var json_comments = new Array("
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perro.malo
July 10, 2009 11:34 PM
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He seems to be taking in \"very seriously\"!

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crazydavythe1st
July 10, 2009 11:37 PM
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This is really the level of \"taking it seriously\" that I wish we would see more often. I would feel completely comfortable buying from his dealership

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3 replies
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jblaze1
July 11, 2009 2:17 PM
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@crazydavythe1st: I wouldn't. They only made this AFTER the consumer video taped this. Who knows how many people they did this to? Who is to say it won't happen again? There are plenty of places to go, and this would not be one of mine.

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balls187
July 13, 2009 10:42 PM
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@jblaze1: Correction: They only made this after they showed proof to the owner.

You can't fault the owner. He did the right thing.

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kingofmars
July 11, 2009 12:56 AM
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@crazydavythe1st: I wonder if we will start to see more companies reacting in this fashion. I would really hope so. I won't watch every apology
video, but it is good to see the company doing everything consumerist would
expect.

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XTC46
July 10, 2009 11:37 PM
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worst editing ever.


However, I dont agree with the original poster sending out the video so far after the fact and when he has clearly been helped after wards with no problems. Whats the point of mbarassing the company when the owner clearly handled the issue?

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4 replies
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anduin
July 11, 2009 6:57 AM
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@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter:
I always leave money on purpose and haven't been robbed yet, yay mazda

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Verucalise (Est.February2008)
July 11, 2009 12:00 AM
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@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: It's not the point of embarassing the company- it's for consumer knowledge. This gentleman was not brushed off once, but several times and he had to resort to videotaping the scandal. It shows us what we might be able to do in a similar situation.


It's also a message to other businesses to take their customers' complaints seriously, especially one that involves theft. No reputable business would allow such abuse of customers. The owner handled the whole thing appropriately, although a little late unfortunately.

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XTC46
July 11, 2009 1:11 AM
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@verucalise-T minus 12 days- full term!: He handled it as soon as the customer informed him of it. The right thing to do would be to tell the owner, and then do soemthing if the owner did nothing. The video just puts the company in bad light when the problem had already been resolved, and the guy had been compensated for far more than he lost.

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Chongo
July 11, 2009 3:16 AM
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@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: I disagree. I think that this in the long run will actually benefit the dealership by showing that the owner is a stand up guy and is taking care of business. Personally, after seeing this response, if I lived near this dealership and needed a new car, I would no longer hesitate to go there.

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MissKissLock
July 11, 2009 4:35 PM
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@Chongo: I feel bad for the dude in that with corrections like these, it's unlikely to undo damage to a significant degree. People always remember the first bad thing but not subsequent stuff unless it gets a lot of attention.

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coren
July 11, 2009 12:47 AM
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@verucalise-T minus 12 days- full term!: To be fair - the service manager and not the owner/manager seems to have been the problem there, and was fired for it.

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Verucalise (Est.February2008)
July 11, 2009 1:07 AM
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@coren: 100% correct. I was just commenting on why the video still appeared on the internet- it wasn't for vengeance, at least in my humble opinion.

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Borax-Johnson
July 10, 2009 11:44 PM
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Hey look! He didn't even need a teleprompter. Me thinks he has a higher calling in his future.

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3 replies
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Edjamacator
July 12, 2009 4:28 AM
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@Borax-Johnson: Yeah, I don't trust idiots who need to rely on teleprompters all the time.


You know, like our current POTUS who even needs a teleprompter to talk to himself.

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floraposte
July 15, 2009 4:38 PM
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@Edjamacator: You know every POTUS has used one for the last thirty years, right?

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Verucalise (Est.February2008)
July 11, 2009 12:06 AM
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@Borax-Johnson: Don't you hate those weeee beady eyes following the prompter... I can't help but stare. Especially when they only have 3 lines to memorize and STILL need a prompter!

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SumanolataGeschnozzle
July 10, 2009 11:46 PM
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Pretty gutsy for the OP to put the camera in plain sight...it'd be ironic if the video camera got stolen as well!

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bkdlays
July 10, 2009 11:51 PM
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I'm impressed.. although I guarantee Toyota made this happen.

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1 replies
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Mackinstyle
July 11, 2009 3:54 AM
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@bkdlays: At the very most, Toyota may have suggested or even told Mr. Hampton to do so. However, do you see the name on the dealership? Mr. Hampton clearly has every reason to do this himself.

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scoobydoo
July 10, 2009 11:55 PM
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I would buy a car from this guy. I'm also very surprised that the tape was released AFTER it appears the matter was settled.

The owner of the dealership seems honestly upset by this whole thing and going on tape shows that he really does want to do the right thing. Kudos.

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3 replies
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banmojo
July 14, 2009 7:31 PM
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@scoobydoo: how is it this poster has a star and I don't? consumerist you suck. too bad I find your blog so damned entertaining.

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madog
July 11, 2009 1:09 AM
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@scoobydoo: \"Better late than never\", doesn't apply when the customer had been stolen from previously. The persons responsible had to be threatened to not perform illegal acts. People like that don't deserve sympathy.

Albeit the employees were fired, they still ignored the customers previous attempts of \"civility\".

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XTC46
July 11, 2009 1:13 AM
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@madog: the manager ignored the customer, and was fired for it. The owner didnt even know and took action as soon as he did know.

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snowburnt
July 16, 2009 3:18 PM
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@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: Its easy to look at these things retrospectively. How could the customer have known the owner wasn't working against him too? the customer had to threaten the owner for him to find out about it?

If I was in the customer's position I would have done the same thing

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madog
July 11, 2009 4:21 AM
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@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: And I tell people all the time that I wasn't the one who broke into their house to steal their drains, but that doesn't mean the voices in my head didn't make me do it.

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ITDEFX
July 10, 2009 11:56 PM
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Yea that edit was like the worse I have seen. Who shot and edited it? Some high school kid? I am glad those clowns got fired for this. However the OP should have just kept it between him and the dealership since they took action and offered an extended warranty for the stolen coins, yet he goes off an shows the video to the media. Talk about stabbing someone in the back.

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4 replies
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SacraBos
July 11, 2009 3:39 PM
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@ITDEFX: They are car dealers, not cinematographers. Not as bad as most of the rest of the YouTube stuff. So I'll give them a pass.

There is some point where you have to back your workers, since I'm sure there have been many made-up \"my change was stolen\" stories. However, when presented with evidence, they appeared to do the right thing.

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takes_so_little
July 11, 2009 11:56 AM
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@ITDEFX: I think the OP's actions made this MUCH less likely to ever happen again. If he'd just taken the deal and shut up, what's to stop them from repeating it? Or caring too much at all?

