is it legal to do this type of commercial?

ugafan

ugafan

Looking for a woman
about a month ago i was screwed over by the a ford dealership repair shop. i brought my car in to be repaired for an unrelated issue and when i got it back, the car was running poorly and the shifter started messing up. i suspected that they were at fault for what was wrong with my car and today i got proof. i finally took it to another mechanic and he showed me where the dealership took off and didn't put back on a square washer that went over a cable. the only way this part could have been missing is if the dealership removed a bolt, took off the washer, and screwed the bolt back on. the dealership assured me that the part they worked on initially was nowhere near what could be causing the problem. today my mechanic showed me the part the dealership put on for the unrelated issue how close it was to the cable. it wasn't even 6 inches away. the bottom line is they messed up my car, lied about the location of the part, and wanted to charge me again for them to even look at the car.

anyways, i wanted to know if it would be allowable for me to do a commercial in which i explain my displeasure over the service i got at that dealership and how i had to pay to take my car to another mechanic because of a problem they caused. would a station air this?
 
Don't know if a station would air it, but it would be a lot cheaper to take out a half page ad in the local paper (and it'll give you a better forum to describe the problem and reach your target audience). I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know if it's legal, but I see people protesting problems of businesses by walking with placards out in front. Seems like the newspaper approach is just a more upscale way of doing it. What worries me about the tv commercial approach is that you end up making generalizations ("They screwed me") because you don't have enough time to backup it up with facts and it then might become legally actionable. (I don't know what the f**** I'm talking about).
 
whether or not it is legal I dont know, but you're opening yourself up for a lawsuit even if it is. Do you have the time and money for them to drag you through court? They do. Personally I'd shrug it off. Life's got bigger problems than sleazy car dealerships.
 
Get it in writing from this mechanic that told you this info. Call them. Tell them they need to make it all right, or you will sue, and they can pay for court costs as well.

Once they get the first letter from a lawyer, they will settle out of court immediately. If you want to, and care to... threaten to sue, and then follow through if they don't respond accordingly. Then you can add in court costs, and other stuff as well, and it'll end up costing them far more than if they'd just taken care of you in the first place.

Up to you if you want to go down that road or not, but it works. Been there, done that. Dealing with that right now as a matter of fact.

Later,
Jason
 
if i go the lawyer route, about how much will it cost to get a lawyer to write up a letter?
 
jdajda said:
whether or not it is legal I dont know, but you're opening yourself up for a lawsuit even if it is. Do you have the time and money for them to drag you through court?
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i don't like the sound of that.
 
Don't give them fuel or a reason to turn the tables on you. THey've already screwed you.

Most auto repair places are small business, and they aren't going to want bad press or to be tied up with legal fees and the time and all that. Those that are part of a national chain will follow their little paper trail up the chain, someone will take a look at it, and they would likely tell the local store to settle.

This isn't a guarantee, just telling you from my experience, and experience of others that I know who took the time to right the wrong.

My brother had his '87 mustang GT t-top all messed up b/c they didn't tighten a bolt down... The bolt that holds the fan on! Which came off and the fan chopped up a lot of crap.

They didn't want to pay him. Got a lawyer. Lawyer sent them a letter, and what do you know? They decided they should pay him to get his car fixed :) If they know they were wrong, they know they were wrong. And, usually all it takes is to let them know that you are serious for them to admit that fact. Just be sure you can PROVE it convincingly. That's where a letter from other mechanics would come in handy.

Don't realy know on the cost of the lawyers... DIfferent for different folks. Usually have hourly rates. You can probably call around and get some idea of price for that sort of thing. You can include legal fees in the damages, as well as work lost and so on. Or, you can take them to small claims court.

Later,
Jason
 
You could contact a local television news station that prides itself as championing people who've been taken advantage of by businesses.
 
I agree with Jason. An attorney is often worth the cost on something like this as they are very likely to cave as soon as they get the letter threatening a lawsuit. Just make sure that the mechanic is okay signing something verifying the poor work. You do that, not get your attorney to do it. Just ask him to tell the truth if asked, it's really that simple.

Also, if this is a dealership, find out if there is an executive office that these people report to. You could try approaching them with your story if you really want to avoid the attorney route. The further up you get, the more insulated people in power are, but they are also much more keen and sensitive to customer criticism than your average idiot local manager.
 
Terry_Lasater said:
You could contact a local television news station that prides itself as championing people who've been taken advantage of by businesses.
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I agree. While it's probably legal to air such a commercial as long as everything you say is truthful and accurate, I doubt most stations will air it, as they are much more likely to be losing future ad business from the dealership than they are you...

On the other hand, almost every town has a local TV station that does these kinds of stories, and in most cases they'll actually put pressure on the business in question to publicly respond (which you won't be able to do without expensive lawyers).
 
ugafan said:
about a month ago i was screwed over by the a ford dealership repair shop.
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No no no. Do NOT hire a lawyer. Write the dealership a polite letter informing them of the situation and give the name and phone number of the 3rd party mechanic (get his permission first). Tell the dealer you just want them to make it right. They need to fix it and provide a rental car during the down time. Tell them if they don't cooperate and handle the situation honorably you will contact the better business bureau, report them to other watchdog groups and most importantly, drag their butts in to small claims court. To have a chance in small claims, you'll need that 3rd party mechanic as a witness--not sure if a signed stated will suffice.

Chances are the 3rd party mechanic will not want to go to small claims. Neither will the car dealership. Basically you've got to bluff.

Hiring a lawyer is a classic example of sending good money after bad money.
 
I have to side with Brian here. The total costs of the repair are likely under $100, which puts you in Civil court, and it will cost you more than what you might get.
 
OR... You could park your car across the street with a sign saying So and So's repair shop broke your car instead of fixing it.
 
TwistedLincoln said:
I doubt most stations will air it, as they are much more likely to be losing future ad business from the dealership than they are you...
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With the economy in the skids right now, most account executives would probably jump at the chance to earn your advertising $$'s. The car dealership probably can't afford to advertise right now, so you're not getting in the way of their business. :grin:

BTW, just do the ad so we all can see it. I know one station that will air it: YouTube.
 
Yeah, you should take it to the streets.

kramer066.gif
 
Best bets are Better Business Bureau, small claims court, Craigslist, or Angie's list. The first two may help you get some money back. The second two will help you spread the word about the crappy service.
 
call it an infomercial and dont mention any names but drop LOADS of hints.

i am not a lawer and do not know the legality/technicality of this. if you do it, your taking a teenagers advice, wich is usually an extremely stupid thing to do. its not my fault if you get in any trouble.
 
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