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Old 03-27-2008, 08:21 AM   #1
XDCX
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Default BMW Dealer refuses to honor E-Bay Auction

A Nebraska BMW dealer has created a fire-storm on the Internet Blogs and Forums for refusing to honor an E-Bay Auction which featured a M3 sedan.

An individual in California was the high bidder at the end of the auction with a winning bid of $60,000. Shortly after the auction had concluded the dealership contacted the winning bidder and indicated that the auction was a "mistake." (Apparently, the market for M3 sedans is hot and some are selling for as much as $100K)

Here's a link to the latest report: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/26/u...inners-plight/
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Old 03-27-2008, 08:46 AM   #2
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$60K is a pretty good deal for one of those. I guess that dealer can count on not doing any more business on EBay.
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Old 03-27-2008, 12:59 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SHACOS View Post
$60K is a pretty good deal for one of those. I guess that dealer can count on not doing any more business on EBay.
You're correct on both counts. I didn't know much about the pricing of the M3 Sedan so I did some reading on the Internet. Based on what I've read it appears that the vehicle was sold for $2000 - $3000 below invoice.

That must be the "mistake" the dealer is referring to.
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Old 03-27-2008, 01:18 PM   #4
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Smile This is why I love the Internet....

I just checked the Forum where this topic first appeared - there are over 1,700 responses from all over the globe and over 700,000 page views.

Some people have taken it upon themselves to contact the dealership and express their outrage while others have contributed with a bit of humor. (Someone photoshopped a picture of the General Manager and superimposed it with a picture of "Cal Worthington and his dog Spot.")

Here's a link to the original post that started it all: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127993
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Old 03-27-2008, 02:08 PM   #5
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Smile YouTube Video of the General Manager

You know that things have spun out of control when there's a fake video of your General Manager on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bID0lVT7TPo
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Old 03-27-2008, 02:30 PM   #6
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Oh how I love Cal Worthington. His commericals are classic. Especially the most recent one's where it looks like someone is holding up his head while he talks. He's big up in Anchorage.
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Old 03-27-2008, 06:31 PM   #7
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Default Cal Worthington and his dog Spot......

Quote:
Originally Posted by SHACOS View Post
Oh how I love Cal Worthington. His commericals are classic. Especially the most recent one's where it looks like someone is holding up his head while he talks. He's big up in Anchorage.
Is this the man you're referring to?


That must have been Cal in his younger days.
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Old 03-29-2008, 09:20 AM   #8
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Default The saga continues....

Amazingly, this saga continues and the original thread has over 2,300 responses and almost 850,000 page views.

To their credit, the dealership has agreed to honor the Ebay auction and has agreed to pay for the customer's airfare to pick the vehicle up or pay to have it delivered to California.

Sadly, it appears that there are three lawyers involved and the transaction has ground to a halt.

The deadline for a resolution is Close of Business on Monday - more information to follow.
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Old 04-01-2008, 07:52 AM   #9
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Default Update - Customer receives his car

Well it looks like the saga will be coming to an end.

The dealership has agreed to sell the vehicle for the original terms of the EBay Auction and the customer has provided payment. The car is in the process of being shipped to California.

The original thread that started this firestorm currently has almost 2,500 responses and nearly 1 Million page views. The power of the Internet.
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Old 04-07-2008, 04:08 PM   #10
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Smile Over 1 Million Page Views

I just checked the BMW M3 Forum for an update and smiled when I noticed that the topic has generated over 1 Million Page Views - the power of the Internet.

The latest information is that the BMW is still in-transit to the customer with an expected arrival this Friday.

Perhaps the most interesting portion of the update is that Ebay finally contacted the purchaser - after two unanswered phone messages and three unanswered e-mails.

Apparently Ebay indicated that they were closely following the resolution in the media and just wanted to follow-up with the purchaser to make sure that everything was OK.

That's certainly not the most pro-active approach to customer service. Where was Ebay two weeks ago when the purchaser needed some help?
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Old 04-09-2008, 09:16 AM   #11
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Smile The saga is finally over and the customer has his car

The saga of the BMW M3 on Ebay is finally complete - the customer took delivery of his vehicle last night.

As a final assessment I'm pleased that the BMW dealer eventually "stepped-up" and honored their auction. They even took the extra step of paying to have the vehicle shipped to California.

Unlike many of the people that posted in the original thread, I am not upset with BMW - North America. It's not their place to get involved with retail sales transactions - especially when it became apparent that the dealer was going to do the right thing.

I do, however, think that Ebay failed miserably in this saga. They should have taken control of this issue immediately when the customer contacted them for assistance. To suggest that they had been "monitoring" the situation is incredibly weak.

And the award for Excellent Customer Service goes to South Bay BMW - they were the dealership that accepted delivery of the vehicle and completed the PDI. I'm not sure how they get paid, or even if they get paid, but their Internet Sales Manager did an outstanding job of assisting the customer - good Karma for you.
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