Comments on: For a car dealer, echoes of Streisand

By: SPQR

SPQR — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:33:10 +0000

That’s a response letter that goes into my doc morgue.

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:11:24 +0000

That seems to have been one factor, yes.

By: CarLitGuy

CarLitGuy — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:03:35 +0000

possibly because I couldn’t type my e-mail address accurately?

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:46:17 +0000

A comment from “CarLitGuy” (I’m adding it by hand because it didn’t post as the commenter intended):

Sadly, the dealer franchise laws being what they are, it often takes something even more egregious than this to occur before a manufacturer can terminate a franchise agreement, even though the independent dealership’s treatment of their mutual customer is likely doing them both reputational and financial harm. For example:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-jagfraud_28bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cf448c.html

http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/220806-plano-jaguar-dealership-accused-of-warranty-and-incentive-fraud

and of course the dealer fired back:

http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/220911-plano-dealership-fires-back-at-jaguar-distributor-with-counter-claim

[end comment by “CarLitGuy”]

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:35:41 +0000

It would be a coup for Hyundai North America to give the man a new car. As for Route 60 Hyundai, half of Google’s first page is devoted to the dealerships’s own site, directions to the dealership, and the like. The other half is … not so good.

I suspect things will get worse before they get better.

By: Bill H

Bill H — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:17:24 +0000

I left a snarky if tired comment over at Popehat, forgetting all about a PR coup that Hyundai Canada scored. Seen on YouTube (I forget the exact title) some driver in a BMW X5 pulled into a parking lot, lost control of her car, and ran up over- not into, but over- a Hyundai parked there. I think it was a 2005 Sonata or some such. Anyway, fast forward a couple of weeks- same parking lot, Hyundai Canada is there to give the unfortunate owner a new ’09 Sonata. It was a very nice gesture on the company’s part, and overall cost very little for the amount of goodwill it generated.
I’m quite aware that the level of property damage isn’t the same here, but Hyundai NA would do well to step in and fix this before it spirals out of control. The owner seems willing to forgive- it won’t take a lot from Hyundai to fix this.

By: Eric T.

Eric T. — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:55:31 +0000

No doubt about it, Randazza is a great writer. First class stuff.

By: Rliyen

Rliyen — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:44:35 +0000

That was too beautiful. And the fact that it was sent to Hyundai of NA means that someone in the Corporate office is going to take a very dim view of this dealership tarnishing the brand.

By: Does Route 60 Hyundai, In Vero Beach Florida, In Fact Suck? | Popehat

Does Route 60 Hyundai, In Vero Beach Florida, In Fact Suck? | Popehat — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:36:41 +0000

[…] Via Walter Olson. […]

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:33:39 +0000

What an excellent response!!