Customer Crashes His New Car Through The Front Of The Dealership After They Refuse To Let Him Return It
This could have ended so tragically.
Maxim Artemchuk | Shutterstock Most of us, at one time or another, have lost our cool in a customer service situation — or at least witnessed someone do so. Whether we're in the right or the wrong, being stonewalled by someone we've just given our hard-earned money tends to work our last nerve to the bone.
But of all the arguments, angry letters, and Karen meltdowns we've seen, nothing compares to a recent incident at a car dealership, where an irate customer went to such lengths to lodge a complaint that it very well could have ended tragically.
The customer crashed his new car through the front of the dealership where he bought it.
The incident happened in the town of Sandy, Utah, near Salt Lake City at the Tim Dahle Mazda dealership after a dispute over the purchase of a used car.
Buying a used car is always a bit of a gamble, of course — you never truly know what you're going to get. It seems when one of the dealership's customers discovered that he got more than he bargained for, he retaliated in a truly astonishing way.
The dealership refused to allow the man to return the used car, so he drove it through the front wall.
After leaving the dealership with his used Subaru, the man reportedly discovered the car had mechanical issues.
Dealerships almost always sell used cars "as is," often without any real inspection. It's usually part of the deal that you get what you get and why experts say you should always take a used car to a mechanic for an assessment before buying it.
This man obviously didn't do so and wasn't having it when he discovered issues with the car after driving away. When the dealership refused to take it back, he threatened to drive the car through the front of the dealership in retaliation.
When the dealership didn't back down, he "did just that," according to local police, driving the car at what appears to be full speed through the front entrance of the dealership's showroom. A desk positioned in front of the door was utterly destroyed in the process, and chaos quickly ensued among the staff.
Staff were shocked by the incident, with one worker saying she felt that she'd have been killed if she'd been at work that day.
In a video of the incident, the staff's shock is palpable. One employee can be heard yelling for someone to call the police, while another called out to his colleagues to make sure nobody was trapped under the car, all while the customer ranted as he walked out the door.
It sheds light on how utterly tragic this incident could have been under different circumstances — notably if someone had actually been sitting at that desk by the door.
In comments to Salt Lake City's Fox 13 news, employee Aylin Hernandez indicated that she is, in fact, the employee who usually sits at that desk the customer barreled into but happened to be off that day.
She told Fox 13 that with "how the impact was and how fast and how hard it hit, there was no doubt … It could have been fatal." She went on to say that all she could think about was her young daughter and how grateful she was that she wasn't at work that day.
The man, whose name has been withheld, was arrested and taken to jail after the incident. He is facing charges of felony criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
Hernandez told Fox 13 she was mystified by the man's "rage" and that it has left her "furious." She's surely not the only employee who feels that way after what was very clearly an extremely close call.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.