Chevy dealer sells car for wrong price, apologizes after having buyer arrested Priori

[robbyj]

if you purchase a drink and receive more change then you should, do you say 'oops, you have given me an extra $5' or say nothing, and feel satisfied you got a free drink and an extra $5

This shows what kind of person you are.

and yes, mistakes do happen.

In this case however, the buyer surely would have known the price of the new vehicle he was receiving on the change over.

Let me also asked this, IF YOU owned that dealership, and were in fact the dealer, would you not panic if you have made a mistake and lost over $5000???

You may have not not called the police and falsely accused the buyer like this dealer did. But you definitely wouldn't be like "oh well silly me, looks like we're not eating tonight kids"

[jpd80]

I have a strong suspicion that this is a case of cash incentive discount applying to one car but not the other..

Everyone just assumes the guy took off with a higher trim level but that may not be the case,


I'm gonna ask a few contacts at GMI if they know what's up..

Public apology to: gtxb67



Edit,
I'm hearing that this is a little TRICK that dealers in the USA play on people wanting to swap,
it's an attempt to up sell to another model by pretending to goof on the paperwork and
then ask for more cash, most times the mug punter pays up the difference once
a threat to call the police is issued...I think this got out of hand....

will check back if/when i get more details...

[jpd80]

Here's the deal in black and white:

This guy was being a smart A55 - Apologies to everyone concerned

"A week later, Sawyer came back from a vacation to find numerous voicemails and a letter from the dealership, the suit said. In a phone conversation, Davenport explained they had made a mistake on the contract and sold the car for too little. He asked Sawyer to return to the dealership and sign a new contract.

The lawsuit claims Sawyer refused. Cummings said Sawyer initially agreed but never followed through.

When Sawyer did not return to the dealership, Priority staff continued their attempts to contact him via phone, text message and hand-delivered letters. They eventually contacted police.

On June 15, three Chesapeake police officers arrested Sawyer in his front yard and took him before a magistrate judge. He was released on bond after about four hours at the Chesapeake jail, the suit said."

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Here's the deal in black and white:

This guy was being a smart A55 - Apologies to everyone concerned

the beauty about common sense is you can see how the story played out with just a few snippets of info.

dealer made a big error, buyer didnt care, police were called, buyer continues to be a moron. the end !!

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

youve just justified what you were trying to argue against. The dealership IN GOOD FAITH let this whinger swap his car over, accidentally let him drive off with a more expensive model, and this dishonest person refused to pay the difference OR take his car back............. so the dealership resorted to any means possible to make this DISHONEST person have a difficult life for a day, big deal.

You reckon you would tell them to get stuffed, thats being low in my books. Some people do the right thing, and some people dont, then whinge when life doesnt go in their favour..........

Strange set of values?

The guy signed a contract...

The dealer calls police and LIED to them saying he STOLE a car when clearly he didnt steal it.

The matter had turned into a CIVIL MATTER, NOT CRIMINAL.
The dealer had no right to call police and lay false charges against him.
Even in the USA its an offence to make false statements/ false accusations to police.

The dealer is an idiot.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by robbyj

if you purchase a drink and receive more change then you should, do you say 'oops, you have given me an extra $5' or say nothing, and feel satisfied you got a free drink and an extra $5

This shows what kind of person you are.

and yes, mistakes do happen.

In this case however, the buyer surely would have known the price of the new vehicle he was receiving on the change over.

Let me also asked this, IF YOU owned that dealership, and were in fact the dealer, would you not panic if you have made a mistake and lost over $5000???

You may have not not called the police and falsely accused the buyer like this dealer did. But you definitely wouldn't be like "oh well silly me, looks like we're not eating tonight kids"

Someone quickly counting out the wrong change for a drink is different to a dealer who wrote up a contract, probably wrote the wrong price down multiple times on this same contract. Then got the customer to sign here, sign here, initial here, sign here, initial here while still not realizing he he had made a mistake.
The dealer was probably stupid, or had no idea what the price was of the car he was selling.
Either way his fault not the customers.

[MAD]

Drink scenario would be more like this:
-Order a Bourbon and coke
-Person behind the bar gives a double shot
-Charges you for a single, as you asked for
-Realises they gave you a double
-Asks for more money.

Extra change is an obvious mistake and easily noticeable.
If the contract was drawn up and the salesperson didn't even know about the price difference, why would the customer know?

This isn't the first time a dealer in the US has come under huge attention for backing out of contracts and such. There's been a few cars sell at auction for less than they hoped and then they try to back out of the deal.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Someone quickly counting out the wrong change for a drink is different to a dealer who wrote up a contract, probably wrote the wrong price down multiple times on this same contract. Then got the customer to sign here, sign here, initial here, sign here, initial here while still not realizing he he had made a mistake.
The dealer was probably stupid, or had no idea what the price was of the car he was selling.
Either way his fault not the customers.

Not at all, the senior salesman handled the change over, the first think he would have done was checked the stock prices.
I have a strong feeling that this is a little ploy to illicit more cash out of the buyer as there was never a question of him
coming back and taking the right vehicle type in the right colour, it was come back and sign another contract for $5,600 more.

On the other side of the coin, the dealer had made repeated attempts to contact the buyer who apparently
went on vacation and was greeted with a myriad of phone and email messages on return but it gets more
interesting because apparently the buyer agreed to return but never did, makes me wonder if he got legal advice?
Obviously, the conflict escalated from that point to police arresting the buyer but then releasing him....

I now find myself thinking the same thing that gtxb67 said the other day, they deserve each other.

