THE STING

[RS27J9A]

Come on guys we are talking about integrity.
It is easy to say now that he should have paid a few bucks more and dealt with this or that Viper friendly dealer. Keep the I told you so out of it.
This buyer had a deal, plain and simple. If DC won't exert pressure they really are shoving their heads in the sand. You and I know that if this dealer has to deal with DC again there is all kinds of pressure that DC can exert. Get off your BUTTS and get this guy some satisfaction.
Surely with the ties that the VCA has and some of the members have with DC and PVO this dealer can be shown the 'light'.
This is not right. DC developed the certificate program, they have an obligation to ensure the dealers honor a program DC developed. If DC has no control over the dealers that distribute their vehicles there is something major different with that relationship than the vast majority of distribution relationships. For DC to brush a member of this community with the lame lines that we have been told is irresponsible and very pitiful. I cannot, the VCA should not, and DC should be livid that one of their dealers is discrediting the company and the SRT-10 over simple and plain greed.
If there really are some people on the inside reading this board their ears should be burning and a few calls to the right people would drill some sense into this dealer's head.
I am very glad to see some of the exectives of the VCA are making an effort to right this wrong. It should be more than a few though.
If the is enough pull to ensure VCA volunteers have the highest priority to receive the SRT's then surely they have enough influence to help this member out.
Is the VCA close enough to do this or are we too close to DC?

 

[RS27J9A]

Keith you are right, little treefort clubscan be a problem. Especially if you forget the secret handshake. I trust this club is not headed that way.

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Keith, since I held NO OFFICE with the VCA or my local Region during these solicitations, it was not my position to assist any of the dealers trying to snake in for the kill.

Now add to the fact that 6 of the dealers that sent this too me have in the past done everything in their power to screw current and past members, and that is all I need to know. Sorry you don't agree with MY views, but being in this organization has given me a little working knowledge as to how some of this works. The first sign has always been (as in 1992 and 1996) dealers that all of a sudden have a special "deal". Been there and seen that before. Yes they have that great deal and BAM, your bent over the barrel taking it like a prison ***** !

So, while it was not my job, I still served as filter for the members of this region to some degree. Let's also make clear that I was not the only one to receive this material, and in some cases it got through, and yes those dealers got some orders, but I at least can say that it did not occur because of me.

Unlike many, I have made and served a long term commitment to the VCA. I will ALWAYS back ANY dealer that shows the same intent. Sorry if you prefer to go to the hot hand or offer, but as I mentioned month's ago "it's your choice, just don't come back and say you where not warned"!

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Keith, I will side with the fact that I do not KNOW anything about dealer franchise law or agreements. I only know what I was told by Dodge. They have always helped in the past. And one of the ways they have helped is to even warn us prior to it ever happening. How many companies are going to warn you about their actual dealer body? I don't remember posting anywhere that there is no DC help available? I have made simple suggestions that would hopefully eliminate any need for DC involvement. But, I still have to say that ay dealer issues and law are way beyond anything I need or want to know. I would expect and hope someone with your background would better understand that?

 

[kverges]

Steve, my posts were to express and assert my opinion and what I believe to be legal rights, no to make some kind of pronouncement of unqestionable wisdom and knowledge. You make good points, too and we just disagree on some of them. I could even be wrong ;-) That's why this forum is so great! I bet we agree on that.

I also undertook local officer responsibility to right some of what I perceived as wrong, so I am not just a talker. I likewise respect your position of action in favor of the club as a whole and commend you for being a person of action and integrity.

But look at old VQ issues and see who was prez of a club a bit south of here . . . .

So I remain vigilant and a (hopefully healthy) skeptic.

 

[Bugeater]

Steve,
You need to go into politics or start selling "integrity insurance" for those of us that (god forbid) use poor judgement and bargain hunt for the best deal. That way the world wouldnt have these ugly situations to deal with. Put the Candyland boardgame back in the hallway closet!

