Jacob Ogles
As Republican Frank White’s campaign for Attorney General heads into the final two weeks of the primary, questions arise on how the longtime auto executive will handle oversight of his own industry.
Since the Attorney General’s office received more than a dozen complaints against auto magnate Sandy Sansing‘s chain of auto dealerships, where White is general counsel and chief financial officer, criticism will likely grow.
White’s campaign, however, dismissed questions about those complaints, with a spokeswoman saying opponents were just dredging up criticisms of Sansing dealerships as part of a political smear.
White, Sansing’s son-in-law, has largely self-financed his statewide run for office, chipping $2.77 million into his campaign account.
A Florida Politics review of his donations shows another $225,000 from auto dealership professionals, their immediate family members and political committees representing the industry.
That includes $36,000 from individual Sandy Sansing auto dealerships and companies, $3,000 from the Sansing Family Trust, another $3,000 from Sansing Holdings and $13,000 from individuals in the Sansing family.
In total, industry donations and White’s own contributions account for more than 81 percent of the $3.68 million in monetary contributions to the campaign.
Industry leaders make little secret of their affinity for White.
Alan Jay Wildstein, chairman of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association, put out a special alert to organizations members saying White’s candidacy marks an “historic opportunity” to elect the first car dealer to serve as Attorney General in state history.
“In his role as one of our chief regulators, he will be available and knowledgeable on industry affairs and statewide policies impacting dealers,” Wildstein wrote.
And later in the piece: “Supporting Frank would have obvious advantages for every dealer in Florida due to the myriad of challenges facing the industry today.”
FADA’s political arm, CARPAC, contributed $3,000 in July to White’s campaign, demonstrating a financial commitment to the candidacy as well (actually, the PACtried to write $4,000 in checks, above the legal limit, and the White campaign sent $1,000 back).
The call to action went into no great detail about said challenges. But a look at complaints filed against various Sansing companies through the Attorney General’s Office may offer a glimpse at potential conflicts that may arise for White.
Bait-and-Switch Accusations
Brent Cowart, a consumer from Fairhope, Alabama, complained to the Attorney General’s Office in November alleging he got lured by a false advertisement to Sandy Sansing Chevrolet in Pensacola.
“Basically they had a truck advertised at one price, about $13,000,” he recalled. But when he spoke to salespeople, the actual price was double that amount.
“It wasn’t misleading,” Cowart said. “It was a blatant lie.” The alleged bait-and-switch frustrated Cowart enough to file an official complaint, and he’s not the only one.
In July, Marine Corps veteran Kenneth Perry filed a complaint after he bought a 2015 Subaru Outback from Sandy Sansing Mazda, then learned the dealership did not have a key fob. It cost him $120 to get a new key. In addition, when the car wouldn’t start a week after purchase, the dealer refused to pay the cost to tow it back to the shop for repair.
“I got really snooty and told them this is a bunch of crap,” Perry told Florida Politics. “I bought a car, the car stopped working and you don’t want to provide customer service. You basically told me to pound sand. I don’t know what recourse I have here but to file a complaint.”
Since that time, Perry said he’s encountered a number of people similarly dissatisfied with service at Sansing dealerships.
Dora Atkins, who handles affairs for Army veteran husband Perry Atkins, said she’s had a number of bad interactions, and has filed lengthy complaints with the Attorney General’s Office about the trade practices there. She had been a longtime customer—the Navarre couple bought 16 cars through the years from Sansing dealers—but says she won’t go back again.
In January, Dora Atkins filed a complaint alleging that when the couple brought in a car to Sandy Sansing Nissan for repairs, the dealership initially refused to provide a loaner car to the couple because of Perry Atkins’ service dog, Callie, a four-pound Yorkie. The couple ended up in a rental from Hertz, but Dora Atkins said that vehicle had brake problems.
But when she got home, she had a conversation with the dealer, who said they would not do repairs on her car and she needed to pick it back up. She refused, and the dealer drove the car back to a home where the Atkins no longer live and left it there, according to her complaint.
Fort Walton Beach mother Mallory Amrhein said when she went to a dealership to buy a new Equinox in 2013, she had her financing pre-approved over the phone, and after paying a $3,500 down payment and trading in her old vehicle, she drove the car home. Then she got a call three weeks later telling her financing had been denied and she needed to return the vehicle or it would be repossessed.
A 23-year-old mother of three with an autistic child and a newborn at the time, Amrhein feels the dealership tried to take advantage of her because of her youth and her situation. “I was young and didn’t want a repossession on my credit, and the reason I wanted the car is I needed one that didn’t break down,” she said.
She complained on Craigslist about the experience, and says Sansing officials responded by calling her a crybaby on the site. And when she filed her complaint with the Attorney General, she called a lawyer in Boca Raton because she had trouble finding one in town who would go up against the Sansing empire.
She fears having a Sansing executive in as Attorney General means that the company would become immune to any investigation of complaints, and wonders if there would be favoritism on the part of which complaints to the office get addressed based on tightness or support for the politician in charge.
But while all of these individuals filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Office, none received a response.
Whose Problem Is It?
For what it’s worth, officials with the company say they more often have to deal with the Department of Agriculture and Community Services than any agency White would oversee if he gets elected.
“Most of our complaints don’t come through the Attorney General,” said Jackie Gray, director of Human Resources and Risk Management for the Sandy Sansing dealerships.
She couldn’t address specific cases without doing research, she said.
Incidentally, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles directs consumers different directions based on the nature of the complaint.
Consumers with financing concerns get pointed to the Department of Financial Services, under the direction of Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. And those filing Lemon Law claims or with questions about repair work done on vehicles should be calling Consumer Services, which falls under the jurisdiction of the state Agriculture Commissioner.
But those who believe themselves victims of “unfair or deceptive trade practices” should call the Attorney General’s Office.
White is running against former Circuit Court Judge Ashley Moody in the Aug. 28 Republican primary. A survey by St. Pete Polls released earlier this month showed White leading by 11 percent.
White spokeswoman Erin Isaac blamed the Moody campaign for smearing her candidate.
“This is just more mudslinging to hide Ashley Moody‘s record of being a Democrat who supported pro-abortion liberals and personally sued Donald Trump,” Isaac said. “It’s sad that Moody’s camp insists on these kinds of dirty tactics typically used by liberals.
“Honestly, we thought she was better than that.”
