Last week I purchased a 99 CR-V EX from my local dealer. It had just
been brought in on trade before I bought it so it had not yet been
certified. As part of the deal they were to certify it the following
week.

So I dropped it off on monday of this week, they said they'd be done
on tuesday. They needed two days to certify and take it to a local
tinting shop to tint the windows. I called tuesday at 5pm after no
hearing from them and they said it would be one more day. I called
on the third day, wednesday and they said they were nearly done but
they didn't get it tinted yet. I told them I would pick up the
vehicle and make the appointment with the tinting shop myself at a
later to and have them bill the Honda dealer. They said okay.

So when I picked it up, they told me what was done and that the
service order was in the glove box and it detailed the items that
they replaced.

When I got home, I looked at the list. It said they replaced the
floor mats. I checked and the floor mats are the same crummy mats
that were in it. They said they replaced AC cabin filter, I opened
the glove box to check, it's the same dirty black filter. The only
things I could confirm they did were change the oil/filter and the
air filter. Does this sound like an oversight or are they trying to
pull a fast one on me? I guess I will call the service manager and
find out what's going on. This ticks me off because the dealer is 20
miles away and this is very inconvenient.

I just got off the phone with the service manager. He said the mats
were supposed to be put in after detailing and to come and pick them
up.

He claims the mechanic DID replace the AC filter and that you can't
see it just by opening the glove box. He said that the dark gray
foam I am looking at is not the AC filter. Can someone confirm or
deny this? I have instructions on how to replace the AC filter so I
will do that if need be to check.

One thing might be an 'oversight', two items are not, figure there has to be more, also what are all the points required for the used CRV to be certify? Thinking the dealer is trying to minimzed his cost on the sale, most defintely get hold of the dealer's business manager and not the service manager to get to the bottom of things.

i didnt think a certified vehicle could be more than 3 years old.

The Mats were probably an oversight. They wanted to do them last so
they wouldn't get the new ones dirty. Then forgot to change them.

You CANNOT see any part of the cabin filter by opening the glove box.
You have to fully remove the glove box, then remove the lower dash
brace, and THEN pull the filter out edge first to see it.
The foam you are looking at is part of the air diverter from cabin to
outside air. The foam keeps it sealed and quiet.

If they immediatly offered you the new mats, I see no signs of intent
to cheat you.