Filed under: Maintenance, Carsumer Advocacy, Humor
Mechanic arrested for not giving up vehicle to angry customer
Remember last week when we told you about a tuner shop in Florida that got stuck holding a $16,000 bill after customizing some broke guy's Toyota Celica? That shop is resolving its dispute through the courts and will likely end up selling the car to make its money back, but a mechanic in the U.K. named Darren Tandy recently found himself in a similar situation with a very different outcome. A customer came to pick up his Land Rover recently and refused to pay the agreed upon price of £1127 for the service work that Darren had done. At first the owner offered £950, then £850, and when Darren still refused to release his vehicle, the Rover owner called the local constabulary. Shockingly, the policeman who arrived on the scene actually told Darren he had to lower the price, and when he refused to accept £550 for the job, which didn't even cover the parts, he was arrested and thrown in jail. He spent three hours behind bars and promptly filed a complaint against the Northumbria Police, who performed a full investigation and found themselves free of any wrongdoing. Convenient, eh? [Source: The Sun]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Kimura 7:01PM (8/19/2008)
What a load of crap!
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Torrent 9:44PM (8/19/2008)
Brad littered a couple of my threads, too. Don't feed the troll. Just report him.
2007RC46SP2 12:17AM (8/20/2008)
Brad the douche bag has a little trojan he installs when you click to download the codec to view his videos.
i read about it at another sight he was spamming.
Please Ban this guy.
F'in B1tch
chuckles 2:17AM (8/20/2008)
sorry, but if the hardcore porn thumbnails to the right, the video's obviously fake comments, and the "Windows Media Player" window with it's bad grammar and color weren't enough... enjoy your trojan. You're an idiot. I did click the link though :|
Justin 7:07PM (8/19/2008)
Things like this make me lose faith in society sometimes.
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ik 8:48PM (8/19/2008)
you had faith in society?
Joe K. 11:07PM (8/19/2008)
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.” ~Albert Einstein
Coolthough 7:16PM (8/19/2008)
Wait... this was a Seinfeld episode.
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Bungle 7:17PM (8/19/2008)
This makes absolutely no sense. Either there's something missing from the story, or it's a lot of hearsay.
A) Where is the contract? Why couldn't the shop owner just show that to the police?
B) On what grounds did the customer want to lower the price, other than just being a cheapskate? The story given no indication of why he thought he was justified in getting a lower price.
C) I know that some cops are overzealous and all, but how can you possibly get arrested just for performing agreed-upon repairs on a customer's car? Is there some crazy law in the U.K. that I'm not aware of?
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Dave 9:07PM (8/19/2008)
I agree with you, there is too much of the story that wasn't told.
Fuzzball 9:04PM (8/19/2008)
Bungle:
"Is there some crazy law in the U.K. that I'm not aware of?"
Answer: Breach of the Peace apparently
FTFA:
"Officers explained to both parties that this was a civil matter but due to garage manager Mr Tandy’s conduct the officers deemed it necessary to arrest him for Breach of the Peace."
Still BS though. I have to agree that either something is not completely detailed or asshattery reigns.
Jon 11:37AM (9/17/2008)
No, its England, everything is crazy over there. Their laws all support the wrongdoer, not the law abiding citizen. Things like you can be prosecuted for harming a burglar who breaks into your home. Just like Obama would like things to be over here if he becomes President.
Corey L 7:20PM (8/19/2008)
No touching!
/AD fan
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dskinner 8:13PM (8/19/2008)
Darn, you beat me to it!!!
jon 8:34PM (8/19/2008)
Ya beat me too it as well!
next thing we know the mechanic is gonna ask his son for his hair so he can trick people into thinking hes his twin brother!
AD!!!
nick 7:22PM (8/19/2008)
just goes to show how messed up the legal system is over here. im proud to be british, but things like this make me wonder if there is anything to be proud of anymore
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Smeagle 8:41PM (8/19/2008)
A proud Brit??? never!
rndmnme 7:27PM (8/19/2008)
Capitalism?! Not in Soviet Northumbria!
Cue "In Soviet Northumbria Car Mechanic Pays YOU!"
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Yar 7:40PM (8/19/2008)
Exactly. It's the old "They can afford it" thing.
Mi key 7:39PM (8/19/2008)
I'm with bungle on this. Something is obviously missing from this story. Cops can't tell a owner what to charge a customer if a contract is in place. Unless the cops felt that owner was taken advantage of the customer. And they couldn't arrest owner/mechanic unless he did something stupid like continue to argue with cops or tried to hit cops or customer.
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