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jamar0303
July 11, 2009 5:18 AM
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@ITDEFX: Uh, taken action? Theft of any kind should be reported to the police, really, especially situations like this one. I wouldn't have been satisfied with that alone.

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DeborahJackal
July 11, 2009 3:44 PM
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@jamar0303: I don't want the police wasting their time responding to theft of quarters. I hate cops sitting around waiting to catch speeders doing 7-9mph over the limit, but I'd actually prefer they did that then catching quarter thieves.

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droidd
July 11, 2009 12:00 AM
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To me this guy is coming off like a slimy car salesman who only now cares because of all the attention the videos got.
I would never but a car from this guy.

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8 replies
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coren
July 11, 2009 12:49 AM
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@droidd: I disagree - he made things right well before these videos were public.

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Sudonum
July 11, 2009 12:26 AM
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@droidd:
He owns 6 dealerships, 3 in Lafayette, LA and 3 in Fort Walton Beach, FL. [www.hamptonhasit.com]
You should see his TV commercials.

I've been watching them for years, in both locations. I always thought they were sketchy, but a friend bought a car there and swears by them. The wife and I stopped in to check out the hybrid Highlander a few months back, we were treated rudely and left.

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Sudonum
July 11, 2009 2:32 PM
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@Dansc29625:
Found a couple ads on YouTube. Yeah, they're highly annoying as well. But I didn't hear anything as annoying as the \"Hampton has It\" jingle.

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minsky
July 11, 2009 12:21 AM
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@droidd:


+1, the guy is a scumbag. If his dealer was run so well, none of this would have happened. It all comes down from the top. Even if it did happen (like it did) if they cared about the customer, the OP's original complaints would not have been ignored. But they were.


I wouldn't trust that dealer for anything.

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XTC46
July 11, 2009 1:16 AM
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@minsky: Thats not true at all. I know lots of terrible employees who have outstanding bosses. Normally they are kept around becasue firing them is a pain, or the company needs the bodies in the store to keep it going.


The 3 guys who did this, and the manager who ignored the complaint all got fired, and the consumer was compensated. what more could they want?

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The Black Bird
July 11, 2009 12:13 AM
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@droidd: I feel the same way you do. I don't trust him and I would never purchase anything from his dealership.

I do have a question that has been nagging me since the original report on Consumerist. Why weren't the 4 people involved in the theft arrested? There has been nothing to indicate they have. I would think the video would give the D.A. enough evidence to prosecute.

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Stephmo
July 11, 2009 1:59 AM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: For what, prey tell? They stole quarters. It's petty theft - at best. For which the dealership compensated him with a $2000 extended warranty that far-exceeded the value of his quarters, even if you break it down to dealer cost.

So, to bring petty theft charges against the guy that stole the quarters, the customer would have to give back something of far greater value. And then he'd have to convince the local D.A. that this was worth pursuing. You know what petty theft gets these guys?

Nothing. If they don't have prior theft offenses, they'll be on probation for a few months - at best - and if they don't steal, it will be like it never existed on their records. This is IF anyone wants to bother with the time and resources it will take to convict the ONE guy filmed of taking less than $2 in quarters. The rest of the story is all circumstantial unless dudes decide to agree that they might have stolen up to $10 in quarters.

At best - it would be a fine and a misdemeanor conviction if they had a record of some sort.

And a lot of time away from actual crimes to solve this issue. I believe the fact that they were all fired for cause - which means zero unemployment and severance, that this guy got compensated way above his quarter loss, AND that there's been a public apology probably means the courts in his state deserve a shot at convicting actual criminals.

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The Black Bird
July 11, 2009 12:11 PM
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@Stephmo: The bottom line is they stole something. In addition, you have no way of knowing if they had been convicted of a criminal offense previously.

Your argument that he would have to give back what the dealership gave him doesn't hold water. Where in the law does it say a crime must result in a loss to you before the law can/will prosecute?

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Stephmo
July 11, 2009 12:45 PM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon:

Where in the law does it say a crime must result in a loss to you before the law can/will prosecute?

Where they decide what level of theft is determined. And since the loss is what the victim incurred is less than $500 that makes it PETTY instead of GRAND theft. But since the dealership - for whom the one thief was working for at the time - made the customer more than whole at the time, this is now a point of contention.

A DA not wanting to waste taxpayer dollars in an instance where they already see punishment harsher than what their office is able to give out will ask to have this put back in an attempt to politely say, \"yo, dumbass, if you want to play the principle game on the taxpayer dime, I shall teach you about unjust enrichment.\"

Glad to see you want to get Joe Law involved, though. You probably call when the kids next door get on your lawn after you've warned them not to be on your lawn. After all, they're breaking the LAW. And that's a good use of legal resources! Do you call from your cell phone when people speed by you and run stop signs as well? After all, every plate you call in is a law-breaker! You must be super-busy citizen-arresting all those jay-walkers as well. And before you say, \"not the same thing,\" all of those offenses are on-par with petty theft.

I'm glad to see you have your priorities in line.

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The Black Bird
July 11, 2009 1:51 PM
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@Stephmo: If you want to debate the issue at hand then let's do so. If not then I suggest, since you know nothing about me, you keep your personal assumptions about me to yourself.

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Stephmo
July 11, 2009 2:20 PM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon:

@Radi)logy:

No, the both of you seem to think that the police are interested in one guy who took less than $2. Neither of you seem to be aware of the fact that a DA has to agree to prosecute the petty theft crime.

See, I'm all for enforcing crime, but I'm also for being sane about things. If you were a DA running for re-election and I found out you were wasting time prosecuting someone for the theft of 2 dollars when the victim had been made more than whole and the offenders had already been punished, you'd never get my vote. Because the money you wasted (not to mention the cash for the public defender he'd ask for since he's unemployed) for this conviction that can't follow him around for more than 30-60 days is an absolute waste of time and money.

The point of a criminal conviction is to punish and deter further instances.

What in getting fired did not serve as punishment and a swift deterrent? Do you really think that a lesson wasn't learned at this point? Or do you think some smack on the wrist is really the tipping point? A smack on the wrist that will cost this local community real dollars? A smack on the wrist that legally can't even be applied to more than 1 of the 4 people that were actually punished?

By the by - this is assuming that the state doesn't have a minimum to even make petty theft. In some states, they don't bother to prosecute unless you've taken at least $10. Anything under $10 is a civil matter where it's you banning people from coming into your place of business. It then becomes a future trespass ticket - a misdemeanor. So, yeah, there are communities that say that a $2 theft is a waste of their time to prosecute. Shocker.

