Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council

I had a very bad situation where the dealer kept the deposit without any good reason. The lady at the dealership said she would clean the car and after she finally did, we noticed that the car was riddled with stone chips which we did not notice on account the car was grimy. AMVIC believed them rather than us and never even considered or called us to give our side of the story. The dealer had all the time in the world to clean his lot to show that I had lied and saw the chips. This was not true and AMVIC appeal fell on deaf ears. They did not even consider the fact that the car had to have it's brakes replaced and I needed to drive the car and give the ok on the work. This was part of the sale. I was totally let down by AMVIC. They are just a way to allow dealers to scam consumers.

I had a terrific experience with AMVIC. An unscrupulous dealer in Calgary tried to keep a $ 1000 deposit of mine when clearly they were not meeting the terms of our agreement. I appealed to the dealership, whose manager scoffed at the idea I could go to AMVIC. «They’ll just take our side,» he told me. AMVIC got me my money back from them the day after I sent in my complaint. They also offered frank advice. Very happy with my experience.

This place is a joke, a agency created by the government for morons who can’t get a job elsewhere.
I filed a complaint against Country Hills Hyundai about not refunding my deposit 2 hours after, I left the dealership, without any work being done to the vehicle or me taking the vehicle with me. Amvic sided with Country hills Hyundai and said there was nothing they could do. The Lady I was dealing with Leisha, was a moron and said she wouldn’t call Jared as he had just come back from holidays and didn’t want to bother him! Who cares that I got ripped off for $ 2000.00, as long as this so called agency can stay on the good side of these corrupt car dealerships, I wouldn’t waste me time dealing with these idiots!

This council is obviously some sort of joke.
I registered a complaint against Sunridge Nissan in Calgary, Alberta, hoping that the council would help me with their unfair practices. (I was sold a used vehicle with a mechanical inspection report that failed to identify a number of serious mechanical problems a blind man would have noticed.)
The council just sent me a form letter in response to my complaint, stating that they couldn’t help because there was no violation of the Fair Trading Act.
I haven’t read the act, but apparently it is acceptable for a car dealership to sell a consumer a vehicle with a false mechanical report.
Ridiculous.
If you run into issues with a car dealership, don’t even waste the electrons to send the council a complaint. They probably just have one guy there who sends an auto-​reply form letter to your email address to reject your complaint.

Like the Better Business Bureau (BBB), AMVIC, the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council, purports to be a champion of consumer rights, protecting car owners from incompetent and unscrupulous repair shops, of which there are a number in Calgary.
But that is just a front. They are worse than the BBB, which at least pretends to listen and treats your complaint as a misunderstanding to be mediated, followed by a whitewash of the complaint for public consumption.
In practice, AMVIC is paid by member repair shops to defend them against bothersome customers like you, because you are so unreasonable and dumb about cars. When you report that greasy repair shop to AMVIC, they will automatically leap to the defence of that paying member, before actually hearing your full story. You will then be accused of being insensitive, predatory even, and scolded for protecting your own interests. How selfish of you. Don’t you know? These poor auto mechanics need to make a living somehow.
Needless to say, that unethical automobile repair shop will continue to shaft your neighbours, no record of their misdeeds being available to warn them. They will, that is, unless your neighbours also read Unilocal.