scummy dealers

[David Beatty <dbeatty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is not intended as a flame or a personal affront.  Also, it's not
legal advice in any way bc it's no where near my field and I don't have
all the facts  either.  It's just a pet peeve of mine.

I've seen two recent posts lately that contend that: 1) the recent post
re shelley bmw will likely bring legal action for defamation; 2) "kevin"
is a great guy, we do golf together or whatever, he supports bmw events,
so lay off; 3) the digest isn't the place to vent against vendors.

Point 1 assumes that the aggrieved was wrong in thinking he had been
duped unfairly, based on his apparent lack of sophistication in
negotiating, I guess.  Could be, but I am inclined to think otherwise.
It's a rare bird that drives long distances to return to confront
someone who didn't do him wrong.  When we goof (e.g., forget to account
for taxes), we usually try to hide it from the light and eat the cost.
We must also distinguish between the standard of care we would expect
from a pro and from a layman - consumer protection laws certainly do.
besides, it sounds as if kevin acknowledges that some sort of switcheroo
occurred.  ****Perhaps kevin would like to respond on the list?****
even if the dealer's conduct was "legal" and the buyer should have kept
a sharper eye, should we not also ask whether it was ethical?
That said, threatening calls from attorneys to a party who is speaking
truthfully and not misleadingly are asking for big trouble (get it in
writing).

Point 2:  I don't know, but sounds as if kevin is a nice enough guy who
if he had a personal fortune to fall back on would go with his
principles and shout out that his manager told him to screw the guy.
Maybe not.  So he's a nice guy; I hung out in college with a lot of guys
I wouldn't let date my sister (or buy a car from).  Tv's full of talking
heads now telling us how great a christian, humanitarian, father,
president, etc clinton is.  Fact is, he did something to the country I
wouldn't even do to my wife alone.  His backers (politicians and voters
alike) are those who benefit from his power and if he were a republican
the roles would certainly switch.  Whether or not you got a good deal
and whether or not kevin has a big smile are irrelevant to whether or
not the dealer/salesman ripped someone off. 

If I thought point 3 were true, I'd unsubscribe now.  I don't have an
older bmw, so I don't need diy help.  If I want glowing reports on
products, I'll read the vendor's literature.  I appreciate more than
anything the candid evaluations of products and service providers, like
duane's recent expose' of chips.  Should the debate over dinan be
excluded from the list?  meg ryan versus cameron diaz?  Discussions of
the v8 sulfur problem?  ERAM?

Where else are you going to get the straight skinny?  Every time I get
screwed over by a manufacturer or dealer of any product, I realize I'm
probably not the first and that they get away with it because of the
shortage of information transfer.  On the flip side, every time I have a
good experience, it seems unfair/unfortunate that, except for the
limited exposure from my (and others) word of mouth, that dealer or
manufacturer will not get as much business as they deserve.  Good
businesses are benefited when bad businesses are exposed.  Fact is, most
people brag when they get a good deal, and keep quiet when they get
duped.

I don't know kevin or shelley or the buyer, so we may in fact be getting
a BS story.  However, censorship is the refuge of liars, not the
truthful.  We're critical thinkers here, we can weight the info.  

BTW, one of the tv news mags (20/20?) did an expose, hidden camera story
a few months back on this practice. 

David D. Beatty
91 mr2 turbo (for sale!!!!)  - fast
99 //m roadster - faster
85 v65 magna - even faster
96 cbr900rr - fastest
97 4runner - need shark
93 gs500e

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