Calling a signed buyers agreement with an agreed dollar value (with deposit no less) "a fantastic paper deal" is vaugly condescending. To insinuate that CMG or any of us should have known better is just plain stupid. The fact that you actually admit to withholding 17 potential special offers because of your "father knows best mentality" reeks of an agenda.

Reading through this thread, its hard to gauge whether you are playing devil's advocate, the logically-grounded mediator, or someone with a vested interest to keep this swept under some politically-correct carpet.

What is your story?

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Keith, we are now on the same page, and I do remember what you are eluding to. I even remember speaking to you about those issues! I hope you help this situation in the same manor as you have handled past issues. If that happens we can all be sure that this will turn into another great VCA win!

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Buge, first off I was one of the people fighting to get any kind of cert program we could for the members. Once that hurdle was crossed I was also in a meeting that revealed that as with all things, there would be some people that would find ways to defeat the good intentions of the program. I posted those words, as well as wrote articles for our local chapter in hopes that at least the active VCA member would read these statements and not get bit. Is this the preventative method to assure no one gets burned? NO. But it was an attempt, and for the most part I feel that most members where able to read and understand the message enough to not get harmed.

Second, The dealer I recommend the most is not even a financial sponsor to one event in my region. So insinuating that me or even our region has any gain is just wrong. I will admit that this dealership has out of his own pocket been very good to the entire VCA on a National and in his particular region. But in each of those cases it has benefited a member or specific event. If you have ever enjoyed or participated in the VCA raffle it s because of this dealer and his help that the VCA was able to arrange those great Viper's.

There are MANY Viper Friendly dealers out there who go out of their way to make sure our family is well taken care of. As a show of respect, I fell I owe them the same sort of respect because they make our overall Viper experience that much more special.

I am not telling you to do anything. I am suggesting a route to travel that is based on more than 10 years of trying to work with all Dealers, and now down to a group of 50 or so that actually care. I am sorry I am aware of many bad faith and questionable dealers, but being around since the beginning has unfortunately hardened my views.

 

[pj]

Any update from the meeting today?

 

[8AVETTE]

I don't think that because some of us paid to much we should take it out on people that got better deals. I paid $500 under invoice and from a great dealership here in Michigan.I got my srt 10 with no problems, the way a deal should be done.

 

[brettvette]

I just got off the phone with the local Fox news statio and I will e-mail them the basic story, but to help this get on the local news and help out this guy, lets e-mail the tv station about this and the more they get the better the chance it will make it on the air!!!

E-mail [email protected]

 

[brettvette]

Please read this and then e-mail fox news that this should not happen and hopefully this will get on the air and help this guy get his car

[email protected]

 

[Eric]

ATTENTION Viper Nation! I met with the GM at Alexander Dodge yesterday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. to discuss the deal pending with the Silver SRT and the buyer (Mac). I delivered a copy of the letter signed by the GM of Royal Dodge this morning to Gary for their review. Gary said he would be in contact with me later this evening and he was good to his word.

I just got off the phone (8:50 p.m.) with Gary Bouldin, GM at Alexander Dodge in Franklin, TN., regarding the Silver SRT that is being discussed. Gary said he has been in meetings several times today regarding how to handle this deal since Alexander Dodge did not know any details of the deal prior to the buyer entering his dealership on Monday. Gary went on to say they are working with Dodge to resolve the dispute and should have a resolution within 48 hours. He also stated the car IS NOT FOR SALE, as a deal is pending with the original buyer.

Now for the disturbing part of this mess. There has been over 80 calls into the dealership, according to Gary, some of which have been threatening to him, his employees and their business. I know how passionate we are as a club and I can appreciate the desire to help a fellow club member, BUT THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO ACT. We are all professionals, some of us business owners. In any business we make every effort to resolve issues when they arise. But, if we are pushed into a corner like some of the Viper nation has pushed this dealer, we would react with equal force and/or determine to oppose the request.

Therefore, I am requesting that everyone CEASE all contact to the dealer and his staff. Let them have the time (48 hours) to finalize their plans with Dodge and how they plan to work with the Viper Club and it’s members. Gary said he would call me tomorrow afternoon with an update. I believe this man is attempting to work with everyone to settle the problem they inherited.