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The Black Bird
July 11, 2009 3:22 PM
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@Stephmo: \"My argument is that the criminal penalty in no way shape or form would stand up to what was done civilly.\"

You're making the assumption that none of these people had any prior criminal record. How do you know, until you check, if they've been arrested for doing the same thing before? If they have, no matter how \"petty\", this makes them repeat offenders. Are you suggesting that no matter how many times they do this they should not be charged?

\"But since the dealership - for whom the one thief was working for at the time - made the customer more than whole at the time, this is now a point of contention.\"

Let me give you a scenario. Someone pickpockets a wallet that only contains $2.00. The person whose wallet was stolen catches the individual after a brief chase. The thief is forced to give the wallet and money back. Are you saying the thief should not be charged? What about the person who is DUI and smashes into your parked car. He totals your 1980 bucket of bolts but he gets you a brand new $100,000 replacement and pays for it in full. No one is hurt or killed and according to you, you are made whole again. Are you saying he shouldn't be prosecuted?

You seem to think that being fired will be a deterrent to doing future crimes. I believe the thieves will look at it and think since they got away with it this time they can get away with it again.

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Stephmo
July 11, 2009 9:24 PM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon:

If the person were working at the dealership, he was bondable, so he came in without prior criminal conviction.

The fact that they stole loose change and did not touch an expensive camera indicates that this was a \"for pop money and stuff people don't notice\" operation. Even so, if they'd been convicted of a crime during their employ, they would have lost the ability to be bondable and would have been fired in the process.

So, yeah, I'm willing to bet they came in with clean records if they were driving customer cars around.

As to your examples - none of those are petty theft offenses. Pick pocketing involves touching another person's body to steal - you're now committing robbery. Robbery is sudden or stealthy seizure of property and is also the statute that covers car-jacking. It's more about the fear and potential violence you're instilling than the actual goods being stolen.

Your other scenario is driving while intoxicated which has to do with the potential damage you can inflict on other people and not the value of damage you inflict on property. I have no idea what your \"examples\" are even supposed to mean - they're complete non sequitors (that means logic fails). You might as well ask me if blowing up a house using a pipe bomb made from under-$10 ingredients is okay.

Here's the scenario - do you prosecute everyone that's ever sampled a grape from the grocery store produce section? THAT'S actually analogous. Because that is petty theft. If you believe that all of those individuals are supposed to go to jail and land on probation, then go you - you're a hardcore law aider and obviously of much higher moral caliber than the rest of the world.

I'm just going with the much more obvious, \"and justice was totally served in this case, so get off the Joe Law act\" side of it.

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The Black Bird
July 11, 2009 11:02 PM
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@Stephmo: I wonder how many confrontations with the law you've had to make you so jaded toward it.

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Stephmo
July 12, 2009 2:17 AM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: Hah - you'd be surprised by how many family members are involved in some facet of law enforcement - from local to the federal level. Or do you think I just know the subtle differences in various forms of theft for giggles? Maybe listening to people that know the system got me to a reasonable point where I can think.

It's not called \"jaded.\" It's simply the reality of knowing that a world where everyone was honestly ticketed/arrested/fined for every single statute on the books would be a nightmare. There wouldn't be less crime, there would be more misery and you'd find less trust overall.

I wonder what kind of world you live in where you feel the need to have law enforcement solve every petty crime on the books. I wonder what kind of world you live in where you don't believe a wrong is wholly punished unless formal legal proceedings are brought into play. I wonder when you lost all hope in humanity to solve minor disagreements amongst themselves and come up with appropriate punishments that make the aggrieved wholly happy?

But, hey - have fun pressing charges against all the grape tasters. And everyone that's ever touched marijuana. And anyone that's ever lent a prescribed pain killer to a friend or family member - lock 'em up for drug trafficking. I hope you don't live in one of those anti-sodomy states - that can be a bummer for your sex life when you realize what's really covered in those statutes. But you have fun in jail for that. I hope you called on anyone that had fireworks as well over the 4th of July - because they are law-breakers through and through.

You go, Johnny Law! With your dilligence, the world will be so neat and orderly and perfect. Because you say so!

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The Black Bird
July 12, 2009 3:31 PM
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@Stephmo: First, for the record, I have never said that all petty crime should be prosecuted. However you have no way of knowing if any of the people fired had done anything like what they did before and were not charged. As long as they are not charged they can continue to get bonded and continue to steal from people. How do you propose to stop them from doing it again?

Now with that out of the way...since you continue to make assumptions about me rather than just discuss the issue I will now do the same.

You are incarcerated (that means in jail, Stephmo) and that's why you are taking such a sanctimonious (that means hypocritically pious, Stephmo) position.

What did you do? Are you a deadbeat parent? Did you beat up your spouse, your children, a 93 year crippled woman or someone else? Were you caught selling or using drugs...or both? Was it your multiple DUI convictions that put you away? Maybe you didn't pay your red light violations or were you caught driving on your suspended license? What about your tax evasion charge...did they get you for that? How much money did you get in the bank robbery? Was it more than $2.00 but less than $2,000.00? Since you've brought it up several times I need to know, did you steal a grape? Hey, maybe you are one of the people the owner of the dealership fired. Did you steal the quarters or are you the one who licked his hand after he put the pills back? I believe it was all of the above.

What made you go bad Stephmo? Did you have a sad childhood? Maybe no father to teach you right from wrong. Maybe your family was poor and even thought your parents tried to teach you the right way to be you just grew up with the attitude that the world owes you whatever the heck you want, without you working to attain those things.

Well, no matter what caused you to be the way you are the bottom line is YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A COMMON CRIMINAL.

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redkamel
July 12, 2009 6:08 PM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: @Radi0logy: just curious, do either of have any experience enforcing laws? Cause stephmo is totally right. There are two things called \"human nature\" and \"common sense\".

You really think the DA should spend 1000s of dollars on this when there are actual crimes going on? If anything this should go to small claims court.

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The Black Bird
July 13, 2009 12:07 AM
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@redkamel: I do not personally have any experience in law. I do have someone very close to me who has been involved in law enforcement for many years.

As I said previously I don't believe all petty crime should be prosecuted. I do believe that in cases such as the one in the dealership there should have at least been charges brought against the 4 people. I would have had no problem with them being arrested and the DA making a deal where if they admitted their guilt they would have been given probation.

As far as I know small claims court is strictly for civil cases so that would not work.

There needs to be some sort of permanent record for this type of theft. If for no other reason than they might do it again. None of us have any way of knowing if any of the 4 people involved had done something similar in the past. If any of them had, and there was a police report that could have been brought up, then they probably would not have been hired by the car dealer.

The way it stands now as long as no one ever presses charges against them they can continue doing what they did at that dealership. Plus, if bonding was required they most definitely would not have been able to get the bond. In the work I do I sometimes need to be bonded and I can tell you the bonding company can, and will, look you over with a fine tooth comb before making their decision.