In all the new vehicles I have bought over the years, I can't speak highly enough. of the salesmen I've met,
each time they have always acted in my best interest to seek out a particular model trim combination
I wanted and to help me get better deal. I'm sure this US dealer plain lost his cool after extreme aggravation.

[Jim Goose]

Obviously, the conflict escalated from that point to police arresting the buyer but then releasing him....

Ah no.. the dealer made a false statement to police... which resulted in a man being falsely arrested on a ficticious charge of theft. The car wasnt stolen.... he had a valid contract. It was a civil matter.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

Ah no.. the dealer made a false statement to police... which resulted in a man being falsely arrested on a ficticious charge of theft. .

Which is also an escalation of the conflict (by the dealer who made a false statement)
I recon something was said between the two parties that caused someone at the dealership to make that call...
A stupid, stupid error that would not be sanctioned by the dealerships legal advice, something done in a rush of blood?

[Ben73]

When I bought my 300c I had the dealer contacting me 2 weeks later saying I owed them $500 to due to a stuff up by one of his employees. The contract said I had to pay the dealer $31,500 but I only had paid $31,000. I was expecting to pay the extra $500 all along, so I then paid them as soon as I could. They were pretty cool about it, I think it was one of the best dealers I have ever been too.
I know that I wouldn't of paid them if my contract said $31,000 and they suddenly wanted an extra $500 that wasn't in the contract.

[noflac52]

They may be out there but I haven't met one yet, totally honest dealers that is! In my experience they all use deceit and pressure tactics to rush you through contracts, sell you stuff that you don't need like rust preventatives etc and various other psycological strategies to put pressure on you to make decisions quickly thus keeping you off balance. The buyer probably had no idea that the second vehicle was dearer until he was contacted and having a legal contract (which is binding by the way) had no obligation to do anything more than ignore them. As a few posts have stated it is a trick some dealers use to obtain more money by deceit so more power to the buyer beating them at their own game and if the lawsuit is successful which on the facts that are known (if correct) it should be then it may make these dealers a little more honest themselves for fear of retribution from buyers.

[GREGL]

I thought when buying a car new or used the concept of morals didn't exist!
I also thought that a written contract was nonnegoiatble once signed by both parties. It certainly is when it favours the seller . In this case the shoes on the other foot.
I have no sympatthy for any licenced dealer if they stuff up, what goes around comes around as far as I am concerned. They will just screw someone else to make up for it.
If I purchased ANYTHING from anyone at an agreed price and the transaction was complete and I would not appreciate someone asking for more, see you in court pal. The same applies if I was the seller if I stuff up it's my problem not the buyer.
The problem these days is a lot of people don't want to take resonsibility for their own actions and that is MORALLY WRONG!

[GTP534]

I've bought my last 3 cars from Sinclair Ford and cannot speak highly enough of the salesmen there. With the R-Spec recently there was no pressure to buy the paint protection, etc, etc. Only shonky guy I ever came across was at John L Motors many many years ago; wanted me to give them $10 after driving an HZ Premier, they were real high pressure!

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

The guy got locked up for no good reason. Well within his rights to sue though $2m+ is rather excessive it gives a lot of scope to get a decent settlement.

4 hour incarceration is standard practice even in australia
Yep do wrong, carry on and they will leave you locked up for 4 hours, thats a law, and they, the police dont even need to give a reason
Ask me how i know
IF said contract had all relevant info regarding the new car, and it was under charged, calling the police for theft is wrong and the dealer is way outta line and i would seek compensation for such
The arrest could be on the buyers criminal record for life and could even deter future employment
Straight for the throat ,and a simple apology wouldnt do

[robbyj]

Originally Posted by MAD

If the contract was drawn up and the salesperson didn't even know about the price difference, why would the customer know?

If your buying a new car, you research the prices of that car and the prices of the various models.

Whoever doesn't research buying something especially a car new or used is plain and simple an idiot.

"oooh for only 5k more i can get a fairmont ghia"

So yes, the customer knew the price of the car he was getting.

[CODSASR]

robbyj I was a car salesman and you would be surprised at how many people didnt do any research on price..... I used to sell kia's and once sold a optima for 2, 000 more then rrp as the buyer had done no research on prices

[Rodge]

This was always a civil, (commercial matter) and the police should never have been called in my opinion. The fact that they were and the buyer sufferred the indignity of being arrested warrants compensation in my opinion. How much compensation ???? If common sense prevailed the buyer could keep the vehicle with the higher value and that would be that...but its America so the lawyers will be after their pound of flesh and are probably the real drivers behind the lawsuit.

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by robbyj

If your buying a new car, you research the prices of that car and the prices of the various models.

Whoever doesn't research buying something especially a car new or used is plain and simple an idiot.

"oooh for only 5k more i can get a fairmont ghia"

So yes, the customer knew the price of the car he was getting.

Every dealer wether they retail the same price always have a little cream to make here and there, added extras,better services ect,so if two dealers offer the same car on the road drive away price ,one mite offer more on your trade
Easy to price compare on new advertised or even ring around, but harder to get an exact price for a trade

Some people do reasearch, many do because money is getting tight nowadays
But theres plenty who buy on impulse
"i like that , how much"

If the buyer got a good deal , good on him, a win for the consumer
I wonder how many dealer principals parade, "Gee we cleaned up on that deal " ???

[last fairlane]

Just a little bit different view
just suppose the customer was on parole
he gets locked up at the local nick
when he is identified as being on parole
they send him off to the big house
it might take a week to reallise what has happened
and in that week anything could happen you never know
all because a car dealer called the cops