I will post the news as I receive it and I know each member only desires to help Mac get his car. But, we are no longer helping with our actions and comments. I repeat, stay COOL, hold your calls, comments and letters for a few days and let’s see what transpires. Let’s show this dealer we are a Professional Club!

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Interesting request to wait 48 hours. Why? If the owner wants to be viewed as a dealership that screws customers then stick to his guns and tell the buyer to pay sticker or sticker plus or whatever the owner wants, or honor the customers contract. The owner certainly fails in his relationship marketing skills.

Agree do not bug the dealership. Instead spend time getting the media primed for a story of how this new owner deals with contracts, and lacks Honor and simple ethics. Spend the next 48 hours with an attorney so you can be ready with an appropriate response as the clock ticks the 48th hour.

Has the new owner of this dealership considered the cost of bad press? I guess not.

 

[MiamiJeff]

One problem here is that everyone assumes that the new dealer (who didn't sign the contract) is automatically obligated to abide by it.

Hypothetically, what if the old (selling dealer) was being forced to sell his dealership due to financial difficulties, was a bit sadistic (work with me here a minute), wanted to bag the new dealership owner for some reason, and did so by accepting a bunch of orders for all new Dodge vehicles at $5,000 under dealer cost? Obviously the new dealer would argue in court that he doesn't need to abide by such crazy priced deals done by the former dealership owner.

The new dealership owner may feel that the SRT deal (while not a money loser like the example above) still was crazy by their greedy standards. (Obviously I'm not saying this is right; just how a greedy SOB might think.)

Three Obvious Possible Solutions:

1) Hope the media runs with this story so the pressure increases on this dealer to do the honorable thing.

2) Even though D-C sells cars to dealers and not directly to the end users, they still could apply pressure to the dealer to keep with the spirit of the certificate program. (P.S. I do think Steve F did a pretty good job warning us that there we'd come across at least one dealer/saleshole who'd try to pull something like this.)

3) Get yourself a lawyer. You've got hundreds of supporters here that will testify that the deal you got was well within the normal price range of SRT-certificate sales transactions. Don't let this dealer get away with selling your SRT to someone else. Seems like you've got plenty of ammo.

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Frank, I guess you got what I may have failed to properly write. I would rather spend 1,000-2,500 more for peace of mind, and to know that my extra money gets put back into my community (VCA) verses saving some and having the POTENTIAL headaches that may be attached to that savings.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Step one get a legal order from the court to prevent the sale to anyone except the name on the window sticker. Now the buyer has time on his side as the dealer will have to floor(pay DC) the car at some point. That may give this dealer a smell of reality.

 

[pj]

Here's a link to the dealership owner's profiles:
http://www.harpeth.fivestardealers.com/body.cgi?apc=about.html

Curious that when the buyer was in teh showroom they were quick to point out that Dodge had nothing to do with the transaction; now they want 48 hours to "work with Dodge on this matter".

 

[gtsviper]

I reviewed the dealership's profile and this is how they end the description of their organization:

"Today, each member of the Alexander family works hard every day to supply the entire Middle Tennessee region with quality products, honest service, and customer trust - the very ideas R.C. formulated over 40 years ago."

Wonder what RC has to say about this situation!!

 

[Viperfreak2]

MiamiJeff, good thoery, but your example would be a clear case of someone intentionally sabotaging the next owner. One Viper would not be considered a lack of "good faith" during the transfer or ownership. Any judge would side with the customer. Reading the number of opinions to get the news media involved....does anyone in the Viper family have any friends at INSIDE EDITION? Everytime they come to town, people run and hide. I know someone at WNBC in New York, but she seemed to only want local stories.

 

[malcoll]

Any word yet... or did the dealer just need 48 hours to finalize selling the SRT to someone other than the certificate holder??

 

[brettvette]

Could some one get in touch with CMG or e-mail a number for him to me because Fox News is interested in the story but they need to talk to him to get the whole story or if he is reading this
contact Emily Doll at Fox News at 615-244-1717.