In case you haven't read all of Stephmo said about me let me just show you the last one. Beside the \"Johnny Law\" comment he had this to say; (I made the worst one bold)

\"But, hey - have fun pressing charges against all the grape tasters. And everyone that's ever touched marijuana. And anyone that's ever lent a prescribed pain killer to a friend or family member - lock 'em up for drug trafficking. I hope you don't live in one of those anti-sodomy states - that can be a bummer for your sex life when you realize what's really covered in those statutes. But you have fun in jail for that. I hope you called on anyone that had fireworks as well over the 4th of July - because they are law-breakers through and through.

As you can see when he said to you,

\"I assumed that he could take a spirited discussion, but I was clearly wrong. I was unaware \"Johnny Law\" was such a personal attack that deserved such vitriol back.\"

he conveniently ignored the personal attacks that are worse than he says they are.

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aramid
July 14, 2009 3:37 AM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: I'm pretty sure that sodomy comment wasn't intended as a personal attack, or a guess at your sexuality, or anything negative in any way. Read it again, and maybe take its advice and see what's really in anti-sodomy statutes. They tend to prohibit a lot more than actual sodomy or homosexuality, often limiting very common heterosexual practices like oral sex.

I give you negative a million points for even-temperedness and negative five for reading comprehension.

And I agree 100% with Stephmo's hesitation. You don't think being fired, particularly in the current economy, will make those employees think twice about similar behavior in the future? You seem willing to admit that the only way prosecuting would really help is if the employees received a permanent black mark which prevented them from becoming bonded again; do you really think ruining their future is a good response to petty theft? The actual legal system will cause them less inconvenience and less notoriety than their firing, and your hypothetical permanent black mark is a bit much.

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The Black Bird
July 14, 2009 12:21 PM
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@aramid: \"You don't think being fired, particularly in the current economy, will make those employees think twice about similar behavior in the future?\"

While I understand what you're saying you haven't addressed one of the things I have mentioned several times. How do you know if any of the people who were fired had done this before? You say it's unfair to ruin their lives but don't you think it's unfair for someone to hire them without knowing that they've been fired for theft, maybe several times, in the past. Don't you believe the company who hired them has a right to make a informed decision based on their past history? I'm not saying people should be denied jobs because of being arrested but an employer has a right to know.

Who is really ruining their lives, the law for pressing charges or the people who committed the theft?

As far as them being fired being enough to keep them from committing a crime again I want to ask you; If it really worked that way wouldn't you think that spending time in jail would be an even greater deterrent. Unfortunately statistics show it differently.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it won't deter these 4 people from stealing again (or didn't). I am say what if it doesn't? How will anyone know they've committed the offense multiple times?

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The Black Bird
July 14, 2009 12:24 PM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: Whoops, \"I am say what if it doesn't?\" Should have been \"I am saying what if it doesn't?\"

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Stephmo
July 12, 2009 9:33 PM
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@redkamel: Do you mean have I directly worked for law enforcement? No.

Have I had jobs where we choose to press charges or not and have I had direct say in whether or not that takes place. Yes. And you know what? Most of the time, small-time stuff is left to banning people/flagging accounts and the like. Prosecution is saved for serious offenders.

I've not been involved directly with these, but I have known of contracts other companies have had with embezzlers where they give the embezzler a monthly payback schedule that lasts about 6 months less than the statute of limitations for filing criminal charges. Basically, it's sort of a combination, \"we're firing you/you also helped us plug a security hole we should have noticed/it's not so much money we should ruin your life/we don't really need the bad publicity an arrest would give us\" contract.

At this point, with the Bogart insinuations, I'm done with this discussion. Anything \"personal\" I said clearly was not up to the level of me beating the elderly, being a deadbeat parent or a criminal.

I've appreciated the many other insightful comments in this thread. I assumed that he could take a spirited discussion, but I was clearly wrong. I was unaware \"Johnny Law\" was such a personal attack that deserved such vitriol back.

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Cyberxion101
July 12, 2009 7:43 PM
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@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: Agreed. Besides, if the op is on the up-and-up, then it only happened after the fact, which makes the gesture look all the worse...

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The Black Bird
July 13, 2009 12:11 AM
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@Cyberxion101: It does not look good for the owner. I could be wrong but from what he said on the video and what the OP said, in regard to the warranty, I believe the OP. That in itself destroys the credibility of the owner as far as I'm concerned.

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Radi0logy
July 12, 2009 5:15 AM
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@Stephmo: \" It's simply the reality of knowing that a world where everyone was honestly ticketed/arrested/fined for every single statute on the books would be a nightmare. There wouldn't be less crime, there would be more misery and you'd find less trust overall.\"

I don't agree with this at all - the world would not be a nightmare. Well, it might be for the first couple of weeks, and then everyone would come to the realization that the law system in this country is completely fucked in the head. That would then prompt sweeping changes and modernizations, which would make it a much better place.

Off topic, but if I were to run for president, I would push a new statute that any law that wasn't prosecuted during some arbitrary period of time would fall off of the books. ( with the exception of some special ones like assassinating the president :P ) After that happens, it would have to be passed again, requiring a larger percentage of votes to be re-enacted.

Truth be told, I'm for less law not more. But I think the only way to start that is by forcing the police to prosecute EVERY lawbreaker in the country.

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DefineStatutory
July 11, 2009 2:30 PM
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@Stephmo:


We should prosectue all crimes! Everyone goes to jail! Rabble! Rabble!


Excellent point. There's nothing criminal enough to justify bothering with here. What's next, having your coworker arrested when they use your butter in the company fridge? I mean, that was almost 8 cents worth of butter your honor, and I demand a trial by jury and prosecution to the full extent of the law!


Come on folks...let's be realistic.

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Stephmo
July 11, 2009 9:32 PM
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@DefineStatutory: I think it should involve the full CSI Treatment - this is butter!

=P

I know, I know, we both hate the law! :)

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Radi0logy
July 11, 2009 1:43 PM
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@Stephmo: Good use of resources :P Your obvious disdain for those basic laws in our community is sad really, if it weren't for the fact that it is endemic of our population. No, lets just allow petty theft, speeding, red-light running and jaywalking, after all, THOSE crimes aren't deserving of our \"resources\". Even when captured on video.

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Radi0logy
July 11, 2009 3:10 AM
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@Stephmo: The problem here is not that the crimes weren't \"severe enough\" to warranty prosecution. Its the fact that our criminal justice system creates laws for the purpose of allowing certain individuals to have their crimes trumped up with aforementioned charges, while turning a blind eye to anyone that blatantly breaks said laws but are not a \"target\".

