[vkochar]

I think the owner sent across the message all over the world !! We in India are discussing it so I am sure they are doing it all over Europe & USA too where Lambo has most of its sales.

And to compare a machine with a live being is not right ! It is a lemon costing him his precious time and money to get it right. No person in his right sense will destroy an expensive machine until he is fed up !

I very recently had a blackberry which just would not work, after weeks of complaining I just threw it against the wall, and smashed it - went out and bought a new one, no more wasting time. The new one works like a breeze

[prateekm]

He complained to the company, they couldn't fix it. If the company can't troubleshoot the problems of the car they manufacture, then IMHO they shouldn't make a car. He could afford to give such a fitting reply back to the company to open their eyes and that is better than selling off the lemon to a unsuspecting customer who would face problems in the future.

[deky]

So after doing this, did the Lambo people get in touch with him and did they solve his problems??

[StarrySky]

Just because Lambo is a "hallowed" brand, some of us are feeling that the owner has somehow "wronged" the car!

If you or I end up with a lemon car (no matter however much we loved it when we bought it) which the manufacturer is unable/unwilling to repair, we would try to sell if off and cut our losses - and the manufacturer goes scot free. Very few resort to protesting. Well, this guy has enough money to burn, so he chose his own way to protest. Good on him!

Originally Posted by Scorcher

As someone said earlier in this thread, would you kill your dog simply because its not getting proper care/service from the Vet? It is very much a similar situation here too. No auto-lover could stand such cruelty to an automotive. No offense intended. Just my opinion.

Sorry I don't see any similarities:
Does your dog have manufacturing defects inflicted by the Vet?
Is it possible that you can change your Vet?

However, to answer your question - yes, pets too are euthanized if they are so sick that even the Vets can't help them (my father is a Vet, so I know).

[kaushikr]

Atleast the car owner did a good deed by not passing the lemon onto someone else!

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Cesc

I don't think there is anything wrong with what he did. And I consider myself right-thinking and am definitely not ashamed to hold this view.

Nothing personal, mate; it's the way I feel. Sorry but I have no respect for people who can't respect their own (or others') property.

Originally Posted by StarrySky

However, to answer your question - yes, pets too are euthanized if they are so sick that even the Vets can't help them (my father is a Vet, so I know).

Gee thanks. And here I was thinking all the sick dogs get sent to the meadows at the end of the rainbow, where they play and frolic all their life. You've conveniently omitted the word "publicly" from my original post.

If I have a problem with my car, I try to get it solved by any means available to me: complain, cry, raise hell, write stinkers to the management, etc. Now that our car-basher has got his attention from Lamby, what can anyone possibly do about it? Is there a car that can get repaired even if they wanted to do it?

Let's face it: it's the ultimate act of futility, compounded by the fact that what was destroyed was a thing of beauty, created painstakingly-albeit with a few flaws- by someone who surely put his heart and soul into it.

@Samurai- you're right, I've never owned a lemon myself and while I do sympathise with people who do, I don't presume to understand how they feel. But I sincerely hope that if I'm in a similar situation I behave with better sense and decorum than this gentleman

edit: @coolclouds- I may throw away a pencil if it doesn't write but I certainly don't smash it against the wall in full view of cameras to prove a point.

[coolclouds]

Do you keep or throw away a newly bought pencil if it don't write?

If a customer is not happy with his new purchase and no justice on complaints, how it can be close to heart? He sent a lesson to the manufacturer in a way which is not affordable to common.

I feel pain while selling my car only if it served me as expected.

[ACM]

Am with the guy who did this.

When he bought the Lambo he would have had thoughts of an enjoyable ride in it, and after it failed him thankfully he had the means to be able to get back at the manufacturers who failed him. I actually applaud this action, it of course takes tons of bags full of money to do this, but even those will much lesser will do it from time to time.

