Dealer still fighting with Chrysler to get his store back

[XDCX]

A newspaper report indicates Jim Bickford is still battling with Chrysler to get his Dodge store back despite "winning" his arbitration case over a year ago. Here's a link to the newspaper report - click here

Sadly, Mr. Bickford is not alone as he and three other "winning" dealers have filed suit against Chrysler arguing the demands Chrysler is placing on them as part of their LOI (Letter of Intent) violate the law passed by Congress which created the arbitration process.

Chrysler contends they've complied with the law and brag that "over half" of the 32 dealers who have won their arbitration case are back in business. (Chrysler has historically refused to identify these dealers - here's a link to the list maintained by DealershipForum - click here)

Best of luck to Mr. Bickford and all of the other OLDCO dealers who are fighting to get back what was stolen away from them.

On a final note, has anyone read a story about a GM dealer who won their arbitration case and they're still fighting with GM? I'll never understand why Marchionne and Auburn Hills are so hell-bent to destroy the OLDCO dealers - it simply defies logic.

[Lakeshow]

Every GM dealer that I personally know and won their arbitration case was back in business within a couple months. Of course most of them had yet to wind down also.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by Lakeshow

Every GM dealer that I personally know and won their arbitration case was back in business within a couple months. Of course most of them had yet to wind down also.

I know GM's not perfect and several of our members have reminded me that GM has blood on their hands too, but I still think GM did a much better job of handling the dealer terminations than Chrysler did.

I remember when the arbitration results first started to be released Chrysler would brag about their victories and one of their spokespersons even stated "having no dealer is better than having the wrong dealer." GM by contrast never named the dealers who lost their arbitration cases and it seemed that their settlement offers were more reasonable and fair.

GM simply outclassed Chrysler - not that it took too much effort.

On a side note, I've been checking IP Addresses this morning and thought it was cool that someone from GM was reading this thread. It's proof that I'm not always "anti-factory" and I try to call them as I see them.

[Lakeshow]

While I agree GM handled things much better than Chrysler, it reminds me of a saying one of my elderly customers would use: "Son, you can cover a pile of s**t in rose petals but truth be known it's still a pile of s**t.

[possum]

Another old saying......"Be careful what you wish for".

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by possum

Another old saying......"Be careful what you wish for".

That is one of my favorite sayings and it's amazing how often it rings true.

In this case, however, I've exchanged a few emails with Jim Bickford and I sense there's a huge part of him that just wants to get back what he lost. I sense he's a "forgive and forget" type of guy who truly can't understand why any of this happened and just wants to get his store back so he can re-group and move forward.