Every crime that CAN be prosecuted successfully SHOULD be prosecuted. Stop arguing that because the crime is small that somehow it \"shouldn't count\".

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Stephmo
July 11, 2009 4:08 AM
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@Radi0logy: My argument is that the criminal penalty in no way shape or form would stand up to what was done civilly.

The penalties on the books would actually be LESS than what they got now. There wouldn't really be anything \"additional\" other than the fact that in order to prosecute, the victim would have to give back his compensation from the dealership in order to receive the appropriate compensation from the one thief. And only the quarter-thief would possibly be prosecuted.

That formal justice that would be LESS than what they already got that would, after as little as a 30 day probation, not even result in them having to check the \"have you ever been convicted of a crime?\" box.

Maybe I just have the ability to look at the private justice that was given out and realize that it worked better than formal channels ever could. You know, because petty theft was never meant to be a huge crime. If you think that the \"I know they stole my other quarters, too!\" will get more convictions, you're crazy - I don't think this guy is going to sign a confession to additional crimes not on tape. But if you want to tell the original poster that he should give back his free warranty just so he can prove he's still the victim of theft so that we can get ONE guy maybe slapped on the wrist with 30 days of \"don't steal anything else\" if a DA agrees to prosecute to make the internetz happy to have Joe Law involved - go you.

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deverbative
July 11, 2009 12:10 AM
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@droidd: The guy doesn't even seem sincere. He's all about CYA and very subtly tries to make the OP look bad.

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Homerjay here for OxyClean!
July 11, 2009 12:09 AM
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Am I the only one not getting audio?

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shepd
July 11, 2009 1:56 AM
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@Homerjay here for OxyClean!:

Audio is only coming from one channel (I think it's the right). Perhaps one of your speakers is bad, your balance is set incorrectly, or your cable is bad.

That being said... mono mixer FTW?!

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Cool story bro
July 14, 2009 12:18 PM
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@shepd: I can't hear a thing. But I'm only using one earphone (as I'm at work and the other is busted), so if shepd's right that's the problem right there.

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Subliminal0182
July 11, 2009 12:51 AM
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@Homerjay here for OxyClean!: No, works fine for me. Specs: Vista, Firefox, Volume unmuted ;)

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Coles_Law
July 11, 2009 12:10 AM
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\"To reimburse him for quarters stolen, we provided Mr. Leonard with a $2000 service contract.\" I realize this was mainly compensation for grief, but I can't help but picture a guy driving around with 8,000 quarters in his car.


Seems like a reasonable response by the owner. Kudos to him.

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Radi0logy
July 11, 2009 3:11 AM
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@Coles_Law: Clearly the warranty was not \"compensation for the quarters\", it was hush money, plain and simple.

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The Black Bird
July 12, 2009 1:11 AM
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@Radi0logy: It was not just hush money. It was to make the owner look good, which in my opinion it did not.

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The Tick
July 11, 2009 2:16 AM
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@Coles_Law: Except that the service contract probably only cost the dealership $400-$500. Lots of markup in those...

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Con Seannery
July 11, 2009 2:51 AM
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@The Tick: Still a hell of a lot of quarters...

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subtlefrog
July 11, 2009 2:00 AM
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@Coles_Law: Hey, maybe there are a LOT of toll roads in that area.

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frank64
July 11, 2009 12:17 AM
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I think the initial video release is what got the action. He tried multiple times with the company beforehand.

Not knowing the reputation of the dealership, I would accept the apology at face value. Firing everyone involved is a proper response and tells me he took the issue VERY SERIOUSLY. The owner does have some responsibility though for not instill the proper culture. It could be just a bad hiring decision or two though, it is hard to tell.

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coren
July 11, 2009 12:48 AM
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@frank64: Actually, the video did get response, but well before he sent it to Consumerist - he sent it after he got his problem resolved

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Cyberxion101
July 12, 2009 7:45 PM
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@coren: It appears that, no, in fact he did not. Also, who cares? Folks need to know that this sort of thing is going on. Even if the OP got resolution, who is to say that this sort of thing wouldn't have happened again had he not taken it public? Now that it's out there for everyone to see, I'm sure that the owner will take proper steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again. Steps he should have been taking from the start...

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krispykrink
July 11, 2009 12:28 AM
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A good way to handle the situation. Too many other company's out there would have just brushed this aside as a \"training opportunity\" and would have just given the offenders a slap on the wrist.

What Mr. Hampton did was demonstrate that if you screw with the customer, your fired. A kick to the curb. Now if these former employees use the dealership as a reference in the future while applying for work elsewhere, the dealership should reply by sending out a copy of the video that got them canned in the first place.

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painfullyblunt
July 12, 2009 1:13 AM
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@krispykrink:

GAH!

Why wasn't the service manager fired?

To me, it's the service manager fault that these guys had free reign to act this way. lack of discipline, lack of oversight, failure to hire good people. I mean, if these guys did this to this one guy, you can bet they did it to others too. And no one ever knew? No one ever complained? or did the service manager ignore their complaints too?

I swear to god, management is like the catholic church, they screw up and they just find somewhere to put you. Management rarely if ever gets terminated for failure to do their job properly.

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Radi0logy
July 11, 2009 3:14 AM
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@krispykrink: \"What Mr. Hampton did was demonstrate that if you screw with the customer, your fired. A kick to the curb\"

But only if you do so in such an egregious and blatantly stupid way that we can't ignore it or brush it under the rug, and are then forced to start taking applications... *sigh* I hate going through resumes!! Can't we just give them a second chance...

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anduin
July 11, 2009 8:48 PM
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@Radi0logy:
should all car dealerships sell fire themselves for screwing with us when we try to get an automobile then try to inflate the price as high as we'll pay, then threaten to go elsewhere and suddenly the price drops substantially...grr

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XTC46
July 11, 2009 1:18 AM
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@krispykrink:
\"Now if these former employees use the dealership as a reference in the future while applying for work elsewhere, the dealership should reply by sending out a copy of the video that got them canned in the first place\"


in my state, that would get them sued. Ive never met an employer who was willing to say anything bad about a previous employee. The most you get about bad employees was \"they worked here from x -y. They got paid x.xx, their job was xyz\"


then thats the end of it.

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Sudonum
July 11, 2009 2:09 AM
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@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter:
My favorite question when calling former employers:
\"Is the employee eligible to be rehired?\"

I've never had anyone refuse to answer it, nor have I ever refused.

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fantomesq
July 11, 2009 1:14 AM
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@krispykrink: I agree with everything you said but most companies will only verify the dates someone worked there and perhaps their title. Anything more might get them sued.

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Froggmann
July 11, 2009 12:30 AM
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Simple fact of the matter is the situation got handled once the (Owner?) of the dealership got involved. This is basically the same as an EECB, but this time there was only one Executive to bomb.

