Man wins e-bay auction and Dealership backs out

**PTbyJason** · 11-01-2003, 11:27 AM

Look at this, it is on hundreds of message boards, so I thought I would share it here too.

E-bay thread

Original Thread

Mark Mitsubishi in Scottsdale AZ makes me ashamed to be a "Mark".

I was the legimate winner of an ebay auction last night (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2438028950) for a Evo. I've been in the market for a STi or an Evo. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. A primary attraction for this car was the final $26200 e-bay price for an untitiled car.

Josh Jones at Mark Mitsubishi in Scottsdale AZ emailed me after the auction had ended and informed me that the car had been sold to an autobroker for a greater amount. The auction did not end early and was not cancelled.

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Mitsubishi
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2003 9:30 PM
Subject: 2003 evo

I have to appologize that evo was bid by an auto broker for
32987.00. I do have other evos in stock. Again I appoligize

Thank You
Johs Jones

I consider this very unethical behavior.

Mark Mitsubishi in Scottsdale AZ apparently was awarded Mitsubishi's Diamond Chapter of Excellence. If Mitsubishi awards this dealer Diamond status, I do not know if I could ever recommend a Mitsubishi product to anyone.

I called Mark Mitsubishi late Friday afternoon because Mark Mitsubishi never contacted me via any method, despite several e-mails on my part requesting same.

I spoke with Josh Jones, the internet sales manager. Mr. Jones was fairly professional in demeanor giving the circumstances.

He informed me that he would not sell the e-bay car to me at the auction price because it was worth far more than that. He said the car was already sold to another buyer. He said he was a "business man" and got a better offer so he took it. I informed him that he was in violation of e-bay rules. He told ME to read the fine print which allowed his actions. I told him he was under certain contractual obligations when he places an item on e-bay and he did not comply with them. He also said he was very busy and did not get a chance to cancel the auction after receiving this alleged better offer. He informed me the car was "gone" or "sold" and asked what I wanted him to do.

Mr. Jones said he was not going to sell me the car because I threaten him and then mentioned a letter of complaint I had send to Mitsubishi Motors NA. I never threatened anyone at any time - I did however file formal complaints with the Better Business Bureau, e-bay.com, and Mitsubishi Motor NA. I forwarded copies of same to Mr. Jones.

I told him I thought I should be the legitimate winner. He told me to give him negative feedback on e-bay.

I asked if he was refusing to take my deposit on the e-bay car. He said he was refusing the deposit.

The call ended.

I called the dealership the evening of the auction aproximately 1 hour or less before the auction closed. The salesman who I talked to did not mention the red e-bay car with leather and DVD was sold.

I'm not sure but my brother is probably ashamed to be "Scott" for fear on having some connection to Mark Mitsubishi in SCOTTsdale AZ.

Just venting. Thanks.

Mark D

**mass junkie** · 11-01-2003, 11:31 AM

I test drove one of those cars for fun.......Damn they are freaking fast......Twin turbos on a 4 cylinder.....If I remember right the sticker price was like 34,0000

**FrkyBgStok** · 11-01-2003, 11:35 AM

$34,000 or $340,000. That is some true BS.

**mass junkie** · 11-01-2003, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by FrkyBgStok

$34,000 or $340,000. That is some true BS.

oops 1 to many zeros....good catch

**usualsuspect** · 11-01-2003, 12:04 PM

I'm very reluctant to order from ebay now with all the bad experiences I keep hearing ppl have. Most of the time its not ebay's fault, its just too many scrupulous ppl on the net.

**Calipso** · 11-01-2003, 12:58 PM

Thats some true bullshit. If I lived in Arizona I'd pay the dealership a visit with some eggs, bricks, paintball gun and some marbels.

