After a third-party tracker alerted her that her Mercedes-Benz C300 was missing from the dealership, Kimberly Porter found the car parked at a Collierville bar. A technician, Derrick Nguyen, was arrested and charged with theft. In July, a judge called the conduct "extreme and outrageous" and awarded Porter $20,720, including $15,000 in punitive damages. Nguyen still faces a pending criminal theft charge expected to be resolved in August.
Customer Tracks Her Mercedes to a Bar After Technician’s 'Test Drive'; Court Awards $20,720
[Image Credit: WREG]
When customers hand their vehicle to an authorized dealership for repairs, they expect technicians to be working — not taking the car off the lot for personal use. That trust was shattered for Kimberly Porter of Tennessee after a service employee drove her Mercedes-Benz C300 to several locations around Collierville, including a local sports bar.
In January, Porter received an alert from a third-party tracking device showing her Mercedes was no longer at the dealership where she had left it for repairs, WREG reported. She had brought the C300 in a month earlier after filling the tank with what she believed was "bad gas," which caused the vehicle to idle on the interstate.
The tracker’s data showed the car had been driven to the chain restaurant J. Alexander and later to the sports bar TJ Mulligans. Porter drove a loaner vehicle to the bar, located her Mercedes in the parking lot, used her spare key to unlock it and called police.
Investigators identified a service technician, Derrick Nguyen, as the person who had taken the vehicle. Memphis police arrested Nguyen and charged him with theft of property.
Porter then sued both Nguyen and the dealership. The case went to trial in July. The defendants told the court that Porter had purportedly given permission for an "extended test drive," but the judge was not persuaded.
"Customers reasonably expect that their vehicles will be kept in local proximity to the dealership or shop," Judge Lynn Cobb wrote, calling the technician’s conduct "extreme and outrageous." "Little do they suspect that their vehicle would be taken from the dealership location or used for some personal purpose."
The court awarded Porter $20,720 in damages, including $15,000 in punitive damages. Porter’s attorney, Kevin Snider, said the ruling sends a clear message that consumers will be protected from dealerships and employees who engage in such behavior and then try to justify it.
Nguyen still faces a criminal theft charge, which authorities expected to be resolved in August.
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