As for the OP releasing videos, he only released two of the 4 or 5 videos that showed one guy committing the most egregious acts (Theft and presumably another theft of the narcotic kind). Hopefully this keeps the pill-licker out of any lines of work requiring trust.

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Skater009
July 11, 2009 12:45 AM
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regardless , he accepted blame .

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coren
July 11, 2009 1:01 AM
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Yeah, unless the Consumerist had this in the editing pile for a while (it doesn't sound that way from \"multiple media outlets\") he did this after the fact. Which if he was satisfied, I can't begin to understand.

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XTC46
July 11, 2009 1:19 AM
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@coren: wanted the attention or to be a douche.

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NYBanker
July 11, 2009 1:16 AM
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I don't agree with releasing the video AFTER the owner gave him a personal apology and a $2,000 extended warranty, ESPECIALLY when the OP came back 3 times to the dealership after the video was taped and had no issues. Something smells fishy here. I think the owner is a stand up guy and I would definitely be a customer of his based on his handling of this incident. Just goes to show there's always more to the story....

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gaywolverine
July 15, 2009 4:09 AM
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@NYBanker: A good consumer would tell others their problem and how it was handled. This seems to be what happened. If the tapes werent released the apology makes no sense, and if it you found out the OP took the warranty and didnt tell anybody, and it happened again you would blame him for taking a bribe.

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redkamel
July 12, 2009 6:09 PM
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@NYBanker: Dealership \"offering\" and \"mentioning\" (per the OP) are different than \"I have the hush money in my hand\".

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Radi0logy
July 11, 2009 3:15 AM
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@NYBanker: Yeah, I had a terrible experience and want the world to know about it, despite the fact that the dealership gave me hush money.

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Con Seannery
July 11, 2009 2:53 AM
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@NYBanker: I'd refile this ordeal under \"Bad Consumer.\"

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parrotuya
July 11, 2009 1:47 AM
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As an owner of a Toyota Hybrid, I expect more from a Toyota dealership. I am appalled that employees would treat customers that way. I am glad they were fired!

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1 replies
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DefineStatutory
July 11, 2009 2:31 PM
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@parrotuya:


Thank you for taking the opportunity to brag about your hybrid. y morning is now complete.

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Hoss
July 11, 2009 1:57 AM
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The fish always stinks from the head down (speaking of the franchise owner). But in this case Mr Leonard who is so utterly proud of himself went too far. Fine, buy a camera to prove a quarter thief -- but when you reach agreement -- let it go! Breathe!

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sven.kirk
July 11, 2009 2:03 AM
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Ok. So why was this 'blackmail' video released after the fact, when if a suitable resolution was made? Why wait almost a whole year to release the tapes?

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Anonymous
July 11, 2009 7:44 PM
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The fact that restitution was made does not negate the issue. There were indeed thieves in that dealership! Regardless of whether he got the $2k warranty or not, the video should have been released anyway.

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pgh9fan1
July 11, 2009 2:37 AM
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I'm wondering if he violated any privacy laws by saying he terminated the employees.

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RvLeshrac
July 11, 2009 8:12 AM
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@pgh9fan1:


As the employees weren't mentioned by name, no. He merely stated that his company took action against several anonymous staff members, which does no substantive harm.

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frank64
July 12, 2009 12:25 AM
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@RvLeshrac: I guess if they were named, he could just say they \"no longer work for the company\"

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ITDEFX
July 11, 2009 2:44 AM
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I don't think so because their names were not released...but perhaps their faces should have been blurred before going on line. Wow, getting fired for stealing quarters and watching porn in a customers truck...how are they going to explain it to their next employer?

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Felix the Cat
July 11, 2009 2:59 AM
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How about putting this info in text also. I have only a dial up connection and don't have 20 min to wait for your videos to load.

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Kimaroo - 100% Pure Natural Kitteh
July 11, 2009 4:12 AM
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I'm personally very appreciative that I got to see the videos. I've heard of theft like this and it happens all the time. It is one thing to read about it or even to hear from a person it has happened to. But it makes it so much more real to actually see it happen.

I mean, they were searching the entire vehicle in every nook and cranny for things to take. And they were so casual about it like it was just part of the service.

It also makes you aware to take EVERYTHING out of your car, even quarters. Most people only think of removing things like iPods or gps, things more \"stealable\". This shows you that everything is stealable.

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Derek Bentley
July 11, 2009 4:28 AM
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Yep. Don't leave anything in a car you don't want to lose when you take it in. Also, cruise around and make sure that these guys were in fact fired and were not just moved to another location.

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2 replies
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RvLeshrac
July 11, 2009 8:17 AM
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@Derek Bentley:


I simply refuse to leave my vehicle when I have it in for service, unless there are MAJOR repairs to be done (such as my transmission rebuild).


If Mechanic X isn't willing to do the work in one day, Mechanic Y will be. Y might charge me a bit more, but it certainly won't be more than the cab fare to and from the mechanic/work. Especially with the economy now.


(For reference, many of the things people wind up leaving their cars for take no more than about an hour, unless you have some godawful current-year vehicle what has to nearly be stripped to the frame in order to fix something.)

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Kimaroo - 100% Pure Natural Kitteh
July 11, 2009 2:31 PM
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@RvLeshrac: Just being there in the waiting room wouldn't stop theft like this. When you're getting an oil change you don't normally leave the vehicle entirely, but there are times when it is out of your sight and that's all it takes.

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CapitalC
July 11, 2009 5:21 AM
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Kudos to the dealership for going a step further than a letter.

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RvLeshrac
July 11, 2009 8:25 AM
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On the one hand, it seems like releasing the video *a full year* after the fact is a scummy thing to do, considering he named the dealership. Since they resolved his original complaint, he really just set himself up for a libel/slander suit.


On the other hand, the publicity from the video response probably more than makes up for it.


The people shouting that management needs to take all the responsibility need to put a lid on it. Management took action when it was proven that the individuals in question DID steal. You can't merely terminate someone because you *THINK* they *MAY* have stolen something based on someone's word, as you're increasing your UI cost and don't even have any evidence.


For all the dealership knew, John may have been a complete crackpot or someone with a vendetta against the workers.


The owner took action when he was provided with evidence and made aware of the claim (whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty,' anyway?), and made a good-faith effort to make it up to his customer. I think that speaks volumes about his business practices.

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microcars
July 11, 2009 3:54 PM
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@RvLeshrac: \"...he really just set himself up for a libel/slander suit.\"

how? Truth Trumps Defamation.
What part of Jason's comments to the press or video documentation was false?

