as i mentioned before i am a member at NASIOC forum…its a Subaru Board and someone posted this about a dealer screwing them out of their purchase…the thread is growing by leaps and bounds throughout the internet…so i figgered id post it here for everyone to check out
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=442510
Wow…I thought wildfires spread fast. That dealer will eat his words I’m sure.
I’m probably asking something that has already been asked in that other thread, but since I know we have some lawyers poking around here. . . Isn’t there any legal followup for breach of contract or something that the buyer can follow up on? At the very least, a report to the Better Business Burea and any local papers or news agencies in the seller’s area. That should put a crimp in the guy’s sales. I’d make sure he lost more money than if he had sold the car for the lower price.
Apparently, Fox 10 is a local TV station. (I don’t know, as I’m not in Arizona.) Their investigative reporters can be reached at fox10investigators@fox10.com according to a post in the thread Brad Pittiful linked. I saw that there are over 50 pages. I read the first two.
IANAL, but eBay clearly stated that offering an item on auction is a legally binding contract. Given the value of the car, I don’t think that small claims court is an option. If not, then it would have to go to a “real” trial. It would probably cost more in legal fees than the buyer would get for the car.
Good thing he left a negative feedback. But I have to question - I would never, ever bid on something so high priced from a 0 feedback seller. New eBay users often don’t understand how it works, and might be swayed by a better offer (as it looks like what happened here).
I have submitted the original thread and a list of other forums and instances to ebay’s fraud department on the seller’s behalf. I mentioned that the negative PR was spreading like wildfire and corrective action should probably be taken. I dunno if it was teh right thing to do, but I was angry.
This is an interesting case – can a web outcry resound loudly enough to make a rascal repent? My guess is that it will depend on whether the “traditional” Arizona newsmedia pick it up.
I was about to post this since I like sharing so much but I see I’ve been beaten to it.
I’ve e-mailed the dealership directly and through my e-bay account and I’ve called Mitsubishi America about it. I actually received a response from the dealership but turns out it was canned (got the exact same response from my EBAY E-mail).
What really disgusts/disturbs me is that on the EBAY forums there was a thread about this that got about 50 replies, but it’s since been deleted. Another thread was started up but apparently posts are being deleted as fast as they can go up. It seems EBAY wants to sweep this under the rug. 
FYI that thread on NAISOC has 260 000 plus views and nearly 1500 posts :eek:
A lot of people think Ebay is going to “do something” in a case like this, but unless there are a load of negative feedback and/or fraud complaints nothing will happen. Ebay is not noted historically for rigorously policing auctions unless outright theft is occuring, and really, really, really wants the Buyer and Seller to just “work it out” so they don’t have to get involved.
There was almost a 7,000 spread between the 26,200 Ebay sale price of the car and the 32,987 price they claimed the auto broker offered. The car MSRPs for around 29,000 without the expensive add ons detailed in the ad. If someone had a hard on for that color they may well have paid the $ 32K. It sounds like they had a tricked out, pimped up Evo they couldn’t move and were going to wholesale, out and someone popped up at the last second who wanted the candy.
For $ 7,000. (if their story is true) I think they figured they’ll take the NF form weaseling on the Ebay deal.
I have also submitted the threads and a short explanation to 10 or so news agencies around Phoenix and Scottsdale. Including the Arizona Reporter, the Arizona Tribune, The ASU Press, ABC Channel 15, and several others. Maybe there will be some Monday morning follow up. I will let you know if I receive and responses personally. Hell hath no fury like a nerd with a cause.
I have also submitted the threads and a short explanation to 10 or so news agencies around Phoenix and Scottsdale. Including the Arizona Reporter, the Arizona Tribune, The ASU Press, ABC Channel 15, and several others. Maybe there will be some Monday morning follow up. I will let you know if I receive any responses personally. Hell hath no fury like a nerd with a cause.
I don’t really expect EBAY to do anything about it, but I certainly didn’t expect them to try and sweep it all under the rug and act like it ddin’t happen.
The car has not been sold. Several people have gone to the dealership in person and have seen it, it’s still parked there. Others (acting like prospective car buyers) have been shown it and have been told it’s available. Carfax also shows that it’s not sold, and it’s still listed on the dealers website as being in it’s inventory.
Looks like the little guy won this time. Check MarkD’s post on page 111.
heres an up date and a message markd got from the mitsubishi dealer…looks like the misubishi dealer will be honoring the deal from ebay…and rightly so
It’s good that they actually did what they promised to do, but I wonder just how much business they lost because of it all.
Ah, behold the power of the net.
Their auction does say:
“We reserve the right to cancel all existing bids and end the auction early should the item no longer be available for sale.”
Sometimes they put a disclaimer that the car is subject to local sale first too.
But now their feedback says:
“marks_auto( -1 )”
Yeah, but they didn’t end it early. He won the auction, and then they changed their minds. They should have set a reserve, but they didn’t.
Another hinky thing about that auction was on Shipping and payment details part of the auction it said “Shipping is free within United States” but earlier on another part it says “Shipping is at buyers additional expense”