Face The Wheel.
Posted on 10/04/2012 10:52:26 PM PDT by grundle
We've all seen those signs in shop windows that snarkily remind us that all sales are final. If you decide you don't like the color or something, tough titties. You bought it, now it's yours.
So what if a retailer sells somebody something, then decides that it wants to take back that item and re-sell it for more money. Sounds crazy, no? Well, the truth is stranger than fiction my friends, because that's exactly what happened at a Chesapeake, Va. car dealership.
Priority Chevrolet decided after the fact that it had sold a Chevy Traverse for $6,000 short of its actual value. When the buyer refused to return it, they tried to have him arrested for theft. He answered that challenge with the biggest "f--- you" an American can utter. A $2.2 million law suit.
It all started in May, when Danny Sawyer, a 40-year-old registered nurse, decided it was time to trade in his 2008 Saturn Vue for something a little fresher. Continuing down more or less the same path as his previous four years of crossover ownership, Sawyer chose a black 2012 Chevrolet Traverse as its replacement.
Now here's where it gets complicated, according to court documents posted online by the Virginian-Pilot. Sawyer came in the morning after the trade-in and asked if he could have a blue one instead. Priority's sales manager, Wib Davenport, said ok, and wrote up a contract for $33,957.55. Sawyer drove his new blue Traverse home, thinking that was the end of things. Only it wasn't.
He left for a cruise the day after buying his blue Traverse, and returned to a barrage of voicemail messages from Davenport, who said that he'd made a mistake. The blue Traverse was allegedly worth $39,000. Whoops, Wib!
In essence, Sawyer said "a deal's a deal," and wouldn't allow welching of any kind. He kept the car, despite Priority's repeated calls for him to return it. By the middle of June, Davenport had grown frantic enough to call the police, and Sawyer was arrested on June 15. He got out on bail, but didn't have a car and had to walk five miles to get home.
A deal is a deal, and a contract is a contract, so the charges were dropped. But dropped charges or no, Sawyer seems pissed. The $2.2 million lawsuit he filed against the dealership — which he said kept trying to get him to sign a new contract even after the charges had been dropped — Sawyer accused Davenport and Priority of fraud, negligence, slander, and violating the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, among other things. He said that he has lost sleep, wages, and reputation as a result of the ordeal.
“Wib Davenport, said ok, and wrote up a contract for $33,957.55”
I rest my case, your honor.
A signed contract is a SIGNED CONTRACT. End of story, who would you like the settlement check made out to?
I hope this guy Sawyer wins.
Methinks the man needs better advice.
The dealership needn't exist. It's employees needn't have jobs. And the pig who arrested Mr Sawyer should be thankful he may still meet his grandchildren.
A similar thing occurred when a friend had a house built for a set price. The house was finished, the contractor had his money but said houses like that were worth much more than the money paid and he wasn't going to turn over the house unless he was paid some thousands more.
The friend got the house and the contractor got no more money. A contract is a contract.
Signed sealed and delivered.
Not sure on the 2.2 mil but he should get something for having him arrested.
Wonder if the dealership ever transferred ownership or got the poor guy tags.
here is a tip to the guy that bought the truck. Take it somewhere else to be serviced ;)
Face The Wheel.
How is this not false arrest?
The guy had a bill of sale!
The cop should have shrugged and told the salesperson it was a civil case.
The cop had NO GROUNDS for an arrest!
the dealer signed his own contract. end of story. suck it up, move on.
they don’t let clients ask for a lower price after signing a contract.
when you’re the one writing the contract you always write it your favor. if you screw up you don’t get a do-over.
no need to kill the poor horse, though.
Maybe not as clear cut as people think. What if a salesman sold a car for $1? Pretty sure most people would identify that as theft. Are you responsible to give back incorrect change? Or, like this case where someone was incorrectly charged for a customer requested change when picking up a car?
Wonder if this will work at Best Buy... Pay for a 42 inch tv, get there and say I want the 54 inch and want them to charge the same amount for my change of choice. If it was weeks later when the mistake was found, that would be another thing, but notification was within 24 hours.
Before you start going and blaming the cops, maybe you should be certain that the cop didn’t have a warrant. Cops don’t get to toss bad warrants, that up to the courts.
Waiting for the Business Socialists to come out and try to spin “how the dealership was in the right”
Businesses need to be sued when they pull this garbage. It’s part of the real Free Market
“Maybe not as clear cut as people think. What if a salesman sold a car for $1? Pretty sure most people would identify that as theft.”
If the salesman wasn’t under duress or participating in a fraud with the customer, then no it wouldn’t be theft. There might be some problems with the parent company, but unless the customer was in on the fraud, tough for the salesman.
I would absolutely fry these guys, had him put in jail.....what the heck.
The police should be sued too.
Including having the a$$hat who called the police and stated that the car was stolen charged with knowingly filing a false police report, which is a criminal act.
Mark
Arresting him because you didn’t like your own screwup with a contract that you yourself wrote? Man, this guy just hit the lottery. :)
The guy is in the right. He shouldn’t have been arrested. But filing a 2.2 million suit? The DA should prosecute the dealer for filing a false arrest report. The judge should throw out the suit as frivolous.
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