If Jason came out and just \"said\" that the dealership stole all this stuff and had no evidence that they did, they might have a case for libel or slander, but they would also have to prove that he knew his comments were both false AND malicious.

right now all Hampton can do is try and make the best of the bad situation that THEY created.

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RvLeshrac
July 11, 2009 8:26 AM
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@RvLeshrac:


Oops. \"John\" should be \"Jason\". Dunno where I got \"John\" from.

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JosephFinn
July 11, 2009 9:33 AM
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Is this shot in Michael Scott's office?

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Julius Seizure
July 11, 2009 10:40 AM
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Sorry for off-topic but, Ben, you used \"nota bene\" in a sentence.

If you were in this room, I'd hug you man. (In a \"thanks for remembering English is more than 'BRB' and 'LOL'\" way of course.)

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WhoAsked You
July 11, 2009 2:58 PM
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@ pgh9fan1: Interesting employment law question. If employees commit crimes, are they deserving of that kind of consideration? I don't think they should be. In fact, I think OP should have put the theives names on the videos so nobody will hire them. Ever. And they should have thought of that before stealing from people trusting them to safeguard and repair their cars.

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ThunderRoad
July 11, 2009 4:17 PM
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I bet Hampton Toyota also breaks guitars!

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newfenoix
July 11, 2009 4:23 PM
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Ok, how would you feel IF you took YOUR vehicle into a shop and discovered that it had been pilfered through? They GOT CAUGHT stealing quarters but how many other vehicles had they stolen from? Five? Ten? Fifty? That's the point here. The dealership was wrong, period!

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Bourque77
July 11, 2009 5:28 PM
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I dont understand you people here. He shouldnt have released the video becaudse they \"took care of it\"? Why do you think companies offer you crap like that? To shut you up so you wont do what Jason did. Jason shot the video and has every right to do what he wants with the video. If the owner has a problem maybe he should have paid a little more attention to his dealership. I bet Jason wasnt the first or last customer this happened to.

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Ben_Q2
July 11, 2009 8:34 PM
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Hmmm I still have Video of a person that is paid to watch my daugther. Hurting her and calling her names. Problem was she is black and I am white. I found out later this is why they did not do anything about it. The news people came out being she was not charged they did not air it.

Out come. All the companies around where I live know about me and what I do for a living. No one will say a word in front of me. I have to pay for someone else to watch my child.

Still I own all the tapes and in 2 years when no one on those tapes can sue me. They are going on a DVD and sent to every customers that this company has (Yes I have a Datebase).

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Corporate_guy
July 11, 2009 9:58 PM
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The guy doesn't come across as sincere. But it doesn't matter, the people who did it are all fired.

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Anonymous
July 11, 2009 10:44 PM
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I'm local to this dealership and it's the one dealer I'll never go to again even before this incident. I went there two years ago considering a new car, and spent an entire two hours before a single salesman even offered to help me. I waited another hour for him to come back but by that time I had enough. They also had no less then five sales people going in and out to take smoke breaks outside but they were too busy to help. If I'm in the market again for a Toyota/Scion I'll be taking my business to another dealer 15 miles away to avoid this one.

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Corporate_guy
July 12, 2009 8:59 PM
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@JoshuaCado: I laugh when people say things like this. Most people get upset when they are hounded by salesman just for walking through the lot.

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frank64
July 12, 2009 12:37 AM
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It did seem like a culture in which theft and disrespect were the order of the day. If they did that, imagine how honest they were in fixing your car? So yeah, I think it was OK to release the video.

If a person or company who steals as a matter of course gets caught once or twice and then only has to give that one person his money back, then he still makes out and there is no disincentive to steal. It is why in the United incident the offer to pay was not enough, and rightly so.

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painfullyblunt
July 12, 2009 1:08 AM
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A few thoughts:

1) The employes who acted \"unprofessionally\" were terminated. Good. What about the service manager who failed to even respond to no less then 3 complaints? he didn't even give the guy a stiff arm and say \"wheres your proof?\" or \"I know these guys and they never would do that!\" he doesn't even respond! As far as I am concerned, there will always be bad apples in any organizatiob but when you have no 3 employees acting this way, it shows a lack of leadership, organization and ethics on the part of management. Are you telling me the manager never had any indication that these guys were bad apples? Please. If the manager had been doing his job this incident never would've happened because those jagoffs would've been terminated long before this incident.

2) I wonder why it took the guy so long between filming it and bringing it to the attention of the manager? I'm not saying there's anything henky about it, it's just... weird.

3) why in the bloody hell is this guy still going back there? He brought his car back 3x before he ever got the dealership manager involved and got some action. This boggles my brain.

4) I think the manager blew it when he offered him a 2000 bribe to keep quiet. It's one thing to appease a customer who has a) been shit on, and b) been shit on again by a non-responsive management team. $2000 isn't compensation, it's hush money. He knew the customer had devastatingly bad evidence and was desperate to keep a lid on it. and I think it was that fear of being exposed and the blatantly over the top compensation that led him to go public.

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painfullyblunt
July 12, 2009 1:10 AM
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@painfullyblunt:

clarification on #4: I'm assuming he didn't take the offer, and instead went public. If he actually took the offer, then to me this is a dick move.

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NYBanker
July 12, 2009 1:42 AM
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@painfullyblunt:

You just nailed it. If it was indeed \"hush money\", then it should have been turned down.

And I still can't figure out why Jason went back 3 more times to the same dealership after the video incident. Unless he was trying to get more video footage, to make his case even stronger and more sensationalistic, maybe?

By the way, on two occasions quarters were taken from my car at a dealership, during service appointments. It wasn't the dollar amount (probably less than $10 total) but the feeling of having my privacy violated. And my complaint to the service manager the second time went nowhere. So guess what? I DIDN'T GO BACK THERE!! For a $10 theft, and a non-response to my complaint, they lost me as a customer.

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bananaboat
July 12, 2009 12:02 PM
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Doesn't matter whether the customer took a warranty or cash after bringing it to the dealer's attention. So the dealership is saying it offered a bribe to shut him up? This just shows the dealer IS sleazy. Without regard to anything that happened after the incident, this dealer looks the other way, approves of theft and the service manager is scum. Unless he is an absent owner, he must know this crap goes on and doesn't care!

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420greg
July 12, 2009 12:35 PM
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IF I recall from the first article the dealership has a F BBB rating for NEVER responding to complaints. It is more then this one case.

What about all the other BBB complaints?
We going to get a video for each one?

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420greg
July 12, 2009 12:54 PM
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They offered him the extended warranty on Memorial day. By July 1st he had not received the paper work yet so he released the video. Warranty paper work then shows up the next day.

I bet Jason thought he was getting blown off. If the owner of the company promises you something on a Monday (Memorial Day). You should have it by Friday by the latest.