I remember once doing something similar (on a much smaller scale) for a service that was not upto the mark and making my point by withdrawing from it (of course at a financial loss to me) but making my strong point to those who provided the service that they were fooling people. Co-incidentally my boss used the same service and wrote his -ve views about it to the press which carried them in a print issue (it was a health related service.) Actually now that I think about it have done it a few more times with other products and services as well. Sometimes one pays the full amount for a failed service and lets the seller know that though one can fight for it, it is beyond ones dignity to do so and the seller too should have behaved in a dignified and truthful manner, its only money finally and there are things that are more important.

I also appreciate the two Indian Maharajas, the Sumo owner, the Owners of BMW, Audi, Skoda, Merc and all others who have taken the time, effort and expense of putting across their views in public and letting the vendor companies know that they cannot take customers for granted. If one checks out TBHP all vendors have failed us from time to time, be it Maruti or Hyundai or Honda or any one of the others.

Any action where we protest loudly and correctly does reflect on the person handling the customer and many times they (correctly) lose their jobs and are not wanted by other vendors. One should pay the price for ones errors.

One has to live a lemon to realize the frustration one faces when our expectations are not met. Happens with mobile phones, happens with cars, happens with service. How you deal with it will live with you for life and one should not shy away from standing up for the right path.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by noopster

Gee thanks. And here I was thinking all the sick dogs get sent to the meadows at the end of the rainbow, where they play and frolic all their life. You've conveniently omitted the word "publicly" from my original post.

Sorry, but I didn't look at your original post when I replied. I was replying to Scorcher.

If I have a problem with my car, I try to get it solved by any means available to me: complain, cry, raise hell, write stinkers to the management, etc.

Have you considered that maybe he did all that and was at his wits' end?

Let's face it: it's the ultimate act of futility, compounded by the fact that what was destroyed was a thing of beauty, created painstakingly-albeit with a few flaws- by someone who surely put his heart and soul into it.

Would you have preferred if he let it rot somewhere or turned it into a museum? Also beauty is in the eyes of the beholder - a lemon that cost him half a million dollars to buy wouldn't have appeared very beautiful to the owner. And even if it was created with all heart and soul, I guess the same passion was not shown by the creator when problems cropped up.

@coolclouds- I may throw away a pencil if it doesn't write but I certainly don't smash it against the wall in full view of cameras to prove a point.

Would it be OK if he privately buried or burned the car in his backyard?

All in all, I see a lot of sympathy for the car and none for the owner who was driven to such an act by his broken car and its unsympathetic manufacturer.

[coloneljasi]

Let's face it. We've seen many such cases of rich/famous people destroying their cars to prove a point/get noticed/vent their frustration/so on and so forth.

We who are from the 'real world' could never digest such antics, justified or not. More so on a website of automotive enthusiasts. This particular person managed to ridicule Lamborghini (or maybe not. For all we know, they're probably just grinning at this customer's senseless act in a closed boardroom somewhere!), but what did he gain? He could afford to smash up his own car, so that his ego wouldn't have to go the same route.

What he could have done was teach Lamborghini a lesson like that company's founder did to Ferrari decades ago. Now that took guts! Too bad that his company seems to be going the same way Ferrari was. Then again, isn't Ferrari still around? And still selling fantastic cars?

I just realised that this debate is never going to end.

[libranof1987]

Although I don't appreciate it, I don't find anything wrong with what the owner has done. - again, I don't appreciate it.

He must've spent a fortune to get that car and though he has proved that fortune doesn't mean much to him, it is still quite a fortune. When you've spent that much, you WANT a product that deserves that price from people who are responsible for its shortcomings.

I bet he must've have been terribly fed up to go to that extent.

@noopster : Agree the car is gone but maybe he'll get the peace of mind back. Having a car with issues that the manufacturer can't solve would be agonizing him. He just got rid of it in a way only he would understand best. Bet he must've exhausted all other means. About doing publicly, gues that was his way of telling the company to get its act together.