I hope someone can help get this in the news because I can not do anything else. I tried to help any way.....

 

[Janni]

brettvette,
you have email....

scratch that - brett - send me an email address that works (one in your profile kicks back) and I'll send you information.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

There are two reasons the dealer wants 48 hours.

1. Meet with his attorney to get an opinion on his position.
2. Finalize the sale to someone other than cert holder.

If the owner wanted to be fare he would have sold the car as agreed with the cert. holder.

How did Osama escape? 48 hour truce!

 

[RS27J9A]

MiamiJeff, in the normal course of purchasing a business the purchaser should conduct a 'Due Diligence' review of what it is that they are buying. Assuming they do conduct a reasonable investigation the should thoroughly review the seller's books and specifically look for things that they do not like or find unacceptable to them. In the normal course of business they would negotiate their rejection or acceptance of those obligations. If this meant breaking a contract then notification to the other party would be required. Maybe not by them but at least by the former dealer.
I am perhaps quick to judge but from the information on this post regarding their reaction to the current situation they have been caught with their pants down. To spell it out if they did not just buy assets they did not complete a thorough enough review of what they were buying.
I have not heard information to the fact that they had notified the previous owner of the dealership that this was an obligation that they were not willing to accept and that perhaps the previous owner was suppose to have notified the the SRT-10 customer. This could have been an out for them.
Now if I was the dealer selling the dealership and this was a problem raised by a potential purchaser of my dealership I would not want such a trivial matter impacting my reputation as a dealer. Would it not have been prudent of the former dealer to arrange a transfer of delivery to another DC dealer with whom he had a friendly relationship?
Yes these dealers are competitive, but I know they also help each other in situations.
I do not believe this new dealer has shown any integrity through this matter. I know we are not privy to all the facts but there is enough to see that this company is not one truly focussed on 'Five Star Customer Service'
Just my **.

 

[Tomer]

My 0.02, I can't believe that this dealer is spending soo much time and damaging their reputation (I am not disputing the facts) over what, 1-2K maybe??? Unbelievable...

Tomer

 

[VOI9 ASP]

CMG - Have you contacted the owner you made the deal with to see if he can help?

 

[YellowSnake]

***!

 

[Wing King]

I've been watching this thread with a lot of interest. Personally, despite all the various opinions that have been posted, I think Keith Verges has been DEAD ON, and pretty much everything else is irrelevant.

The situation is pretty simple and clear cut. The new owner is trying to ignore a contract so he can steal BOTH the "cake" AND "ice cream". The only material facts here are the completed buyer's order and certificate. "Due Diligence" or the arrangement of any contracts between the old owner of the dealership and NEW owner don't even MATTER. Here's why:

There is absolutely no "negative" consequence involved here for the NEW dealer owner. THERE IS NO DAMAGE to the new owner! The fact they received the new Viper at all was a BENEFIT to the new owner, disclosed or not. So what that he didn't know about the deal to start with. Even in the event of honoring CMG's contract AS WRITTEN, the dealer is STILL going to MAKE money on the deal! Free money..... not already counted on as a part of buying the dealership. But then, greed took over, and the new dealer now sees an imagined WINDFALL from getting that new Viper at his store. The only way to cash in on that is to try to weasel out of the original buyer's order that brought the car to the dealership in the first place.

As Steve F already expressed, something like this coming up from a dealer without a known Viper-friendly track record should not be a surprise, it's just that the circumstances here are not necessarily how most of us would have expected it to happen. If it was me, Keith Verges would already have my retainer in his pocket, and be representing me with the dealer, after first filing to tie things up. MY NEW purchase price would now be the originally contracted amount, LESS what I had to pay Keith. Or, the new dealer could keep the *** boiling, and eventually there might be enough fees in the deal for KEITH to get a new Viper too!

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Wing,

Pretty much agree, but while working the legal issues, I would also try to purchase the car based on the purchase agreement.

The Dealer's 48 hours are running out. What now?