Sean writes: “The wife and I were purchasing a car this weekend. After the typical pulling of teeth to get a price quote over email, we headed into the dealership on Saturday to finalize the deal. We were finally ushered into the finance guy’s office, pitched the warranty, gap insurance, etc., and got to the contract itself. I looked over the agreement and saw the ‘binding arbitration’ clause. Knowing it wasn’t a battle I could win, nor an issue I could avoid by shopping elsewhere, I let it go with a simple, “I don’t like the binding arbitration clause.” To my surprise, he responded, “Arbitration is the best thing invented for corporations!”
I looked at him incredulously. “Absolutely!” I responded. “For corporations. The consumer is stripped of their rights and forced into a process that rules against them over 90% of the time.”
He counters with decreased legal fees and other selling points, and then hits me with the killer, “If you get an unbiased arbiter, it’s the ideal solution.”
Do you agree now he’s just asking for it?
“There’s the issue,” I replied. “The consumer doesn’t get an unbiased arbiter. The arbiter is chosen by the corporation, and those who don’t give the corporation the ruling they want are not chosen again.”
He went back to the unbiased point again. He apparently wasn’t going to be able to see it from the consumer’s side, so I gave up.
But at that point I knew…had it just been me in that dealership, I’d have walked. But my wife has to put up with a lot of my arguments of principle, and this one would have cost her a shiny new vehicle.
(bonus: The first time he made the ‘unbiased’ argument, he couldn’t remember the word ‘unbiased’. I had to prompt him.)
- Sean
Ha! At least he was telling the truth. “Best thing invented for corporations.” Maybe he thought if he sounded excited about it you would be swayed?
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@trujunglist: Nope.
@Buran: Ok, so you know you’ve heard of it being done. That’s great, but you have nothing to back up your story. I believe that in some cases it can happen, the stars align and the heavens open and once in a while someone gets a deal without having to agree to the arbitration clause. There are exceptions to every rule, I’ll give you that.
I never said it didn’t suck that we all seem to have given up our rights to sue the crap out of whomever we feel we’ve been wronged by.
Smart people already spend loads of time narrowing down their selections before deciding on which car to buy, thus narrowing down the list of dealerships from which to buy said car. Those “hundreds of dealerships” can become a scant handful quickly if want or need a certain brand/model vehicle based on other factors like price, features, reliability, etc. The ability to sue the dealership falls way down the list when compared to all those other factors that people consider when buying a new car.
I’m with you that it sucks that we give up our rights so easily. But you have to admit that it’s just not practical, feasible, or in most cases possible to escape arbitration clauses. The best we as consumers can hope for is to change the law itself by electing more progressive pro-consumer people into power.
What I’m saying is, there are better and more effective ways to fight this fight. Cars in our society are a necessity, and as such the people who sell them hold all the cards.
@Murph1908: I think he did what he had to do especially given his statement about his wife putting up with it plus the gal is pregnant…
The key here is to start a company called Unbiased Arbitrators so that companies will flock to it.
The OP has no principles if he bended to the whim of his wife’s desire for a new vehicle. If you don’t like arbitration, don’t do business with business that uses arbitration.
There is no such thing as a mostly moral person. Stand by your convictions or don’t, but don’t use your wife as a shield.
@DeeJayQueue: Fair enough. The only reason I don’t have it is that my browsing history only goes back so far, and I read the story longer than two weeks ago. I might have read it here, but I might not have; if I could remember details, I would have posted it for sure. I should probably tell my browser to store the history for longer in case it comes up again.
I do think people should try harder before giving up, though. If arbitration is that much of an issue, and it should be, don’t rule out buying from a dealer in another state.
And I’m sorry if I misread what you were trying to say. It’s just that I feel really strongly about corporations hating their customers enough that they have to cut us off at the knees and set themselves up to screw us and get away with it … and people don’t fight hard enough.
@unklegwar: I’m guessing you’re not married. Apparently several other posters are similarly single.
You call it whipped, I call it keeping peace in the family. If there WAS another dealer to go to, who didn’t force the arbitration clause, you might all have an argument. But since virtually ALL dealers DO have arbitration clauses, it’s moot.
Sounds like a lot of you talk rough and tough. I’d really like to see what you would DO in the same situation.
@MPHinPgh: Actually, I wasn’t trying to single out Unklegwar. His was just the post I replied to since so many were chanting “Tell the wife to shut up”…
@BrienBear: How is it one guy walikung away from an arbitration deal gonna help? Because if you add that one and more people start doing it, they will learn to stop doing silly stuff that.
Noncompete agreements are worse. I walked away from a job that I just got over all the hurdles for because I would have signed all my rights away. Ain’t gonna happen.