Fergus Cassidy

Thomas' Crown affair

Some things hurt much more than cars and girls
- Prefab Sprout

LITTLE did Thomas and Patricia Ballock realise that their trip to buy a new car would take them on a two year journey through the byways and dirt roads of justice.

Inside the plush and vast showrooms of the local Crown Pontiac-Nissan car dealership, Patricia took a shine to a Maxima. The couple were keen to avail of a special 3.9% financing offer which was ending that very day, January 2002.

Patricia enquired tentatively about a sunroof, but there wasn't one on any of the available cars. The sales agent suggested that one could be fitted by the dealership. That was the clincher and Patricia signed on the dotted line. It was a signature that would haunt their lives until finally resolving itself last week in the District Court of Alabama, USA.

Besides being another window to the world, the sought-after sunroof also provided the Ballocks with the cold and harsh light of the internet and its legal implications.

A week after buying the car, they went to collect it and were very unhappy and disappointed with the way the sunroof fitting had turned out. Trouble started when they complained and were informed that the normal warranty did not apply to the sunroof.

In this part of the US, disputes such as this usually go to arbitration and that's that. But this story had more turns than an Italian mountain pass.

The Ballocks wanted a refund or the car replaced and sent a fax to Crown's general manager, Robert Roper. For whatever reason, Roper decided to let the firm's lawyers handle it.

Attorney John Galese, wrote to the Ballocks and requested them to pick up the car or pay storage charges. But the fax also informed the Ballocks that "I have instructed by client to refrain from any further direct dealings with either of you...". The situation was deteriorating but then Thomas Ballock did something that made the wheels come right off.

Thomas can build and maintain websites. He seems at ease with the world of three and four letter acronyms. He has a personal website, a work one and even runs the site used by the housing association in Hoover where he and Patricia live.

"Judging by the tone of Galese's letter, I felt certain an adversarial battle lay ahead, and I was not happy about it", he recalled. So he put up a website about it.

"I obtained the domain name CrownPontiacNissan.com and began work on this 'gripe site' about Crown, to publicly criticise Crown's actions and hoping to warn other buyers about potential pitfalls they should be aware of." He titled his comments 'My Dreadful Experience'.

Crown is a big outfit. One disgruntled and noisy customer would not normally rile a company with an $80m annual turnover. But, like in so many other cases, when the internet's involved it was time to fasten the seatbelts.

The "cease and desist" letter from Galese duly arrived through Thomas' fax machine. It cited "wilful and illegal conduct" in reference to cybersquatting and use of a trademarked name. It was personal too: "You have set forth nothing more than one-sided, distorted ramblings of the husband of a customer lacking any legitimate claim against Crown Pontiac Inc.

"... The content of your unauthorised website makes clear your intent to attempt to intimidate and extort money from Crown Pontiac Inc. through the use of the internet". Crown got a preliminary injunction prohibiting Thomas "from using Crown Pontiac's name in the text, domain name or meta tags of his websites". Fearing the consequences he took the site down.

This wasn't enough for Galese though. Spurred on by Thomas' alternative site called HooverNissanDealerSucks.com, Galese shot off another missive: "This is not a game, as you will soon discover if you do not take immediate steps to comply with the letter and spirit of the court's preliminary injunction".

Thomas has had enough and and he contacted the Public Citizen litigation group for help. They provided legal representation and filed a motion to dissolve the temporary injunction on Thomas' website. The injunction was lifted in its entirety in July 2002 and CrownPontiacNissan.com flickered back to life.

Thomas wasn't out of the woods yet and his employer was subpoenaed. Among the information sought was his "employment history" and "records of his internet use while at work". Later that same day, Patricia Ballock answered the door of their home and was also served with a subpoena. Among the requests sought was "all records of 'hits' showing the number and identity of persons logging into CrownPontiacNissan.com from its inception".

The spark that caused the ignition - the sunroof fitting - was finally resolved at this point (in the Ballock's favour), so the spat was now all down to the involvement of the internet. The new year brought a resolution and in February 2003, both sides signed a settlement agreement. The case was dismissed with Thomas awarded $6,776 damages and costs.

After that rough ride he remains undeterred and defiant. "Would I buy another home built by Jim Elliott?" he asks on his housing association website.

"No" he answers and who would doubt him.

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Links

Thomas Ballock's site provides a chonological and very detailed account of the case, including letters and faxes.

He has also compiled a list of similar cases to his and has put it all together on WebGripeSites.com. The site includes advice and pointers based on his own experience.

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