**Terinox** · 11-01-2003, 03:35 PM

You gotta be careful with Ebay though, shouldn't buy risky things off there, I mean a car is WAY too much of a thing to buy, if you were to buy those things, make sure you go with the ebay insurance things they offer, not sure how it works, but they do offer warranty and what not on almost every product. Stick with small cheap things, under 500 bux, and make sure you have some kind of warranty

**sublang** · 11-02-2003, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by Calipso

Thats some true bullshit. If I lived in Arizona I'd pay the dealership a visit with some eggs, bricks, paintball gun and some marbels.

I live in Arizona. Maybe some rowdy friends and I will pay Mark Mitsubishi a little visit.

**cb25** · 11-02-2003, 01:02 AM

Originally Posted by sublang

I live in Arizona. Maybe some rowdy friends and I will pay Mark Mitsubishi a little visit.

add a little for me in your visit...i'm still trying to get those stupid commercials out of my head after moving away...

Mark Mitsubishi...Mark Mitsubishi... (tell me you've heard those horrible radio spots??)

**rambo** · 11-02-2003, 01:04 AM

Yes, they suck ass. Throw in some extra debauchery for an AZ boy.

LORDBLiTZ · 11-02-2003, 01:13 AM

He could take them to court and win no problem. When you place a bid on ebay, the buyer AND seller are in a legally binding contract.

**Dude-Man** · 11-02-2003, 12:50 PM

The contract is official when the auction is over. If he hadn't let it go, and pulled it early, there would be no problem here.. but the fact is that the auction ended and the dealership said "we sold it for more because it's worth more" is total bullshit. He should definitely take it to court.

**peregrine** · 11-02-2003, 07:16 PM

the evos are actually single turbo

they are fast.

**Calipso** · 11-02-2003, 07:17 PM

Seriously, I would bring this to court if I was the guy who won. It'd be worth it. Also sue them on top of pressuring the court to make them hand the car over (For the cash of course, since it's a legal contract)

**Tayman** · 11-02-2003, 11:51 PM

this has been all over the internet and back

I wonder if anything will come out of it.

**sublang** · 11-03-2003, 01:52 AM

Originally Posted by cb25

add a little for me in your visit...i'm still trying to get those stupid commercials out of my head after moving away...

Mark Mitsubishi...Mark Mitsubishi... (tell me you've heard those horrible radio spots??)

That's hilarious! I forgot about those commercials. I thought I was the only one that got that annoying, yet catchy phrase stuck in my head. When my son was about 3 years old, he used to imitate the commercial by saying "Mark Fishyfishy...Mark Fishyfishy."

Anyway, that guy should definitely take legal action. When you sign up for Ebay they tell you every bid is a binding contract.

**bermich** · 11-03-2003, 03:36 AM

The fucked up thing about situations like this, and sales people do it a lot it: When there is a problem like this with a sales man and a purchaser for a piece of machinery or vehicle, the salesman has more room to get away with shit.

Two examples:
One of my buddies bought a jet ski from yamaha or one of those places. Thing worked for a week. Brand new. My friend called up brought it back and to cut out half the story- After all the bullshit, the dealer gave him a discount or something. My friend wanted to return the ENTIRE piece of shit. He called and said he was returning it to them that day.
My friend went to the store with the jet ski in the back of his truck to return it. SHERRIFFS were at the store and arrested my friend for terrorist threats and attempted vandalizing or something like that.
The dealer said my friend threatened them on the phone and was gonna back the truck up through the window of the shop and push the jet ski off into the store.
All bullshit....

Same thing happened with another friend of mine only this friend was smarter, richer and had a good attorney.
Jet ski didnt work-wanted to bring it back- store said no.

Guy brought it back- store said the guy was threatening them about a bad jet ski and was gonna resolve it with violence at the store. SAME THING. Sherriffs at the store waiting for the guy.
This time, my friend sued the store for A WHOLE SHIT LOAD OF COMPLAINTS.
Bad depiction of character (where the store makes you look like a criminal publicly when you did NOTHING wrong)
My friend had the phone conversation recorded (a few conversations)
My friend asked for the threatening letter because the store owner said he was given threats on paper.
Basically, my friend ended with A LOT of money from that whole ordeal.

