seemingly expressing her irritation at the fact that she had to go pick up the vehicle from another store. She then took me into the cubicle and we ran the credit check with the appraisal price, and again said I would have to put down a larger sum of money. I told her that when I had spoken to ([female2]), she had said that I wouldn't have to put any more than 500 down. [(female3)] then tried to help me out with running my credit through more banks, and still coming up with the same amount down. Then she and the gentleman who had said he was afraid of small cars began to say that ([female2]) was not doing her job properly and that she should have done this and done that, all the while I'm realizing that again I just wasted another four hours on the road due to misinformation. So I left after that. Fast forward to November of this year. I finally found a dealership that would take the Focus. However, in inspecting the car prior to them purchasing it, they noted that it had had flood damage. Yet another thing that was not told to me by Carmax. So I purchase my new vehicle from the Toyota dealership, and in doing so, they called Carmax Auto Financing to get my policy cancelled. I had GAP insurance and the extended warranty on the Focus, so since I couldn't put a lot of money down for my new vehicle, I agreed to sign the GAP and extended warranty refund over to Toyota. Carmax told us that the total that was due back to me would be $919. Carmax faxed over the cancellation paper work for me to sign and fax back, which we did. So, here it is, December, almost exactly a month after purchasing the vehicle, and I get a check in the mail for $6. Then a day later, I get one for $341. Thinking that those must have been extra things that had initially been overlooked, I called my new dealership to make sure they had received the check for $919. They hadn't. So, I called Carmax Auto Financing asking what the two checks they HAD sent were for. The representative I spoke to said that the $6 was an overpayment on my account, and the $341 was for the GAP insurance refund. So I asked when i would get the check for the extended warranty back, and she said that I hadn't cancelled it. I said I distinctly remember signing a paper cancelling it, and she said that it was only for the GAP insurance, that the extended warranty was still active. Why would I want an extended warranty on a vehicle I no longer have? The representative then told me that I would have to sign a paper at the Carmax location saying that I wished to cancel the warranty. I told her that I don't want to drive four hours to sign a piece of paper that should have been sent to me the day I sold my car. She gave me the phone number for the Fayetteville store, and I spoke to ([female4]), who re-explained that they do the GAP and the extended warranty as two separate things and that each needed to be signed. So I asked if she could fax the cancellation paperwork to m at my job, in which she said I would need to fax a copy of the mileage at the time of sale to her, which I did, and never heard back from the office. So I called and she said she had gotten moved to a different department but she would go check and give me a call back once she had received it. She promptly called me back and let me know that she wouldn't be faxing the paperwork, that me faxing over the proof that I had sold the vehicle with the mileage listed would be enough for them to cancel it. I asked her how much I would be getting back on the extended warranty refund check, and she told me $496. 496+341=837, which is not the $919 they had told my new dealership. $82 out of pocket may not seem like a lot, but it is. Especially around the holidays. I understand that things can get busy and it's only human that sometimes we forget things. I also understand that we all need to make money to support our families. However, this whole situation is beyond ridiculous. From not telling me that my vehicle had burn marks (conveniently not shown in the online photographs), and that my car had flood damage and that that was the real reason my allergies were so crazy, to not cancelling my extended warranty at the time of my selling the car but cancelling the GAP, to now forcing me to pay $82 I don't have because someone misquoted the refund amounts. I am disgusted with the lack of professionalism of the majority of the staff, and I am very upset at this whole situation and will not be purchasing a vehicle from Carmax again."