It Ain’t Easy to Buy a BMW
I’m intrigued by Ken Tanisaka’s battle with Husker Auto Group. The skinny: Mr. Tanisaka placed the winning bid for a BMW on eBay. Husker Auto then said, “Whoops! We didn’t mean to sell it at that price.” Now the blogosphere is up in arms over the whole thing, and Husker Auto is getting a ton of flack from around the country.
The difference between the car’s “intended” minimum price and the price Mr. Tanisaka bid is something like $7,000. I find it hard to believe that the virtual flogging Husker Auto is receiving is worth seven G’s. It’s not the fact that they won’t sell that bothers me; if the lower price really was a mistake, and if the auction is correctable under eBay policies, then there’s no problem. What bothers me is how poorly the dealership is managing the situation. They’re not only allowing themselves to be portrayed as a villain, they’re actively playing the role. Why?
The Comments
Fletch says Did you read the rest March 28, 2008 at 8:10am
Did you read the rest of the story at Matt O’s biz blog? It gets better - Husker Auto agreed to sell him the car for the $60K. He was to call, place a deposit with a credit card, and the deal would be confirmed and done. He called when he was supposed to, and the dealership refused to take his credit card info. Instead, they berated him for all the bad publicity and said he needed to make it go away! INSANE
There are now lawyers involved, and I can’t imagine that the publicity will be any more favorable. It was Husker Auto’s mistake in the first place. They could have taken his CC info, sold the car, and the furor would have died down - methinks now it’ll only get worse.
I think they get what they deserve. They should have shut up and sold the car. Fire the guy that can’t work the ebay listings right if that’s his job and someone “needs to pay.”
Mrs CU says Same old same old. March 28, 2008 at 2:13pm
Same old same old. Some businesses never change their stripes
West A Dad says Boy howdy! March 29, 2008 at 5:00pm
It’s as if old man Misle was running the show still!
jwiltshire says This is why I tell March 28, 2008 at 3:52pm
This is why I tell people to go to Markel.