In the Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 edition of the Toronto Star (the one who refuses to print the story on the Ford leaky front windows), there was a front page story on a bike shop owner who had between 1200 & 1500 stolen bikes in his possession. Seems he has been paying guys to steal these bikes and give them to him. God only knows how many total he had stolen but, I guess he was in some small way helping the local economy by hiring these thieves.
But, it begs the question – why? Does he have a bike fetish and just loves to gaze over a crowded room of stolen bikes or even worse, a bike seat fetish? It doesn’t say but maybe he just wanted to stimulate the bike industry. Stolen bikes create a need. A need, as a bike shop owner, he could fulfill.
Now, this of course is a total lack of ethics. Ethics, oh yes. Ford produced a vehicle with an improperly installed window and never notified the consumers that their electronic repair bills might be caused by this. I mean, a leaky window allowed water infiltration, which caused the electronics to short out. Did anyone get a notice? Of course, by not notifying the consumer, the consumer continues to have their electronics fixed due to the leaky window, which they know nothing about. Hmmmmmmm…. No, I am not accusing Ford or the CAW of intentionally installing a window improperly in order to create a need for repairs and thus, generate income in the repair part of the industry - an industry that is having a downturn in income.
Now, one could extrapolate this and begin to wonder. In this recession, will the car industry, which is suffering greatly, start supporting thieves so that cars disappear and thus generates a need by the consumer, whose buying is all supported by the insurance industry? But no, I jest. I mean, a company that builds a truck with a faulty window, doesn’t inform the consumer and repairs the damaged electronics wouldn’t stoop that low would they? Never!! As I was told recently by a CAW executive – they are all hard working individuals and having known some, I agree. But, I wonder Ford - how can you stimulate car sales to people who have been burned by your policy to not recognize that the window was put in improperly and cost us consumers our money? Trust is something earned and once lost; it is hard to get back, especially when others continue to build trust within the consumer’s market.