He had to release the video to make them hold of their side of the deal.

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DrRonster
July 12, 2009 1:23 PM
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According to some of you posters, hush money was paid and shouldnt have been accepted. It stated that the warranty went thru on July 1 this year, way after the incidents. Any corrective measure(s) would have to be considered as hush money and that just is not the case. In these cases, the posters would have to agree that a court judgement is hush money.When I bring any of my vehicles into any facility where they have access to any compartment of it, I prep the vehicle as tho what occured in this post will occur. Ive never had this occur because of my prepararions so I dont know if any of the dealerships I dealt with do what is in the videos and all I have to concern myself with is whether or not the vehicle was fixed properly. Dont leave anything of value in your car, if seen or not. For that matter I never go into a place without having placed my notebook in the trunk prior to departing to that store. You dont want to be observed in the parking lot placing that into the trunk.BTW \"trust me\" from a lawyer is short for FY.

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Anonymous
July 12, 2009 10:42 PM
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Just a little fun fact, in some places the act of stealing anything form a car is a felony, at least it is in Kansas as I found out when a book of burned cd's costing maybe $5.00 in total was stolen from my truck. The person responsible was charged and convicted of felony theft, being curious, I asked why and that is what was explained to me.

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therickla
July 13, 2009 7:47 AM
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Ever since I've had my license I've heard stories of Mark Hampton being a shady character. I don't know if this is still true, but his dealership Hampton Mitsubishi hadn't been allowed to participate in the local auto show for years because of his deceptive practices and ads. Every other new car dealership in the area was participating.


He uses bait and switch constantly in his commercials, always offering $199 down/$199 per month in a horribly annoying roar as he slams his giant hand down repeatedly on the hood of a car, but when you get there no one actually qualifies for this on the models advertised.


His prices do seem reasonable when compared to other dealerships until you actually look closely at the vehicle and realize that they are trying to sell you a used program car as new!


He is a typical salesman and he does have a lot of charisma, so I'm not surprised so many people are fooled by this video he's released now, but I can tell you that few people I've met who have bought a vehicle from a dealership owned by Hampton will ever buy there again...

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Tom_Servo
July 13, 2009 12:58 PM
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A good rule of thumb is if you are taking your car to a dealership for service, you are getting screwed. Find a good trustworthy independent mechanic.

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Saboth
July 13, 2009 2:04 PM
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I think the OP was in the right. Just because they made it right for him doesn't mean other people shouldn't be made aware of the issue.

\"Hey, we are sorry that mercury in our water made you sick. Here is 10k to buy out your silence.\".

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Anonymous
July 13, 2009 6:26 PM
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Interesting that what the dealer offered was a $2000 extended service contract. First: who says it's worth that much? You know it doesn't cost the dealer that much. This is a car salesman we're talking about here. Second: considering what the OP went through, does he really want more service from these guys?

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Anonymous
July 13, 2009 10:24 PM
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I just got my car from Brickell Collision Experts in Miami, FL and my gps was gone when i came to pick it up. I hate mechanics. The reason why my gps was left in there was bc my glove compartment was jammed. No one but the mechanics could open it. I told them to call me when they opened. They told me they were holding my things until I picked up the car and when I did they said I never had gps. i guess i lock my glove compartment for fun. Esurance wansnt very helpful. Now I know why people have agents. I think they have the worst adjusters. Brickell Collision pointed out their sign that allows them to steal! You know the whole we are not responsible for left...

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trujunglist
July 13, 2009 10:36 PM
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I think neither party really did the right thing in this case. The OP should have released the videos the second it happened rather than waiting on it, and especially rather than waiting until after a much more than fair settlement had been released. Is it hush money, equivalent to giving someone a free gift or equivalent to writing a 5 star review that should've been one star? Yes, it totally is.
So, I think my final decision on this is that the OP acted improperly by sitting on the videos. If he wanted the public to know the problem, he would've done it well before this. To do it now is sleazy. I don't trust the dealership at all (I am generally not trusting of these though), but that doesn't change the fact that the OP shouldn't have done what he did in retaliation.

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jpleonard
July 14, 2009 1:08 PM
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I am the Jason Leonard who recorded the Toyota guys. Just to clarify. Toyota Motor Sales (the big guys in California) got wind of this and MADE Hampton Toyota issue this. The day this was filmed, I received multiple texts and calls from the dealership, first asking me to be on the video, which I declined, then they asked me to sign the \"script.\" They were under a deadline from Toyota Motor Sales to have it filmed that day. They also had to provide a DVD of the response to Toyota Motor Sales, which their PR dept. will then distribute wherever the initial video pops up. Also, I have only talked to Mark Hampton once, which was that Memorial Day. All other dealings have been with the CFO of the dealership. Thanks to everyone for spreading the story. Also, I used the RCA Small Wonder to record the videos. It takes a SD card. I simply pulled up to the dealership, hit the record button before I got out, and let it go.

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Roycester
July 14, 2009 3:14 PM
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Though, nota bene, future corporate fuckups,

Classy Ben.

Now I have to tell my kids to stay off the Consumerist.

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cranke
July 14, 2009 7:27 PM
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What is Jason's motivation? More money? Seems like a shakedown.

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jpleonard
July 14, 2009 7:57 PM
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I am the Jason Leonard who recorded the Toyota guys. Just to clarify. Toyota Motor Sales (the big guys in California) got wind of this and MADE Hampton Toyota issue this. The day this was filmed, I received multiple texts and calls from the dealership, first asking me to be on the video, which I declined, then they asked me to sign the \"script.\" They were under a deadline from Toyota Motor Sales to have it filmed that day. They also had to provide a DVD of the response to Toyota Motor Sales, which their PR dept. will then distribute wherever the initial video pops up. Also, I have only talked to Mark Hampton once, which was that Memorial Day. All other dealings have been with the CFO of the dealership.

I want to be as fair as possible, so please ask away. I will answer anything.

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david
April 30, 2010 4:53 PM
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Just a comment for Jason. The dealer worked you over and you took a 2000.00 policy, just so you know, you got taken advantage of again, that poicy, they told you is worth whatever dollars, only costs about 140.00 or so, depending on which one, but you were stolen from not once, and it took you to catch them, and you got b.s again in return. You should have had them arrested. You should repost those videos, don't let them off so easy. They only care that they got caught. Right, they got caught, you complained how many times before, it took a camera, to prove your complaint. Plus, are you getting the full benefit of the service? When you get an oil change, do you get just oil, and no filter, they may say they do, but do they? You have cost them sales and reputation, so did they just quiet you and convince you to take it off the web? You should repost them, because I believe that in that environment, people steal, because they don't get compensated properly.

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