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aGameOfThrones
10-03-2012, 12:42 AM
A Virginia man spent four hours in jail after purchasing a Chevrolet Traverse from Priority Chevrolet in Chesapeake, VA. The dealer's sales staff accidentally sold the SUV to Danny Sawyer for $5,600 less than they should have, and when Sawyer refused to sign a new, more expensive contract for the correct amount, the dealership called the local police alleging the buyer had stolen the vehicle. Law enforcement then picked Sawyer up and held him for four hours before getting the situation straight.

Dennis Ellmer, president of Priority Chevrolet, says he owes Sawyer an apology on behalf of the dealership, and had intended to do right by the buyer by letting him have the vehicle at the agreed-upon price. But Sawyer's lawyer says it's a little too late for saying, 'sorry.' The briefly-incarcerated owner has filed two lawsuits against the dealer, accusing the business of malicious prosecution, slander, defamation and abuse of process. All told, the suits seek a total of $2.2 million in damages, plus attorney fees.

That $5,600 seems awfully cheap now.

The lawsuit says Sawyer originally purchased a blue Traverse on May 7, but took the SUV back the next day for a black one. The dealer's sales manager made the swap, allegedly without saying anything about a price differential between the two. Either way, Sawyer signed a final contract for around $34,000 when the vehicle he took home had an actual price of closer to $39,000. On June 15, Sawyer was taken into custody by police, but the Commonwealth dropped the charges after finding insufficient evidence to pursue the case.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/02/chevy-dealer-sells-car-for-wrong-price-apologizes-after-having/

Demigod
10-03-2012, 01:31 AM
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/02/chevy-dealer-sells-car-for-wrong-price-apologizes-after-having/


"The briefly-incarcerated owner has filed two lawsuits against the dealer, accusing the business of malicious prosecution, slander, defamation and abuse of process. All told, the suits seek a total of $2.2 million in damages, plus attorney fee"

This is low as hell,I hope he doesn't get a dime.

Zippyjuan
10-03-2012, 01:40 AM
Well, the customer did have it in writing and they both signed the purchase agreements. Unless he doesn't pay the $34,000 agreed to, I don't think they can do much.

kathy88
10-03-2012, 04:03 AM
Dude probably just got a free SUV.

nobody's_hero
10-03-2012, 04:31 AM
The dealership messed up by alledging that the man had stolen the vehicle. That's a false report which led to a wrongful arrest, but $2.2 million for 4 hours in jail? I think someone smells 'opportunity' more than 'compensation' here.

EDIT: I read through the comment section and someone made the point about arrests following someone for the rest of their life, so yeah, $2.2 million isn't so bad I guess.

RPtotheWH
10-03-2012, 04:52 AM
Aw come on he said sorry!

Tod
10-03-2012, 05:46 AM
This is low as hell,I hope he doesn't get a dime.

If they hadn't arrested him, I'd say the right thing for him to do would be ~assuming the error was a typo by some clerk and not a figure they had actually discussed and agreed upon~ for him to either back out of the contract or pay the correct price.

By falsely charging him with theft, the dealership was pretty much asking for this. Those accusations are deadly serious, and they threw the first punch.

acptulsa
10-03-2012, 05:56 AM
EDIT: I read through the comment section and someone made the point about arrests following someone for the rest of their life, so yeah, $2.2 million isn't so bad I guess.

It would be fun to sue a bunch of state governments for changing the rules. Once upon a time, innocent people had no paper trail. Getting acquitted meant getting shed of any record of your arrest, at least in some states. One didn't pay court costs for being innocent, either. Not any more.

Yeah, anyone who engages in malicious prosecution is playing with fire, and needs to pay. But at the same time, state courts really don't need to automatically burn everyone they touch, including those who are acquitted. It's a long way from 'innocent until proven guilty' to 'branded even after being found innocent'.

Noob
10-03-2012, 07:01 AM
The dealership messed up by alledging that the man had stolen the vehicle. That's a false report which led to a wrongful arrest, but $2.2 million for 4 hours in jail? I think someone smells 'opportunity' more than 'compensation' here.

EDIT: I read through the comment section and someone made the point about arrests following someone for the rest of their life, so yeah, $2.2 million isn't so bad I guess.
For such things they need to be run out of business.

dbill27
10-03-2012, 07:04 AM
Shouldn't he be going after the police for arresting him instead of the dealer?

phill4paul
10-03-2012, 07:31 AM
Shouldn't he be going after the police for arresting him instead of the dealer?

Yup and the police should be going after the dealer for making a false report of auto-theft. The papers were signed and he was given the keys to drive the car off the lot.
The cops should have told the dealer to settle it in court.

coastie
10-03-2012, 07:37 AM
Yup and the police should be going after the dealer for making a false report of auto-theft. The papers were signed and he was given the keys to drive the car off the lot.
The cops should have told the dealer to settle it in court.

This.

He should've never even have been arrested, any cop would know this.


Well, that's how its supposed to be anyway.

