At 1 p.m. on March 11, a man in Beijing drove his Volkswagen MK6 Jetta straight through the glass doors of a dealership that he accuses of threatening him and his family after he complained about a bad deal.
The driver, Mr. Bai, was arrested for endangering public safety by damaging the interior of the Automobile Sales Serviceshop 4S, where he had purchased the Volkswagen last July, Beijing Media Network reported.
Nobody was hurt in the incident.
To receive discounts on his purchase, Bai followed the advice of salespersons at the dealership and added financial derivatives, a statement by the company says. He later requested a full refund after being unsatisfied with the car and services.
Bai tried to sue to the dealership in February, but says that he was threatened to drop charges.
“They gave me a time limit,” Bai told Beijing Media Network. “They said they would get ten people together and mess with my wife.”
The seller said that they had previously reached an agreement with Bai. According to their statement, he was scheduled to meet them to receive the refund on March 11, the day he crashed his car into the dealership.
“A sales representative had communicated with the car owner and had achieved agreement regarding the refund amount,” the statement, published March 12, says. “Then the client dropped the case on March 10, 2016.”
Huang Fei, general manager at the dealership, denied that their sales staff had the contact information of Bai’s wife.
“I did not want to hurt anyone, I just want destroy their reputation,” Bai said.
Netizen opinion reflected a broad distrust of China’s business scene and law enforcement. Many flatly supported Mr. Bai with comments like “you have to create a scene to get anyone to care.”
“I'll wait for the truth to emerge, but I’m inclined to side with the car owner for the time being,” one comment said.
“What’s the use of the police or the law?” Another said. “Those who don’t have money or power have no choice but to go to extremes.”
“Who would crash their car for no reason?” A user judging the case wrote. “Socialism, please give the common people justice.”
