Re: Buyer Beware

[pjrose@servtech.com (Phil & Judy Rose)]

>Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 13:45:50 -0500
>From: frank@zk3.dec.com
>Subject: Re: Buyer Beware (long and pathetic, limited q-content)
>
>Gee Phil,
>
>  >He said "I'm afraid that I just sold the car-- a few minutes ago."
>
>  >I said, "Ha ha"
>
>I don't see what grounds you have to complain.  The risk of a pointless trip
>was yours to take, and according to your story, he never promised to hold the
>car until you could see it.
[snip]
- --Doug

Gee Doug,

What do we have here, life as a game of "Simon Says"?

Grounds? We're not in court Doug. Not _everything_ in life should have to
be stipulated. Not in my life, anyway. Have the lawyers convinced you to
tiptoe through life while taking _nothing_ for granted and assuming
_nothing_? On that basis, I should have demanded that the seller first fax
me a copy of his Certificate of Title to prove he was able sell me the car,
etc., etc. Where does it end?

I have consideration for others, and honor my commitments, so complain I
will when I don't receive comparable treatment.

Yes indeed, I took for granted--assumed--that an honest adult who makes a
specific appointment to show me a car the next day (especially _knowing_
I'm traveling 300 miles) would have the decency to "hold" the vehicle for
the 4 or 5 hours 'till I'm scheduled to arrive. He didn't say, "Well, Ok if
it's not sold by then." He said "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon." You
however, believe it necessary to have a prior acknowledgement by him that
there will also be a car for sale when I arrive? BTW, the car was still
there when I arrived--so it wasn't even a matter of his encountering a
buyer who insisted on an immediate dealin order to take possession right
away.

What I believed was implicit in our "agreement" was (at most) a 4 or 5 hour
period "on hold", not 24 hours, not 48 hours, not indefinitely. You think
my assumption that he would hold his water for a few hours was an
unreasonable stretch? Well that makes at least two of you, I guess. Hell,
when someone comes to inspect a car, it's not all that unusual that they
might have it for at least a couple hours--more time perhaps if a
mechanic's inspection is involved. The dealer I bought my last '91 200q
from gave me the car to evaluate from Saturday afternoon 'till noon the
following Monday. No, I didn't expect that courtesy. I guess it contributed
to my becoming even more naive than I already was.

> What was he supposed to say to people who showed
>>up in the meantime-- "sorry, I can't show you the car until this guy gets
>>here from Utica sometime today?"

Show up? No one would "show up" until he agreed for them to come. He said
nothing (at around 9 PM) about having any other appointments on Saturday.
In fact he had ruled out my coming there on the _previous_ day because he
had a dental appointment. Anyway, as I pointed out, the delay was not
anticipated to be until "sometime", but specifically until early afternoon.
Doug, we're not talking about putting off open-heart surgery here, or even
"coitus interruptus". This was the sale of a fr***ing automobile! (Praise
be to Audi gods)

So yes, _sure_ he could easily have said to others, "Sorry, don't come
'till after 3 pm". However what I would have _expected_ him to say to
another possible buyer was "You're welcome to come now and see the car,
drive it, make an offer, and even leave a deposit if you offer the right
price, but I have made an appointment with someone  who is driving in 300
miles and will arrive by mid-afternoon. If he doesn't beat your offer, the
car is yours." That's what I'd _expect_ him to say. I fully expected I
might not actually get the car, but I expected a shot at it.

So, do we sometimes expect a higher level of behavior than certain people
are capable of? Yep, obviously it happened to me here. In these instances,
IMO we have an _obligation_ to complain, else imply the acceptibility of
such behavior.

Will I get myself in the same situation again? Heck no!

>good luck finding a car!

Thanks!

Phil

P.S. Apologies to Bruce for slamming lawyers.