Slightly OT but on a related notion : I don't know how authentic this is; but someone told me that way long back some Maharaja in Rajasthan wanted a particular model/specification of Rolls Royce for himself. They refused for some reason. So, the Raja replaced all the garbage cycles/vans in his city with Rolls Royce cars to collect/dispose the garbage.

Sometimes, you are left with no option but to go for such extreme measures.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by mayankk

but certainly not someone who bought the car with his heart, me thinks.

On the hindsight, if the lambo owner were more calculative about profit and loss, he would have sold it and not whacked it to death. To me he seems like a heart guy and his heart is full of fury

Originally Posted by noopster

Nothing personal, mate; it's the way I feel. Sorry but I have no respect for people who can't respect their own (or others') property.

I have less respect for companies that have no respect for their customers and a lot of folks who stand up.

Originally Posted by noopster

If I have a problem with my car, I try to get it solved by any means available to me: complain, cry, raise hell, write stinkers to the management, etc. Now that our car-basher has got his attention from Lamby, what can anyone possibly do about it? Is there a car that can get repaired even if they wanted to do it?

Don't you think he has not tried all other options before coming to this decision finally? Nevertheless I think he made it that much more difficult for Lamborghini treat their customers badly anymore. So, in effect the owner has helped existing and future customers. At least I would like to think that Lamborghini would try to improve their customer service and other automakers would also take notice.

Originally Posted by noopster

Let's face it: it's the ultimate act of futility, compounded by the fact that what was destroyed was a thing of beauty, created painstakingly-albeit with a few flaws- by someone who surely put his heart and soul into it.

Lamborghini was founded because Mr. Lamborghini was frustrated with Ferrari. So, one would think Lamborghini would definitely understand this owner dude. May be they (Lamborghini) should also put their heart and soul into repairing this car.

Originally Posted by ACM

One should pay the price for ones errors.

One has to live a lemon to realize the frustration one faces when our expectations are not met. Happens with mobile phones, happens with cars, happens with service. How you deal with it will live with you for life and one should not shy away from standing up for the right path.

Completely agree. I am all for the "stand-up attitude".

[noopster]

OK. Let's just agree to disagree. It's a matter of opinion really. Some of you seem to think the dude would at peace with himself after the act. Fair enough. I tend to think he would feel miserable and wonder if what he did was right.

Though I wonder- didn't this guy have poor relatives who could've persuaded him to hand over the Lamby to them? Even if I just keep it parked in front of my house that's good enough for me!

[raul]

This is perfectly legitimate, he spent a lot of money buying the car and he is perfectly in his right to protest how he sees fit provided no one is being hurt. This only expresses his frustration with Lamborghini support and raises serious questions about the kind of customer support the company provides.

I don't see why anyone should have a problem with what he has done, he bought the car to use it and if it can't be used than it is pointless isn't it? Better to make a point to Lamborghini than to park it. Companies often behave in this highhanded manner leaving customers with little choice and feeling helpless.

Given how expensive these cars are one is right is expecting a superior level of service. Its only after exhausting other options that he resorted to this, and by organizing a public cum press event I think he is hurting Lamborghini where it matters, it would have been far easier and cheaper for them to address his issues, than to deal with a PR disaster like this.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by mayankk

We ARE discussing it, aint it?
and this is just one forum out of thousands!
Imagine the spikes on the head honchos at lamborghini china.

bold statement, yes.
but certainly not someone who bought the car with his heart, me thinks.

I totally agree on this one and can quote a live example from my own life/thread on TBHP. I recently went to the Desert Storm'11 and have a thread running in the Indian motorsports section in which i had casually talked about the brakes failing during a run of a Mahindra THAR which participated as an official car.

You would not believe that the very next day i heard from one of the Honchos from the Mahindra R&D team inquiring if i could provide the details of that car/owner. This is how fast news can travel and reach the maker and the potential buyers thus reducing their reputation and market both.

I would never buy a THAR after what happened to a BRAND NEW one while he was driving.