Philhelm
10-03-2012, 07:39 AM
Do they put something in the water?

NCGOPer_for_Paul
10-03-2012, 07:56 AM
If they hadn't arrested him, I'd say the right thing for him to do would be ~assuming the error was a typo by some clerk and not a figure they had actually discussed and agreed upon~ for him to either back out of the contract or pay the correct price.

By falsely charging him with theft, the dealership was pretty much asking for this. Those accusations are deadly serious, and they threw the first punch.

There is no "right price" for an automobile. The price is whatever the buyer and dealer agree to. The fact there was a contract in place, and the dealer SAID NOTHING to the buyer during the exchange, means the buyer got a great deal. There's nothing the dealership can do about after the paperwork was signed.

I hope the buyer wins his lawsuit, and I also hope he goes after the police for a wrongful arrest.

I once bought a car with a sticker price of about $27,500 (in '04) for what amounted to $10,000, if that. The dealership was so desperate to clear inventory and I didn't go in there to buy a car. I already had a perfectly good car and didn't care, but it was too good to pass up.

Boss
10-03-2012, 08:33 AM
Shouldn't he be going after the police for arresting him instead of the dealer?
Exactly

fisharmor
10-03-2012, 08:47 AM
He should've never even have been arrested, any cop would know this.

Well, that's how its supposed to be anyway.

And they're also supposed to know that it's not ok to beat homeless guys to death, murder senior citizens, and shoot mentally disturbed invalids in wheelchairs.
Nothing surprises me about cops. They should sue the department, sure - especially if he has an arrest record now - but I don't think we should pretend it could have happened differently. Frankly, I'm glad the guy's alive.


I hope the buyer wins his lawsuit, and I also hope he goes after the police for a wrongful arrest.

I think the lawyer is probably being realistic about who they can get money from.
Is it wrong that they're milking the dealership? No, not really.
Two points: first one was already made - they threw the first punch and have no standing to complain if the riposte is fatal.
Second, this ought to teach businesses not to fuck around with the cops.
The po-po have been teaching us for a while now that it's a bad idea to get them involved. It's about time businesses learned too.

The more people learn this, the closer we are to getting rid of them.

jbauer
10-03-2012, 08:55 AM
I might be wrong here, but why is it the cops job to determine if there is or isn't guilt on the part of the buyer? The dude should be sueing the dealership and the cops shoudl be going after the dealership.

The Goat
10-03-2012, 08:58 AM
I bought a 24k dollar car for 17,500 because the dealer made a mistake on an advertisment in the paper. They honored it when I showed up and asked for the car at that price.

I hope this guy gets every penny and the dealership pays the price with a bad reputation. A signed contract is final, if its wrong the guy that wrote it up needs to be fired.

Neil Desmond
10-03-2012, 09:04 AM
This is low as hell,I hope he doesn't get a dime.
What this dealership did was low as hell, yet you're saying that you hope that this victim who was in effect kidnapped by the local police because of this dealership's attitude doesn't get a dime? I don't get it; why do you hope that? I hope he gets $4 million from this dealership, $1 million for each hour he had to spend in a cage for no good reason.

MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2
10-03-2012, 09:13 AM
This is low as hell,I hope he doesn't get a dime.

I hope nobody buys a car from that dealership again and they go out of business asap. If they regret the deal they made, they have the buyer thrown in jail. Fuck that. That is what is "low."

Tod
10-03-2012, 09:19 AM
There is no "right price" for an automobile.

If they had agreed on $39,000 verbally but then some secretary made a typo, then the "right price" is the amount they had agreed on. If they had verbally agreed on $35,000 and the paperwork was made out for the same amount but the dealer made a mistake in agreeing on $35,000, then the "right price" is still $35,000 and the dealer needs to be more careful about what he agrees to.

That they sent him home with the automobile is tantamount to verification that they agreed on a price of $35,000; the deal was done.


I agree with previous posters who point out that the police officers who arrested the man should be held liable (personally) and that the false arrest should be expunged from the man's record.


I think one big problem is that people frequently aren't PERSONALLY LIABLE when they screw someone over, and that goes for people who do misdeeds while working for a corporation and for government employees.

1000-points-of-fright
10-03-2012, 09:28 AM
I might be wrong here, but why is it the cops job to determine if there is or isn't guilt on the part of the buyer? The dude should be sueing the dealership and the cops shoudl be going after the dealership.

You are wrong. It's called investigating a crime and cops are supposed to do that before arresting someone. Otherwise people would be getting tossed in jail left and right on just hearsay. If I went to the cops and said "jbauer killed my wife", you'd want them to find out if my wife is actually dead before arresting you, right? Even murder suspects get interviewed before they are actually arrested.

acptulsa
10-03-2012, 10:52 AM
You are wrong. It's called investigating a crime and cops are supposed to do that before arresting someone. Otherwise people would be getting tossed in jail left and right on just hearsay. If I went to the cops and said "jbauer killed my wife", you'd want them to find out if my wife is actually dead before arresting you, right? Even murder suspects get interviewed before they are actually arrested.

