Originally Posted by Scott_J_Tepper
I am Dooma350's (Ken’s) attorney. (The mods who see this post will also see from my IP address that it correlates to the law firm which is representing Ken.) Ken has asked that I respond to the post from Lincoln BMW’s attorney. Here is my response.
First, we aren’t playing games.
Second, Ken has done everything requested of him by the dealership in a timely manner. And he will continue to cooperate because his only goal is to get his car for the price he agreed to pay in the auction. We hope that will finally occur tomorrow. Ken has a BMW meet to go to on Sunday.
Third, neither I nor Mr. Maledon was listening in on Ken’s call with Mr. Catania. But it sounds about right to me that Ken would be importuned, again, by Mr. Catania to “control the press” (although that’s about as easy as “stopping the tides”).
It’s pretty clear why Mr. Catania wanted this to go away. Ken’s posts have unleashed a powerful swell of interest from all over the planet, focusing everyone’s attention on one seemingly insignificant eBay transaction where, after Ken was told he had won, he was then told by the dealership that his victory was a “mistake” and wouldn’t be honored. The mistake theme is repeated in Mr. Maledon’s post.
The seemingly insignificant eBay transaction wasn’t a trifling for Ken. To him it had significance, and his frustration in consummating it reverberated through the Web to those who themselves, or through others, have suffered losses from the so-called “mistakes” of wealthy businesses. The seemingly insignificant eBay transaction, reported by Ken on the Web to seek help from others, gave everyone a voice, and an opportunity to speak his peace, for some to disagree but for most to lend a hand, provide a word of encouragement, or a suggestion, or a helpful observation, or sometimes just to vent.
Into this maelstrom came a dealer that still doesn’t get it and wants it all to just go away. And that dealer is finally, begrudgingly, agreeing to the deal it should have manned up to last week. And only after Ken retained legal counsel to help him.
What’s the lesson to be learned? The Internet now allows us all to see when the emperor has no clothes, and to discuss his wardrobe incessantly. But it also allows people who have never met each other to get together and do something for the positive good, and to exchange ideas and support, and to learn from the mistakes of others.
Ken wishes Lincoln BMW no ill. All he wants is his car, at the agreed upon purchase price. And we are now told that will happen soon. But he also wants the right to speak out, to continue to speak out and, as Justice Louis D. Brandeis wrote, to allow “sunshine [to be] the best disinfectant.”
Mr. Maledon is an honorable man, representing his client’s interests. Please do not attack him or impugn his motives. The dispute is not with him. And Lincoln BMW is entitled to have its position articulated here, and anywhere else where it desires to be heard. However, there is no way that Ken will (or can) “control the press” or help Lincoln BMW “make this all go away.” That power lies elsewhere.
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