All because the dealership feels they would be believed before a common buyer. If the buyer complains about something, the dealership immediately starts logging these complaints as threats and they just wait til the buyer becomes frustrated enough to start making threats.
It happens A LOT. Once that threat is made by the buyer, the dealership has A LOT of leverage now. It comes to the point where the buyer is stuck with a piece of shit product due to frustation and

not documenting your complaints such as paperwork and dates and times of calls or personal visits. ALWAYS BRING A WITNESS. ALWAYS.
They have different guidelines on how to deal with people by themselves and people with witnesses or friends.

**PTbyJason** · 11-03-2003, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by Tayman

this has been all over the internet and back

I wonder if anything will come out of it.

Yeah no joke....the original thread is already at 90 pages in less than 2 days and it is on every message board on the net.

**Bigboy123** · 11-03-2003, 06:58 PM

That fuckin sucks that they did that to him, I am a big fan of ebay, but that is wrong... Are there any repracutions. ( I KNOW SPELLING IS BAD)

**bermich** · 11-03-2003, 07:09 PM

Is there any follow up to this that anyone knows about?
Or will it just dissapear over time

**PTbyJason** · 11-03-2003, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by bermich

Is there any follow up to this that anyone knows about?
Or will it just dissapear over time

This was his response from the dealership

Originally posted by MarkD
Wow - This thread is amazing.
It seems like the entire world hates car dealers, ebay, and Mark Mitsubishi.
My initial post was not a hoax. I believe it to be 100% accurate. I don't think I have anything significant to add about the factual situation now.
For those wanting to know, I was out of town this weekend. I attended the Wurstfest Festival in New Braunsfels, Texas. I got back very late Sunday and have been reading this thread and individuals emails since then.
I think many readers might be interested in the second and final communication from Mark Mitsubishi to me.
Received: from vmg.prodigy.net by vmg with SMTP; Fri, 31 Oct 2003 21:00:05 -0500
X-Originating-**: [67.92.168.XXX]
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
Fri, 31 Oct 2003 19:59:51 -0600 (CST)
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 18:03:05 -0800
From: Mark Mitsubishi <scottsdalesales@XXXXXXXXX>
Subject: Evo
To: XXXXXXXXX
Message-id: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
MIME-version: 1.0
X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.XXXX
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.XXXX
Content-type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="Boundary_(ID_Sad+QVvwvfZVjLJyE+yXsg)"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-priority: Normal
************
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Mitsubishi
To: XXXXXXXXX
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 8:03 PM
Subject: Evo

"We reserve the right to cancel all existing bids and end the auction early should the item no longer be available for sale."
This is the exact language that appeared on our e-bay listing,
We did have the right to pull the vehicle from the auction, we did receive a bid on that vehicle from an outside source for $32700, you did have the right to match that bid.
But because you've seemed to become so upset over the situation, we would be willing to sell another brand new Evolution we have on the lot right now for $26995 plus all applicable fees.
You have until 8:00 pm tonight, Oct. 31st to committ to this offer. You can call John Williams at 480-425-XXXX or email us back right away.
************
I'm in the Central Time Zone. Mark Mitsubishi is in the Mountain Time Zone. I have been contacted by the dealer exactly twice. The first email and now the email above. I contacted the dealer by phone prior to the auction and after Mark Mitsubishi backed out of the deal. I emailed Mark Mitsubishi several times. There has been no other communications from Mark Mitsubishi.

I need to catch up (pg 78 now) and determine what should happen next.

Thanks to all for the information, suggestions, comments, effort in my behalf, and support -- truly amazing.

Everyone from the dealership, to Mitsubshi headquarters, to Drudge, to O'Reilly, etc..... Everyone has been contacted repeatedly. Mitsubishi corporate has now started getting on to the dealership and wants to make sure the issue gets resolved. The did offer him another car, which is stupid because the car he won is better than the one they offered him after the auction. The original thread is now over 100 pages long.

