A FATHER had wanted to buy a car big enough to take his family of six to Disney World, but his plan backfired when the dealership never gave him his vehicle’s license plate, title, or registration.
The South Carolina man had saved up for a new vehicle and drove from Rock Hill — about 185 miles from Charleston — to West Columbia — 113 miles North West of Charleston — to go to a dealership with the perfect car.
GettyA father purchased a car for his family’s Disney trip, but soon realized something wasn’t right[/caption]
GettyThe dealership failed to give the customer his license plate, title, and registration for his new vehicle[/caption]
“Chevy Traverse was my wife’s pick, so that’s really what we were going for,” Banks Parmley told local NBC affiliate station WIS in 2017.
“I found a few cars. One really stuck out. It was one in West Columbia.”
In November 2016, Parmley made the 71-mile trip to S&D Auto Sales where he test drove a 2009 white Chevrolet Traverse and decided to purchase it.
The family had budgeted for the car and for their Disney World trip accordingly.
“We had already reserved a hotel. We had planned on getting down there and paying for the tickets at the time we got down there. That way, it wasn’t all paid for at once,” he said.
“We tried to make it kind of a process to make it affordable for us, and, you know, the car was perfect — DVD player, seven seats, it fit my family perfect.”
He left the dealership that day with his new car and a 45-day temporary paper license plate.
When it got close to the expiration date, Parmley reached out to the dealership owner, Serg Ratkovic, asking for the title.
“I said, ‘I’ve got the money, Serg. Do you got the title?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m a dealership.’ And we had agreed on a price of $7,500,” Parmley remembered.
“So he said, ‘Well, because I’m a dealership, and so it won’t affect my license, I have to process the title, and I have to give you registration and tags.’ And he said, ‘That’s an extra $325.’”
Parmley went back to the dealership that day and gave Ratkovic $7,500 in cash and wrote a check for the additional $325.
However, the transaction didn’t solve Parmley’s problem.
“Jan. 1 comes around and no tag, no title, no registration,” he said.
“You know, I call him. He didn’t answer at first.”
When he was finally able to get Ratkovic, he told Parmley to continue to drive the car because if he was to get in trouble, it was the dealership who would be penalized.
After another 10 days go by and Parmley calls Ratkovic again but no answer.
He sent him a text and Ratkovic responded stating that he had filed the paperwork and was waiting on the DMV.
“I called the DMV,” said Parmley.
“The DMV says, ‘Sir, what the VIN number?’ I gave them the VIN number. They say, ‘Sir, you’re nowhere on this title. You’re not registered to this car. We can’t give you any information on this vehicle.’”
“So I said, ‘What do I do? I have the vehicle in my yard. I’ve paid $7,285 at this point to this man, and I cannot drive this vehicle.’ And they said, ‘You need to talk to an attorney.’”
Parmley called his family attorney, Neil Phillips who said, “I think it’s totally unfair. It’s totally unfair. He acted in good faith.”
The DMV looked into his case once he made a complaint.
“Our investigation revealed the dealership is in violation,” the DMV agent wrote in a report.
The document suggested that Ratkovic didn’t the Chevy’s title.
The car was still owned by his lender, which means it was part of a floor plan, according to the document.
“The best example I can use of a floor plan is someone who finances the operation for the dealer. Most dealers don’t have the capital to buy five, six, 10, or 30 cars to put on their lot, so they’ll go to a floor planner — a financier — who will front them the money so that they can purchase these vehicles,” a DMV spokesperson explained.
The DMV responded to Parmley’s complaint stating, “Ratkovic owner of the dealership stated the dealership was experiencing financial problems due to family medical issues and was unable to pay off the floor plan.”
Parmley was frustrated by this news.
“So it’s a lien,” he said.
“You know, it’s a lien, which is exactly what he told me was not on the car and signed the lien affidavit. I wouldn’t have bought the car if I knew it had a lien.”
Parmley was not the first person to complain about the dealership.
Documents reveal that one woman waited over a year for her license plate.
Ratkovic explained that though he had failed to give titles to his customers within 45 days, he had done nothing wrong.
“If there was anything fraudulent there, where would I be now? In jail, right,” he said.
“Okay, if I did [do something wrong], guess what? Then DMV would do something to me. SLED would do something to me. The court would do something to me.”
However, Ratkovic and S&D Auto Sales were being investigated by both the DMV and SLED at the time of Parmley’s report in 2017.
“S&D Auto Sales never provided me, to this day, with a clear title or any form of apology,” Parmley said though he paid for his car and fees in full.
Parmley and his attorney worked with S&D’s lender directly and were finally able to get the title for his car.
Customers who had been slighted by the business were wondering why it was still operational.
“That investigation did come into us,” inspector general of the state DMV, Karl McClary said.
“We are doing an administrative investigation. We’re reviewing that report. Once we’ve reviewed it, we’ll take the appropriate administrative action.
“We’ve also referred that matter to the State Law Enforcement Division, and they’re conducting their independent investigation, and I can’t comment on that.”
However, McClary stated that dealers who fail to provide a title or registration within 45 days are not uncommon.
Ratkovic continued to claim that he had not committed fraud or done anything wrong.
He wrote a letter to the DMV in April 2017 blaming his recent violations on financial problems with lenders and family health issues at home.
“I hope that you would please take everything in consideration and not revoke my license,” he wrote to DMV.
“I know my personal situation doesn’t give me a right to ignore/neglect my responsibilities at work but unfortunately I am only human.”