Ah, but they won't let a little thing like a lack of proof that you're really a widower stop them any more. Dubya did away with that pesky habeus corpus stuff, remember? The fact that no crime was committed no longer amounts to a hill of beans.

angelatc
10-03-2012, 11:57 AM
If they had agreed on $39,000 verbally but then some secretary made a typo, then the "right price" is the amount they had agreed on. If they had verbally agreed on $35,000 and the paperwork was made out for the same amount but the dealer made a mistake in agreeing on $35,000, then the "right price" is still $35,000 and the dealer needs to be more careful about what he agrees to.

.

I believe that Chrysler has a 30 day guarantee on their vehicles, in that if you don't like it, you can bring it back. According to the story, the guy took home a blueone, then brought it back and exchanged it for a black one. Apparently the person who handled the paperwork didn't notice that the black one was worth more, (probably more optional equipment) and swapped it out even.

Oh well. I make mistakes sometimes when I'm quoting eBay deals. When I accidently short myself, I eat it. That's the way business works.

When I was a kid, my Mom cut a coupon out of the paper for a car. It said, "Make your best deal, then present this coupon for an additional X amount off!" She and my Dad did just that, and the dealer said no way he could honor that. My Dad said, "Lawyer," and got the deal.

BSU kid
10-03-2012, 12:51 PM
If they hadn't arrested him, I'd say the right thing for him to do would be ~assuming the error was a typo by some clerk and not a figure they had actually discussed and agreed upon~ for him to either back out of the contract or pay the correct price.

By falsely charging him with theft, the dealership was pretty much asking for this. Those accusations are deadly serious, and they threw the first punch.

The dealership legally sold it to him for 34k though, once you sign a contract thats it...you can't take it back and say oh hey, give me 5k more now. Morally I can see how it might be the "right" thing to do, but legally the buyer is in the right.

Anti Federalist
10-03-2012, 12:57 PM
The dealership messed up by alledging that the man had stolen the vehicle. That's a false report which led to a wrongful arrest, but $2.2 million for 4 hours in jail? I think someone smells 'opportunity' more than 'compensation' here.

EDIT: I read through the comment section and someone made the point about arrests following someone for the rest of their life, so yeah, $2.2 million isn't so bad I guess.

I was coming in to make the same sort of comment.

A civil suit in civil court, maybe, if the contract could not be settled on.

But calling the cops and filing felony criminal charges and causing an arrest?

Oh hell yeah, sue the fuckers blind, no matter what you do now, your name and mug is in the matrix, and this poor bastard will spend the rest of his life trying explain this arrest record to cops, gun dealers, employers, creditors and god knows who else.

dannno
10-03-2012, 01:21 PM
When I was a kid, my Mom cut a coupon out of the paper for a car. It said, "Make your best deal, then present this coupon for an additional X amount off!" She and my Dad did just that, and the dealer said no way he could honor that. My Dad said, "Lawyer," and got the deal.

So was their 'best deal' $5 or something?

I got the impression you are supposed to go in, make the best deal you can with the salesman, THEN you get additional X amount off, not some making a deal with yourself business..

devil21
10-03-2012, 02:30 PM
The buyer should be locked up for buying a $40,000 Chevy (Government Motors) in the first place ;)

I support his suit if the facts are on the up and up. Throw me in jail for YOUR screw up and Ill be looking for $2m too.

angelatc
10-03-2012, 03:07 PM
So was their 'best deal' $5 or something?

I got the impression you are supposed to go in, make the best deal you can with the salesman, THEN you get additional X amount off, not some making a deal with yourself business..

I was probably 7 or 8, so I don't remember the exact terms of the coupon. But I'm quite sure that it was more than $5. But you are correct - they went to the dealership, made a deal with the salesman, but when they whipped out the coupon he said he couldn't go that low. Turns out he could.

PaulConventionWV
10-03-2012, 04:09 PM
The dealership messed up by alledging that the man had stolen the vehicle. That's a false report which led to a wrongful arrest, but $2.2 million for 4 hours in jail? I think someone smells 'opportunity' more than 'compensation' here.

EDIT: I read through the comment section and someone made the point about arrests following someone for the rest of their life, so yeah, $2.2 million isn't so bad I guess.

Still seems like a lot. I think the standards have been greatly exaggerated over the years in these cases. It's weird what you can sue for millions for these days.

PaulConventionWV
10-03-2012, 04:17 PM
//

MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2
10-03-2012, 04:26 PM
You are wrong. It's called investigating a crime and cops are supposed to do that before arresting someone. Otherwise people would be getting tossed in jail left and right on just hearsay.


Where you been lately? That's how it works these days.

PaulConventionWV
10-03-2012, 04:33 PM
So was their 'best deal' $5 or something?

I got the impression you are supposed to go in, make the best deal you can with the salesman, THEN you get additional X amount off, not some making a deal with yourself business..

I have no idea what point you are trying to make. The deal seemed pretty clear cut to me.