**BigGreen** · 11-03-2003, 08:02 PM

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!! Speak the codeword now BigTexan, NOW!! Viva la revolucion

**Dude-Man** · 11-04-2003, 01:31 AM

Originally Posted by BigGreen

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!! Speak the codeword now BigTexan, NOW!! Viva la revolucion

don't get me wrong, i love seeing you around BG, but..
shouldn't you be studying?

**PTbyJason** · 11-04-2003, 11:08 AM

According to the auction, the dealership offered to sell the car to him at the price he won it for.

MarkD, the auction winner, confirmed in the middle of the night last night, that this was indeed true.

Originally posted by MarkD
Sorry for the delay in posting - I was working late.
It's true.
MARK MITSUBISHI offered me the same ebay EVO at the final auction price.
Many of you knew of MARK MITSUBISHI's offer before I did since I was at work.
I was informed that the car was not titled and the full factory warranty would be in effect.
The finance manager did not know the exact mileage, but he informed me that the car remained at MARK MITSUBISHI after the auction.
The dealer is researching tax issues for a out of state sale.
This thread is amazing. Thanks to all.

----- Original Message -----
From: XXXXXX
To: XXXXXXXXX
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 8:22 PM
Subject: lancer evo

> DEAR SIR,
> WE HAVE RETRACTED OUR OFFER FROM THE BROKER IN ORDER TO PROVIDE YOU WITH
> THE LANCER YOU HAD BID ON, PLEASE CONTACT ME AT 480-425-XXXX IN ORDER TO
> ARRANGE PAYMENT AND SHIPPING.
> THANKS
> XXXXXXXX
> MARK MITSUBISHI FINANCE DIRECTOR
>
----- Original Message -----
From: XXXXXXXXX
To: XXXXXXX
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 8:02 PM
Subject: evo8

Dear Sir,
I am the finanace director at Mark Mitsubishi. We have retracted the high bid from the other broker, we are emailing in to arrange payment for the auction that you won on the lancer. Please contact me with in the next 72 hours to arrange payment and shipping. If you should have any questions please contact me @ 480-425-XXXX.
thanks I look forward to hearing from you.
thanks,
XXXXXXX
finance director mark mitsubishi

**hybrid** · 11-04-2003, 11:27 AM

It sucks that you have to go to that much trouble just to get a fair shake.

**Strut99GT** · 11-04-2003, 11:41 AM

I figured that after all was said and done here he'd end up getting the car. The internet is a harsh mistress when people get disgruntled with the customer service somewhere.

**PTbyJason** · 11-04-2003, 11:44 AM

It's up to almost 120 pages now. I'm just glad that it payed off. The power of the internet is amazing these days. It surprised me how fast this thing picked up speed. Either way, I'm just glad to see him get the car that he legally won.

**TheMudMan** · 11-04-2003, 11:45 AM

I hope this ruins MARK MITSUBISHI's business. If I owned this company I would try to settle this quick. All the bad press can't be good and if I lived near there and was interested in a Mitsubishi I would go else where to buy.

I hope MarkD gets something for this....... This is BS.

**TheMudMan** · 11-04-2003, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by PTbyJason

It's up to almost 120 pages now. I'm just glad that it payed off. The power of the internet is amazing these days. It surprised me how fast this thing picked up speed. Either way, I'm just glad to see him get the car that he legally won.

I'm a little late.................. good to see he got the car

**PTbyJason** · 11-04-2003, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by TheMudMan

I hope this ruins MARK MITSUBISHI's business. If I owned this company I would try to settle this quick. All the bad press can't be good and if I lived near there and was interested in a Mitsubishi I would go else where to buy.

I hope MarkD gets something for this....... This is BS.

See this post. It looks like he is getting his car.