Bill Heard Chevrolet

I went to Bill Heard Chevrolet in Sanford, FL on Labor Day weekend of 2008 to look at a black Equinox that I had found online and was interested in. My mother and I arrived at the dealership early that morning and found the car I was interested in by ourselves without help from any salesmen. When a salesman finally did come greet us, and unlock the car, I test drove it. We arrived back at the dealership and went inside to talk about the price. My mother agreed to co-sign with me because I am only 20 and did not have much credit at the time. They told me that they would give me $7,000 for my 2007 cobalt that I was trading in. The car I was purchasing averaged out to be around $18,000 and the salesman informed me that my payments would be around $350. I agreed to this and went into the managers office to sign the paperwork. The manager asked me if I wanted to use Bill Heard’s finance company or if I wanted to use my own finance company. I told him that I wasn’t sure, but that I would probably use my local bank but I would have to check the interest rates first. I told him not to send anything in, and that I would call him on the following Tuesday, since it was Labor Day weekend and Monday that banks were closed. He agreed, and said no problem we’ll hold off on sending in the paperwork until we hear from you. I did indeed decide to go through my own personal bank, and called and informed Bill Heard of this decision, and they said that was perfectly ok, and that they would void out the papers I had signed. Although, they did not actually do this. They went ahead and sent in my paper work to Alphera Financial Company and received a check for the amount of the vehicle from Alphera. Bill Heard also received a check for the amount of the vehicle from my bank, First Federal of North Florida. They were paid twice for the same vehicle. I had no knowledge of Alphera Financial until I began receiving statements from them in the mail stating that I owed payments for my car. When I called Alphera to ask them about the statement, they said they were investigating the problems with Bill Heard, and couldn’t really do anything for me at this time. Since I have no been paying Alphera, because I have been paying my bank, it is showing up as a big delinquincy on my credit. I am a student trying to get student loans and my first credit card to establish GOOD credit. This problem is over-whelming to me because I can’t get anything done and it’s affecting my entire life. I have no idea how to resolve this issue and get this delinquincy off of my credit. Please help with any suggestions. Samantha Hastings, FloridaU.S.A.